They call it the “Water Park Capital of the World” for good reason, and when it comes to the Midwest, nowhere can compare to Wisconsin Dells for providing the ultimate summertime entertainment.
Whether it’s with the kids and family, a bachelor or bachelorette party or with your buddies on a great golf trip, Dells is the kind of place you can plan to go back to every summer and never do the same things twice – unless, of course, you want to.
My wife, Kelly, and I recently spent an early summer weekend in the Dells with our kids, Charlie (5) and Quinn (4), and while we made full use of our time there, we wish we had another week.
Charlie’s 5K school year ended at noon on Friday. After last year’s hugely successful end/start summer weekend away in Brainerd, Minnesota, we had to get something in the books. This time we never told them about anything planned. In fact, when I dropped them off at daycare in the morning, I left saying I forgot Charlie’s lunch and I’ll be back at noon to get it for him. When my mom and I showed up, they knew something was going on.
They played a guessing game on the hour and 45 minute drive, and when they saw the first water park show up as we approached the Dells, we knew we’d hit the jackpot.
Despite the influx of guests from all over the midwest, the check-in process is in Wilderness Resort It was surprisingly quick and painless, and we were in our poolside suite and out to one of six water parks on site in no time.
While the guest rooms at The Wilderness are comfortable and have everything we needed for our stay (two queen beds, sitting area, two TVs, bathroom, mini-fridge, and balcony), it’s the resort’s amenities that make it such a hit with visitors to the area.
Between the New Frontier, Wild West and Glacier Canyon areas, the resort offers endless entertainment including all water parks, three arcades, several mini golf courses, climbing walls, laser tag, ropes courses, karting, zip lining, zip lining, Fire pits, aerial adventure rides at Take Flight Theatre, paint your own pottery, playhouses, gift shops and many bars and restaurants located throughout the property.
Our vacation
We kicked off the action on day one at Lake Wilderness Water Park, which turned out to be a favorite of the kids at The Wilderness [though we didn’t get a chance to check out the Lost World at neighboring Glacier Canyon, which looks awesome!].
The kids had a blast on the smaller waterslides, especially Charlie and me on the winding, side-by-side slopes, and Quinn on the shorter ones.
We flitted between pools and hot tubs all afternoon, drank appetizers and summer cocktails at poolside bars and enjoyed the mid-80s heat in one of the best summer spots.
What we loved most about the water parks at The Wilderness is their parent-friendly setting. Rather than having one huge outdoor water park where it’s easy to quickly lose sight of the kids (like Noah’s Ark or Mount Olympus, for example), these satellites are located all over the property and are – while still large – smaller, and with hot tubs , splash pads, and seating/lounge areas conveniently interspersed so Kelly and I could relax in the hot tub while watching the kids splash around in the splash pad, or blow up a kid-friendly waterslide without ever leaving our line of sight. Combined with teams of life guards, we felt more comfortable with this setting than we have at other Dells resorts, and it was a lot easier for my wife on Saturday morning when she had both kids on her own while I played away golf at nearby Wild Rock.
After swim time on Friday evening, we arrived at the dining hall at Camp Social, upstairs for guest registration. Charlie got a huge slice of Detroit-style pizza from the Deli Dog, Kelly and I ate delicious burgers from the Burger Bar (excellent burger!) and Quinn enjoyed a taco bowl from Tacolicious. With the movie Sonic the Hedgehog showing on a huge projection screen, we ate at an indoor picnic table and found the experience perfectly relaxing, just right for two parents with very exhausted kids.
Arriving at Glitter Gulch Arcade on our way back, we fit in an extra hour of family fun time before returning to the room and calling it the night.
If you’re like us with young children, getting them to sleep at night can be quite a challenge. With their tanks empty and their bellies full, we had no problem getting them to sleep and ready for the next day of fun and adventure at The Wilderness Resort.
