Comments on: Looking for More – Advice on Waterparks in the Wisconsin Dells

By: Kaseyjot

Kaseyjot — Fri, 06 May 2011 16:35:37 +0000

I actually worked at the Wilderness, Great Wolf, and Kalahari, for at least a year or more at each, and honestly, I wouldn’t suggest any of them for the age your little dude is at now. My oldest is my seven year old sidekick, and he is absolutely in love with Mount Olympus ( http://www.mtolympuspark.com/ ). I no longer work in the dells as the hours are a bit hard with two small kids, but I still frequently go to attractions, and have a large amount of friends who still work the resorts, and it is a consensus that if you are looking for a nice relaxing vacation with children that has a large opportunity to provide plenty of fun and distraction that is the place to go. I usually hit it up quite a few times when the warmer months start, and family and friends that come to visit stay there frequently as well. If it is a matter of wanting to stay at one of the big ones, I would personally stay at Great Wolf and just go buy a day pass to Noah’s Ark, what with the large wave pool, the multiple rides, and the 4-D Spongebob attraction it has always been a hit with the kids.

By: Uzmati

Uzmati — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:54:25 +0000

We tend to shy away from the Wilderness Resorts anymore. While the facility is pretty nice, the staff seems to range from apathetic to downright rude. Now I don’t need to be waited on hand and foot when I go to a waterpark, but I’d like to think the lifeguards give a damn and not get attitude from a desk agent when they’re asked to do their job.

Could be that the last three times we’ve gone we’ve just gotten the most sour folks of the bunch, but I sort of doubt it. We were fortunate enough to stay at a Wilderness Resorts in TN about a month ago and they were fantastic.

In contrast, the staff at both the Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge have always been excellent. I’d give the slight nod to Great Wolf over Kalahari, but both are very enjoyable. If you’ve already done Great Wolf, you’d probably get a kick out of the Kalahari. It’s right across the street from Great Wolf and pretty much EVERYTHING is in one place, which can be nice with smaller guests.

By: Sgt.Sausagepants

Sgt.Sausagepants — Fri, 06 May 2011 05:01:39 +0000

Have you taken him on the Duck boats yet? This seems like something he might enjoy. You get to drive through water and look at cool rock formations.

By: Dechion

Dechion — Thu, 05 May 2011 19:53:16 +0000

My daughter stayed at the Kalahari when she went for a class trip, and absolutely raved about the place. We will likely stay there next time we go, at her insistance.

As to other attractions, I love Noah’s Ark, though it caters to an older crowd… maybe in another year or two when Alex is more into large water slides and such. My whole family also had a great time riding the Wisconsin River on the Ducks, it was a couple hours well spent.

I have not stayed at the Wilderness, but I have heard things similar to the concerns Cassie found in the reviews.

Another thing to think of is the waterpark (outdoor) and theme park of Six Flags located perhaps another two hours or so east between Chicago and Milwaukee.

Enjoy the vacation =)

By: Sakaki

Sakaki — Thu, 05 May 2011 18:04:18 +0000

ps finally found a date to go off of, was probably last there in 2002 :x

By: Sakaki

Sakaki — Thu, 05 May 2011 17:54:32 +0000

I have not been to the dells since my teenage years some time ago, but I would have recommended The Wilderness Resort. My opinion is outdated and my personal experience was the indoor ares during winter. We also ended up staying in one of the “Vacation Villas” with another family. Also, omg has their site not changed like at all. Anyways, I know the villas were new when we stayed, so there was little to no damage. We did end up in one of the ones furthest from the waterpark area, which sucked for winter. I think my mom had some problems with the customer service too, but I wasn’t really a part of those conversations. If you got one of the villas near the waterparks it would probably be pretty neat, though cost more. Of course my experience was winter, which probably changes a lot of factors.

As for other hotel/waterparks my family being from Wisconsin and frugal we tended to go more often staying at the cheaper hotels and paying via deals to get into the large waterparks like Noah’s Ark. Having read way too many of the Wisconsin Dells books I always liked the ads Great Wolf Lodge did, but you mentioning it’s more for younger kids makes a lot of sense. The Kalahari was being built and newly opened over the course of going there. Having to see it every time we went while driving always made me want to stay there. The Kalahari looks more expensive and is slightly further away from more attractions so may cut down on crowds, but I also have no idea what kind of waterparks they have. I can’t say how good it is, but you’ll probably see it either way XD Those are the main three I really remember sticking out as having waterpark themed things.

Some other outdoor only ads stick in my mind, private lake kind of thing with slides. Though I don’t know any of their names, or stayed there. They just had interesting ads. Really I guess I’d suggest a trip to Noah’s Ark :X I know they had lots of new kid stuff I wasn’t allowed near but wanted to when I went last. The Wilderness probably will be crowded, noisy, and crowded XD