Chicago and Wisconsin waterpark capital of the USA

[feelingnuts]

We decided this year rather than spend a fortune on an all inclusive in Europe or return to Florida we would do something a bit different. My husband is a Chicago bears fan so we decided to start our trip there.

4 nights Chicago
1 nights Kenosha (this was so we could attend a Chicago bears training camp)
5 nights wisconsin dells
3 nights milwaukee

This was a circular trip with around 7 hours total driving. I spent a lot of time researching my son loves water parks and Wisconsin dells is the water park capital of the USA.

A full trip report would take me weeks to write but in summary.

Chicago is a beautiful city I definitely prefer it to New York. My highlight was a lake and river boat tour which pointed out all the main buildings. We walked miles over our 4 days it was hot sometimes too hot, we saw all the sights but it was really lovely just to sit riverside with a drink and people watch. I’d picked a hotel with an indoor pool this turned out to be a great idea my son loved to hit the pool of an evening and there were plenty of other children to play with. We also had an afternoon with a thunderstorm so we spent it in the pool.

While in Chicago we took an Uber to firehouse 51 for any Chicago fire fans you’ll know what this is. Firefighters there happily showed us round and explained how it’s filmed there. They were actually filming there later in the week but we didn’t have time to go back.

Kenosha was a 1 night stay to visit Chicago Bears training camp. We had previously visited a tampa bay bucks training camp and had a brilliant time so expectations were high. The camp was brilliant my husband and son loved it it’s so family orientated lots of games and freebies for the kids and my son got to meet a couple of players who couldn’t believe he’d come all the way from England. If you are remotely interested in American football and are over in the USA in August look for training camp tickets for a team it’s a brilliant experience.

Wisconsin dells only one way to describe it in Dibb terms - international drive! It’s a vacation resort, hotels, restaurants, outlet shopping and water parks. Noah’s ark is the biggest in the US and we thought it was amazing we visited 3 times and managed to do all the rides, we were brave and went on a cloudy afternoon when it was only 20degrees and rode nearly everything as a walk on. There is a water coaster there and it makes the one at volcano bay look lame I’ve never been so scared on a ride, we only rode it once! The other big water park was mt Olympus this was packed so we didn’t do as much but it has loads of go kart tracks and wooden roller coasters included in the ticket so we tried those too. I really wish we could have done a longer stretch here there was so much we didn’t see and do.

Next stop was Milwaukee this was interesting first thing we noticed was how much cheaper everything was away from the main tourist area. In the Hotel bottles of bud $4 we paid $6 in the dells and $8 in the city. Fuel was €1.20 a gallon cheaper, food was around 2/3rds of what we had paid in the tourist areas.

We visited Milwaukee to take in a baseball game it was the Brewers vs Tamba Bay Rays it was a great experience our first game and we all really enjoyed it again lots for the kids to do pre game and the game doesn’t have any breaks so for 3 hours we sat and it seemed to fly by they scored a late winner and the stadium erupted. 30,000 watching baseball at 1.10pm on a Wednesday afternoon seemed crazy.

The next day the Wisconsin state fair was on having never been to one we thought we’d give it a go our hotel ran a free shuttle bus to the baseball and the state fair it was a brilliant service. State fair is like a huge carnival lots of food stalls, a big funfair, pig racing and dog shows were highlights and then we found the Budweiser pavilion bands on all day it was a great atmosphere. We tried cheese curds and cream puffs both Wisconsin delicacies! Loved them both. It was a brilliant experience we were there all day.

We didn’t meet a single Brit after we were in the queue for a taxi from O’hare. I’ve explained to locals why we picked Wisconsin that many times it was like a sermon. People generally were really friendly and once they heard our accent wanted to chat. I’ve learnt a lot about the US in these two weeks we’ve talked to locals in bars, had breakfast with Americans all want to share their experience and here about the UK.

It was a brilliant holiday I won’t say once in a lifetime as I think I may find my way back to Wisconsin at some point.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by feelingnuts

We decided this year rather than spend a fortune on an all inclusive in Europe or return to Florida we would do something a bit different. My husband is a Chicago bears fan so we decided to start our trip there.

4 nights Chicago
1 nights Kenosha (this was so we could attend a Chicago bears training camp)
5 nights wisconsin dells
3 nights milwaukee

This was a circular trip with around 7 hours total driving. I spent a lot of time researching my son loves water parks and Wisconsin dells is the water park capital of the USA.

A full trip report would take me weeks to write but in summary.

Chicago is a beautiful city I definitely prefer it to New York. My highlight was a lake and river boat tour which pointed out all the main buildings. We walked miles over our 4 days it was hot sometimes too hot, we saw all the sights but it was really lovely just to sit riverside with a drink and people watch. I’d picked a hotel with an indoor pool this turned out to be a great idea my son loved to hit the pool of an evening and there were plenty of other children to play with. We also had an afternoon with a thunderstorm so we spent it in the pool.

While in Chicago we took an Uber to firehouse 51 for any Chicago fire fans you’ll know what this is. Firefighters there happily showed us round and explained how it’s filmed there. They were actually filming there later in the week but we didn’t have time to go back.

Kenosha was a 1 night stay to visit Chicago Bears training camp. We had previously visited a tampa bay bucks training camp and had a brilliant time so expectations were high. The camp was brilliant my husband and son loved it it’s so family orientated lots of games and freebies for the kids and my son got to meet a couple of players who couldn’t believe he’d come all the way from England. If you are remotely interested in American football and are over in the USA in August look for training camp tickets for a team it’s a brilliant experience.

