A Family Adventure to the Wisconsin Dells

A Family Adventure to the Wisconsin Dells

We ventured off on a family adventure to the Wisconsin Dells over spring break this year, and boy, was it fun! I’ll be honest, I don’t set high expectations for family trips with three small children. LOL But this trip to the Wisconsin Dells was different (in the best way possible), and just what we all needed to reconnect, refresh, and have some serious fun together as a family! I’m excited to share all about our experience with you.

Note: I’ve broken up my posts for our Wisconsin Dells Trip for more efficient navigation for my readers (ahem, YOU!). I hope that this will make it easier for you to find just what you’re looking for, and that it doesn’t take too long to sift through information to find it. Thanks for being here!

This post will focus solely on our experience at The Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells for our spring break trip. You can find my tips for planning a successful and (mostly) stress-free family road-trip {here}.

Information about the Wisconsin Dells

We are a central Iowa family of five and at the time of this trip, our three kiddos are five and under. When we were considering destinations for spring break, we decided it would be best not to venture too far. We enjoy road-tripping while the kids are little. Any length of time in the car with three small kiddos can be a challenge, but we knew that if we pushed it much past one day of travel in the car, we’d all be pulling our hair out.

The kicker is, we still wanted a warm escape. Well, Wisconsin is not known for warm winters (LOL), but the Wisconsin Dells are very much well-known as the water park capital of the world. And guess what, it’s just a quick five-ish hour jaunt from our house. Yippee! Decision made. Now the real fun began in finding the right place to stay and play.

I researched a few of the big-name resorts in the Dells, but we ended up landing on The Wilderness Resort. Other options I considered were the Kalahari Resort, Mt. Olympus Resort, and the Great Wolf Lodge. After taking a drive around while we were up there, I’m really glad we landed on The Wilderness Resort. I’ve also heard from a few other visitors since returning from this trip that The Wilderness Resort is “the best”! So, take that for what it’s worth as you research for yourself.

The Wilderness Resort

The is a massive resort that spans across many acres. In my opinion, this resort has the best setting. Most of the lodging sits off the main road a bit, the resort buildings and architecture are all cohesive and fit the name well with their log-cabin/great outdoors feel. Overall, it just seems well thought out and put together, and I didn’t get that vibe from some of the other resorts, especially after driving through town. It’s hard to tell these things from the on-line descriptions, so you’ll just have to trust me.

Anyway, this is fantastic resort that has a ton of different lodging options. The main reason I ended up booking with this resort was because they had exactly what I was looking for for hosting our family of five. We stayed at the Glacier Canyon Lodge, which is on-property and connected to the main resort via skywalk, but I do want to note that these are privately owned condo-style accommodations. The Wilderness Resort does handle all accommodations, though, like booking, housekeeping, etc. You do not deal with the actual owner.

Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness Resort

I would 100% recommend this option for any families. We stayed in a two-bedroom deluxe condominium on the 4th floor (top). Here is the description straight from the website: Our 2 Bedroom Deluxe Condominium features 2 bedrooms, living room with fireplace, full kitchen, and dining area. The master bedroom has one king-size bed and 2nd bedroom with bunk beds (Queen bottom / Twin Top). (Children, ages 2 & under, stay FREE and do not need to be included in the number of registered guests.) 

Why Glacier Canyon for a Family of Five

We literally couldn’t have found a better set-up for our family. The bedrooms were connected by a full jack-and-jill bathroom, and there was another half bath available. The kids enjoyed bunk beds in their room (twin over full). We also made use of the queen murphy-bed in the living room for hanging out and watching movies. I believe the couch was a pull out also. The kitchen had everything we needed, including a dishwasher. It is an excellent setup for a family with three small children.

As I mentioned above, the Glacier Canyon Lodge is set apart from the main resort, but it’s all connected via skywalk, which was awesome. We loved being away from the hub-bub of the water parks/arcades/etc., and I’d definitely avoid booking on the second floor as this is the skywalk level and there is a lot of traffic on this floor. The down-side to this is that we did have to trek over to the water parks each day. This wasn’t terrible, and still only takes minutes to get to where you want to go.

Hot Tip: Pack a wagon/stroller wagon!

 

 

A stroller would be helpful, too, but a wagon comes in clutch for hauling pool gear and the littlest kiddos. This was something I just happened to remember as we were putting things in the car and I am so glad I did.

The one thing I did, in fact, completely forget was our pack-and-play for our littlest guy. I had a brief freak-out moment, but that was quickly dispelled when the resort came through for us and delivered a portable crib to our room! That was so awesome and it worked perfectly. We put all three kids in the bunk room.

Attractions at The Wilderness Resort

Indoor Waterparks

There are three indoor water parks here at this property:

1. The Klondike Kavern Waterpark – the smallest of the three, but has the lazy river and slide options
2. The Wild West Waterpark – newly renovated, western theme, bigger water playscape, slide options
3. The Wild Waterdome Waterpark – large wave pool, small toddler area, daylight ceiling, one slide option

I personally like each of these for different reasons. The Klondike Kavern was nice because we could all participate in the lazy river as a family. The kids really enjoyed each of the waterparks. Our oldest was really the only kid who could do the bigger body/tube slides, but our middle was able to do some of the tube slides. The majority of the slides one of us (parents) needed to accompany the kids. You can read more about height/weight requirements here.

