Great Wolf Lodge to Break Water Slide Record and Raise Funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters

PHILADELPHIA, March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Great Wolf Lodge is holding the "World's Largest Waterslide-athon" in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record and to support Big Brothers Big Sisters.  

Participants will be asked to donate $1 each time they take the slide, with 100 percent of contributions from the lodge's American locations coming to Big Brothers Big Sisters, the nation's largest donor-supported network of volunteer mentors of youth.  Great Wolf Lodge is hoping to break the Guinness World Record for "Longest Distance Water Sliding in 24 Hours in Multiple Venues" starting at 6:00 p.m. EDT on March 26 and ending at 5:59 p.m. the following day.

"Great Wolf Lodge has given its guests a fun and inventive way to support Big Brothers Big Sisters' work in providing successful, long-term mentoring matches that help vulnerable kids beat the odds," said Karen J. Mathis, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters. "The company's commitment will bring an energy and excitement to these communities, which will enable us to positively impact even more children and their families."

Great Wolf hopes to break the world record in 11 lodge locations in Wisconsin Dells, WI, Sandusky, OH, Kansas City, KA, Traverse City, MI, Williamsburg, VA, Pocono Mountains, PA, Niagara Falls, Canada, King's Island, OH, Grapevine, TX, Grand Mound, WA and Charlotte/Concord, NC.  Each slider who descends the specially designated slide will count toward breaking the record for the longest distance traveled on waterslides over a 24-hour period. The current record was set in Germany in 2007 with a total distance of 843 miles.

Donations from the event will go directly to local Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies to match some of the country's most vulnerable children with mentors and provide ongoing support to "Littles" and their families, and also to volunteer "Bigs."  Great Wolf Lodge, a national corporate partner since 2008, will match each $1 donation made by water-sliders, up to $50,000.

For more information about the "World's Largest Waterslide-athon" visit www.greatwolf.com/worldrecord.

About Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.® (Nasdaq: WOLF), Madison, Wis., is North America's largest family of indoor waterpark resorts, and, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge® and Blue Harbor Resort™ brands.  Great Wolf Resorts is a fully integrated resort company with Great Wolf Lodge locations in: Wisconsin Dells, Wis.; Sandusky, Ohio; Traverse City, Mich.; Kansas City, Kan.; Williamsburg, Va.; the Pocono Mountains, Pa.; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Mason, Ohio; Grapevine, Texas; Grand Mound, Wash.; and Concord, N.C.; and Blue Harbor Resort & Conference Center in Sheboygan, Wis.  Through Great Wolf Resorts' environmental sustainability program, Project Green Wolf™, the company is the first and only national hotel chain to have all US properties Green Seal™ Certified – Silver.

The company's resorts are family-oriented destination facilities that generally feature 300 – 600 rooms and a large indoor entertainment area measuring 40,000 – 100,000 square feet.  The all-suite properties offer a variety of room styles, arcade/game rooms, fitness rooms, themed restaurants, spas, supervised children's activities and other amenities.  Additional information may be found on the company's Web site at www.greatwolf.com.

About Big Brothers Big Sisters

Big Brothers Big Sisters helps vulnerable children beat the odds.  The organization depends on donations to help conduct background checks on volunteers to ensure child safety; and provide ongoing support for children, families and volunteers to build and sustain long-lasting relationships, key to successful mentoring.  Big Brothers Big Sisters is proven by independent research to improve children's odds for succeeding in school, behaving nonviolently, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and breaking negative cycles.  Headquartered in Philadelphia and with nearly 400 agencies across the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves more than a quarter million children. Learn how you can change how children grow up in America by going to BigBrothersBigSisters.org and MentoringBrothers.org .

SOURCE Big Brothers Big Sisters