One of my favorite things to do in life is travel. I mean this world we live in is absolutely incredible! There is so much to do and see and experience. So of course when I learned about the waterpark capital of the world, I planned the trip! Thing is though that I come with a package deal, 3 little toddlers. I have a 4 year old, 3 year old, and an 18 month old, so traveling these days involves a different sort of activities list. Here is how we traveled to Wisconsin Dells with toddlers!
What we loved about Wisconsin Dells with Toddlers:
- Most of the stuff is extremely interactive!
- A variety of things to do from hiking, boating, fishing, water parks, etc. Click here for a list of hundreds of things to try in the area.
- Everything is close together, so you don’t have to drive far to get to anything.
- There are things to do for all ages. You go to a waterpark and there is a kids section, but there are also adult slides and rides. This is the perfect place for a family vacation.
What we didn’t like about Wisconsin Dells with Toddlers:
- There are so many people everywhere. We went on the off season and there were still so many people.
- The water at the water parks is so cold. I mean this is Wisconsin after all.
- There are a lot of cheapy attractions. Attractions that look cool, but are cheaply done.
- I feel like nobody smiles here! I don’t think one employee anywhere we went was happy and friendly. So don’t go expecting a warm welcome.
Where to stay:
Our favorite way to travel with toddlers is through resorts! Camping just results in all of us not sleeping as good and being grumpy the majority of the trip. Hotels, we are constantly telling our kids to stay quiet cause we don’t want to wake people. Airbnbs, you just never know what you are actually getting. This is why we choose resorts.
While in Wisconsin Dells we decided to stay at the Bluegreens Christmas Mountain Resort. This resort is out of town and more in the back country area of Wisconsin. It is kinda nice to not be smack dab in the middle of town, especially with all the noises from drivers, waterparks, and just everyday noises of being in town.
This resort is in the woods surrounded by a golf course, a pond, and even a ski area for the winter time. What we loved about this resort was:
- It was out of town.
- There are multiple options of places to stay, Villas, Cabins, Cottages, or RVs. Also there are different room sizes to fit all sizes of families.
- There are multiple fun activities such as a kids pool, paddle boating, mini golf, tennis, basketball, and hot tubs.
- Did I mention that we LOVED the kids pool? It has a waterfall to swim under, basketballs and hoops, a waterslide (big and small), a seesaw, and a fountain.
This is a beautiful resort, it is super busy, but it is beautiful. To truly feel like you are in Wisconsin this is a resort to be!
Location: S944 Christmas Mountain Rd, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Things to do:
Wizards Quest
This was our favorite thing that we did in Wisconsin Dells with toddlers! It literally is fun for all ages! My husband and I enjoyed it just as much as our toddlers. So this entire building is almost like an escape room, but with the different concept of going on quests instead of escaping. You look for clues, hidden compartments, and solve puzzles just like an escape room.
The difference in this is that the entire building is an enchanted world of earth, water, fire, and air. There are mystical creatures and beings who give you assignments that you have to fulfill. The detail of this immersive activity is incredible!
Not going to lie some of the creatures were a little more scary to my toddlers, especially in the fire rooms, but they still really enjoyed most of it. If your kids are more nervous around unknown and unfamiliar things than maybe this isn’t the place for them.
Some quests are harder, but most were things that our toddlers could do. Their favorite was finding the rainbow for the unicorn. They went through secret walls, down a rainbow slide, and through a bird cage. My toddlers loved that quest so much that they made us do it twice! Haha!
Location: 400 Broadway Ave, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Admission: ages 10+ $29.99, ages 3-9 $19.99, ages 2 and under FREE
Hours: 10am-6pm daily
Goody Goody Gum Drop Candy Shop
Candy, candy, and more candy. Walls of candy, buckets of candy, and rows of candy. Yep this is a toddlers dream come true. Salt water taffy, chocolates, and lollipops. If you are wanting to see stars in your toddlers eyes then stop by and pick out a piece of candy to buy.
Location: 2210 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Hours: 9am-6pm daily
Glockenspiel Clock Show
This adorably themed shopping mall is towered over by a giant clock. Just before the hour, the chime will start and a story will begin.
Everyone knows the childhood fable of the Pied Piper, who came to a town and rid them of their rats by playing the flute. The people refused to pay the Piper and so he came back and fluted to the children who left with the Piper. The townspeople learned their lesson that day to always keep their word.
This story is retold, but also reenacted by figures dancing around the clock. It is a cute and short story for kids to watch and enjoy.
