Posted: 7/21/2015 9:13:30 AM EDT
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It’s been awhile, but I again made the mistake of going to the WI Dells.
Had free passes to Mt Olympus for the family on Saturday. Was greeted with standing traffic the moment I exited the interstate to HWY 13. Just too many cars and not enough road. Took almost an hr to creep along Hwy13 and Hwy12 to the Mt Olympus parking lot. The parking lot is huge and it was filling fast. When the lot was full they started parking cars along the fence around the parking lot. Obviously they don’t have any sort of max capacity limits they adhere to. According to the signs, wait times were 90 – 102 mins to ride a roller coaster or go down one of the tube slides – forget that. Went to a Poseidon’s Rage wave pool and couldn’t even see the water. All I saw were people…looked like a mosh pit at a concert – forget that. The River Troy (lazy river) was jam packed as well. No tubes available and people would scrap over a seemingly unattended tube like a pack of wild dogs fighting over a scrap of meat – forget that. I’m surprised you don’t see many fights break out in places like this. I also wonder how they’d handle it with their skeleton crew of imported labor. Most of the park employees aren’t very fluent in English. The kids got in a couple of kid wading pools only to get continuously splashed in the face by half of Mexico (if you’ve been to a waterpark you know what I mean). If you got close enough to see any of the pool water it was milky and hazy. With all those people it was probably saturated with sun block lotion, sweat, fecal contamination and gallons of urine. Kids rode some of those kiddie rides and I noticed how alert the ride operators were. One I noticed sat and picked at her toenails the whole time totally obvious to anything else that was going on. Suppose she was relying on the screams of the watching parents to alert her if a kid fell off her ride or something. Feeling claustrophobic with patience for the crowds diminished I convinced the family it was time to go home. Exiting the parking lot was a no-holds-barred game of chicken to see who was more willing to mess up their car’s paint job. Luckily no one really tested me as even I was unsure how far I’d go to get out of there. Once finally established on the interstate heading out of town I couldn’t quell my maniacal laughter as I flew my middle finger to the fading image in the rear view mirror. God damn I hate that place. Everyone must have had free tickets that day as I can’t imagine people paying money to experience that hell. |
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This. We went to Great Wolf last fall and had a great time. No crowds, plenty for the kids to do, clean facilities... Quoted:
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Go to the indoor waterparks in the middle of winter at one of the big hotel complexes. This. We went to Great Wolf last fall and had a great time. No crowds, plenty for the kids to do, clean facilities... Find a time-share broker and you can get an entire new condo-unit at someplace like Great Wolf, Kalahari, or The Wilderness Lodge, full kitchen 3-4 bedrooms, 2 baths, fireplace, living room etc. for a few hundred bucks if you reserve it over weekdays instead of a weekend. We got a Wyhndam time-share deal through a broker service. And it was actually cheaper than getting the regular hotel rooms. And if you pack in your own groceries, you save even more money than eating out. The only downside is that they're usually detached from the main property, so there's a quick scramble in the winter air to the car to get across the parking lots to the main hotel where the big atrium that hold the water slides are and then back again. These are all new 2000's construction and really nice inside. Split it with a few family members and their kids and you can have 4 days, 3 nights there for $200 a family or even less water park admission is included. This is the living-room of the one we got last year. http://r-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel/840x460/265/26567872.jpg Bathroom... (two of these, one on each end of the unit!) http://www.glaciercanyon.net/ebayimages/presidential-glacier-canyon-master-bath-spa.jpg Other end of the living room/dining room... http://www.ronsuevacationrentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Glacier-Canyon-Living-Dining-Area.jpg |
