Hailed as the “Waterpark Capital of the World,” Wisconsin Dells is a destination built on family fun and full of local entrepreneurs who have wrung watery riches from a variety of slippery slopes.
One such is Stan Anderson, an owner of the Polynesian Resort, who is credited as the “godfather” of the indoor waterpark.
“As much as we’re all competitors here, we’re all close,” says Anderson, who recounted the story of how he and his partners dreamed up the idea of opening an indoor waterpark to extend business through the cold Midwestern winter.
“I told my partners, ‘You know, it would be a great idea if we took [The Water Factory play structure attraction] and placed it indoors to protect our shoulder season,” Anderson says. “We went into it thinking that’s all it would do, but the popularity of this thing took off so much that we were full every weekend.”
Local lore has it that the concept for the indoor waterpark at the Polynesian, like many a great idea, was initially sketched out on a cocktail napkin.
“We started the Polynesian that way,” Anderson confirms. “It was New Year’s Eve 1989. We tossed around names and wrote them down on bar napkins. We were looking for a Polynesian theme, and someone said, ‘Why don’t we call it the Polynesian Resort.’ You can have a hell of an idea over a drink.”
Like any good idea, the Anderson and associates brainstorm has spawned many competitors.
“The Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari Waterpark Resort Convention Center improved on it greatly,” he admits, “but it started here.”
“The Dells,” as it’s called in shorthand, has long capitalized on the Wisconsin River, a jaw-dropping, glacially formed waterway that plies through the destination. Founded as Kilbourn City in the late 1850s, the region drew tourists from urban areas such as Chicago and Milwaukee—as it still does—to take sightseeing cruises through the spectacular sandstone rock formations.
The mid-1940s ushered in amphibious boat tours via war surplus “duck” boats, and in the 1950s Chicago’s famed Tommy Bartlett’s Thrill Show—with its acrobatic waterskiing stunt—soon set up shop on a permanent basis on Lake Delton, which in turn sparked a boom in tourist facilities that now define ’50s kitsch.
The ’70s witnessed an explosion in waterparks, which remains the region’s primary draw to this day. Diversifying, Wisconsin Dells also offers great golf options, upscale spa resorts and gaming at Native American casinos such as Ho-Chunk Casino, Hotel and Convention Center in nearby Baraboo.
Today, the Dells boasts more than 20 waterparks, indoors and out, and leverages its location between Midwest metropolises to capture families, and increasingly, meetings.
“We’re two hours from Chicago and Milwaukee, and two to three hours from Minneapolis, so it’s really easy for meeting planners to have their meetings here,” Anderson says, adding that the Polynesian is gearing up to add a meeting facility that can accommodate 500. It’s a good area for meetings, and that’s why we’re going to get into it also.”
But in the end, even though the destination has added meetings-friendly lures such as golf and spa resorts, Anderson believes the Dells will remain waterpark central.
“The Dells is the waterpark capital of the world, and I don’t see that stopping.”
