vacation with toddlers (Wisconsin Dells)
 

We have a 2 and 3 year old and are thinking of going to Wisconsin Dells in Oct. Any suggestions on what to do there? We will probably spend 2 nights and 2-3 days.

Cost is not an issue.

I have not ever been there, but when you return, please post a review. We can exchange our timeshare there and have considered it, but wondered what all there is to do there. However, we don't have young kids, so wouldn't be interested in kids' activities. I'd just like to know about the area.

Since cost is not an issue, stay at one of the indoor waterpark resorts -- Kalahari, Great Wolf, others. Check out www.tripadvisor.com for reviews. You'll get waterpark admission with your stay.

As for the area in general, there are a lot of "touristy" things to do like mini golf, amusement parks, jet boats, Duck tours, go-kart tracks, tourist railways. But there is also a lot of natural beauty and scenery in the area to explore. If you like hiking, boating, fishing, etc., you will find plenty to do. Oh, and there's a casino in Baraboo, the next town over from Wisconsin Dells. Baraboo also has the Ringling Bros Circus World Museum.

Just as a forewarning, a friend was there last weekend and said many of the outdoor activities were closed, despite the weather being gorgeous, b/c it was past Labor Day, so you might want to check ahead to make sure the activities are open.

Hi,

Every year we go to Hotel Atlantis and stay there for my now 3 year olds birthday. Hotel Atlantis is NOT a 4 star hotel (although it isn't awful either) but we like it because the indoor waterpark is specifically designed for age 10 and under. They can do the slides easily and do not get bored. (When we went this year our boys were 3 and 5 and have been going for 3 years now.) Anyway, we like the bigger ones better for adults but it is so hard with the kids. At Atlantis you can actually relax and not worry about losing them and/or drowning. Last time we got the King Neptune suite with two rooms and it was great.

After Labor Day your best bet is to plan on spending most of your time at one of the hotels with an indoor waterpark, like the Kalahari. I don't know if the Dells boat tours still run, but if so and the weather is nice, it would be a very pretty ride at that time of year.

The Dells literature is self guiding so no need for me to comment on that.

Rather I will comment on an area attraction. Take a drive through the driftless or Coulee region of which the Dells is a part.

Mid October is the peak of foliage color. Perhaps the best place in the entire state to experience fall color is directly west of the dells in the driftless Coulee region.

Warm afternoons slowly driving (45ish) the hills and valleys of the Coulee region is almost magical. Every hill, valley twist and turn in the road offers a new vista. Occasional mists and fogs, warm sun, cool shade, stop at a small oasis to stretch and chat. It’s a memorable excursion.

“The Wisconsin Dells are the most spectacular part of the Wisconsin Drift less Area, in that their severely and immediately eroded glory represents a glacial dam burst, that of Glacial Lake Wisconsin, which drained to the east, into what is now Lake Michigan. Natural Bridge State Park is located near Baraboo. Mill Bluff State Park preserves what were formerly islands in Glacial Lake Wisconsin. Mirror Lake State Park features a small natural lake in a ravine carved by waters blocked by glacial advances. All of these features are at the eastern edge of the Wisconsin portion of the Driftless.
“ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driftless_Zone

Suggest you skip the Ringling Bros Circus Museum... we took our then almost 4 year old daughter while on trip to Madison. The museum and grounds were tattered around the edges and there wasn't too much for a young child to do or get excited about. They do a lot of circus wagon restoration so there are a lot of wagons to see - and they also have a lot of displays and posters in the main museum. From their website, it looks like they are closed over the weekends starting in the fall anyways.

We drove through the Dells - once you get past the seemingly endless water parks / hotels the scenery was great.

Can also recommend Moose Jaw Pizza and Brew company... good food. But long wait when we were there. http://www.dellsmoosejaw.com/index3.htm

We plan to do the Palfry Glen hike (probably not spelled correctly) and possibly stop by the autumnfest.

I was looking for some hotel with a zero depth pool for my 2 and 3 year old. They don't have any interest in waterslides.

We just went for two nights to the Great Wolf Lodge with 4 kids under age 3 (not all ours, thank goodness). We had a blast and never left the resort. We stayed at one of the condos with a 3-bedroom setup and enjoyed the full kitchen and hang-out space after we put the kids down.

Our kids were completely exhausted and so were we... you definitely need a minimum 1:1 ratio for adults to kids cause even our 15 month old was all over the place.

But, there was no shortage of zero-depth options: heated, indoor, outdoor, whatever. And the stuff for the bigger kids seemed separate enough that I didn't have to worry about too much big-kid splashing and pushing.

The Kalahari and Wilderness are the other high-end places, but I'd read that Great Wolf is particularly nice for kids - they also have a story hour at 8 pm and the restaurant brought applesauce as soon as we sat down (this could actually be our favorite restaurant concept yet!).