If You Like Pina Coladas......go ahead, sing along!
Do you remember this popular children's nursery rhyme?
The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer in the dell
Did you ever wonder just what a “dell” is? I know I did, but as a child I never asked. But thanks to the power of Wikipedia, I now know that a dell is a small wooded valley. I thought it was necessary to know what exactly a dell was since my family and I had been planning a mini-vacation to one since the end of last summer.
Wisconsin Dells is a small town in south-central Wisconsin near the Wisconsin River which is a popular tourist destination in the Midwest. During the summer time, there are boat tours along the scenic river, in addition to outdoor water and amusement parks. The outdoor attractions are obviously closed in winter, however many of the major hotels have elaborate indoor water parks which makes Wisconsin Dells a perfect off-season, not so far from home, vacation spot to forget about the snow and the cold.
Pointing the mini-van east, we traveled a mere two and a half hours along Interstate 90, making travel costs less than a tank of gas. Being away from home for 3 days can be expensive, regardless of where you are. Therefore, we did several things to keep the costs at a minimum, and the fun at a maximum.
The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer in the dell
Did you ever wonder just what a “dell” is? I know I did, but as a child I never asked. But thanks to the power of Wikipedia, I now know that a dell is a small wooded valley. I thought it was necessary to know what exactly a dell was since my family and I had been planning a mini-vacation to one since the end of last summer.
Wisconsin Dells is a small town in south-central Wisconsin near the Wisconsin River which is a popular tourist destination in the Midwest. During the summer time, there are boat tours along the scenic river, in addition to outdoor water and amusement parks. The outdoor attractions are obviously closed in winter, however many of the major hotels have elaborate indoor water parks which makes Wisconsin Dells a perfect off-season, not so far from home, vacation spot to forget about the snow and the cold.
Pointing the mini-van east, we traveled a mere two and a half hours along Interstate 90, making travel costs less than a tank of gas. Being away from home for 3 days can be expensive, regardless of where you are. Therefore, we did several things to keep the costs at a minimum, and the fun at a maximum.
Charlie's Angels getting ready for laser tag
The More the Merrier
Our mini-vacation was actually a neighborhood event. 5 families for a total of 19 people went on the trip. We scored a sweet condo at one of the hotels which included the following amenities:
Timing is Everything
Hotel rooms are always cheaper during the week. The price of this particular condo almost doubles on the weekend. Since our kids do very well academically, we felt comfortable pulling them out of school for the vacation. We talked with their teachers weeks ahead of time, and they both had all their homework completed and turned in prior to leaving for the trip.
Use the Facilities as Much as Possible
Admission to the water park is $34 per person, per day, but is included in the price of the accommodations as long as we're staying at the hotel. The hotel also boasts an indoor amusement park complete with go-karts, laser tag, rope jungle, and a climbing wall. This cost us an additional $20 per person, but the ticket was good for the length of our stay. We went to both parks every day we were there.
Our mini-vacation was actually a neighborhood event. 5 families for a total of 19 people went on the trip. We scored a sweet condo at one of the hotels which included the following amenities:
- 5 bedrooms/5 bathrooms
- Full kitchen
- Bar
- Game table
- Pool table
- Entertainment area with flat screen tv, theater seating, and hookup for game systems
- Admission into the hotel's water park
Timing is Everything
Hotel rooms are always cheaper during the week. The price of this particular condo almost doubles on the weekend. Since our kids do very well academically, we felt comfortable pulling them out of school for the vacation. We talked with their teachers weeks ahead of time, and they both had all their homework completed and turned in prior to leaving for the trip.
Use the Facilities as Much as Possible
Admission to the water park is $34 per person, per day, but is included in the price of the accommodations as long as we're staying at the hotel. The hotel also boasts an indoor amusement park complete with go-karts, laser tag, rope jungle, and a climbing wall. This cost us an additional $20 per person, but the ticket was good for the length of our stay. We went to both parks every day we were there.
Justin Bieber sighting on the go-karts? Nah, it's just Tristan.
Bring Your Own Entertainment
After a full day of water and amusement park action, we hit the game table at the condo playing any number of games that we brought with us. My son also brought his xbox which we connected to the flat screen for the kids to play.
Cook Your Own Food
Since we had a full kitchen, we decided to cook most of our own food. I volunteered to cook breakfast each day, and we asked each family to supply one meal for the entire group. Here's the menu of what we ate during our stay:
After a full day of water and amusement park action, we hit the game table at the condo playing any number of games that we brought with us. My son also brought his xbox which we connected to the flat screen for the kids to play.
Cook Your Own Food
Since we had a full kitchen, we decided to cook most of our own food. I volunteered to cook breakfast each day, and we asked each family to supply one meal for the entire group. Here's the menu of what we ate during our stay:
- Tuesday Dinner: We decided as a group we were going to go out to eat during our trip planing. We did have a 10% off coupon courtesy of a blogger friend who visited The Dells earlier this year. For a group of 19 people, that coupon saved us a significant amount of money!
- Wednesday Breakfast: Made to order breakfast (omelets, sausage, bacon, toast, eggs)
- Wednesday Lunch: Pizza purchased at water park
- Wednesday Dinner: Tacos
- Thursday Breakfast: Cinnamon and chocolate chip pancakes
- Thursday Lunch: Tortellini Vegetable soup and salad
- Thursday Dinner: Roasted turkey breast, mashed potatoes, garlic bread
- Friday Breakfast: Cereal and cinnamon rolls
- Friday Lunch: Pizza and sandwiches purchased at water park
- Friday Dinner: Back at home, but had lasagna at a neighbors house for vacation wrap up.
Is my daughter small, or is that just a HUGE tootsie pop?
Out of ten meals over four days, we cooked seven of them. The most inexpensive meal was hands down the pancake breakfast. All I needed was a box of pancake mix and a bottle of syrup in addition to the cinnamon and chocolate chips I had in my cupboard at home. The supplies for this meal cost me less than $7 out of pocket.
It was a fantastic vacation, and we all had a blast. I was skeptical at first, but renting the condo at the hotel turned out to be a fantastic idea. Each family had their own bedroom/bathroom, we had a kitchen to cook meals, and we had the amenities for entertaining ourselves in the evening. The water park had great rides (including one in which people can body board or surf indoors), and doing laser tag as a group was unforgettable. We'll definitely consider going back.
The next time we need to break up the cold and wintery months, we may just bust into a verse or two of that familiar nursery rhyme, and head for “The Dells.”
It was a fantastic vacation, and we all had a blast. I was skeptical at first, but renting the condo at the hotel turned out to be a fantastic idea. Each family had their own bedroom/bathroom, we had a kitchen to cook meals, and we had the amenities for entertaining ourselves in the evening. The water park had great rides (including one in which people can body board or surf indoors), and doing laser tag as a group was unforgettable. We'll definitely consider going back.
The next time we need to break up the cold and wintery months, we may just bust into a verse or two of that familiar nursery rhyme, and head for “The Dells.”
