By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
From decadent milkshakes to an elevated dining experience for resort guests & others
GW milkshake
Lars Kristiansen — the Great Wolf vice president in charge of food services — whipped up a chocolate as well as a strawberry version on Tuesday.

The most decadent milkshake in Manteca can be found at Great Wolf.

The $180 million indoor waterpark has a number of dining options available to resort guests as well  as the general public. Access to the indoor waterpark and family amusement area requires booking a hotel room for now. Eventually day passes will be available.

But in the meantime you can satisfy your sweet tooth or even enjoy elevated dining at Great Wolf.

The milkshakes are a prime example of why Great Wolf isn’t your run-of-the-mill dining spot.

The opening of the Manteca resort debuts the Woods’ End Creamery.

Great Wolf, which uses Ben’s and Jerry ice cream at other locations, decided to up their game.

Although it isn’t a Baskin Robbins with 32 flavors of even the thick shakes Chubby’s Diner serves up in tall glasses that comes with a chilly stainless steel mixing container, the Great Wolf milkshakes score high on the decadent scale.

The chocolate version came with an ice cream bar buried partially in the whipped cream as well as chunks of chocolate on top. The strawberry version had a big juicy strawberry on top with chocolate candy. Both had three cookie sticks.

Try to find that at an outdoor waterpark or even at an ice cream store.

Woods’s End Creamery also has ice cream by the cone and cup.

Great Wolf has more for the sweet tooth including a bulk candy store that also has chocolate treats and other packaged treats. There are also tempting cupcakes heaped with tasty touches.

The resort’s elevated dining experience seating 200 plus that includes a separate bar area as well as patio dining. The Barnwood features a fresh and seasonal menu relying heavily on locally sourced and grown ingredients along with craft cocktails.

Other dining options include:

*Campfire Kitchen, an interactive a la carte cafe offering everything from farm fresh eggs and Applewood smoked bacon to mac n’ cheese and chicken fingers.

*Hungry as a Wolf feature made-to-order handcrafted pizzas along with salads, wings and more.

*Buckets Incredible Craveables offers burghers, sandwiches, and the signature Tipping Bucket Sundae.

*Dunkin’ Donuts and coffee.

The dining experience is high tech using digital menus and QR codes — a pandemic solution that has been popular with resort guests and Great Wolf plans to keep.

Speaking of tech, if you do venture into the waterpark by booking a room or waiting for day passes, the wrist bands allow you to leave your wallets secure in your room if you w

ant to take a break from splashing around and grab a drink or a to eat.

A scan of your wrist band charges the item to your account.

That same technology has allowed Great Wolf to address the dearth of photos people have of them enjoying the waterpark.

Taking a $300 to $1,200 smartphone down a waterslide is just asking for it.

The wristbands allow various cameras to snap photos of you and others enjoying the waterpark slides and you pass them and then posts them to a page that you can view with the option to purchase them.

 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com