The Wilderness at Wisconsin Dells

[bjscheel]

SIL's family and ours are planning on Wisconsin Dells over 4th of July weekend (I know...busy but works with the schedules). We were all set to reserve at Great Wolf Lodge, then SIL leaves a message last night to check out Glacier Canyon Lodge (part of The Wilderness Lodge).

Wilderness looks cool as well, more things to do, but I realize not all of them are included in your stay- and it doesn't tell you how much they are. It also seems really spread out. But I like the log theming and that it's on the lake.

She thought the Glacier Canyon part was cheaper but that's not what I was finding.

Anyway, any thoughts on Wilderness vs. Great Wolf? Kids are 11, 8, 7, and 4 and my kids (11 and 8) are not terrific swimmers. 7 year old boy is really into Nerf type guns so would probably love the ball play place at Wilderness (that costs extra).

 

[MNWDWFAN]

I'm a long-time lurker here, but finally registered so I could reply to this thread. We stayed at the Wilderness Resort last August and are going again this August. We all liked it very much. It is fairly spread out, but it's not that bad-our kids (the youngest was 4 at the time) didn't ever complain about the walking. All of the waterparks and the indoor playground are included in the hotel cost. There are some mini-golf courses, arcade and laser tag that are extra. I've never stayed at Great Wolf, so I can't compare, but we really liked Wilderness.

Steph

 

[jackal]

We have been to both many times. I would go with the Wilderness for a 4th of July trip. There is so much more to do at the outdoor water parks at that hotel. The Great Wolf is very, very small as far as their outdoor water park. If it was indoor season like now, I would go with Great Wolf as their indoor water park is better.

The Wildnerness is HUGE. With your kids and their ages, I think they would be bored with Great Wolf and outdoor activities. THe Wilderness has 3 outdoor areas, some even consider 4 outdoor areas. Then they have the indoor areas too. Great Wolf only has 2 slides outdoors and the rest of the outdoor area is very small. Indoor they have GREAT areas though.

So, again, for an outdoor season trip, Definitely Wildersness

 

[bjscheel]

Cool! Thanks for the responses! It's so hard to know, never having been to anything like this!

Any ideas on how much it costs for the "extras"? I see they are soon opening a zip line- DD11 will want to do that- I'm sure it's a lot. But say, the bumper boats and the ball play area? It looks like the $15/$17 coupon that allows admission to some mini golf, etc. has to be used in one day- anyone used those coupons?

 

[I_believe]

We are heading to the Wilderness Lodge for spring break. We go to the Dells every year and have stayed at the Wilderness 3 times now. My kids are 9 and 7. I think for the ages of your kids you will enjoy the Wilderness Lodge more. There are 3 main indoor water parks as well as 4 outdoor. The territory is spread out but it is really not that bad and they do provide a shuttle bus if you really want it. We usually stay at the lodge and we will walk over to Glacier canyon to use thier waterpark. As with any large resort you won't notice the crowds as much and the Wilderness territory is for guests only. The addtional activies that they have that are free include the dry playarea Timberland is free while the minature golfing, the go carts, the lazer tag, and a few others do cost. You can buy a wrist band for these activities for $17.00. I think you will enjoy your stay at the Wilderness Territory more than Great Wolf. The is a big difference between the two and your kids really are too old for the other. JMO.

Either way have a great time!

 

[JBurke]

Another vote for the Wilderness.
We went last July and it was wonderful.
Yes, its huge, but you can always catch a ride with their employees who ride around on a golf carts. If you stay at one of their townhomes, they have shuttle buses as well.
So many pools to choose from, plus lazer tag, indoor play gym and video games, zip lines, bumper boats, go-karts, 3 miniature golf areas. They had a pass you could buy, I believe it was $20-25 a person that gets you one admission to each of the above items plus tokens for the game area.
My kids 8, 11 and 15 all loved it. The zip lines werent open yet last year, so we are looking forward to trying it this summer.
You can even get picked up at the resort in a WW2 duck and go on the duck tour! That was a blast.

