We have been busy little traveling bees lately here at Baby Gizmo! A couple weekends ago we re-visited the Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells to show you everything this place has to offer in the summer. Our stay was short but our coverage was plenty. We had a blast and got it all on tape for you!
If you are considering other Wisconsin Dells destinations, check out our Kalahari Review.
Wilderness Resort Video
ARRIVAL
After an unexpected 4-hour delay getting out of Chicago, we finally arrived at the Wilderness Resort at 10pm on Friday night. Since I had three young kids with me who were expiring more and more by the minute, I knew we needed to get checked in, into the room and into bed in a hurry.
Thankfully, the front desk staff was understanding, friendly and fast. I had my room key and directions to my room in less than 5 minutes.
ROOM
My family of five had the “Double Suite Wet Bar” room that included two queen beds, a semi-privacy wall with sleeper sofa, two TVs, mini fridge, wet bar, microwave, coffee maker, bench and a balcony.
The rooms were very clean and plenty of space for my family. I really appreciated the semi-privacy room so that my husband and I could relax on the couch and watch TV while the kids were sleeping.
GROUNDS
We have been to the Wilderness in the winter a handful of times but this is the first experience in the summer. I have to say that I have a new appreciation for how beautiful the grounds of the resort really are. With all the beautiful trees, cabins, water fountain/lakes, sprawling green grass, I now realize why they called it the Wilderness.
In the center of the resort is a foot bridge that crosses this major creek that is absolutely breath-taking.
If golf is your thing, they have two 18-hole golf courses that are gorgeous and a popular place for weddings.
RESTAURANTS
Since our visit was short (we arrived late on Friday night and left early Sunday morning), we didn’t get a chance to eat at any of the restaurants on the property. I can say that the food at The Thirsty Buffalo Saloon was delicious. Since we were focusing on the outside summer activities this trip, we ordered from that restaurant poolside in our cabana. Yes, the Wilderness was kind enough to provide us with a cabana which turned out to be a great place to eat lunch without having to pack up the kids to leave the pool. They were big fans of that.
OUTDOOR WATER PARKS
Since we covered the indoor water parks on our last visit this past December, we stuck to the outdoor parks this trip. Before I get into the individual parks on property, I do want to mention that we witnessed a lifeguard training moment and I was super impressed. In short, during every shift in every water park, one lifeguard is surprise tested to make sure they are paying attention. This procedure is so brilliant to keep this resort extra kid-friendly, that I did a whole separate post (with video!) that you can see HERE.
There are four outdoor water parks that include: Lost World, Lake Wilderness, New Frontier, and Cubby’s Cove. We were only able to hit 3 of the 4 water parks during our stay.
Lake Wilderness
Since this water park was right outside our balcony, we started here. My kids couldn’t wait to hit the water slides. My 7-year-old was the only kid to hit the Rafter’s Rage Body Slide because you have to be 48”, but all three kids (even the almost 3 year old!) loved the large tube slide and two little body slides.
The children’s area was a hit with my littlest one featuring water activities, slides and things to climb on.
There was also a lap pool, water basketball and a hot spa pool.
Lost World
The Lost World water park is the largest of all four. This is where you’ll find the two newest, extreme water slides. These two new water slides are definitely not “kid-friendly”. Any time a chamber opens and drops you almost straight down nearly 5 stories or shoots you through a loop at nearly 40 mph, I’d say it’s pretty extreme.
Having done this type of free fall drop water slide before, I chickened out this time. My husband on the other hand loved it. If you are the adventurous type, you have to try these new slides. They are a big hit!
While the brand new water slides are for older kids and adults, my 5 and 7 year old’s favorite water slide was right next door. Halley’s Comet Racers is a fun slide that you lay on a mat head first and head down an enclosed tube slide around twists and then end up out in four open racing lanes. My kids loved that racing aspect of this slide since they could compete to see who gets to the finish line first.
The Lost World also has a lazy river, several swimming pools, a dinosaur-themed play ‘n spray structure and an outdoor hot tub.
New Frontier
The New Frontier is one of the most kid-friendly parts of the resort for little kids. It has Bear Foot Island, an area that features tons of spray and play devices as well as the popular 300-gallon bucket that dumps over everything. Toddlers Cove is also great for the little ones because it has a zero-depth play area with a tree swing, small slides and bubbling geysers.
For the older kids, there is a 400-foot tunnel slide and a body slide that starts out on a 40-foot high tower. A lazy river, 3 pools, 2 activity pools and a large hot spa round out the activities in the New Frontier water park.
Cubby’s Cove
While we didn’t get a chance to head over to Cubby’s Corner, we hear that it has an infinity pool that overlooks Lake Delton and a small play and spray zero depth area.
SKY ROPES COURSE
Even though our objective was to cover all the outside activities, we had to try the new Northern Lights Sky Ropes Course. This is a large ropes course inside 30 feet above the arcade that has fully-harnessed participants navigating through 42 different challenges. There is no minimum age or weight but the harnesses do have to fit correctly and kids under 48″ have to be accompanied by an adult.
My 7-year-old absolutely loved it! My 5-year-old on the other hand had the best intentions when he harnassed up but when he got to the edge, he just couldn’t go through with it. In his defense, the first challenge looked difficult and it is really high up off the ground. I would say the ropes course is best for kids 6 and up that are not afraid of heights.
ZIP LINE
In the center of the resort is a massive zip line that sends daring participants sailing through the tree tops. Since the zip line is only for people 70-270 lbs, we opted out of this activity because none of the kids could participate.
COSMIC GO-KARTS AND KIDDY KARTS
This was our last activity of our visit that we did as we were leaving the resort. It ended up being so fun that we were a little sad that we didn’t allow more time to enjoy these go-karts more than once.
The Kiddy Karts are smaller go-karts designed especially for the smaller guests 4-7 years old. My 5 and 7 year old had a blast in these cars. Serious fun! They would highly recommend trying out the Kiddy Karts to any kids visiting the resort.
My husband and I tried out the regular go-karts with our 3 year old. While these go-karts are for drivers 54″ and taller, younger/shorter participants can ride along in a double car. These go-karts are super fun and can go pretty darn fast. I have to say that I’m so glad I jumped in a car last minute because we had a blast on this race track. This is something we will definitely do again during our next visit!
WRAP-UP
We had a fabulous time during our weekend at the Wilderness Resort Wisconsin Dells! There is so much to do outdoors in the summer here that I’m positive we’ll be visiting again soon.
FAQs
Yes, the Wilderness Territory is now open since closing for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yes. There is a daily resort fee of $24.95 (plus tax).
*Disclosure: Thanks to Wilderness Resort for providing a two-night complimentary room for our visit. As always, all thoughts, statements and opinions are my own.