MagiQuest/ShadowQuest at Great Wolf Lodge

Handy List Of Hands-On Activities

Here's a lesson in having fun: Visit places that stretch your mind and body. That's right, learning a little something on vacation can be very entertaining, especially in a place like Wisconsin Dells.

Circus World

At America's historic landmark circus museum, kids get to be the star of the show.

H.H. Bennett Studio

Recreate the Stand Rock jump -- a leap from one bluff to another (only this time on land) made famous when Bennett photographed his son mid-air using his stop-action camera invention.

Tommy Bartlett Exploratory - Interactive Science Center

More than 150 interactive exhibits here prove the world is an amazing place.

MagiQuest

Armed with magic wands, kids explore this four-story, live-action adventure game that combines video gaming, role playing and story telling.

Wizard Quest

This game of strategy puts you smack dab in a full-size world of wizards.

Attraction & Lodging Price Guide

Price It Out, Then Plan It

This section allows you to download the Wisconsin Dells area price guide. We're certain you'll land on the right dollar figure.

http://www.wisdells.com/wisconsin-dells-family-vacation/search-guides/2015-Price-Guide.htm

How Will You Wile Away The Winter In Wisconsin Dells?

Whatever you do this winter, don’t stay cooped up at home.  Embrace the frosty season.  Celebrate the snowfalls.  Ice those feelings of cabin fever.  It’s the Dells to the rescue.

Admitting bias, we think there’s nothing quite as lovely as indoor Wisconsin Dells water parks in the dead of winter.  Picture this:  You and your family basking in 80 degree temperatures, perhaps at your own private poolside cabana, deciding which ride to do next - a water roller coaster, racing slides or perhaps an indoor surf machine.

See All Wisconsin Dells Winter Attractions

Play On In Wisconsin Dells

The Dells is quickly becoming a sports mecca for youth tournaments, events and camps, and the 2012 warm weather season stands to be the best ever, with basketball, softball and volleyball filling up the calendar. For filling down time between games may we suggest some non-competitive activities. Then fill up on good eats to keep those energy levels high.

Start outdoors - the fresh air will do you good - with a Duck tour of the Wisconsin River. If the coach gives the go-ahead, head to an outdoor waterpark like Noah’s Art Waterpark, where you can try the new Quadzilla racer slides (remember, no need to be too competitive, as it’s primarily intended as adrenaline-inducing fun). Or go from screaming for the team to screaming on a roller coaster.

Balance your time in the sun with some indoor fun.

In Downtown Dells, you’ll find Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum, a place loaded with exhibits that are oddly captivating. Next door is Wizard Quest, a full-size labyrinth adventure in which your goal is to find and free the wizards of the realm. For kids with an artistic streak, maybe siblings who are along to cheer on a brother or sister, there’s Paint It! Pottery Shop, where they can create their own masterpiece. Wild Fun Zone is the place with the big gorilla on the top of the building and bumper cars, mini golf and laser tag inside.

On the Wisconsin Dells Parkway, there’s the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory - Interactive Science Center, with more than 175 interactive exhibits, including a virtual sports center that’s sure to be a hit for obvious reasons. Adjacent to Great Wolf Lodge is MagiQuest, a four-story live action adventure game with players using magic wands - score!

After you’ve worked up an appetite, take the team to one of the two Monk’s Bar & Grill restaurants in Wisconsin Dells for a classic burger the locals love. Other player favorites include Pizza Pub, Moosejaw Pizza & Dells Brewing Co., Buffalo Phil’s Pizza & Grille, and River Walk Pub.

Go team!

Make It A Family Reunion

Planning a family reunion has its own set of distinct challenges but none that keeps the organizer awake at night more than wondering whether there will be enough activities to keep everyone in the group occupied, from tots to octogenarians. That’s why this trip planner idea for holding a family reunion in Wisconsin Dells is so perfect. There are activities galore, so sleep easy.

The family reunion trend in the Dells has really picked up in the last several years. Certainly the waterparks have something to do with that.  There are waterpark resorts of every size and style in this community and they are vacationland for anyone traveling to a reunion with kids ages toddler through teen. But let’s not stop with the waterparks, because lots of other places are set up very nicely to accommodate big groups. In fact, some of the most popular family reunion spots are the low-key resorts that rim Lake Delton. Baker’s Sunset Bay Resort is a prime example, as are the vacation rentals through Sand County Services. Away from the lake and more secluded in the woods, Meadowbrook Resort has its own indoor water playland and several outdoor pools, and they have lots of packages with passes to the larger outdoor waterparks in the area. Their evening bonfire provides a chance to catch up with the cousins. We also suggest the Spring Brook vacation home community. They offer fully furnished homes for rental and the grounds there include pools, playground, fishing lake, golf course, restaurant and gathering rooms.

Honestly, family clan members can be as busy as they like all within the 20-mile radius of Wisconsin Dells. There’s mini-golf, go-karting, bowling and horseback riding. The area has two full-size quest-style games that blend elements of the most popular video games with wizard movies - they’re called MagiQuest and Wizard Quest. If anyone in the group likes magic, they should take a seat at the Rick Wilcox Magic Theater. Train buffs will be fascinated with the Riverside & Great Northern Railway living museum with its 15-inch steam trains that take riders on a three-mile trip through canyons, woods and rock cuts beside the Wisconsin River. The locomotive is turned on a hand-operated turntable for the ride back. For hands-on exploration, it’s none other than the Wisconsin Dells staple, the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory - Interactive Science Center.

While lots of photos are bound to be snapped over the course of the reunion, add to the album with a family photo at one of the two old-time portrait places downtown - Old Abe’s Old Time Portraits or Prof. Porter’s Old Time Portraits - where you’ll even find costumes for infants and sets large enough to fit 30 or so of your favorite relatives.

Of course, while there may be a potluck dinner or two, you’ll need some restaurant recommendations for your stay. Big groups will like Pizza Pub for its buffet, Monk’s Bar & Grill for its famous burgers and Buffalo Phil’s Pizza & Grille for its great southwestern flair.