 

[bjscheel]

So, it is $19 more per night to have a basic 2 Queen hotel room in the Glacier Canyon than in the Wilderness Lodge. Any benefit to being in the Glacier part? Is it farther away from most activities? What's the difference between the two?

Do you get a time share pitch (or an attempt at one) when you stay in Glacier?

I would like to get the 2 bedroom condo, but $95 more per night probably isn't worth it. We sleep in a regular 2-bed room at Disney for a week

I have heard to try not to get a 2nd floor room in WL because that's where all the traffic between parks is...and top floor is best to avoid footstep noise from above.

Is it the "Original Ducks" that picks you up there? I have heard they are better than the other Ducks in the area.

 

[Kellydelly]

My family has stayed at the Glacier Canyon. We went in mid-December, mid-week, which was great- no crowds, less cost ! The condo was gorgeous and the swim parks were great fun. I think we paid $130 per night (2.5 yrs ago). I would recommend the Wilderness Resort to anyone!

 

[MickeyMickey]

We stay at the Wilderness 4-6 times a year, and love it. We always stay in the condos. Either at Glacier Canyon or Wilderness on the lake. I can't tell you how much I love both of these. They are both almost new, and the hotel is much older so the room would be much nicer at Glacier Canyon.

Glacier Canyon is split into two distinct sections. Wyndham Glacier Canyon (timeshares) and Wilderness Glacier Canyon. The buildings are all together, they actually connect and you would not know the difference if you didn't know Wyndham is there. In fact both check in desks are in the same lobby right accross from each other. Wilderness Glacier Canyon has the two queen rooms, and 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units. Wyndham Glacier Canyon has 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom units. Both are nice, the condos have slightly different layouts between the two. I have stayed in the 2 and 3 bedroom at Wilderness and the 2, 3 and 4 bedroom at Wyndham (renting through an owner at a much cheaper price than you could ever get through the Wilderness).

If you stay at Glacier Canyon, request a unit overlooking the Waterpark as half the rooms overlook the parking lot. At Wilderness on the lake all the rooms have a view of the lake, pretty cool.

 

[MickeyMickey]

Another thing to possible look at. Would you be at all interested in staying together? It looks like hotel rooms for those nights are like $230, but you could get a 2,000 square foot 3 bedroom condo at Wilderness on the lake for $540, (versus 230*2 rooms = $460) $80 more a night total if both families stayed together. You would have so much room, plus a full kitchen, refrigerator, living room to hang out etc. Wilderness on the lake has a really nice outdoor infinity pool, grills outside etc. and is right on the lake. You would never want to go back to a hotel room again!

 

[bjscheel]

I suggested rooming together at Great Wolf Lodge, but due the the sleeping habits of the other kids, they decided it would be best to have their own room. So we won't be going that route. Hopefully we will be having so much fun we won't be in our rooms much anyway!

 

[wtpntigger2]

We love Wilderness and go at least 2-3 times a year and my mom only lives 20 min away so I have somewhere I could stay for free. I really like that only guests of the resort can use the waterparks and because they're spread out, so are the crowds and it doesn't seem crowded. As mentioned earlier, you can buy a pass which allows for one lazer tag, one game on each mini golf course (there are 2), bumper boat, and arcade tokens. If you don't use them all, as far as I can tell the card doesn't expire. The zipline looks really fun, but I don't know the cost of it.

 

[Kellydelly]

We love Wilderness and go at least 2-3 times a year and my mom only lives 20 min away so I have somewhere I could stay for free. I really like that only guests of the resort can use the waterparks and because they're spread out, so are the crowds and it doesn't seem crowded. As mentioned earlier, you can buy a pass which allows for one lazer tag, one game on each mini golf course (there are 2), bumper boat, and arcade tokens. If you don't use them all, as far as I can tell the card doesn't expire. The zipline looks really fun, but I don't know the cost of it.

