Wisconsin Dells

247cy

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Nov 14, 2006
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Spring Hill, KS
My wife and I are considering a vacation this summer in the Wisconsin Dells. Any suggestions as to what to do, and what you think about it would be greatly appreciated. Note- we have a 13 year old son that will be going.

Your wife. I don't have any problem with it, as you two are married.
 

CycloneChris

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Jan 28, 2009
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Chicago suburbs
Wow…Impressive recap! I will have to save this for future reference.

I do have to admit though; I did chucked a bit at this paragraph on “fine diningâ€

Is “fine dining†defined differently in Wisconsin than everyone else on the planet? I’m mean seriously; who honestly heads to a place called Crabby’s Seafood Buffett and expects white table cloths and a professional wait staff? “Boy honey, I bet they have a great wine list at this Crabby’s place I keep hearing about! “ :smile: I’d also say by definition, a microbrewery knocks itself out of the fine dining category.

Sorry…just having a little fun with ya. I'm guessing you meant "sit down" dining.

Again….very nice summary and I’m guessing much appreciated by the OP.


Pretty sure he only listed the 2 places as fine dining, and was not considering Crabby's as a fine dining establishment.
 

isufbcurt

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Apr 21, 2006
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Newton
I love Wisconsin Dells and Mt. Olympus. Kids or not its a fun place to go and I try to go there every couple years.
 

jamesfnb

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Apr 9, 2006
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Kalahari is one of if the the biggest resort and a good place. Great Wolf lodge is also big but good. Mt. Olympus rocks.

Don't go to the upside down white house, complete waste of money.

You can also zip line between trees which is fun or get a tour of a cave.

There are a ton of places to stay, just depends on if you want a big resort, small hotel or cabin.

If you ever go in the winter there is a ski resort just down the Interstate.

Definitely go on a duck boat.

If you are a golfer the Wilderness has a great course.

For your wife there is a good outlet mall right there in the Dells (my wife loves it), and your son may like the Nike or Adidas store
 
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jamesfnb

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Apr 9, 2006
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A lot of great ideas. I'm really not familiar with the Dells. Is all of this spread over a wide area, or is it fairly centralized? If it's spread out, is there a good place to stay that is within easy distance of a bunch of attractions?


It's fairly centralized, with hotels and attractions off of 2 or 3 Interstate exits. When I say centralized though it's still plenty big covering plenty of square miles like a typical small town of 2,000 or so with a lot of stuff to do so you're not walking many places. I didn't want you to think it was all on one street and only a few blocks long, ha. To me it feels like small town Iowa with a ton of water parks and all tourists.

Really not a bad place to stay just depends on what you want. Plenty of mom & pop motels along with cabins and of course the big resorts. It's only 30 minutes north of Madison if you have any desire to go there. Maybe the Cyclones will play the Badgers in football or basketball one of these years????????
 
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cyinne

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Sep 4, 2009
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My wife and I are considering a vacation this summer in the Wisconsin Dells. Any suggestions as to what to do, and what you think about it would be greatly appreciated. Note- we have a 13 year old son that will be going.
If you are traveling to the Dells through Dubuque on highway 151 go north at Dodgeville and stop at The House on the Rock. It is amazing. Its a house that takes you through different themed rooms and areas of the house. It has the worlds largest carousel and many other interesting stuff.

House on the Rock - Tickets and Tours
 
Nov 9, 2008
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Do the Ducks, Noahs Ark and Mt Olympus.....my four year old got to drive one of the Ducks on the lake portion of the tour. Plenty of ways to spend money, plenty of ways to save money, just be smart and look at all options. Yeah the Moosejaw delivery cars are interesting looking. The Tommy Bartlett deal has become a bit of a joke....skip it, skip White House thing thats turned on its top.
 

Cyclonepride

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Apr 11, 2006
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A pineapple under the sea
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If you are traveling to the Dells through Dubuque on highway 151 go north at Dodgeville and stop at The House on the Rock. It is amazing. Its a house that takes you through different themed rooms and areas of the house. It has the worlds largest carousel and many other interesting stuff.

