On Tuesday at the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce April Early Bird Breakfast, which was held at Great Wolf Lodge, Great Wolf general manager Keith Furnas announced the resort will now be selling day passes to its water park. This is an option that Great Wolf has not offered prior, as previously water park access was only allowed to overnight guests. Such a change in policy will make the water park more accessible to locals.

Great Wolf opened in May of 2018 and is nearing its one-year anniversary in LaGrange. Access to some of the resort’s amenities, such as the arcade, mini golf and mini bowling, have always been available to anyone who wished to utilize them, while water park access has not.

Day pass tickets cannot be physically purchased at Great Wolf itself, they must be purchased online at least one day in advance. This is to ensure only a certain number of tickets are sold per day, so as not to overcrowd the water park.

“We know one thing guests love about our waterpark is that it’s never overcrowded, so it’s important that we ensure our guests continue to enjoy the attractions in the waterpark without having to wait in long lines,” Jason Lasecki of Great Wolf said.

Depending on the day of the week, guest passes can range from $55 to $85, per Great Wolf Lodge Georgia’s website, with the more expensive passes available on weekend dates.

This decision on the part of Great Wolf is a win-win, both from a business perspective and from a community standpoint, but has been met with mixed reactions. Great Wolf has opened up an additional stream of revenue for itself – which is its responsibility as a business – and the community now gets the opportunity to use the state-of-the-art water park without an overnight stay.

We posted this story online and to our social media account Tuesday afternoon, which quickly received a plethora of community responses. The overwhelming opinion from those comments has been that the price for a day pass is simply too high to be reasonable, and many have said they will not take advantage of the day pass if the pricing remains the same.

The pricing for a day pass to the water park is an important factor to consider for everyone, $55-$85 per person is substantial, a family of four will spend more than $200 for one day at the water park at that price point. However, it is important to remember that Great Wolf is a business, and like all businesses has an intention to generate the most advantageous profit margin it can.

While the community might think this pricing structure is too high, it does allow for water park access that has not been allowed before. This does show Great Wolf is listening to the desires of the community, as this has been a hot-button topic since the resort opened, but also does reflect Great Wolf’s desire to turn a profit as well. For now, this is a solid step for Great Wolf and the community, to allow locals more access to one of the state’s best attractions.