Thank God, by the way, they passed out at 9 on a Friday night so I could get a little sleep before getting up at 4 am to have WiscoGolfAddict.com contributing writer Brian Murphy pick me up on the way to Wild Rock.
We were on the course, which adjoins the property but is a five to ten minute drive away, (or a shuttle ride during more normal hours) with drones in the air by 5:00.
For the most part, the early hours have been challenging to shoot lately in the Midwest as Canadian wildfires have resulted in excessive air pollution and muted sunrises. Although the lighting wasn’t 100% perfect, we enjoyed the occasional blips when the clouds parted and gave way to a beautiful pink.
Full review of the Wild Rock course coming soon
At the 6:50 p.m. our photo season ran into a bit abruptly as the sun created stunning shadows as we packed our gear away. I had to hit the 15th again, though—one of my favorite triples in the entire state—one last time to see if it would start to pop and it did.
Full review of the Wild Rock course coming soon
Wild Rock is one of the most underrated courses in Wisconsin, in my opinion. I’ve been playing since the 2018 Writer’s Cup, and this Hurdzan/Fry gem is even better than I can remember.
Full review of the Wild Rock course coming soon
After golf, I met up with the family at The Wilderness, where they spent the morning getting coffee and donuts on site, swimming at the New Frontier Outdoor Water Park and exploring the sprawling resort.
We had another surprise in store for them, though: one of my favorite things to do in the Wisconsin Dells area, boats.
Mima and Pippa (my parents) drove in from Hartland on a Saturday afternoon to meet us at the Upper Dales boat launch and cruise down scenic Lake Delton. If you haven’t been before and enjoy boating, this is a must (boat tours and rentals are also available through many sources).
Connected to the Wisconsin River, boating in the Dells means being overwhelmed with all aspects of natural beauty: sheer bluffs, tours, cliff-jumping opportunities or just relaxing on all-sand beaches and sandbars all around. Other than the commercial jet boats that fly by and cause excessive wakefulness, this is one of my all-time favorite places to get out on the water.
We spent some time at the beach halfway through the trip, letting the kids swim and make new friends.
Totally working up an appetite, we stopped at the Grateful Shed on our way back to our hotel. This is a really great little place for food and fun, by the way. The Grateful Shed consists of five food trucks in an enclosed restaurant/bar, allowing patrons to order whatever food(s) they desire. I got wings and pizza from Koki, for example, as well as cheese curds from The Grateful Melt. The kids and Kelly got tacos from Cantina Pascual and my parents got food from Amigos Dells BBQ Ribs & Chicken. We climbed outside afterward to relax in the Adirondack chairs around the fire pit. If you are looking for a really cool and not too expensive place to have a meal, I would recommend this place.
Other great dinner spots that I can personally suggest in Wisconsin Dells include Moosejaw, Field’s Steakhouse, and Monk’s. I personally found it hard to go wrong when eating out at Dell’s. Next time I’m there just with Kelly, I really hope I can find a way to the Ishnala Supper Club, by the way. I hear it’s great but it’s very difficult to get a table in (without reservations).
Unfortunately, all good trips end—even in Wisconsin Dells. With a 180-degree change in the weather (the 50s and much needed rain during the recent drought), we left the Dells Sunday morning with the kids complaining that they wanted to stay. Isn’t that how every wonderful holiday should end?
For me, this trip made me excited to get back to Wisconsin Playground again. I can’t wait until our kids are old enough to get them on Noah’s Ark, for example, the way my parents used to take us. I can’t wait to bring them to hike at Devils Lake, ski at Cascade Mountain (one of the only Wisconsin ski hills I think is worth the time and money), eat at more sophisticated sit-down restaurants, and of course, I’m really excited to be back at Wild Rock again!
Did you grow up visiting Wisconsin Dells, too? If so, what are your favorite memories and what was your favorite place to stay? Where does Wild Rock rank among the best public golf courses in the state? It moved into the top 10 on my list – check out where it is Top 25 overall rankings, linked here: