Michael Schafer started his career in the waterpark industry with a summer job as a pool cleaner at Wet ‘n Wild in Garland, Texas. After the first summer, Schafer accepted a full time position as a Maintenance Tech and has been working in waterpark related fields ever since. Schafer became a member of the Six Flags family when they purchased the Wet ‘n Wild Arlington property in 1995. He moved to Arlington and during his 13 years there, he held the position of Safety Coordinator for the waterpark as well as the lead inspector of the 200’ skycoaster attraction. Schafer assisted in the opening of Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags Great America. He became a certified lifeguard instructor through Ellis for a couple of years.  In 2007, he was hired by Great Wolf Resorts and Franceen Gonzales as the Water Park Maintenance Manager at the Grapevine, Texas Lodge.  He operated one of the largest indoor waterparks in the brand at that time, and his knowledge and skill set made him a key figure in the opening of several new lodges, and he was part of many task forces for properties needing assistance. In 2018, he was promoted to Corporate Engineering Manager and moved to Great Wolf Lodge Headquarters in Chicago, IL. In 2019, he moved to Arizona for the opening of the Scottsdale lodge, operating in a split role for the lodge and Corporate. In 2020, during Covid, Schafer worked with Corporate leaders to implement their Paw Pledge initiative and the five core principles, resulting in Great Wolf Arizona being the first lodge to open back up to the public in June of 2020. Schafer has since resumed a full time role at Corporate and travels to perform site audits for the 21 lodges in the Great Wolf brand, and currently resides in Mesa, Arizona.