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Find a time-share broker and you can get an entire new condo-unit at someplace like Great Wolf, Kalahari, or The Wilderness Lodge, full kitchen 3-4 bedrooms, 2 baths, fireplace, living room etc. for a few hundred bucks if you reserve it over weekdays instead of a weekend. We got a Wyhndam time-share deal through a broker service. And it was actually cheaper than getting the regular hotel rooms. And if you pack in your own groceries, you save even more money than eating out. The only downside is that they're usually detached from the main property, so there's a quick scramble in the winter air to the car to get across the parking lots to the main hotel where the big atrium that hold the water slides are and then back again. These are all new 2000's construction and really nice inside. Split it with a few family members and their kids and you can have 4 days, 3 nights there for $200 a family or even less water park admission is included. This is the living-room of the one we got last year. http://r-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel/840x460/265/26567872.jpg Bathroom... (two of these, one on each end of the unit!) http://www.glaciercanyon.net/ebayimages/presidential-glacier-canyon-master-bath-spa.jpg Other end of the living room/dining room... http://www.ronsuevacationrentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Glacier-Canyon-Living-Dining-Area.jpg Quoted:
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Go to the indoor waterparks in the middle of winter at one of the big hotel complexes. This. We went to Great Wolf last fall and had a great time. No crowds, plenty for the kids to do, clean facilities... Find a time-share broker and you can get an entire new condo-unit at someplace like Great Wolf, Kalahari, or The Wilderness Lodge, full kitchen 3-4 bedrooms, 2 baths, fireplace, living room etc. for a few hundred bucks if you reserve it over weekdays instead of a weekend. We got a Wyhndam time-share deal through a broker service. And it was actually cheaper than getting the regular hotel rooms. And if you pack in your own groceries, you save even more money than eating out. The only downside is that they're usually detached from the main property, so there's a quick scramble in the winter air to the car to get across the parking lots to the main hotel where the big atrium that hold the water slides are and then back again. These are all new 2000's construction and really nice inside. Split it with a few family members and their kids and you can have 4 days, 3 nights there for $200 a family or even less water park admission is included. This is the living-room of the one we got last year. http://r-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel/840x460/265/26567872.jpg Bathroom... (two of these, one on each end of the unit!) http://www.glaciercanyon.net/ebayimages/presidential-glacier-canyon-master-bath-spa.jpg Other end of the living room/dining room... http://www.ronsuevacationrentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Glacier-Canyon-Living-Dining-Area.jpg Bingo. While it's a bit chilly throughout the corridors/hallways and even in the water parks themselves, it's well worth it to miss the crowds. We've also gone labor day weekend for the last two years (which we've gotten pretty decent deals on, I believe), and it's not nearly as busy. It's all about timing. |
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For $10 you can park at my place, just 5-10 paces from the South Fork of the Flambeau.
What do you get for that $10? Refreshing and cool, the water is never hot. "Green facilities" very green, you piss n the forest. No rules or life guards. Security. Two labs will be there to sniff your butts and watch for intruders. Musky and Smallies abound. Traffic on our stretch of 13 is a couple logging trucks and an RV moving at 50mph. And of course this is a joke, it's free if I know you. Sounds like the Dell's have not changed since 79, my last stop there. A side note: bugs are way down this year up here. |
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For $10 you can park at my place, just 5-10 paces from the South Fork of the Flambeau. What do you get for that $10? Refreshing and cool, the water is never hot. "Green facilities" very green, you piss n the forest. No rules or life guards. Security. Two labs will be there to sniff your butts and watch for intruders. Musky and Smallies abound. Traffic on our stretch of 13 is a couple logging trucks and an RV moving at 50mph. And of course this is a joke, it's free if I know you. Sounds like the Dell's have not changed since 79, my last stop there. A side note: bugs are way down this year up here. Musky and smallies, and $10 parking? Post a Google map, brah! |
Your mistake was going on the weekend. I spend a Thursday and Friday in the Dells a couple of weeks ago, mostly at Noah's Ark and it was great! Traffic was not bad and the lines were reasonable on the water slides. Mt Olympus parking lot did not look full. Most hotels provide free Noah's Ark tickets so 2 days and 2 nights can be affordable for a family.
