Eye of the storm: New Great Wolf Lodge popular for those escaping Hurricane Milton

The new Great Wolf Lodge in Naples was packed Tuesday, mostly with visitors who evacuated from Punta Gorda, North Port and Alva.

Jessica Cardinell, her husband, their two children, her parents and in-laws all drove down from Punta Gorda. They're among the new guests at the recently opened lodge off Collier Boulevard and Interstate 75 in Collier County.

"We were trying to get away from the eye of the storm," she said as they were unpacking kids and stuff.

Hurricane Milton was expected to make landfall along the Gulf coast, with North Port in the storm's cone in the majority of forecasts.

They are from near Chicago and moved to Punta Gorda five years ago. They were here for Hurricane Ian, which roared across Southwest Florida in late September 2022.

"I didn't want to stay for another storm like that," she said.

At Great Wolf, guests were each given a letter letting them know that there may be power outages from Hurricane Milton.

"While we do have a back-up generator available, its primary function is to provide electricity for critical resort functions such as emergency lighting for public areas and hallways," the letter said.

What to know about water park resort: Florida is getting its first Great Wolf Lodge

"If our resort loses power, we will be unable to open the water park, operate attractions, provide hot meals from our restaurants, and the guest rooms will not have power, including air conditioning."

Great Wolf Lodge is expected to become a destination, drawing visitors from thought the state and other parts of the U.S. and even other countries. The $250 million retreat and indoor water park opened in late September.

This story was updated to add a video.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Eye of the storm: New Great Wolf Lodge popular for those escaping Hurricane Milton