Spring Break in Wisconsin Dells

We’ve been to Wisconsin Dells 4 or 5 times in past winters or spring breaks. We always stayed at one of the large resorts with indoor water parks, usually Wilderness Resort because it has 3 indoor water parks. Our family had pretty much decided not to return because we were all getting a little bored by the Dells and water park vacations.

But then one of my friends had a fantastic deal for a 2-night stay in a log cabin that she couldn’t use at the last minute, and it was up for grabs. What the heck, I grabbed it. And I'm so glad I did! This was our best ever trip to the Dells!

WHERE WE STAYED: Cedar Lodge Resort is set right on the Wisconsin River, with a boat landing, sandy beach, playground and outdoor pool. Boat rentals are available next door. The resort does not have its own water park, but passes to Chula Vista Resort’s water park are included during your stay. The staff is super friendly and helpful, and our cabin was immaculate and furnished with quality furniture and comfy beds. Cedar Lodge is about a 5 minute drive from the downtown area. Some people may prefer to be closer to the action; we actually enjoyed being a bit away from it, in this beautiful setting. We’d all love to come back and stay here in the summer, when we can make use of the river for swimming, boating and fishing.

WHERE WE ATE: Our first night we ate at River Walk Pub. As the name suggests, it was right on the river and had gorgeous views from its walls of windows overlooking the water and bluffs. There was a huge porch overlooking the river with tables, and two levels of patios below, also set with tables. Sadly, it was not warm enough for outdoor eating when we were there.

The restaurant was decorated in a northwoodsy / log cabin theme, with lots of stuffed wild animals mounted on the walls. But what really captured my attention were the gorgeous beams running across the ceiling. They were ENTIRE tree trunks that had been debranched, sanded and varnished. Very unique and impressive. The menu was not extensive, but had the usual pub type offerings of burgers, sandwiches, salads and a few entrees. We tried a burger, chicken strips, perch dinner and chicken Caesar salad, along with a couple of appetizers. All were good, but I wouldn’t make a special trip back for the food. I WOULD come back for the view on a beautiful summer day when I could dine or have a cold cocktail outside on the porch or patio.

The next day we had lunch at McDonald’s because we wanted to grab something quick enroute to the water park. It was easily the most beautiful McDonald’s I’ve been in. It had the northwoodsy / log cabin theme again, with a huge stone fireplace on one wall, beautiful wood chandeliers, and, of course, more dead & stuffed animals on the walls and on ledges. They were amusing, because several had McDonald’s food items: a raccoon with a drink; a fox with a burger in its mouth; another raccoon with a carton of fries. Pretty funny, and it kept us entertained trying to find them all.

Our second night we ate at Buffalo Phil’s. If you guessed it had a northwoodsy theme, you’d be right!

But this had another twist: a room where the food was delivered by a train. It was very cute, of course, and when the train wasn’t delivering food, it was running along the tracks with various stuffed animals (Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story characters, a puppy dog, etc.) that occasionally changed after a meal was delivered.

The menu here was more extensive, but my clan stuck to burgers and grilled cheese, and I dove into the soup & salad bar. All were delicious! The fries were notable as were the burgers.

The main dining room had a huge fireplace with impressive stuffed and mounted animals adorning the walls. The large bar had a couple of saddle stools that the girls had fun trying out, and there was a life sized buffalo in the hallway.

WHERE WE PLAYED: Most of our play time was spent at Chula Vista's waterpark, Los Rios. The waterpark is a recent addition to the resort; we stayed at Chula Vista about 5 years ago, on our first ever visit to the Dells, and Los Rios did not exist. We were really impressed with the water park - the design offers something for everyone, including a water roller coaster which was really fun. The park is large enough to be entertaining for all ages, but small enough for kids to easily find their way around without getting lost.

My daughters spent a lot of time on the floating lily pads, using overhead ropes to maneuver across the pool, going from floating pad to pad. I think the warm water temperature in this area added to its appeal. They also loved the slides and the lazy river. One criticism I have for the park is there were not enough tubes for the lazy river. Most people were walking rather than floating.

The girls have never been too crazy about those big structures with the huge buckets of water that periodically dump over everyone, though many other kids love them and Chula Vista has a nice one. The toddler area was popular with the younger crowd, with small slides and a shallow pool with water guns.

Lockers were available for rent, but we did not find them necessary. Although the park was crowded, we were always able to find a place to sit and establish base camp. We learned on the first day that one area generally uncrowded with available adirondack chair seating was on the 2nd level, near the roller coaster entry and exit point for the 3-lane mat racing slides and the drop slide.

I love the water, but indoor water parks tend to leave me feeling cold and damp. Chula Vista solves this problem by providing a dryer for people. Really! Five people can fit into this dryer at a time, and after you feed it $2, hot air blows around, drying you and your swim suits. We did not try it out, but friends who did reported that it worked but it got a little hot after awhile. Pretty cool idea!

Wisconsin Dells offers many indoor amusement areas, and we decided to try out Knuckleheads on this trip. These types of places are generally not high on my hit list because I think they're often overpriced and mean constant wallet opening to keep the kids engaged. But when we checked into our cabin, the desk clerk mentioned that they had discount tickets to Knuckleheads. We decided to give it a try, and it was a real highlight of the trip.

We saved $10 on the $22.95 all-day ride wristbands for the girls. My hubby and I did not get one since the girls are old enough to ride alone. We hit Knuckleheads around 5PM one evening, and stayed until the 10PM close. Other than the $26 we spent on their wristbands, we bought $20 worth of tokens for the arcade. I think $46 for 5 hours of fun for two is a pretty good deal.

The girls really loved the high ropes course and the 4D Theater. The ropes course was at first intimidating for daughter #2, and she climbed down immediately. But she found her courage and tried again half an hour later and loved it. We did not even consider paying extra for the go karts because our younger daughter was too small. Neither girl missed or even asked about it.

We were lucky, because this very popular spot was virtually empty when we were there. One of the ride operators explained that local schools had spring break the following week, and they expected to be "slammed" then.

A unique aspect of the ticket redemption area is that all prizes are stocked on shelves and bins, and each person walks around and picks out their own prizes. What a timesaver! I'm used to waiting forever while kids wait in line to individually pick out prizes from a glass display case manned by one or two grumpy and slow employees. Love this concept!