By Don Rafner
The Wisconsin Dells, the busiest vacation destination in Wisconsin, offers more than 8,000
hotel rooms and more than 20 water parks, according to the Wisconsin Dells Visitor & Convention Bureau. You'll have several choices when choosing a
resort at the Wisconsin Dells.
Kalahari Waterpark Resort Convention Center
The Kalahari Waterpark Resort Convention Center appears to be a small city. This resort has its own 125,000-square-foot indoor and 70,000-square-foot outdoor waterparks, and it also features a 15-screen movie theater, spa, seven restaurants, a 27-hole golf course and an on-site fitness center. The Kalahari is a welcome landmark to families driving to the Dells. The bright purple water slide that juts out from its rear wall has let many children know that they've arrived in the Dells. You should make reservations if you plan to stay at the Kalahari. Even though the resort has 740 guest rooms, it fills up quickly on weekends during the peak tourism season.
Kalahari Waterpark Resort Convention Center
1305 Kalahari Drive
Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
877-525-2427
kalahariresorts.com
Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort
The waterpark resorts in the Wisconsin Dells are constantly evolving. In October of 2009 the Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort opened its newest attraction, Tombstone Town. This upscale haunted house allows guests to tour a hotel filled with zombies, ghosts and skeletons, a haunted jail, a spooky horse stable and a TNT shack. This latest attraction joins four indoor and four outdoor water parks that combined total more than 500,000 square feet of slides, tubes and waterfalls. They also offer laser tag, video arcades, miniature golf and several restaurants, bars and gift shops on-site. You should reserve a room before heading to the resort during peak season.
Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort
511 E. Adams St.
Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
800-867-9453
wildernessresort.com
Great Wolf Lodge
All of the waterpark resorts in the Wisconsin Dells are kid-friendly. The Great Wolf Lodge really focuses on children. Visit the story time, which happens every night in the Great Wolf's lobby area. Kids sit on the floor in their pajamas, clutching teddy bears and other stuffed animals, and listen to resort staffers read classic children's stories. The resort also offer a huge indoor and outdoor waterpark, several on-site meal options and a video arcade. There's also MagiQuest, a four-story live-action adventure game in which participants, armed with magic wands, explore a medieval kingdom, encountering knights, slaying dragons and solving riddles along the way.
Great Wolf Lodge
1400 Great Wolf Drive
Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
800-559-9653
greatwolf.com
About the Author:
Don Rafner has been writing professionally since 1992, with work published in "The Washington Post," "Chicago Tribune," "Phoenix Magazine" and several trade magazines. He is also the managing editor of "Midwest Real Estate News." He specializes in writing about mortgage lending, personal finance, business and real-estate topics. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Illinois.