Location: 420 Broadway Ave, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Admission: FREE
Hours: 8am-10pm daily
Alligator Alley
This small building across from the Mt Olympus Water/Theme Park is home to an assortment of reptiles for you to admire. Plus pay a little extra and you can hold one of these alligators yourself! If that’s not your thing then take that little extra to buy some food to feed the gators.
If seeing an alligator isn’t enough fun for you and your little ones, then come just to check out the 2 headed animal collection. 2 headed snakes and 2 headed turtles, now that isn’t something you will see at any other gator park!
Location: 1800 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Admission: ages 13+ $8.95, ages 3-12 $7.95, ages 2 and under FREE
Hours: 10:30am-5pm daily
Mt Olympus Theme Park and Water Park
Honestly if you are visiting Wisconsin Dells and you are not planning on going to a water park, then you are crazy! Waterparks are the THING to do here! Seeing as this is the waterpark capital of America!
There are so many water parks to choose from, but there are 2 in particular that are super fun for toddlers! The first is the Mt Olympus water park. The splash zone at this water park is huge! I mean I am pretty sure I could get lost in this giant splash pad! This and the indoor waterpark are where you will find the majority of waterslides for toddlers, though most of them they do have to ride with an adult.
My kids loved the wave pool, Poseidon’s Rage, the best. They loved jumping the waves, but side note those waves can be pretty powerful, so keep an good hold of you little ones hand. I almost got swept away a couple times!
The only other downside to the water park is that the water is freakin cold! My kids love splash parks, pools, and slides; but the freezing water sometimes made it a little hard to handle. I guess this is Wisconsin after all, so of course the water is cold!
The reason we loved Mt Olympus wasn’t just because of the super fun water park or the awesome theme; it is also a theme park! Roller coasters, spinning balloons, a mini train, and a heck of a lot of go kart racing.
This isn’t a huge theme park by any means, but it has enough to make it even more exciting then just a waterpark! There is a kids area that has a variety of kid rides, these are rides that even the littlest of toddlers can do with an adult. Also they allowed us to take our toddlers on the go karts as long as they were with an adult.
Location: 655 N Frontage Rd, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Admission: ages 3+ $30, ages 2 and under FREE
Hours: during off season: Mon-Thurs 10:30am-8pm, Fri-Sun 10:30am-9pm, theme park opened Sat-Sun (limited rides) click here for an accurate schedule based on your visit
Timbavati Wildlife Park
I feel like you can never go wrong with an activity that involves animals and this is one of those places. This place is like a zoo, but next level. We are talking not only carousel and a train ride, but camel rides, kangaroo feeding, giraffe feeding, and so much more.
Location: 2220 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Admission: ages 13+ $19.95, ages 2-12 $16.95, under 2 FREE
Hours: 9am-5pm daily
Top Secret Attraction
To be honest this was not one of my favorite places, but my toddlers thought it was pretty cool. I mean the outside is pretty awesome; an upside down white house. My little boys have no idea what transformers are, but they though the giant “robots” surrounding the building were super cool. They literally made me take a picture of them in front of every single one. Haha!
The attraction is just a building that you walk through that, of course, looks like it is upside down. So the chairs are on the ceiling and the lamps, etc.
There are a couple oddities throughout the walk like bigfoot in a cage, aliens, and a couple star wars robots. So if your kids don’t like any of these things then they may not like it. There really isn’t much to it other than walking around and a couple of lights flashing. It isn’t interactive and honestly takes like 10-15 minutes if you are a slow walker.
Like I said, I didn’t find it thrilling, but my toddlers thought it was pretty cool, especially finding the treasure room at the end.
Location: 2127 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Admission: $5 ages 3+
Hours: 10am-10pm daily
Big Bear
When I go on vacation I love to find random photo ops and Wisconsin has a few. Look for the buffalo on the car (Buffalo Phil’s) or the moose on the car from Moosejaw Pizza. There is a giant dinosaur in front of a gas station and a giant mouse holding cheese in front of Market Square Cheese. The Wild Fun Zone looks like a giant gorilla is escaping while fighting and octopus.
Yeah, you get the point! There are a lot of quirky photo ops throughout Wisconsin Dells. I didn’t even make a dent in how many there are. My toddlers favorite photo op was sitting in the Big Teddy Bear at the gas station.
Pick your photo op and get your kids on the excitement of quirky roadside stops!
