Howlin' For You

Great Wolf Lodge to open newest Texas water park-resort this summer

Great Wolf Lodge Webster opens Labor Day

The new Texas Twirler slide at Great Wolf Lodge Webster

Photo provided by Agency H5.

A Houston location of the famous Great Wolf Lodge will be opening sooner than anticipated. New information from the developer puts the opening at August 29, in time for Labor Day weekend getaways, and the first looks at the facilities are now available.

The famous string of resorts and indoor water parks began construction on a Houston location in September 2022 at an estimated cost of $200 million. Situated south of the city in Webster, it’s the second Texas site after the Grapevine location opened in 2007.

The new attraction will feature 532 rooms, a 92,000-square-foot indoor water park, and a 61,000-square-foot family entertainment complex. The latter includes an indoor rope course traversed by climbing harness, a 150-foot indoor zipline that gives riders a panoramic view of the entire park, and Great Wolf Lodge’s MagiQuest.

MagiQuest is a live action role playing game that lets players use an infrared wand to cast magic spells as they explore a dungeon. The series of games first launched in 2005 and the experience has grown steadily more intricate and impressive since. Players use a variety of spells to change the environment and solve puzzles. The Webster location will also debut a new virtual reality game called Spirit Water Forest starring the Lodge’s mascot, Oliver Raccoon.

Guests can also play a 9-hole miniature gold course, pan for gemstones to take home in a sluice, bowl, and visit the 24-hour arcade.

Obviously, though, Great Wolf Lodge is most famous for its water parks, and the Houston location has unveiled some impressive features. There will be two large interactive play zones and 13 slides. One of the new slides debuting at the park is the Texas Twirler, a raft ride that seats up to five and actually takes the riders outside the building and back in.

At first, the idea of a Great Wolf Lodge in the Houston area may have seemed an odd choice. Though the city has lacked a full-on theme park since AstroWorld closed in 2005, the Houston area has three major water parks (Hurricane Harbor, Typhoon Texas, and Schlitterbahn in Galveston). However, the Houston summers can make even outdoor somewhat tiring to attend, and the prospect of frolicking inside seems far more appealing. Another selling point is that Great Wolf Lodge will be open year-round.

The Great Wolf Lodge series of parks was founded in 1997 by the original owners of Noah's Ark Water Park in Wisconsin, the nation’s largest water park. Since then, the chain has expanded to nearly two dozen locations around the United States, with a possible park in El Paso also under consideration.

Park opens August 29, 2024. Tickets can be purchased at their website.

Courtesy of Great Wolf Lodge

Construction continues on Great Wolf Lodge.

great wolf lodge theme park families family-friendly vacations

setting the bar high

Playful Dallas neighbor tops America's best parks list for 2026

Plano Parks and Recreation/Facebook

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Plano and its stellar parks have set a new record in 2026 as the 13th best park system in the country — and the No. 1 best in Texas, according to the just-released ParkScore Index.

Every year, land conservation nonprofit Trust for Public Land rates the park systems in the 100 largest American cities with regard to their accessibility, equity, acreage, investment, and amenities.

Plano's No. 13 ParkScore ranking is a new all-time high for the Dallas suburb; it appeared 17th nationally in 2025, ranked 16th for the two years before that, and was 15th in 2021 and 2022.

The majority of Plano residents (85 percent) live within a 10-minute walk of a park, compared to the 76 percent national median. About 10.5 percent of land within the city limits is dedicated to parks. The city also spends far more to maintain its park system — about $228 per resident — than the national median $198 per resident.

Plano Park - Arbor HIlls Nature Preserve Dallas suburb sets new record for best parks in the U.S. Plano Parks and Recreation/Facebook

The city's hard work is paying off: in March, Plano Parks and Recreation reopened Glen Meadows Park after extensive renovations, which included a new pavilion, updated playground, more seating, and new trails.

Another Dallas-area neighbor that deserves high praise is Irving, which Trust for Public Land said was the nation's biggest gainer this year. Irving's park system jumped 28 places, from No. 99 last year to No. 71.

"Irving’s rise was driven by increased investment from the 'Let’s Play Irving' initiative, which funded several important projects scheduled for completion in 2026 and 2027," a release said.

Dallas proper ranked 38th this year after previously ranking 34th in 2025.

"Over the past 10 years, Dallas has connected an impressive 330,000 residents to a park, trail or greenspace within a 10-minute walk of their home, and the city is poised to make further progress next month, when it opens the Bushmills Neighborhood Green as part of the Dallas Greening Initiative," the report said.

Elsewhere across the Metroplex, Frisco jumped seven spots and now ranks 30th, and Arlington moved up one spot as No. 45. Garland ranked 64th (up from No. 67) and Fort Worth soared to No. 58 (up form from No. 72).

Molly Morgan, the Texas State Director and Associate Vice President of Trust for Public Land, said in the release that Texas' high-scoring performance in the annual index has proved that it is making park accessibility a statewide priority.

"Cities across the Lone Star State are making serious investments, opening new parks, partnering with school
districts, and closing gaps that have existed for decades," Morgan said. "They’re showing what’s possible when
Texas gets serious about parks."

Morgan added that there's still more work to be done to increase park accessibility to the 9 million Texans that don't have a park within a 10-minute walk of their homes.

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