Wisconsin Dells 2017 Recap

We had another really fun time in the Dells for a long weekend getaway. Wisconsin Dells is about a 4 and a half hour drive for us, which is JUST far enough that they kids are beginning to have had enough just in time to arrive at our destination without a legit meltdown.

We did everything we set out to do this time and then some, which I feel was ambitious, considering at the time of the trip, I was 33 weeks pregnant, and it was pretty hot out!

Activities

Knuckleheads Indoor Amusement Park

We knew after spending half an hour here on our last trip that this was a MUST for an evening activity, and it did not disappoint. We decided to take a chance, since Ryan was sleeping, and start off with some black light bowling, which was a lot of fun! It was the first time our boys had gone, and they thought it was great for about the first 3 or 4 frames, but then got totally sucked into the go-karts in the room next to the bowling alley, so we struggled to keep them bowling for the remaining 6-7 frames. The boys used the 8lb balls, which they seemed to manage just fine (although they're kinda brutes), and I stuck to the 10lb one on account of being 33 weeks pregnant and all.

As for the amusement park portion, this time we got the big kids bracelets for $25 apiece so they could ride all the rides their little hearts desired, which worked out well. Cashel fit the height requirement (barely - at 47 inches tall) for all the rides, but Kendrick did not, so Mark had to go get a chaperone pass for the rides like the train and Tornado, which wasn't ideal. Ryan, of course, couldn't ride on anything, but he had a lot of fun climbing up into the seats and playing with the steering wheels and looking at all the bright colors and running around.

Both Cashel and Kendrick were in tears when they left the 4D movie theatre thing during the 5 minute movie. They were really shook up, which seemed strange. But I guess the seats shook a lot, and that scared them.

They had 4 main rides there: The airplane, Tornado and train roller coaster. They also had bumper cars (which Cashel LOVED, but Kendrick was too short for) and this big bouncy blurp thing. Attached is a trampoline park, but that wasn't covered with the wristbands and would have been an extra $15 per kid, which we just weren't feeling like paying, so we had some weeping and gnashing of teeth for a bit about that. Other than that, it's just a huge arcade - kinda like Chuck e Cheese.

They also had these massage chairs sprinkled throughout the place, which was great for this weary Mama who had a sore neck from the night prior.

As we were there during the week earlier in the evening, it wasn't very busy at all, but if you're thinking about going on the weekend or during a busier time, keep in mind that with little kids, you're going to have to watch them closely. It isn't laid out so that it's easy to see where short little ones toddle off to, so they could very easily get lost during a busy time.

Pirate's Cove Mini Golf

This was the first time the kids had been mini-golfing, and to be honest, they were too young (3 and 5). They struggled with it, and I was too busy and too pregnant pushing around Ryan in the stroller (also not recommended), and Kendrick just kept running off and wouldn't play the holes in order. We should've just skipped this. I'd say the minimum age that would really be appropriate for this is 6 or 7. It was out in the open a lot, and you had to go up a fairly steep hill, and it was just tiring for our family, and oh, so hot. Everyone was sweaty and cranky when we got done. But on a cooler evening with slightly older kids, it'd be a blast!

Train Ride

We were pretty impressed with the little train ride we took the boys on. I actually thought it was a bigger train, but it's just a little miniature one, which worked fine too. We got there just a little after 1pm, so we missed the 1pm train and had to wait around with the boys until the 2pm train. We ventured into the little shop there and found a sort of wonder emporium of trains. If you have a little guy who is big into trains, this would be pretty much the most incredible place in the world for them haha

We were so thankful for the giant train table that kept the boys occupied (instead of picking up all the fun toys that were for sale throughout the store) for at least 20 minutes of that 45 minute wait.

All in all, the boys had a great time, and we'd highly recommend this to anyone with small kids.

Circus World (Baraboo, WI)

I feel like I can't be fair to Circus World on account of it being so dang hot the day we went that we were all just kinda miserable. It was expensive, and the boys just really didn't seem super into it either. We had arrived just shortly prior to the big circus show, so we quickly made our way through the museum area (which might have been cool without 3 little boys in tow and me being 33 weeks pregnant) and over to the show. The museum was really fascinating, and you could tell a LOT of work had gone into getting it just right. The performers were pretty amazing, and they all did a fantastic job. But man was it ever hot in the big top tent! We were DYING in there!

After the circus show, Kendrick really wanted to ride an Elephant, so we obliged. Cashel didn't want to, opting for a pony, but man were we ever miserably hot, we knew we could get a horse ride out at our friends' farm sometime, the line was long, and we all just wanted to go home so badly, so we talked him out of it.

Overall, seriously - it really is a cool place to visit. I would highly advise going when it isn't beastly hot, and without taking a whole bunch of little kids - especially the ages ours were at (5, 3 and 1). And keep in mind it isn't cheap!

