We’re planning a trip there with the family in February. The kids range in age from 4 to 18 so I’m looking for a bigger range of activities. Have you had any good experiences with the indoor waterparks? Bad experiences? I’ve checked them all out online, but I’m looking for some personal stories…
Also, if you’ve done other activities there that were cool, let me know!
Thanks
(The last thread on this was from 2009 so I figured some stuff might be outdated)
Only been there once, and that was roughly 1977, in the summer.
So sorry - no help here. We did really enjoy the visit, mind you.
an seanchai
I know it’s still on I-94. But I haven’t experienced it since I was a kid in the 80’s.
I went there every year for 7 or 8 years with my family when I was a tween-teenager. And my mom and sister have gone back a couple times since I left the house (I’d have gone too since mom was paying, but I can’t get a week off work without a year of advance warning).
We never went in the winter. I wouldn’t advise it over a summer trip because there are so many outdoor things to do. Walking between fudge shops, watching them pull taffy through the big glass window, noah’s ark waterpark, the wonder place (where everything is built sideways so it feels like the gravity is all wrong), Tommy Bartlett water shows, go-karts, bumper boats, mini golf, riding the Ducks and taking scenic outdoor tours through the gulches and such. I’m sure you can still find stuff to do, just not as much as if it were warm out. I never actually went in the wintertime but off the top of my head some indoor things to do:
fudge shopping
pancake house (do not skip the pancake house! even if there’s an hour+ wait their chocolate chip peanut butter pancakes are one of the remembered lights of my youth… plus they have a fun gift shop with lots of stuffed stuff)
dancing waters (an indoor music, light, and water show)
panning for gems and neat rocks in the fake gold rush place
ripley’s believe it or not museum
native american gift shops–REAL moccasins!
Make sure to choose a hotel with an indoor waterpark if you can (I’ve never been to one myself since we just went to noah’s ark… the hotel room was for sleeping). I haven’t been back in a while, but I don’t know if they have any freestanding indoor parks or not. But there was a black wolf lodge or something similar, that we always drove past, and it looked like a lot of fun from a distance. There were waterslides sticking out the sides of the building that went back in which I always wanted to try.
If your elder kids are old enough to watch the younger ones in the hotel room, you could try to schedule a night for the adults to go to the ho-chunk casino and have the kids order in food, maybe pay for a good couple movies, or allow them to take the kids to the indoor waterpark.
Honestly (with adult retrospective) the place is a cheesy, glorified tourist trap. But when you’re too young to notice those things you can have a lot of fun regardless. Your older kids may not have as fun a time as the younger ones, depending on their levels of cynicism. But there’s nothing you can do about that.
We went there about six or seven years ago. I remember we went in August and it was unseasonably cold the day we were there, so we did the indoor park at Mt. Olympus and the Top Secret upside down white house thing. We had wanted to do Kalahari resort indoor park, but they only sell a limited number of tickets per day, and they were sold out by the time we were there. My. Olympus was ‘just o.k.’. The Top Secret thing was incredibly dumb. Other than that, we walked the town, had some fudge, and stopped at an Indian casino outside of town on our way back South. It seemed like a nice place to go with a younger family. It certainly didn’t have the gang member elements we see here in Southern California with all the tattooed folks. For my money, the best waterpark is still Schlitterbahn south of Austin, TX.
The indoor park at Kalahari is okay. I can’t speak to the other ones.
I can’t really imagine Dells in the winter, because I think the best part of it is the river trip, via boats on the upper Dells and the Ducks on the lower Dells, neither of which will run in the winter. But to each their own.
Get the coupon book
Yeah I definitely loved river trips on the ducks. Of course you can still have fun almost anywhere in February. It’s just more of a summertime destination.
I have lots of friends who take their families. I’m about an hour’s drive away. I do hear about staying at the Kalahari way more than any other place. But I have no personal experience to back that up.
I go up there once or twice a year (though on a lot of those trips, we avoided the waterparks altogether).
Compared to 20 years ago, when most of the tourist attractions pretty much shut down after Labor Day, the indoor waterparks have made it a year-round attraction. Of course, a lot of the popular summer attractions (the Ducks, the boat tours, the go-karts, the Tommy Bartlett show) don’t run during the winter, but a number of indoor attractions have been built.
The big three indoor resorts are the Kalahari, Great Wolf Lodge, and the Wilderness (though a number of other hotels and resorts have built indoor parks, too). All of the big three have extensive indoor water parks, and are sprawling operations (every year, they build more stuff). They’re all good operations, but they tend to be very crowded and loud, particularly on the weekends. The cost of your room at one of those resorts includes waterpark admission; you can also get admission to a waterpark without being a guest at that resort, but you have to buy the admission separately (and they may have restrictions on how many such passes they sell, or when you can use the waterpark).
I’ve stayed at the Kalahari (not bad, but we stayed at the condos, which were, at that time, at the very far end of the resort from the waterpark), and at Wilderness (I like that place a lot). It sounds like you have a fairly big family – if you stay at Wilderness, look at the “Frontier Condos” – they may be a little more expensive than the hotel rooms (which are directly attached to the waterparks), but they’re far nicer, and get you away from the crowds. They have shuttle buses which will come to your condo and drive you to the waterpark (it’s not that far, but not a great walk in the winter with little ones). I’ve never been to Great Wolf, but I’ve heard it’s not bad (probably very similar in quality to the Kalahari).