Location: 31 Meadowview Dr, Lake Delton, WI 53940
Admission: FREE
Hours: 24 hours everyday
Wisconsin Deer Park
If you were to ask any of them toddlers what their favorite thing to do in Wisconsin Dells was then this was it! I was super skeptic about it before we went. I was worried we would pay and none of the deer would want any of our food or that my kids would get scared by the overload of deer.
All of my concerns were for naught though because it was so much fun. The first part of the park is a set of giant animal statues for photo ops. Then comes the goats and chickens. At this point my thought was we paid all this money to see goats and chickens like any other petting farm, but oh was I wrong.
We walked through the gates to where they keep the deer and there they were. Not 1 or 2 deer, not even just 10-20, there are over 300 deer in this park. Granted a few, the males, were in separate exhibits; but the majority were just roaming free.
These deer were the sweetest animals! Sure they got right up in your face ready for food, but they didn’t bite or push or trample any of my teeny little toddlers. My little 18 month old boy was hand feeding these sweet animals with no fear at all! This was the best activity we did in Wisconsin Dells with toddlers. So easy and so fun!
The deer let you pet them, and my daughter even hugged them. Haha! The point is I was more worried about my kids feeding the horses and bunnies than I was the deer.
There are 2 sections of deer, those of the USA and those of Europe. They are separated, so don’t give all you crackers away at once or you won’t get to feed the other set of deer. Though I highly suggest either you buy multiple packs of crackers to feed the deer or bring a ton of quarters to get feed in the 25 cent machines all around the park. You will run out of food fast, especially with toddlers.
Location: 2183 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Admission: ages 12+ $16, ages 3-11 $12, ages 2 and under FREE
Hours: 10am-4pm daily
Original Wisconsin Dells Fudge
Did you know that Wisconsin is not only known for its amazing cheese, but also its fudge. Would it really be experiencing Wisconsin Dells if you didn’t stop in the shop to sample some fudge? Make sure you get some fudge when visiting Wisconsin Dells with toddlers, they will be in heaven!
Location: 108 Broadway Ave, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Hours: 10am-6pm daily
Noah’s Ark Waterpark
Of all of the waterparks in Wisconsin Dells, Noah’s Ark Waterpark is the most toddler friendly. My kids loved seeing all the different animal slides and attractions this waterpark had to offer.
Location: 1410 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Admission: around $39.99 per person, depending on time of year visiting
Hours: depending on time of year is when the park is open and the hours, click here for the current hours
Carr Valley Cheese
Don’t tell me you came all the way to Wisconsin and you are not even going to go to a cheese factory or even a cheese shop! Right before you watch the Glockenspiel Clock show, stop into the Carr Valley Cheese shop and sample the cheese. It is so fresh and delicious.
My kids really enjoyed the samples, and the amazing cheese curds we got while we were there! Eating cheese in Wisconsin Dells with toddlers is a must do experience!
Location: 420 Broadway Ave, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Hours: 9am-6pm daily
Places to eat:
Grateful Shed
This adorable Instagram-able shed is filled with a variety of adorable food trucks. There are tacos, grilled cheese, and milkshakes! We of course stopped in for the Hey Moo Ice Cream! I wouldn’t rate their milkshakes as amazing, but the experience of eating here is what makes it so fun.
The outdoor patio is painted with pink cows and the indoor eating area has multiple vans and buses that have been converted into tables. It is so cute and my kids loved sitting in the front seat of the buses while eating their food!
Location: 1470 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Hours: Sun-Thurs 11am-2am, Fri-Sat 11am-2:30am
Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty
I mean this is an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet! Do I honestly need to say more!? I am a huge breakfast fan, and this was a family style buffet lumber jack breakfast, fit for Paul Bunyan himself!
So let me start with the food! Homemade sugared donuts, sausage, buttermilk pancakes, sliced ham, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and country potatoes. Everything was AMAZING!
They sit you down at a picnic looking table and hand you a camping mug with a metal plate. So this isn’t a normal buffet, where you get in line and grab your food. They bring all the food to you, if you want more, than ask and they bring you more. It is really nice to have that family style meal.
The entire building is filled with antiques, axes, taxidermy animals, and all things you would imagine a lumberjack house to look like. Once you are done eating there is an adorable giftshop filled with the cutest souvenirs and memorabilia.
Surrounding the building were giant statues of Babe and Paul Bunyan. My kids were so excited to see the big blue bull, though they had no idea who Babe or Paul were. I suggest maybe reading some stories or teaching your kids who Paul Bunyan is before you go!
