Destination Wisconsin Dells

By Ronnie Wendt | Photo © Aquavia Lumina, Wilderness Resort

Believe it or not, Wisconsin Dells is more than a vacation destination. It’s also a hub for meetings and events of all types and sizes.

Andy Larsen, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Dells Visitors & Convention Bureau, notes that though some still view the area as a seasonal retreat, that perception is outdated.

Things are different now. Wisconsin Dells’ indoor water parks have made the area a popular tourist destination, and their integration with local resorts has established it as an excellent place for conventions.

Today Wisconsin Dells is a hotspot for “bleisure” travel, where business and leisure seamlessly blend. “Visitors can mix work with play, making it an enjoyable experience for the entire family,” Larsen explains.

Shannon Timmerman, CMP and the director of sales at the Wilderness Resort, describes the region as a “true family destination” where “there’s never a dull moment and it’s only natural to include the entire family.”

Making Changes

As the area’s reputation as a convention destination swelled, so has demand, which has led to some major changes.

The first of which is with the Wisconsin Dells Visitors & Convention Bureau itself, which needed a new facility to handle the influx of tourism and convention activity. This summer, the bureau will move into a new, 39,000-square-foot building in Lake Delton. Among the employees, there are event specialists who can help meeting planners find the perfect venue. (They even have a meetings website, meetinthedells.com.)

Next is the Wisconsin Hotel, which a press release promises “will lean into the state’s heritage in a big way, from architecture and interior design to culinary and event space.”

The 111-room hotel and convention space will replace the Wintergreen Hotel and draw its design inspiration from traditional farm buildings. An on-site restaurant, named Farmer in the Dells, carries this theme forward with dishes made from locally sourced food. A four-story Silo Bar, which boasts an open-air rooftop bar that overlooks Mirror Lake State Park, completes the look.

According to Larsen, the hotel boasts many amenities, including indoor and outdoor pools and fire pits, plus a large corporate event space for up to 300 attendees. “This hotel is opening in phases, but should be fully open this summer,” he says.

Aquavia Lumina, an enchanted, illuminated night walk that follows a mystical deer on a quest for the meaning of water, opened at Wilderness Resort in the fall of 2024. This captivating experience invites groups to embark on a one-mile, hour-long luminary journey. “We hosted several group events this past fall and winter, but this spring, we’re truly beginning to build momentum as a group activity,” Timmerman shares. “The immersion of sounds, lights, a story and music make it a really amazing experience.”

Kalahari Resorts & Conventions, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in Wisconsin Dells on May 4, has unveiled plans for an $85 million expansion, which will include a glass-enclosed water park with a retractable roof. The open-air water park, scheduled to open in 2026, will have two six-person raft slides and a four-lane racing slide.

Kalahari will also debut its Treehouse Collection; 21 partially supported luxury treehouses alongside 31 ground-supported ones. Every treehouse, designed in collaboration with treehouse masters at Nelson’s Treehouse, will have will have a screened porch and a kitchenette.

“These will be an exciting option for a very experiential corporate retreat,” says Kyra Popp, corporate director of sales at Kalahari. “There will also be a traditional Wisconsin supper club on site, right on Lake Delton.”

Variety of Venues

The greater Wisconsin Dells area boasts over 500,000 square feet of venue space and 9,000+ guest rooms. Its ability to host meetings from 10 to over 3,000 attendees attracts over 5,600 meetings and conventions each year, according to Larsen.

In 2019, Kalahari Resorts & Conventions opened a $35 million expansion, doubling its convention space. It now offers 212,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, making it the state’s second largest venue for meetings and events, eclipsed in size only by the Baird Center in Milwaukee.

The venue has three sizable ballrooms, the largest of which, the African Ballroom, is 52,000 square feet and able to seat 3,600 people at round tables or be partitioned into 10 smaller rooms. The 20,560-square- foot Kilimanjaro Ballroom, and the 17,200-square-foot Kalahari Ballroom can be used as a single space or divided into eight rooms each.

“With these event spaces, we can host multiple events at the same time without groups feeling like they are on top of each other,” Popp says. “There’s also direct access to the convention center from the outdoors. All parking is on site and free. There are no huge parking garages or expensive fees to park.”

In 2024, the resort added 237 additional guest rooms, in a wing known as the Hillside, to support the additional meeting and event space. Now Kalahari offers an impressive 1,035 guest rooms. “This wing has been a game changer for groups because everything is truly under one roof for an event,” she says.

The Chula Vista Resort sits in a secluded, wooded location on the Wisconsin River, just north of downtown. It boasts 60,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, offering a total of up to 20 meeting rooms and three ballrooms with prime views. The 541-room resort also features indoor and outdoor water parks, Dells Zipline Adventures and the Coldwater Canyon Golf Course.

Glacier Canyon Conference Center at the Wilderness offers 56,000 square feet of adaptable meeting space, encompassing the Sandstone and Wilderness Ballrooms. The Sandstone ballroom can also be divided into nine individual rooms. The Wilderness has 446 guest rooms, 40 Vacation Villas, 76 Frontier Condominiums, 36 cabins and eight treehouse cabins. It is also home to Wilderness on the Lake, which features 108 two- and three-bedroom condominium units overlooking Lake Delton; and Glacier Canyon Lodge, which features 460 upscale condominium units. The cabins are near the Wild Rock Golf Club and the largest, the treehouse cabins can sleep up to 22 guests. “We often rent out the treehouses to groups that come in for a golf outing,”

Timmerman says. “We have enough rooms that no matter the size of the group, we can accommodate them on site. Another plus is our convention center is located away from the indoor water parks. There will be no one in a swimsuit accidentally walking into your event.”

