Every year we try to take the kids somewhere over Christmas. The long school break is just long enough for me to lose my mind if we stay home. So we go. Somewhere. Anywhere that will give me direction and purpose. When I am at home I tend to spend large amounts of time being neurotic about my house, which isn’t healthy for anyone. This is an annual trip with my bestie and her family and I look forward to it every year.
This is the second time we visited the Wisconsin Dells over Christmas. With a drive time at five and a half hours, it is not an unbearably long time in the car (but still pretty unbearable because kids are involved) and there is plenty to do in the Dells. Skiing has always been the aim of the trip since at least two of the adults in our group love to ski. While all our kids may not love it yet, I am trying to force them into it.
Just kidding. So far, I have been trying to keep my kids’ adventurous spirit alive which is great when we are trying new activities and not so great when my kids won’t stop climbing everything in sight. My kids have only been skiing twice and I saw a big improvement this year, both in being more tolerant of the ski rental phase (i.e. less complaining about how their boots hurt and arguments about if they are too small or not) and also in skill.
I had a great time actually getting to ski on some slopes instead of fighting to get gloves back on my children, pulling them up 1000 times after they fell, or helping them click into their skis. Sophie and Reese had a blast and killed it on the slopes. Sloane and Pierce made some gains, and Rory, well, he lasted about two hours. And for the record, no one cried. Not even me.
Winnnnnnnning!
PLAY
Night 1/Day 1: We drove up to Rockford and stayed in a hotel and then drove the rest of the way to the Dells. Since it was 50 degrees and gorgeous outside, we decided to ski at Cascade Mountain. We couldn’t check-in to our condo yet and we knew that the temperature was supposed to drop the next day with snow in the forecast. Our cars were loaded to the gills but we dug out our gear and got dressed in the parking lot. (Sophie was mortified). We skied in sweatshirts and snow pants. We didn’t have to wait much for ski lifts which made skiing with kids easier.
The littles skied for 2 hours before we took a break for lunch. After lunch, Callie volunteered to stay with the littles in the lodge. She was in the middle of a good book and I was grateful for the break. Bless her. I had a chance to ski some with Sloane and make bigger runs with the bigger girls. I haven’t properly skied since I was 13. I still got it. Well, if you think following the girls down a difficult blue hill, biting it halfway through, and having to walk the rest of the way down is what still got it means). All in all, skiing was my favorite part of the trip and a great way to end 2019.
Pro tip: We learned from last year and decided to stop at Subway and get sandwiches to eat in the lodge. Last year we ended up paying $10-12 dollars a meal for what I think is equivalent to gas station food. Subway was a much healthier and budget-friendly choice. Also, think about going into the lodge and putting some stuff at a table. When you want to have lunch it can be hard to find a place and already having a table claimed can make it easier.
Day 2: We thought about going to an indoor water park and checked out prices for day passes. (Side note: Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari both sold a day pass at a ridiculous rate of $75/person. We found Mt. Olympus sold day passes for $23/person.) We also knew the kids were interested in going to a trampoline park and last year we ran out of time to go snow tubing at Tube Town. We also had a resort swimming pool we could hit up. We decided to let the kids vote on what they wanted to do. Since we were worried about our older kids trying to persuade the younger ones, we made them cast votes secretly.
We ended up swimming in the resort swimming pool for free, getting lunch, and then headed to Tube Town for snow tubing. Tube Town is located in the back corner of the Cascade Mountain parking lot. They have a magic carpet that pulls you and your tube up the hill. It was quite busy and we did have to wait in line for a tube. You can ride tethered with another tube if you have a youngster. I thought it was a lot of fun and we ended up going down 7 or 8 times in about 3 hours. You go super fast and the wind is fierce. It was about 30 degrees and was snowing this day so we had to bundle up to go tubing more than when we were skiing. When we drove through the parking lot past the ski lodge we could see that the parking lot was full and there were long wait times at ski lifts. Fresh powder must draw a crowd and might be best for skiing but for our beginning skiers, the milder day was better.