Accommodations

Meadowbrook Resort

This was our second stay at Meadowbrook Resort, and overall, we had a great time! There is a particularly growly attendant that we've encountered both years who has snapped at our kids in a very less-than-friendly tone of voice that put us in a bad mood to start off. I really should have reported her to management, but I didn't. For such an extremely family-friendly place (and I mean...they go WAY out of their way to cater to children), it just started out our stay on a really bad note. The rest of the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

This particular check in experience, I had to sign this waiver that had specific quiet hours, which were pretty hard to attain with young children in tow who are used to a pretty early schedule each day. The quiet hours were 10pm-8am, and well...my kids are in bed and asleep by 8:30pm each night (whereas the other guests were not), and then they are up by 6:30-7am each morning. The other rules were "no running" which..haha...tell that to 3 little boys all ages 5 and under.

It would have been helpful if the pools were open earlier than 8:30am so that we could get them out of the room so they wouldn't be disruptive. But seriously - we spent 2 hours snapping at our kids to "be quiet" and "stop jumping" and "stop running" in the morning. It would have been extremely helpful for them to have actually had black out blinds in the room as well, so that when the sun was up at 6am, my kids wouldn't have taken that as a cue to wake up. They did have thicker curtains, but they didn't do a great job at keeping out the morning sun.

Aside from those negatives, however, the room was nice, and we picked a unit that had two queen beds and a pull out "davenport" (as my Grandpa used to call it), so it accommodated us VERY well. The pools were well-maintained, and they had a really great sandbox area full of toys and little tree house type buildings that the boys had fun playing in. They also have a really great grassy area, which we didn't really utilize this time, and a gazebo which would typically have been perfect for picnics (we used it for that last year), but it was just too hot and I was much too pregnant to want to willingly be out in the heat without being in the pool ;)

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One thing I am never really altogether very fond of here is their shared decks. They're great if you've got a bunch of family all wanting to stay close by, but when you're all on your own in one room and have two strangers on either side, it's just plain exhausting trying to keep the kids from bothering the other people. I felt like we were constantly trying to get them to stay just in our area, and once one of the kids even went into another room on account of those people leaving their door unlocked. It just didn't seem very safe.

The indoor pool was probably the biggest draw for these boys, still. It was more tiring this time, however, as they wanted to keep going between the outdoor pool and indoor pool.

Overall, I think we probably wouldn't come back to this resort again if we returned to Wisconsin Dells. We'd definitely skip a year this year, but I think in the future, we'd choose a bigger resort so the big kids could go on more advanced slides, and Mama and the little ones could stick to the kiddie areas - something like Great Wolf Lodge or the like. Meadowbrook was great for these years with so many littles at once, but the pool areas are really boring for the bigger kids, and Cashel especially didn't have as much fun this time around.

Dining

Kicker's

We had been to Kicker's on our trip the previous year, and had such a great experience that we thought we'd try it again. Let's just say our experience wasn't as great as the year before, partially due to our waitress being pretty oblivious as to how to manage little kids (seriously - you don't give the kids suckers and balloons BEFORE they eat their food), but more on account of us stupidly deciding to all get the buffet. Mark had what we now know is Frontotemporal Dementia, but at the time, he was just ridiculously inattentive to the kids, wanted to eat a ridiculous amount of food, and kept leaving the table to go get more, which prompted the big kids to follow him, and my only options were to just hope that they didn't break anything or ruin the whole buffet, or drag our 1 year old with me to attempt to supervise two little kids up there, leaving my purse and expensive camera behind, and my food to get cold. It was a nightmare :( The food was good, though, and I could tell they really were TRYING to be good for the kids, so I can't fault the establishment by any means. it's a great place, and once the kids are older, we'd go back. It just wasn't a great experience this time.

Buffalo Phil's

This one is probably going to be a staple for us for a number of years. It was a little too chaotic to actually get any pictures, and Mark was pretty hurried, as were the boys, since everyone was tired from our fun time at Knuckleheads (they are attached, so we went from there to eat) and ready to call it a night. We really do like this spot, but it was just a tough time due to Mark's now known diagnosis and his inability to manage any of the kids, and me being so pregnant. It was just a lot, and the big kids were just a little cranky.

HuHot

The kids and Mark were SUPER excited that Wisconsin Dells had a new HuHot in town. We opted to go there for an early supper one night, and as usual, weren't disappointed. Ryan slept most of the time, but HuHot has just never really disappointed ;)

River Dawg

We stopped at this place one day for lunch, and it was a hit! They mostly serve polish sausage type hot dogs and such, but also have Gyros. It was SUPER tiny inside with very little places to eat, but we all managed to cram into a little corner, even with Ryan's stroller. We'd definitely go back again!

Overall...

We won't be back this year, as we're dealing with a lot of deep stuff in our family, but if and when we go back, we'll be tackling the bigger water parks in order to appease the big kids. But really...it'd have to be ALL about the water parks, becuase we've done all the other stuff, and if I'm being honest, I'm kinda "over" it. I'd rather go to Minneapolis or Duluth or somewhere else we haven't been in a while that's a little closer.