Timmerman remarks patios off the convention center with full bars just inside are also popular with groups. “They can have a dinner outside or an outside cocktail hour,” she says. “Some of our groups do a luau on the patios and we work with them to have dishes outside the scope of our traditional catering menu.”

Ho-Chunk Gaming-Wisconsin Dells has 29,810 square feet of flexible meeting space, which includes upper and lower ballrooms and boardrooms, and three smaller breakout rooms. Its amenities include 300 guest rooms, an on-site casino and live entertainment.

“We can handle anything from really small meetings of less than 10 people to events with up to 600 attendees,” says Monika Lobsinger, group sales manager of Ho- Chunk Gaming-Wisconsin Dells.

Larsen mentions other potential event spaces including Great Wolf Lodge, which features 8,419 square feet of meeting space and 435 hotel rooms.

He also urges planners to consider outdoor meeting places, like The Pavilion, a 700-square foot facility equipped with a bar, food serving space, fireplace, and a large seating area. “You can also have a meeting on one of the Dells Boats, which can hold up to 150 people,” he says.

Larsen also recommends Vennubu Hill, a rustic barn facility with 4,500 square feet of meeting space; Wild Rock Golf Club, which offers an open-air covered patio for receptions and a banquet room that can seat up to 120 people; Trappers Turn Golf Club, with over 10,000 square feet of event space; and The Swan Barn Door, with 12,000 square feet of event space.

Foodie Delights

Food is central to every event. Fortunately, Wisconsin Dells can dish up menus that tickle every tastebud. “Our larger resorts offer on-site dining options that are sure to please,“ Larsen says. “There are also some can’t miss places off site, such as The Del- Bar, Ishnala Supper Club and The Embers.”

In 2024, Kalahari opened two new signature restaurants: Sortino’s Italian Kitchen and Cinco Niños, a Mexican restaurant. “Sortino’s is a freestanding restaurant that the Nelson family fell in love with and brought to our properties in Pennsylvania, Texas and now Wisconsin,” Popp says. “There’s also a full wine bar off of the restaurant, which is a great place for groups to gather.”

Ho-Chunk has a few new restaurants too, including Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant and Adi’s Chinese Food. “We also have Red 6 Pizzeria Plus and just reopened Copper Oak Steakhouse, our fine dining restaurant,” Lobsinger says. “And we have a new, 21-page catering menu, with ala carte and hors d’oeuvre, pizza night and breakout snack options.”

Kalahari also dishes up the Wisconsin Brew Pub with Wisconsin craft beers, cheese curds and cocktails, and Double Cut Steak House for classic steaks and seafood. Chula Vista presents Kaminski’s Chop House, considered one of America’s top chophouses; the Tavern Restaurant for low-key dining; and Luigi’s Pizza, just to name a few. Sarento’s Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria, and Field’s at the Wilderness, offer Italian and steakhouse dining at the Wilderness Resort.

Exceptional Entertainment

“There’s no lack of things to do in Wisconsin Dells,” Timmerman adds.

A fan favorite, she says, is always the Dells Ducks Tours, which has been a Wisconsin Dells attraction for over 75 years. Guests board an Original World War II-era Dells Army Duck for a sightseeing experience that covers land and water and takes visitors to see striking sandstone rock formations and scenic wilderness trails along the Wisconsin River.

The Legacy Dinner Theater brings in diverse shows that appeal to varied tastes. Timmerman recommends the theater’s spectacular holiday sho w. “They also bring in different tribute bands on the weekends,” she says. “We’ve had Ozzy Osbourne and Elvis tribute bands. You name it.”

Larsen recommends a visit to the Dells’ six spas, including the award-winning Sundara Inn & Spa, which was named the No. 1 Domestic Destination Spa in Travel + Leisure magazine’s “World’s Best Awards” in 2024.

Spa Kalahari received a revamp in 2023 that revitalized its reception area, relaxation lounge and locker rooms. “We have expanded locker rooms and treatments and a dry sauna,” Popp says. “It’s absolutely lovely and very popular with convention guests.”

Larsen also recommends any of the area’s six golf courses, which include Trappers Turn Golf Club, a course crafted by two- time U.S. Open Champion Andy North and world renowned golf course designer Roger Packard. Wild Rock Golf Club was also designed by famous course architects, Michael Hurzdan and Dana Fry. It is currently getting a major bunker refurbishment to provide guests with the best possible playing conditions, he adds.

Also, Larsen suggests visiting the region’s many wineries and distilleries. Trips to wineries like Broken Bottle Winery, Balanced Rock Winery, Dells Distillery or Driftless Glenn Distillery — to name a few — have become “very popular with groups,” he says.

For groups looking for a thrill, Larsen recommends the area’s zipline adventures, which include BigFoot Zipline Tours, Dells Zipline Adventures, Wilderness Canyon Zip Line Canopy Tour, and Vertical Illusions Zipline.

The Wilderness also operates three escape rooms. D.O.A. Unlocked will even set up an escape room at the conference center. “We just added an 80s-themed escape challenge,” Timmerman says. “You can plan an 80s-themed party, have everyone dress to the theme and then divide up into teams to solve the challenge.”

Kalahari’s on-site theme park is also a hit with groups. “The theme park has 24 lanes of bowling, which is an experience that’s very popular with event planners,” Popp says. “Bowling is great for teams because you do not have to be super skilled to play.”

Ho-Chunk Gaming also offers Rewards Play for groups, where every attendee receives $15 for the gaming floor. “We also can set up gaming on the event show floor,” Lobsinger says. “We bring in people from our table games department to teach blackjack, do demos, and let attendees play some games for fun.”

The Wisconsin Dells region features excellent meeting venues, diverse dining options, and thrilling activities for attendees and their families. With endless adventures and accommodations, boredom is not an option for event planners choosing Wisconsin Dells.