Pro tip: fill out the waiver online before you go and save time. Also, if you go within five hours of closing time, your tickets are half price. I wish we would have done this because this activity is a little pricey. The time we were there, after lunch, was pretty busy and by the time we headed out to leave it was clearing out. If we could have shown up then we could have had a lot more time tubing and paid half price.
Day 3: We got packed up to head home checked out and headed for our last destination, Knuckleheads. I headed to the outlet mall to pick up a couple of things and get a shopping fix before No Spend January was upon us. The kids loved jumping for a bit and doing some of the arcades. Our crew got there right at 10 when it opened and got a table. Good thing they did because they were having a Noon Years Eve Party for the kids. It was super fun and I am glad we had something to do on NYE for our kids since we were going to spend the majority of it in the car. They had a countdown, a balloon drop, music, dancing, and even champagne for the adults. Next year we are going to do a Noon Years Eve party so we don’t have to stay up late. GENIUS.
Pro tip: fill out the waiver online. You can even pay online for your jumping. We did and it saved major time since the place was pretty busy due to the Noon Years Eve Party.
STAY
We ended up staying at a condo at Tamarack Resort on Mirror Lake. I found it on VRBO. You can find it here. I was hoping that I was renting from an owner but when we arrived the unit did not match the pictures on the listing. The resort must own some rentals and rent them out. I generally like to rent form owners because in most cases they have taken steps to make the place a little homier and the digs normally don’t have a stark hotel feel. Last year we stayed at Great Wolf Lodge and accommodations were over $1000 for two nights. This rental was a little over $300 each and it let us stay together and also have a living room and kitchen.
While a lot more budget-friendly, the unit was pretty bare. It was fine for us but definitely not super luxurious or super cozy. Beds were average, sheets and comforters were scratchy, and there were no rugs in the joint. I don’t like super cold floors. I am not saying I wouldn’t stay again because we ABSOLUTELY need to stay in a no-frills place that we can not easily tear up. My kids are animals.
EAT
EAT
The Grateful Shed Truckyard:
Newly opened, this is an eatery with four different food trucks in a shed. The inside is impossibly ingenious with lots of 80’s retro decorations and unconventional focal points that our kids loved. There were two full-size VW vans retrofitted with booths inside and a full-size greyhound bus suspended above the bar that you can actually eat in. There were a couple of games for kids and lots to look at. We tried something from each of the food trucks, General Tso’s Bowl from “Taverna Kaya”, cheese curds, and grilled cheese from the “Melted” truck, and street tacos from “Pasqual’s Cantina”. We’ve never met a sweet we didn’t like so we also ordered from “Sugar Stream”, located in an airstream. This should be on your list if you are in the Dells. (The only eatery that warranted pictures).
Bobbers Bar and Grill:
We went here last year and thought the food was pretty good. However, we did not have a great experience this time. Bobbers Bar and Grill fare is Jamaican and seafood. The service was not great and I did not like what I ordered, the jerk fettuccine alfredo. Shawn got pizza and it was so-so. Bryce and Callie thought their food was standard. We did have alligator bites as an app and they were pretty good. This place is decorated in a sea/nautical theme with those big Adirondack chairs in the entrance for photo ops. It also turns into a night club at 10:00 p.m. Sooooo maybe that explains why the food isn’t that good.
Monks Bar and Grill:
Maybe it was because we were ravenous after skiing that we loved this food. Monks is a sports bar and grill and they serve standard American fare. We ordered fried pickles for the table and sweet chili fried cauliflower bites which were both very tasty. I ordered shrimp tacos and Bryce said his burger was amazing. Everyone really liked their food. The kids’ plates are frisbees, which is cool until the kids are whizzing them around the car and condo.
Budget
- Rockford Hotel- $80
- Condo- $268.62
- Lift tickets- $132
- Ski Rentals- $200
- Tubing- $130
- Knuckleheads- $50
Last year we had saved more for the trip and spent almost $1000 more to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. My kids absolutely love staying there and it was part of the kids’ Christmas last year. This trip was WAY more budget-friendly and even though we like staying there it is not something that we can do every year. Honestly, we did not miss the indoor water park all that much because we were busy!
Happy Trails!