Wisconsin dells only one way to describe it in Dibb terms - international drive! It’s a vacation resort, hotels, restaurants, outlet shopping and water parks. Noah’s ark is the biggest in the US and we thought it was amazing we visited 3 times and managed to do all the rides, we were brave and went on a cloudy afternoon when it was only 20degrees and rode nearly everything as a walk on. There is a water coaster there and it makes the one at volcano bay look lame I’ve never been so scared on a ride, we only rode it once! The other big water park was mt Olympus this was packed so we didn’t do as much but it has loads of go kart tracks and wooden roller coasters included in the ticket so we tried those too. I really wish we could have done a longer stretch here there was so much we didn’t see and do.

Next stop was Milwaukee this was interesting first thing we noticed was how much cheaper everything was away from the main tourist area. In the Hotel bottles of bud $4 we paid $6 in the dells and $8 in the city. Fuel was €1.20 a gallon cheaper, food was around 2/3rds of what we had paid in the tourist areas.

We visited Milwaukee to take in a baseball game it was the Brewers vs Tamba Bay Rays it was a great experience our first game and we all really enjoyed it again lots for the kids to do pre game and the game doesn’t have any breaks so for 3 hours we sat and it seemed to fly by they scored a late winner and the stadium erupted. 30,000 watching baseball at 1.10pm on a Wednesday afternoon seemed crazy.

The next day the Wisconsin state fair was on having never been to one we thought we’d give it a go our hotel ran a free shuttle bus to the baseball and the state fair it was a brilliant service. State fair is like a huge carnival lots of food stalls, a big funfair, pig racing and dog shows were highlights and then we found the Budweiser pavilion bands on all day it was a great atmosphere. We tried cheese curds and cream puffs both Wisconsin delicacies! Loved them both. It was a brilliant experience we were there all day.

We didn’t meet a single Brit after we were in the queue for a taxi from O’hare. I’ve explained to locals why we picked Wisconsin that many times it was like a sermon. People generally were really friendly and once they heard our accent wanted to chat. I’ve learnt a lot about the US in these two weeks we’ve talked to locals in bars, had breakfast with Americans all want to share their experience and here about the UK.

It was a brilliant holiday I won’t say once in a lifetime as I think I may find my way back to Wisconsin at some point.

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Interesting. We are big travellers around the US (27 States and counting) and we want to go to every state eventually. Wisconsin isn’t one I had thought much about.

[feelingnuts]

Thinking of my next trip… we have visited New York and San Francisco where would you recommend? Vegas is already planned.

[disneywiseowl]

Originally Posted by feelingnuts

Thinking of my next trip… we have visited New York and San Francisco where would you recommend? Vegas is already planned.

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I’d highly recommend Virginia. It rarely gets mentioned on here but it’s a beautiful state. My daughter lived there for 5 years & I’m retired so spent a lot of time there. Blue Ridge Mts, Shenandoah valley, caverns etc on the western border, Ocean, beaches, Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, on the Eastern. You’re also close enough to visit the Kitty Hawke site in NC.
Near Richmond is Kings Dominion - theme & water park.
There are loads of breweries & vineyards in Virginia. They’re all worth a visit & suitable for children.
Also lots of historical sites & if you like Basketball, the University of Virginia (Charlottesville) have a great team but it’s hard to get tickets.

You could fly in/out of Washington & spend some time there. (If you haven’t already been). The Smithsonian is fabulous & I’m guessing your son would like the Spy Museum.
Then pick up a hire car. It’s less than 2 hours to Virginia.

(If you’re desperate for a Disney fix, it’s an easy flight from Richmond).
Sorry for the travelogue - you can tell how much I loved Virginia……

[feelingnuts]

Thank you 😊

[enjibenji]

We have just got back from Colorado, wow it blew us away, honestly speechless. We have booked for next year flying into Denver and out from Seattle so going to do wyoming, montana, south dakota and then through glacier np. There's so many places to visit in the US. Also like you said, we didn't meet another english person until airport on the way home and every american person wanted to speak to us if they heard our accents. 😊

[ClaireNJ]

We loved Chicago at Easter this year especially the Wendella boat tour, like you it was amazing with great views 😎

[jengibbo]

We are currently in Orlando after a week in Gulf shores Alabama. No English accents there either and everyone wanting to chat to us.

[Bianca]

Brilliant summary! Sounds like you had a really good break. Thanks for sharing it.

And it sounds like a trip I'd love!

So much to see in the US beyond Orlando. I have a long list!

[Bianca]

Originally Posted by disneywiseowl

I’d highly recommend Virginia. It rarely gets mentioned on here but it’s a beautiful state. My daughter lived there for 5 years & I’m retired so spent a lot of time there. Blue Ridge Mts, Shenandoah valley, caverns etc on the western border, Ocean, beaches, Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, on the Eastern. You’re also close enough to visit the Kitty Hawke site in NC.
Near Richmond is Kings Dominion - theme & water park.
There are loads of breweries & vineyards in Virginia. They’re all worth a visit & suitable for children.
Also lots of historical sites & if you like Basketball, the University of Virginia (Charlottesville) have a great team but it’s hard to get tickets.

You could fly in/out of Washington & spend some time there. (If you haven’t already been). The Smithsonian is fabulous & I’m guessing your son would like the Spy Museum.
Then pick up a hire car. It’s less than 2 hours to Virginia.

(If you’re desperate for a Disney fix, it’s an easy flight from Richmond).
Sorry for the travelogue - you can tell how much I loved Virginia……

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I spent a little time in Richmond, but I haven't done any proper exploring in Virginia. The bit of rural VA I saw was beautiful.. Now I want to go back and do it properly!