The entire experience is adorable and my kids loved it! If you are there for the summer time too, after you eat walk next door to check out the lumberjack show they have. It is a competition of sorts testing the skills every lumberjack would know. This whole experience was a fun thing to do in Wisconsin Dells with toddlers!
Location: 411 State Hwy 13, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Hours: Mon, Thurs, Fri 7am-12pm, Sat-Sun 7am-12:30pm
Buffalo Phil’s
If you are looking for an adorable place to take your toddlers to eat, then they will LOVE this place. My husband and I loved it for the food. Their burgers were delicious, but my toddlers loved it for the experience. This lodge looking building is decorated with everything buffalo and rustic feel.
Surrounding the edges of the tables are mini railroad tracks. So instead of having a waiter/waitress deliver your food and drinks along comes a mini train delivering all that you need! My kids LOVED this. It was so exciting to see the train come by and stop for us to grab our food and drinks. This is the best place to eat in Wisconsin Dells with toddlers!
As if the train and décor isn’t fun enough, in the middle of the tables and railroad track is a gigantic city made of Legos! Look for Lego Hogwarts, Lego Star Wars battlefield, Lego Toy Story characters going camping, Lego Jurassic World and so much more! There was so much to see! Waiting for our food seemed so fast cause we had so many cool things to look at!
Location: 150 Gasser Rd, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Hours: Sun-Thurs 11am-8pm, Fri-Sat 11am-9pm
Moosejaw’s Pizza
This was the place everyone told us to go with toddlers. I mean literally this lodge is decorated and themed after moose. I mean the kids even get an antler crown with their meal.
Location: 110 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy S, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Hours: Mon-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri 11am-11pm, Sat 8am-11pm, Sun 8am-10pm
Places We Wish We Hadn’t Taken Our Toddler:
Lost Canyon Tours
One of the big things I so wanted to do when we were visiting the Dells was hike through the Witches Gulch, but unfortunately the only way to do that is to take a Dells boat tour. Doesn’t sound so bad, except for the 2 hour boat ride with toddlers. Yeah that sounded miserable. So we decided to try the next closest tour to the witches gulch and do the 30 minute horse drawn wagon tour through the lost canyon.
We figured the kids could handle 30 minutes of just sitting and it would be fun cause we were in a wagon pulled by horses. The excitement lasted about maybe 10 minutes and then they were done.
They were excited to see the horses pulling the wagon and even excited to pet them, but the tour was not enough to keep them entertained and wanting to sit for 30 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED the tour and thought it was incredible, but my toddlers did not.
The tour talked about rocks, the horses, and Wisconsin; none of which my toddlers cared anything about. There was nothing exciting for the toddlers to see accept these gorgeous rocks so they were bored. After about 10 minutes they started fighting, crying, and wanting out.
It was an amazing experience, just one I would not recommend doing with toddlers.
Lost Temple
There are some things you just shouldn’t do in Wisconsin Dells with toddlers and this is one of them! I tried googling this attraction before we arrived and found almost nothing about it. I thought it was so weird that there were no pictures or online, accept for the outside of the temple.
In fact the outside of the temple is the best part of the entire attraction. So stop by, get your picture, cause literally the entire inside is almost all pitch black dark (hence the reason there are no pictures online).
Now saying that you probably are thinking oh that is okay to do with toddlers, but let me tell you it was awful with toddlers. Before we entered I explained to my kids that this was all fake and all for fun. This however did not stop them from cutting the circulation out of my hand because they were so nervous throughout the experience.
The majority of the temple is very dark, as in you can’t see the hand in front of your face dark. Then there are giant spiders that jump out, creepy mummies all over, and lots of flashing lights. It wasn’t scary at all for an adult, but for a toddler it was a little bit too much for them. My kids now refer to the Lost Temple as the ‘Scary Place.’
Museum of Root Beer
We weren’t going to go to this museum, but we were all thirsty and it was there. It was a complete rip off too. The museum is literally one room filled with old empty bottles, cans, and posters. The most exciting part was watching old root beer commercials, but even that was lame. It was not worth the entry fee and especially no fun with toddlers.
There are walls and walls of glass bottles just waiting to be knocked over by curious little hands. We had to keep our toddlers real close so they wouldn’t touch/break anything. It was fun to stop in and buy a root beer. My kids did enjoy picking out their own pop, but don’t pay for the museum or you will regret it! This is not something you will want to do in Wisconsin Dells with toddlers.
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