At the far end of the building, two tube slides (single or double) and two body slides are a bit less intimidating than the slides at the Wild West park, but still a load of fun. The tube slides empty into the lazy river. An indoor-to-outdoor hot tub and an indoor-to-outdoor water basketball area round out the park.
The separate Baby Bear's Fort Wilderness caters to the wee ones (and I hope that description refers to their size and not what they might be doing in the pools). It includes a hot tub (of course), water basketball, and a large play structure with tiny slides, spray features, and other pint-sized activities.
Hey, there's more to life than water
Like most of the major Dells resorts, the Wilderness is a veritable kids' paradise. In addition to the wonderful water parks, the property includes Dodge 'Em City, a huge indoor dry play structure with slides, ball blasters, rope ladders, and other diversions. Next to the play area is an enormous arcade with all the latest blast-em-ups, redemption games, and even a couple of bowling alleys.
The Wilderness also features an 18-hole golf course, an onsite day spa, and some of the Dells' finest restaurants. Field's at the Wilderness is an exquisite steak house. Housed in an adjacent building inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, the d?cor is elegant, yet simple. This is the kind of place where the host takes your overcoats, and the waitstaff places the napkin on your lap (and the prices reflect the service). The menu features steak, of course, and Field's offers some unique "enhancers", including one in which the cuts of meat are encrusted with parmesan cheese and garlic-soaked mushrooms. Yum.
The Field family has been running its own famous Dells restaurant for years. In addition to operating the Wilderness steak house, the Fields also oversee the resort's Sarento's Italian Restaurant and, early in 2004, took over the Canyon Caf? family restaurant. While the Canyon Caf?'s menu will probably evolve under the new management, when I visited, the dishes tended toward comfort foods and heavy fare. Nearly everything came smothered in cheese. (This is Wisconsin, after all.) The prices were a bit on the high side for a casual family restaurant.
The hotel rooms come in a variety of configurations. The room I stayed in had a main sleeping area with two queen beds. A second area included a sofa that converted into a queen bed and a breakfast nook with microwave, refrigerator, and sink. When we pulled the bed out, we had a hard time figuring out where to put the coffee table that was in front of the couch without blocking the pathway to the bathroom. The Wilderness does not offer turndown service. In addition to missing the nice touch of a turned-down bed, we also found ourselves running out of towels without a second daily visit from housekeeping. Since multiple showers are likely in a resort that features lots of time spent in chlorinated water, the hotel should provide extra towels on their once-a-day rounds. They're a bit skimpy with the soap as well.
Other room types include amenities such as fireplaces and in-room whirlpools. Frontier condos feature three bedrooms while the vacation villas have two bedrooms. For large groups that really want to whoop it up, the Wilderness offers five-bedroom "Entertainment Cabins" that include projection TVs and stadium seating. The Wilderness on the Lake is a separate upscale condo resort that includes its own indoor and outdoor waterpark plus offers use of all the waterparks and other amenities in the main complex.
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