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Your mistake was going on the weekend. I spend a Thursday and Friday in the Dells a couple of weeks ago, mostly at Noah's Ark and it was great! Traffic was not bad and the lines were reasonable on the water slides. Mt Olympus parking lot did not look full. Most hotels provide free Noah's Ark tickets so 2 days and 2 nights can be affordable for a family.Yeah, as someone who has grown up around the Dell's my entire life, I feel no pity for people who go on the busiest day of the week on the hottest day of the summer so far and complain about a crowd. I avoid this place like the plague after about June 15th if at all possible. Noah's Ark is the better water park anyways but no roller coasters. |
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Yeah, as someone who has grown up around the Dell's my entire life, I feel no pity for people who go on the busiest day of the week on the hottest day of the summer so far and complain about a crowd. I avoid this place like the plague after about June 15th if at all possible. Noah's Ark is the better water park anyways but no roller coasters. Quoted:
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Your mistake was going on the weekend. I spend a Thursday and Friday in the Dells a couple of weeks ago, mostly at Noah's Ark and it was great! Traffic was not bad and the lines were reasonable on the water slides. Mt Olympus parking lot did not look full. Most hotels provide free Noah's Ark tickets so 2 days and 2 nights can be affordable for a family.Yeah, as someone who has grown up around the Dell's my entire life, I feel no pity for people who go on the busiest day of the week on the hottest day of the summer so far and complain about a crowd. I avoid this place like the plague after about June 15th if at all possible. Noah's Ark is the better water park anyways but no roller coasters. X2 free tickets aren't worth the paper there printed on on a weekend. Noah's Ark last Friday for my son's birthday other than food prices in the park no complaints. And you don't know bad traffic if you haven't been there for car show. |
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Bingo. While it's a bit chilly throughout the corridors/hallways and even in the water parks themselves, it's well worth it to miss the crowds. We've also gone labor day weekend for the last two years (which we've gotten pretty decent deals on, I believe), and it's not nearly as busy. It's all about timing. Quoted:
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Go to the indoor waterparks in the middle of winter at one of the big hotel complexes. This. We went to Great Wolf last fall and had a great time. No crowds, plenty for the kids to do, clean facilities... Find a time-share broker and you can get an entire new condo-unit at someplace like Great Wolf, Kalahari, or The Wilderness Lodge, full kitchen 3-4 bedrooms, 2 baths, fireplace, living room etc. for a few hundred bucks if you reserve it over weekdays instead of a weekend. We got a Wyhndam time-share deal through a broker service. And it was actually cheaper than getting the regular hotel rooms. And if you pack in your own groceries, you save even more money than eating out. The only downside is that they're usually detached from the main property, so there's a quick scramble in the winter air to the car to get across the parking lots to the main hotel where the big atrium that hold the water slides are and then back again. These are all new 2000's construction and really nice inside. Split it with a few family members and their kids and you can have 4 days, 3 nights there for $200 a family or even less water park admission is included. This is the living-room of the one we got last year. http://r-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel/840x460/265/26567872.jpg Bathroom... (two of these, one on each end of the unit!) http://www.glaciercanyon.net/ebayimages/presidential-glacier-canyon-master-bath-spa.jpg Other end of the living room/dining room... http://www.ronsuevacationrentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Glacier-Canyon-Living-Dining-Area.jpg Bingo. While it's a bit chilly throughout the corridors/hallways and even in the water parks themselves, it's well worth it to miss the crowds. We've also gone labor day weekend for the last two years (which we've gotten pretty decent deals on, I believe), and it's not nearly as busy. It's all about timing. Great Wolf is posted. If that matters to you. |
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For $10 you can park at my place, just 5-10 paces from the South Fork of the Flambeau. What do you get for that $10? Refreshing and cool, the water is never hot. "Green facilities" very green, you piss n the forest. No rules or life guards. Security. Two labs will be there to sniff your butts and watch for intruders. Musky and Smallies abound. Traffic on our stretch of 13 is a couple logging trucks and an RV moving at 50mph. And of course this is a joke, it's free if I know you. Sounds like the Dell's have not changed since 79, my last stop there. A side note: bugs are way down this year up here. Climb the fire tower at Timm's Hill |
