"My parents (Don and Alice Ranker) got married on May 19, 1962 on what my mother hoped would be a beautiful spring day. I understand the wedding was beautiful, but the temperature was very warm for May.

My father was tasked with planning the getaway (honeymoon). My dad had a friend who had a cabin up in the northern part of Wisconsin that they were welcome to borrow. My dad enjoys the outdoors and outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing, so it was right up his alley and figured my mom would also enjoy. Unfortunately she did not. She was very disappointed spending the night in a fisherman's shanty as she called it. She told my dad they would be finding other accommodations for the remainder of their honeymoon! They ended up deciding to go to Wisconsin Dells! My mother had spent time living in Lake Delton as a child and she knew Wisconsin Dells had plenty of nice hotels/motels, good restaurants, and things to do. I don't know where they stayed, but I know she mentioned taking a duck ride I believe on their honeymoon getaway. It sounded like they ended up having a great time!

Growing up my family took a couple trips to the Dells but it has been awhile since my parents have been there. My mom and I were just having a discussion last week about how they wanted to celebrate their 50th anniversary and she said rather than a big party she would like to go back to the Dells to see how it has changed and enjoy it with her family. Her comment was it has changed so much from when we honeymooned.....do you guys want to stay at one of those fancy resorts or those places with a waterpark?

I just had to send this to you as we are going to try to plan their 50th anniversary getaway during that actual weekend and will start making our plans soon."

"In 1989 John and I (Florence) went to the Wisconsin Dells in October to celebrate our 37th wedding anniversary. In those days it was very quiet. We took the boat ride on both the upper and lower dells listening to the history and seeing the beauty it holds. We stayed in a small motel on the east side of the bridge (I can’t remember the name). We had a nice dinner but nothing else was opened while we were there that day.

Then the next day, we went to the House on the Rocks which was extremely interesting. We then went on to visit my sister and her husband in Harvard, Ill.

Now in October 2012, we will be celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary. As a family, we have decided to spend it at the Wisconsin Dells. We have reserved 3 large cabins and 1 small cabin at Rivers Edge Resort for Thursday, Friday and Saturday August 9th – 11th. We are taking our 5 adult children and spouses plus 10 grandchildren, spouses and 6 great-grandchildren to help us celebrate our 60th anniversary (over 32 family members). We are celebrating in August rather than October 18th as it is easier for the younger children to get away without missing school. We plan on a great anniversary!"

"Wow this is just a wild story.....I ordered an informational brochure on the Wisconsin Dells as we are planning on returning to the Dells and much to my surprise as I was looking through your brochure, I saw your ad for love birds that had spent their honeymoon in the Dells and were planning a trip back after all these years....... THAT IS US!!!

Bruce and I were married on August 2, 1991. On August 3, 1991, we left for a honeymoon to Missouri. When we got to the interstate my husband asked me if I was sure I wanted to go to Missouri. I said, "Where else would we go?" He said we could go to Wisconsin and go to House on the Rock and then to the Wisconsin Dells....I said sure, I've never been to Wisconsin. So you can imagine the surprise on our family and friends when we sent postcards home from the Dells and not Missouri!

It was a second marriage for both of us, I had two children ages 12 and 14.

We visited and lived on the lazy river at Noah's Ark, rode the ducks, played mini golf at Pirate's Cove, had our picture taken at an old time photo studio in downtown Dells (enclosed in this email), saw the Tommy Bartlett's water show, and went to Ripley's Believe it or Not! We had the time of our lives and bragged about the fun times in the Dells. Even took the kids there the next year so they could have fun too, however it rained a couple days on us and was not quite as fun......

A couple of weeks ago our granddaughter, Elle, who is seven, asked me if I would take her somewhere on a vacation because she has never been on a vacation and wanted to go to Adventureland (an amusement park here) in Des Moines (which is where we live) and stay in a HOTEL! That is all she knows about 'going on a vacation'. Well, does she have a great surprise coming.

We were told that a lot of the hotels in the Dells now have waterparks, inside and out! (this would have greatly helped our rained out trip with the kids 19 years ago) I was delighted to hear that and told my husband that August 2, 2011 will be our twenty year anniversary and HONEYMOON of the Dells so why not take her there!

I have enclosed our picture we had taken there twenty years ago. Oh my, we don't look like this now......my husband's hair is a lot shorter, and I.....well........have a lot of love rolls.. ha!

So we have reservations for August 12 - 15, 2011. Twenty years later since our honeymoon.

I want Elle to have the time of her life, and remember this trip for the rest of her life, her first vacation, and it was with grandma and grandpa! And for Bruce and I, I know we will have fun. I can't wait to see the Dells and how it has grown, but most of all, we really can't wait for the Dells to see Elle. We are keeping the ducks a surprise! She thinks it is a big swimming pool with ducks in it."

"We married at 16 & 18 years old, 40 years ago. Being from Chicago, and never being out of the state, we spent our honeymoon at Wisconsin Dells. It was so special and memorable, we haven't missed one year of going there since then. In fact, we now live in Wisconsin, and go there several times a year. Some things have changed, but it continues to be one of the safest, scenic, and most friendly places there is.

The downtown remains the same with a few new stores here and there through the years, but open late in the summer, we always loved that. There is no where else to go at night to walk around, get a funnel cake, and shop besides the Dells that we don't have to fly to.

We miss the Indian show that was there years ago, but some things like the Tommy Bartlett Water Show are still there and always worth seeing year after year. Just the walk from the parking lot to the lake is very pretty and still impresses me as it did 40 years ago. The River Walk Restaurant is newer, and a must see for the beautfiul scenery. We love eating outside there. It is such a special place to us and always will be!! There is so much to do and to see. I'm sure we've done it all, over and over again, and continue to enjoy it all!!
"

"Hi. I was looking through your Wisconsin Dells Vacation Guide the other evening, planning what we might do when we go back to our honeymoon destination for our our 40th wedding anniversary.

We were married in Iowa on August 14, 1971. Immediately following our wedding we headed to the Wisconsin Dells for our honeymoon. We thought it'd be great fun, and really appropriate, to return for this 'significant' anniversary! We'll be at the Dells August 13 - 16, and staying at the same place, Birchcliff Lodge/Resort, we stayed at 40 years ago. Of course there were no water parks then (was the term 'water park' even in coined yet??), but we do remember riding the ducks.

Thank you!"

"We were married 63 years ago in Munising, Michigan. We spent three days on our honeymoon at the Dells. We took the boat ride on the river and enjoyed the beauty along the river banks. I remember a lot of shops and parks and some Native American displays, but nothing like it is today. We spent two weeks in the Dells in April of 2010. It is now a super playground and entertainment center with something for all ages."

"Our honeymoon was in the Dells back in 1963. We can still remember the trip through Lost Canyon Tours in the first week of May. Not much was open then but we still return every year on our anniversary to bring back the fond memories. Going on 49 years next year and we plan on doing the same."