Children play under the giant tipping bucket at Great Wolf Lodge's water park. -- Photo courtesy of Great Wolf Lodge

Family fun in Niagara Falls is about to kick up a notch with the opening of the Great Wolf Lodge -- a family hotel and water park which, next to the Falls, may become one of the region's largest water attractions.

Scheduled for an April '06 debut, the resort's size is colossal. It covers 47,000 square metres in total, with a five-storey grand lobby, 406 rooms, and an enclosed water park that's 27 metres tall and covers nearly 9,300 square metres. The total bill will cha-ching at approximately $200 million: $120 million for the hotel and water park, plus another $80 million for an adjacent aquarium anticipated for 2008.

The mammoth project is a joint venture between Ripley Entertainment Inc. (of Believe it or Not!) fame, and Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. which operates six other Great Wolf lodges in the U.S. Wooded land originally slated for a casino was secured next to Niagara's Whirlpool more than two years ago, and hammers have been flying ever since. Owners even uprooted and stored 120 of the property's 50-year-old chestnut and sycamore trees, and will replant them to give the log resort its signature lodge feel.

But it's the water park that will capture families' attention. There are 13 waterslides --easy ones for toddlers and wild tube rides for bigger swimmers. There are four pools plus family and adult whirlpools. There's an indoor wave pool, a lazy river, a zero-depth entry pool for little ones, a watercoaster and a tunnel raft ride that's listed as the world's largest. There's also a 12-level treehouse water fort at the park's entrance, interconnected with suspension bridges, cargo nets and web crawls. Its highlight is a gigantic tipping water bucket designed to thoroughly soak guests. The water park will be open to hotel guests only.

Upon check-in, kids will be greeted by Disney-like characters, including Ringo the Raccoon and Moe the Moose -- both of which will host daily story times and live performances. There's also a 560-square-metre arcade onsite, an outdoor mini-putt course, plus a Cub Club that's filled with toys and games.

Daycare is not one of the resort's features -- families here are expected to stay together. But there are diversions for adults, including a fitness room, an Aveda concept spa and 930 square metres of meeting space for conventions.

Rooms will list at $300 to $500 per night. All rooms are family suites, with sleeping and living spaces kept separate. Most sleep four to six people, but some have multiple bedrooms that can sleep up to eight. Many of the resort's rooms are themed: There's a Wolf Den, a KidCabin, a KidKamp and a Grizzly Bear suite. And there are five themed restaurants, including a Pizza Hut Express and a necessary Starbucks.

For more details on Niagara's Great Wolf Lodge Resort, visit greatwolflodge.com or call 1-800-605-9653.