A quick note, there are also outdoor waterparks at this resort. We were there during spring break, so those were all shut down.

Arcades

There are some great arcades at this resort. This was our first experience in the Dells, and we can officially say that this is Vegas for kids. So, just be aware. You’ll likely spend a lot of money in the arcades, which isn’t really included in any great package deal that we could see. We did buy two fun passes for our older two ahead of time, and I’m not sure that those were worth it in retrospect. Do your own research on that one! LOL

We did really enjoy the ropes course, clip n’ climb walls, the timberland playhouse, mini-golf, and go-carts! We were bummed we didn’t get a chance to do the laser tag. They also have the TakeFlight Experience and Escape Rooms, but we didn’t do those. All in all, there is plenty to keep the family busy when you aren’t in the waterparks!

Polka Dot Pots

This was so fun! Our oldest two got to choose a piece of pottery to paint. They each enjoyed this creative project, and it was a nice (also read: calm, quiet) break from waterpark and arcade fun. I thought this was a really great option to have for guests, especially during the winter and for little girls who may not be as interested in the wall climbing, laser tag, arcade, etc. scene.  

Hot Tip: Paint early in your stay!

 

 

One note I’d make on the pottery painting is to do it early in your stay. They literally put it through the kiln while you’re there, so you need a couple of days for that process to be completed so you can take it home with you. Myles did his on a Wednesday evening (after 4pm), and we almost had to pay for shipping to get it home because it wasn’t ready until Friday at 11am (the day we were leaving). I’m not sure that this will be the case year-round, but I’d check into it first thing. They were very busy when we were there.

Where to Eat?

On-site Options

We honestly didn’t have a bad meal on this trip. All of the restaurants on-site offer a great variety of meal choices. We ate at Swimmin’ Chicken, Survivors, The Burger Bar, Yukon Yogurt, Bear Paw Funnel Cakes, as well as a couple of the waterpark eateries that are more grab-and-go. One night we ordered in Sarento’s Italian and it was great!

We did have a full kitchen in our condo, so we ate nearly every breakfast and some lunches in the room. The resort is smart and has great coffee shops located in various places on the resort, so that adults can survive another day. LOL

Yes, we could have saved quite a bit of money eating more in our condo, but we planned for eating our meals like this. Because the meals at the restaurants were so great, we felt the prices were justified for resort-convenience. And also, we greatly enjoyed the break from reality of preparing for and cleaning up multiple meals for three children each day. #worthit

Off-site Must-eats!

Now, our meals off-site are what I really want you to know about because they each provided a unique experience that really added to our trip overall!

Homegrown – Des moines

We stopped here on our way out of town for brunch with my parents who had planned to be going there that, as well (great minds!). This is a delicious stop if you are in the Des Moines area!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moose Jaw Pizza & Brewery

We loved this restaurant! The mounted wildlife adorning the walls and the moose head crowns kept the kids entertained, and the pizza and beer samplings were great! They brew in-house and have a great variety to choose from. They also brew their own sodas, so the kids got to try a fresh “Sprite” that they were pretty excited about. We did the Alfredo pizza on a thin crust and a sausage and mushroom on their regular crust… delish!

Buffalo Phil’s Restaurant

Another fun experience is Buffalo Phil’s Restaurant. There are a bunch of Lego builds throughout the building, which are really cool to see! My favorite part of this restaurant is that you can (and should!) choose to be at a table that gets train delivery service! It’s so fun to see your drinks and food come down the tracks and stop right at your table! If you go to the Dells, you’ve got to check this place out. Our kids enjoyed the mini-fish-bowl drinks!

Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty

This was the perfect way to start our trek back home. On our last day, we packed up and hit the road. But before we got out of town we made a stop at Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty. What a treat!

This is family-style establishment. You go in, you pay up front, you’re seated, you’re served, you eat family style! Aside from making the decision to eat, and what you’d like to drink, there aren’t really a lot of decisions to be made here. They serve you the full breakfast menu – sausage, ham, pancakes, donuts, scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, breakfast potatoes – almost immediately upon sitting down.

This is a great stop for families with small children. There isn’t a huge wait (they move people through here quick), your food is served almost instantly, and the check is paid upfront, so no waiting for a bill! You just get up and leave.

A Family Adventure to Remember in the Wisconsin Dells

We really enjoyed our family adventure to the Wisconsin Dells! We look forward to going back one day when the kids are older, and maybe we’ll consider going in the summer? Who knows. As we were chatting on the way back home, we realized we’d set ourselves up well for this trip in many ways. I’m sharing a few great tips for planning a successful family trip for your plan here.

What’s your favorite part about the Dells? I’d love to hear what others enjoy doing up there. Where do you like to eat? Where do you like to stay? Let’s chat in the comments!

To the Chaos!

 

 

 

 

 

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