I’m not sure if there’s a stand-alone indoor waterpark in the Dells – I suspect that there isn’t (or, at least, there hasn’t been). The business model up there for the winter months seems to be to encourage families to check in, and then never have to go back outside / leave the resort.
Oh, and Wilderness has a very nice spa, Sundara, on the property. Send the kids off to the waterpark, and go get a massage or a facial.
I was there for a week in December 09. We stayed at Chula Vista which has an indoor water park and is just a little bit out of town. The rooms were really nice with a full kitchen (saves money), nice living room, fire place, whirlpool, and two bathrooms with two bedrooms. The water park was good although it might get boring for older children after a while. The younger kids were happy with it (ages 8 and 9 at the time). The breakfast package we opted for didn’t include beverages (everyone drink water) but was really good for buffet style food.
There were three highlights to the trip.
A jaunt out to the House on the Rock. It was the first time for the rest of my party but I’d been there before so I knew what to expect. It’s so worth it, just make sure to get coins for the various machines. Unfortunately, it was initially met with scorn and annoyance but in the end, even the cynical 15 year old was having a good time. (There’s a great organic restaurant not too far from there as well and you will drive by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesen-which has RIDICULOUS entrance fees and doesn’t allow indoor photography, so it’s almost why bother).
The Rick Wilcox Theater. It’s a magic show and a marketing thing BUT it’s good clean family fun. There were some cool tricks too. Book now and get the good seats which are right up front. You pay a premium but that’s the section they also call up volunteers from the audience. They’ll video the performance and for a premium will sell you the time your 4 year old was called up on stage for a trick. (Volunteers also get free admission tickets to other attractions and/or a magic kit).
Wizard’s Quest
First, get the special package which includes Wizard’s Quest, Ripley’s Museum and the 4D theater. It’s a good way to spend an afternoon. The 4D theater is ok, expect to get “spit” on. The Ripley’s Museum has some cool artifacts and videos and it’s a bit of a sensory overload (small taters compared to the House on the Rock though). But Wizard’s Quest is a great way to team up with your family for a common goal. It involves the whole family, the older kids and adults working out the clues and the helpful younger kids who can crawl through the tubes and holes.
Other things to try: For the older kids/adults, there’s an outlet mall with some good prices on stuff. Get a picture outside of Top Secret (but don’t bother going in). The Ducks are fun but not open til March I think.
I’d heard that Chula Vista (which was one of the older Dells resorts) had done a significant re-build and added the indoor waterpark. Good to hear that it’s a nice place.
Agree with you on having a kitchen (that’s another reason why we like the condos at Wilderness) – if you’re willing to spend a little time going grocery shopping (there’s a nice neighborhood grocery store, Zinke’s, in downtown Wisconsin Dells), it’s a great money-saver.
We’ve been meeting up with the in-laws there every Thanksgiving (them up from Chicago us down from Minneapolis) and since our son is only 4 have been working our way up to the bigger places. We’ve stayed at the Chula Vista which is really nice and has a great water park (indoor) that catered from ages 3-teens. It’s away from the main drag so food options are limited unless you want to drive back into town (15 minutes). We tried Mt.Olympus this year but it really sucked. You had to walk a mile to get to the waterpark, the water was cold, featureless, and there was limited seating around the pools. Disappointing.
My brother has stayed at the Wilderness with his 4 y-o and said it was really nice and huge. However he stayed during the week and said once the weekend hits it turns into a madhouse.
The Kalahari looks impressive but we will probably wait till our kids are a few years older. It seems more pricey also.
I have no idea what the Grey Wolf is like.
The House on the Rock is more than an hour’s drive from the Dells, and also has ridiculous entry fees, $28.50 for adults, and $15.50 for kids. IMO it is not worth it unless you are a big fan of tacky kitsch and robot orchestras.
I grant that the Wright tour rates are even more outrageous.
Well, depends on when you go too. We went for Christmas experience.Admission Prices:
Adults age 18 and over: $19.95
Senior age 65 and older: $18.95
Children age 4 - 17: $11.95
For the current guided tour for the Winter/Spring, which misses some things:
Admission Prices:
Adults age 18 and over: $17.50
Children age 4 - 17: $12.50
(And it’s an hour even drive from Wisconsin Dells to Spring Green).
But you’re right, it’s not everyone’s cuppa. But I’ve been several times and felt intoxicated by the sheer volume of just STUFF.
We’ve done almost all the waterparks in the last couple of years, and our favorite is the Wilderness. It has several different waterparks, indoor and outdoor. We tried the Kalahari, but it’s the priciest and it’s not as big as it looks from I-94. Chula Vista is nice, but beware – the food is very expensive and it’s about 20 minutes out of town. We decided to go to the buffet for dinner and ended up spending over $100 on food for the 6 of us. We haven’t been to Mount Olympus in a while, but it was okay. Noah’s Ark is the big outdoor waterpark and it was fun (but packed) in the summer.
Obligatory Roadside America reports:
Wikipedia entry:
The Dells’ own site:
http://www.dells.com/wisconsin-dells-attractions/wisconsin-dells-attractions.htm
Not wishing to be overly judgmental about the House on the Rock, here is the Roadside America review.
Allow me… That place is the physical manifestation of several types of mental issues.