Who knew? Well, the good people of the midwestern US state Wisconsin but now the rest of us too, so let’s dip a toe in to Washconsin… the waterpark capital of the world.
And our friends at Family Destinations Guide.
Or more precisely Wisconsin Dells, and there may be a clue in the name.
No, not the old Ding, Dong, Dell nursery rhyme.
But dalles, as in the French for rapids after the explorers of that region.
With the Wisconsin River the first playground for the frontiersmen and also the tourists with rowboat tours the first big atraction.
Even before that though the Native Americans were there, of course.
And they will relay a mythical reason for the Dells.
Row, row, row the boat
The Ho-Chunk nation tell of a serpent cutting through the land to create the river, its channels, fish, and wildlife.
For the rest we’re indebted to Dave Rambow (no, we don’t know if he wears a headband), site manager for the H.H. Bennett Studio and Museum.
When it was founded in its current iteration in the late 1850s, Wisconsin Dells was originally named Kilbourn City.
After railroad mogul Byron Kilbourn when it was a small logging and timber community.
It changed its name to the more-user friendly Wisconsin Dells in 1931.
And it was from here that it started to cash in on the water park craze.
To the point where four million people flock here every year for some splash fun.
With Dells boasting the largest concentration of outdoor and indoor waterparks of any place on the planet.
Olympus games
The Mt Olympus Water and Theme Park is the splashiest of them all.
Where you can experience America’s first rotating waterslide, the Medusa’s Slidewheel.
There are also five rollercoasters, the chief among them Hades 360 with an upside-down 360-degree roll, and seven go-kart tracks.
As well as countless waterslides, wave pools, and more!
But it’s the water I’d go for, feeling safer in the wet than the dry.
And having lapped it up in the Cola del Diablo in the Western Park Magaluf in Majorca with the Son and Heir.
And with my Irelando party in Wet ‘n Wild in Orlando.
Homes for the holidays
Dells offer a range of accommodations…
Cabins and cottages, camping, condos, hotels and motels, rentals, waterfronts and properties with water features.
All sounds good now Spring has sprung.
So get out to Washconsin… the waterpark capital of the world.
Madison is the closest airport to Wisconsin Dells… check out all good carriers.
