Great Wolf Resorts Reports 2009 First Quarter Results

MADISON, WI, May 5, 2009—Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: WOLF), North America’s leading family of indoor waterpark resorts, reported results today for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009.

First Quarter Highlights

· Reported 2009 first quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $15.1 million, which was above the company’s previously issued guidance of $12.4 to $14.4 million and higher than consensus analyst estimates.

· Opened the new 402-suite Great Wolf Lodge-Concord, N.C., (bottom left photo) and a 20,000-square-foot conference center expansion at the company’s existing Great Wolf Lodge-Grapevine, Texas resort. (bottom right photo)

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2009, the company reported a net loss of $(5.6) million, or $(0.18) per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $(2.3) million, or $(0.08) per diluted share for the same period a year earlier.

“Our resorts continued to perform well relative to the overall hotel industry in this extremely challenging economy,” said Kim Schaefer, chief executive officer.

“Same store revenue per available room (RevPAR) for our Generation II resorts, which contribute more than 80 percent of our Adjusted EBITDA, was down 12.5 percent (8.2 percent using constant dollars, which normalizes the foreign currency translation effect on operating statistics of our Canadian resort), compared to the 17.7 percent decline in the overall U.S. hotel industry according to Smith Travel Research data.

"We believe these results are reasonable, especially given that the Easter holiday and many schools’ spring break periods, both of which are traditionally strong demand generators for our resorts in the first four months of the year, fell in the second quarter in 2009.”

For a complete copy of the news release and the company's financials, please contact:

Alex Lombardo, Investors, (703) 573-9317

Steve Shattuck, Media, (608) 661-4731