A Winter Getaway in the Dells

The Dells are mainly a summer getaway, a place to go ride the Ducks to see the Dells, and visit outdoor water parks and amusement parks and other touristy summer activities. I have only been there in the winter, when it's pretty much a ghost town. The downtown area has a bookshop and some candy shops open, but most of the others are closed for the season.

There is skiing in the area for those who are interested in the winter. There are also several (Kalahari, Wilderness, Great Wolf Lodge) resorts that have indoor water parks that are fun to visit during the winter. The main "adult" fun in the winter is gambling at the Ho-Chunk casino, visiting the Wollersheim Winery, or visiting a local craft and antique mart.

Quick Tips:

I've heard that if you go to the Dells in the summer, it's a madhouse (and expensive). It sounds like late spring and early fall may be the best times to go.

If you're just looking for somewhere to get away from it all in the winter, the Dells can be a good choice. The winter season is so slow that there are often good deals on offer then. However, bring your own fun, as not much is open!

Best Way To Get Around:

You will definitely need a car to get around in the Dells. We didn't see any signs of public transportation.

We stayed at the Chula Vista Resort because of a great all-inclusive special they were having--$99/night and all you can eat and drink (2 nights minimum). For the price we paid, it was a good deal. However, I don't think I would ever pay Chula Vista's regular rates.

The room we stayed in was a junior king suite. It was okay, nothing really nice, but it basically met my expectations of a hotel room. The fact that it was a suite basically that meant that there was a short wall dividing part of the room from the part with the couch and TV. The bed was okay--we are spoiled at home with memory foam, so we didn't sleep very well. We had a nice view of the forest behind our room and a balcony (but didn't spend much time there because it was winter!). There were few in-room amenities, the towels were small and rough, and there was only a soap dispenser on the wall for body soap/hair shampoo (same product). The room was spacious enough for the two of us, but I wouldn't try to put four adults in there (the coach was a pullout).

The all-inclusive deal was what really made us go there. In the information on their website, it sounded like all food, beverages, and alcohol were included. However, when we got there, we found that while it really was all you can eat (except for the lobster), it was not all you can drink--you were limited to certain "rail liquors," tap beers, and house wines. Not really surprising, but I wished they had spelled it out better on the website. However, the food overall was very good and we enjoyed being able to get drinks on the house. Note that you do have to tip the waitstaff. The website also makes it sound like there are four different restaurants, but really it's only two, as the buffet and the Grand Mesa Grille occupy the same space, as do the bar and Luigi's Pizza. My husband and I both agreed that if it weren't an all-inclusive deal, we definitely wouldn't have eaten there. The prices were very inflated. However, one thing we really appreciated was that they served breakfast until 11:30am (we like to sleep late while on vacation!). Your all-inclusive benefits also started at 2pm on the day of check-in and last until 11:30am on the day of check-out (even though check-in was 4pm and check-out was 10:30am).

Chula Vista has a very small water park, which might be nice for kids, but if you're looking for a real water park (we weren't), stay elsewhere. They are adding on, though, so the new indoor water park and new rooms may be much nicer than what we saw.

The most annoying thing about the all-inclusive was that you had to wear a plastic bracelet the whole time. It was very tough plastic and was a bit of a nuisance.

See http://www.chulavistaresort.com/.

Howler's Sports Bar/Luigi's Pizza is one option for food and drinks when the main restaurant is closed. We were there on an all-inclusive deal, so we chose to eat there. However, had we been paying ourselves, we would have headed into town due to it being extremely overpriced.They have a limited menu of bar foods such as pizza, nachos, cheese sticks, and onion rings. The food is normal bar fare, nothing special, but not a good value. Their drinks were good, and probably priced closer to fair market value. Of course, if you want to drink, it is better to have that in house anyway—no driving necessary. Because of the large number of people at the hotel that week taking advantage of the all-inclusive package after Christmas, the bar area seating was highly inadequate. The service staff was also stressed and non-attentive. We didn't go out of our way to eat here, and I definitely wouldn't eat there again unless it was an all-inclusive deal again.

The Mesa Grill and The Chula Vista Buffet share the same dining room but not the same menu.The Chula Vista Buffet is a HUGE buffet for breakfast or dinner with many kinds of food, including a whole station for the kids. Their claim to fame at dinner is serving crab legs (and they are good), but their foods also include fried chicken, potatoes, a salad bar, and desserts. The quality is about what you'd expect at a buffet—tasty and filling, but nothing outstanding. I think the price was around $20 a head—not cheap, but similar to what you'd pay at a nicer restaurant à la carte.The Mesa Grill offers a rotating menu every night. There seemed to be 5-10 items on the menu each time, but it changed depending on the day of the week. However, they always seemed to offer a type of dish from each of several categories: steak, seafood, chicken, and fish. Their lunch menu is a little simpler, featuring sandwiches and such, but still tasty.The biggest problem we found eating there was working around their time schedule. On vacation, when you don't eat breakfast until 10-11 am, it does make a difference that the restaurant is closed from 2-4 pm! We also found that reservations were a good idea at dinner, when it could be pretty crowded.We were at the resort on an all-inclusive deal and the food was good, but I wouldn't make a point to go back there for the food. I think you could find similar foods for a better value at an independent restaurant in the Dells.

We decided to head down to the winery because it was open in the winter and a cheap attraction ($3.50 each for a tour). We had a good time! We joined the tour of the winery about 10 minutes late (it was the last tour of the day), but it was very informative. We learned about the wine-making process there, as well as the history of that particular winery (which has been around since the 1850s). At the end was a wine tasting where we could taste any of the wines they had in stock, including wines from a sister winery. We found a very good spiced wine that we bought two bottles of. We were glad we went.

It took about 40 minutes to get to the Wollersheim Winery by car from the upper Dells.

Learn more about the Wollersheim Winery at http://www.wollersheimwinery.com/