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Find a time-share broker and you can get an entire new condo-unit at someplace like Great Wolf, Kalahari, or The Wilderness Lodge, full kitchen 3-4 bedrooms, 2 baths, fireplace, living room etc. for a few hundred bucks if you reserve it over weekdays instead of a weekend. We got a Wyhndam time-share deal through a broker service. And it was actually cheaper than getting the regular hotel rooms. And if you pack in your own groceries, you save even more money than eating out. The only downside is that they're usually detached from the main property, so there's a quick scramble in the winter air to the car to get across the parking lots to the main hotel where the big atrium that hold the water slides are and then back again. These are all new 2000's construction and really nice inside. Split it with a few family members and their kids and you can have 4 days, 3 nights there for $200 a family or even less water park admission is included. This is the living-room of the one we got last year. http://r-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel/840x460/265/26567872.jpg Bathroom... (two of these, one on each end of the unit!) http://www.glaciercanyon.net/ebayimages/presidential-glacier-canyon-master-bath-spa.jpg Other end of the living room/dining room... http://www.ronsuevacationrentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Glacier-Canyon-Living-Dining-Area.jpg Quoted:
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Go to the indoor waterparks in the middle of winter at one of the big hotel complexes. This. We went to Great Wolf last fall and had a great time. No crowds, plenty for the kids to do, clean facilities... Find a time-share broker and you can get an entire new condo-unit at someplace like Great Wolf, Kalahari, or The Wilderness Lodge, full kitchen 3-4 bedrooms, 2 baths, fireplace, living room etc. for a few hundred bucks if you reserve it over weekdays instead of a weekend. We got a Wyhndam time-share deal through a broker service. And it was actually cheaper than getting the regular hotel rooms. And if you pack in your own groceries, you save even more money than eating out. The only downside is that they're usually detached from the main property, so there's a quick scramble in the winter air to the car to get across the parking lots to the main hotel where the big atrium that hold the water slides are and then back again. These are all new 2000's construction and really nice inside. Split it with a few family members and their kids and you can have 4 days, 3 nights there for $200 a family or even less water park admission is included. This is the living-room of the one we got last year. http://r-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel/840x460/265/26567872.jpg Bathroom... (two of these, one on each end of the unit!) http://www.glaciercanyon.net/ebayimages/presidential-glacier-canyon-master-bath-spa.jpg Other end of the living room/dining room... http://www.ronsuevacationrentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Glacier-Canyon-Living-Dining-Area.jpg My parents do the Wyhndam thing. A few years ago they reserved a place just like you described at The Wilderness when I was home on leave during winter. The kids and all of their cousins had a blast. The one we were in had a skywalk to the watermarks so we never had to go outside. Parks not crowded, great place to stay and cheap. Personally I won't fight the Dells crowd for water parks. We've been going to Idle Isle Park on Muskego lake this summer. I think I may try out that small indoor water park/hotel off of the interstate in Pewaukee. |
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Apparently, you need to get out and see the world a little more .... Quoted:
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WI Dells White trash capitol of the World. Apparently, you need to get out and see the world a little more .... This. The dells is awful touristy and can be Shitty at times, but I can easily think of several dozen places that would beat it hands down for that title. |
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Go to the indoor waterparks in the middle of winter at one of the big hotel complexes. We went through the Dells one year heading to Indiana in late September. we stayed at Mnt Olympus & got a Hot-tub Suite for about 50% off because they were dead. It is best to go there when IL people aren't there in mass quantities. |
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This. The dells is awful touristy and can be Shitty at times, but I can easily think of several dozen places that would beat it hands down for that title. Quoted:
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WI Dells White trash capitol of the World. Apparently, you need to get out and see the world a little more .... This. The dells is awful touristy and can be Shitty at times, but I can easily think of several dozen places that would beat it hands down for that title. Alabama? |
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I'm in the Dells as I type this(out of state family visiting, they wanted to go). Noah's Ark has been half full(at best) all day. It's all about when you go.