House on the Rock - Tickets and Tours

That was the other question- mapquest shows to go up I35 into Minnesota and then straight east. Is that the best way to go?
 

Gonzo

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Mar 10, 2009
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I've taken my kids the last few years and I would highly recommend the Chula Vista resort. We always stay there; it is newer and nicer than almost any other place, has great ammenities (indoor & outdoor waterparks, several restaurants, golf course, etc). It is also less expensive than many of the big name places. The waterparks aren't as huge as some of the others, but are still very nice and we always take a day or two and leave Chula Vista to visit Mount Olympus (water park & amusement park together).

To be honest, I've stayed several places in the Dells and I don't think I'll ever stay at any other place than Chula Vista in the future.

I've only been to the Dells once, a few years ago, but I'd recommend Chula Vista as well. We got one of the two bedroom condos with kitchen, jacuzzi, etc. It was great for our family, with two young kids. One of the great things about Chula Vista is that it's removed from the main strip and all the touristy stuff. We went to the deer park and a few other things, but it was great getting away from all the madness and people down there when we went back to the resort. Not a bad golf course right there at the resort either.
 

cloneswereall

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Aug 12, 2010
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I suggest taking the Upper and Lower Dell boat tours (not Ducks) as well. You get to see a lot more of the formations and they stop at various formations (Witches Caldroun and the Jumping Rocks are the two I remember the most).

http://www.dellsboats.com/

EDIT: I guess it's called "Witches Gulch" and "Stand Rock".
 
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jamesfnb

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Apr 9, 2006
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you can go through Dubuque and then take 151. 151 is a 4-lane like an Interstate and it takes you straight up to Madison. You can either hop on the Interstate in Madison and it takes you east a bit and then north to Wisconsin Dells or there is a town called Mt. Horeb right before Madison and you can get off there and go straight north on a 2-lane road until you get to the Dells.

The other way is to go up I35 to Minnesota and then straight east and slightly back south. The good thing about that is it's all interstate and you can go 70 in Minnesota.

I'm not sure which way is faster.
 

Maplewurst

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Apr 6, 2011
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trailer down by the river
I did'nt want to date myself so I did a google search of the Tommy Bartlett water skiing show. This is the 60-th year in existence and I believe I was around 13 the last time I went with my Grandparents. I thought this was the coolest part of the trip...(looks like they have a new science center as well)

Tommy Bartlett Show & Exploratory

The second coolest part of the trip was a boat tour of the Dells... NOT THE "DUCK"; but this company. Watching the dog that jumps over the cliffs' is a must see !!!!

Wisconsin Dells Boat Tours
 

demoncore1031

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May 18, 2008
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oh the dells brings me back. i lived there for a summer (2000 or 2001 i think) and had alot of fun there. partied alot and met some cool people. the funniest thing was when me and 3 of my friends surrounded us and tried picking a fight with us. there were about 10 of them and they claimed to be "a gang." haha. a gang in the dells??? anyways, they made references to our being "loser metalheads" or whatever, but when it came down to brawlin' time, they backed down. 10 against 4 in a fight that THEY started and they back down... what a "gang" they turned out to be!! this is always the one thing i remember most about the dells.
 

FDCy83

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May 15, 2008
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My wife and I took our preteen daughter a few years ago (realizing she is married and has two kids mean it was a FEW years ago) and what we did was made some stops on the way there. I recommend the Billy clocks Home Page in Spillville and we also did some hiking in Backbone State Park IA DNR: State Parks, Backbone State Park so we had reasons to get out of the car and break up the trip. We also have some friends who have a dairy farm in SW Wisconsin so we spent a night there and had her "help" with the milking and such. We also did the House on the Rock. Then the dells. I have been there as a child and as an adult. I like the ducks. There is lots to see and do.
 

Scoop

Member
Feb 9, 2009
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If you are into hiking, kayaking and some spectacular views, I would highly recommend stopping by Devil's Lake near Baraboo.