From what I remember people who were not resort guests could pay to use the facilities. Is that only off-season?

 

[bjscheel]

The website says the waterparks are exclusively for guest use, but it doesn't say that about the other activities, so maybe the non-waterpark attractions are open to the public?

 

[wtpntigger2]

From what I remember people who were not resort guests could pay to use the facilities. Is that only off-season?

You can do that at Kalahari and Great Wolf for the waterparks, but not Wilderness. Plus you need to display a parking pass in your window, so that makes it difficult for someone not staying being able to park.

 

[SnowWhite2]

We were there one year when they let in outside people into the waterparks. We stayed at Glaycier Canyon that year. I was very vocal about the fact that outside people were allowed in because they never allowed that before. I expected it to be more crowded but it wasn't. They also wouldn't let you bring in "outside" food or beverages and they were very strict about it. I was not happy about that. It seems that it has changed back to only registered guests can use the water parks.

We loved everything about Wilderness, especially the fact that it allowed me to get out of my in-laws house and into a nice resort for just my family.

 

[angwill]

When we stayed there in October they were selling passes for the indoor waterparks to people not staying at the resort so their website must not be updated. Either that or it is just off season that they sell tickets to offsite guests and just put it on the website to entice guests.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

The Wilderness is SO much better than Great Wolf. Great Wolf is geared more for the younger kids. There is a really cool ride there, but they make you carry this 50,000 pound intertube up 10 flights of stairs! By the time you get up there, you are too echausted to enjoy the ride.

We actually prefer the Kalahari over Wilderness and Great Wolf. Kalahari is large, but not TOO large like the Wilderness. We have actually used the shuttle service at the Wilderness because it is that spread out. We also like the roller coaster ride and the surfing at Kalahari.

The buffet at the Wilderness is good, and I believe kids still eat free.

 

[KNJWDW]

We have been to the Dells too many times to count. My parents actually had a home in the area for many years. Anyway, we stayed at Glacier Canyon Lodge this past October. And I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I had always preferred the Kalahari, but our last stay there in August wasn't very good. The rooms are great, but the waterpark and bathrooms were very dirty and the lifeguards for the most part were not very friendly. They also didn't have many of the slides open first thing in the morning. They didn't open them until they opened the waterpark to the public, which takes away some of the perks of staying there. So, back to the Wilderness. It is spread out, but doable. We had a 2 bedroom suite at Glacier Canyon Lodge and it was spacious and very nice. The kids had bunk beds in their room. There was a full kitchen and the rooms are very quiet. My daughter went horseback riding there. The stable is across the street. She loved it! I think it was about $20 per person. As I type there is an ad on TV for the Wilderness, makes me want to plan another trip! Have fun!

Amy

 

[bjscheel]

Another thing to possible look at. Would you be at all interested in staying together? It looks like hotel rooms for those nights are like $230, but you could get a 2,000 square foot 3 bedroom condo at Wilderness on the lake for $540, (versus 230*2 rooms = $460) $80 more a night total if both families stayed together. You would have so much room, plus a full kitchen, refrigerator, living room to hang out etc. Wilderness on the lake has a really nice outdoor infinity pool, grills outside etc. and is right on the lake. You would never want to go back to a hotel room again!

Okay, I revisited this idea- I don't really want to go clear over to Wilderness on the Lake, but Glacier Canyon has a 3 bedroom deluxe that might work perfectly. It has a double queen room, which is the sleeping arrangement she wanted for her family, on on side, and a king bedroom and bunkbed room on the other side, which is the sleeping arrangement I wanted for my family. Plus a full kitchen, dining, living, and bathroom in the center. For $250/family as opposed to $220/family for regular rooms. I pitched the idea by email a little bit ago, we'll see what she says.

Also sent her a link to this thread so she can read all the great information you guys have to offer! Thanks for the help!