Also, anybody who claims the dells are the white trash capitol has never visited the rural Mississippi, or certain parts of the Appalachians. |
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I'm in the Dells as I type this(out of state family visiting, they wanted to go). Noah's Ark has been half full(at best) all day. It's all about when you go. Also, anybody who claims the dells are the white trash capitol has never visited the rural Mississippi, or certain parts of the Appalachians. Or Branson - the Las Vegas for people with no teeth. |
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I'm in the Dells as I type this(out of state family visiting, they wanted to go). Noah's Ark has been half full(at best) all day. It's all about when you go. Also, anybody who claims the dells are the white trash capitol has never visited the rural Mississippi, or certain parts of the Appalachians. Adams County puts rural Mississippi to shame at least you can say there are decent people in rural Mississippi |
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Or Branson - the Las Vegas for people with no teeth. Quoted:
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I'm in the Dells as I type this(out of state family visiting, they wanted to go). Noah's Ark has been half full(at best) all day. It's all about when you go. Also, anybody who claims the dells are the white trash capitol has never visited the rural Mississippi, or certain parts of the Appalachians. Or Branson - the Las Vegas for people with no teeth. Branson... 100% scooter accessible. 
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It’s been awhile, but I again made the mistake of going to the WI Dells. Had free passes to Mt Olympus for the family on Saturday. Was greeted with standing traffic the moment I exited the interstate to HWY 13. Just too many cars and not enough road. Took almost an hr to creep along Hwy13 and Hwy12 to the Mt Olympus parking lot. The parking lot is huge and it was filling fast. When the lot was full they started parking cars along the fence around the parking lot. Obviously they don’t have any sort of max capacity limits they adhere to. According to the signs, wait times were 90 – 102 mins to ride a roller coaster or go down one of the tube slides – forget that. Went to a Poseidon’s Rage wave pool and couldn’t even see the water. All I saw were people…looked like a mosh pit at a concert – forget that. The River Troy (lazy river) was jam packed as well. No tubes available and people would scrap over a seemingly unattended tube like a pack of wild dogs fighting over a scrap of meat – forget that. I’m surprised you don’t see many fights break out in places like this. I also wonder how they’d handle it with their skeleton crew of imported labor. Most of the park employees aren’t very fluent in English. The kids got in a couple of kid wading pools only to get continuously splashed in the face by half of Mexico (if you’ve been to a waterpark you know what I mean). If you got close enough to see any of the pool water it was milky and hazy. With all those people it was probably saturated with sun block lotion, sweat, fecal contamination and gallons of urine. Kids rode some of those kiddie rides and I noticed how alert the ride operators were. One I noticed sat and picked at her toenails the whole time totally obvious to anything else that was going on. Suppose she was relying on the screams of the watching parents to alert her if a kid fell off her ride or something. Feeling claustrophobic with patience for the crowds diminished I convinced the family it was time to go home. Exiting the parking lot was a no-holds-barred game of chicken to see who was more willing to mess up their car’s paint job. Luckily no one really tested me as even I was unsure how far I’d go to get out of there. Once finally established on the interstate heading out of town I couldn’t quell my maniacal laughter as I flew my middle finger to the fading image in the rear view mirror. God damn I hate that place. Everyone must have had free tickets that day as I can’t imagine people paying money to experience that hell. 6/10 Lack of profanity. I went 7/22-23/15. Skipped Noah's Ark because it sucks like you found out. Cheap Motel $135 for 2 nights. Came with 3 day pass to Chula Vista Waterpark. Mt. Olympus tickets for $10 each, much better park. Rest of the Dells still expensive as hell. Biggest waste this time was The Ducks. Not worth $85 for 4 people but it was nice and relaxing. Zombie Outbreak was cool for my 10 yr old and me after the 13 yr old neighbor kid puss'd out and ran out crying and dry heaving. Proceeded to give my wife a lecture on "How we are raising our son prone to violence." I told her that is all part of raising him Hetero, which the neighbors seem to be failing at. |