To celebrate dad’s 69th birthday, we organized a family vacation at Wisconsin Dells. A total of 13 persons have made it to the gathering, and we spent 2 nights in Skyline Hotel. Jaesang and Kris couldn’t make it to Dells as they have planned to see a teaching pro in Seattle Washington for Kris’s future golf career. Unlike our previous Dells trips, we didn’t stay at a waterpark where we could basically camp out entire stay. This was necessary since mom (grandma) and dad (grandpa) will likely enjoy more of outdoor activities unlike our siblings.
We gathered at mom’s place at 10:30am on Saturday, and had a quick breakfast before departing for Wisconsin Dells. Initially, 11 of us (excluding Karen and Jenny) drove to Dells on two cars. The distance was approximately 170 miles, and it took us good 2 and a half hour to get there without a stop. It wasn’t bad at all comparing to our previous Eastport Maine trip. Once we got there, we rested for a few hours before we head out to Mt. Olympus Theme Park. Unfortunately, in order to ride Go Carts in the park, we had to pay general admission fee to get into the park even though it was past 8pm. It was apparent that they have changed a policy, as I recall we were able to ride Go Carts before without admitting to the Park. We decided to wait until the next morning to try out a different place. Karen and Jenny joined us at 9:30pm after getting off from their work.
In the next morning, we started out by riding Go Carts at ADare. We’ve got a combo deal, and rode Devil and Rattle tracks. Although Ryan and Cindy wanted to ride alone, they weren’t tall enough to get a single pass. The minimum height needed to ride single cart was 61 inches tall. Joshua was tall enough to get his own cart. After Go Carts, we split up into two groups. Karen, Jenny, Jaesoossi, Mom and Dad formed a group to ride Original Dells Duck, while remaining of us went for Miniature Golf. Once again, to make the kids enjoy the game I offered them a best player award. Joshua won the kid’s game with a total score of 38, second to Keith’s score of 37, and grabbed $1 award.
We came back to Skyline at noon and met with the other group. We had a quick lunch, and head out to Lake Delton Watersports for a quick boat ride. We rented 2 speed boats, and a wave runner. The two boats each came with a riding tube, but we didn’t get a chance to utilize them. I was on a waverunner with Ryan and Joshua. Remaining people teamed up on two boats. Keith ended up getting a bigger boat than Karen as the place ran out of the boat that we have reserved. I started out by checking out the capabilities of the waverunner, and drove at its maximum speed. I’m guessing that it could go past 70mph, and none of kids behind me were scared to slow me down. After a few minutes of experimentation, I wanted to try out a bit more exotic move. I told the kids to hold on to me tight, and throttled the jet ski and made a sharp turn at the full speed. What are mistake. I didn’t account for Joshua’s 150 pound weight behind me. The jet ski quickly flipped over, and within a split second we were all in the water with overturned jet ski. Ryan was freaked out, and I was a bit worried about him. I tried to flip the jet ski, but with two kids holding on to the ski I was unable to turn. Luckily, water police helped us flipped the baby over, hugh… what are relief. A helper person from Delton Watersports came and helped us drain the water inside the jet ski. We wasted good 10 minutes doing this crazy stuff. After a few minutes, we were on the water again. The kids weren’t too scared, but they were concerned that I was riding at its maximum speed. I spent a few more minutes on the water, and approached to Keith to see if he wants to switch places. He was OK athis boat, so I continue to ride the waverunner. Before the time was up, I dropped the kids on Karen’s boat and re-tried maximum-and-sharp turn experiment to see if the jet would be flipping over again. This time, I was all alone and also I’ve learned to flip the ski back myself. So, it wasn’t too much of a concern even if the jet flips. I was able to maintain the ski upside, and proved that it was the extra weight that I’ve lost control earlier.
Around 5pm, we came back to Skyline. We had karbi for dinner. Kids go down to the indoor pool, while we were playing Korean chess. Women played go-stop. I went out and bought Tommy Bartlett show tickets. The show begins at 8:30 pm, but we arrived early to grab better seats. Although we were 30 minutes early, there ware ample people already in the stadium. They (including ourselves) didn’t realize that the seats were already pre-assigned due to expected crowds. It was our fourth time seeing this show, but there was a little twist in the second half of the show. It turned out that this one was the best one we’ve watched since the second half included a couple of events such as juggling and hangleriding that we’ve never seen before.
When we came back to Skyline, I went straight to bed. I was really tired from riding jet ski on the wavy water. In the next morning when I woke up, my arms and legs were sore. We split up the team again, and the first group went for the Upper Deck Dells ride. Remaining us played arcade games in the Skyline, and Go Carts at ADare. Andrew and Ryan rode kiddie carts. It was a smaller cart, at a slower speed and on a much smaller track. Andrew really enjoyed the ride that he continued to ask for more rides. I gave them three tries, while Joshua was riding Devil cart with Keith. It was nearly 3 hours since we split up, but the first group hasn’t come back yet. Keith and I prepared the food in the picnic area near the Original Duck. Soon after, the first group arrived and we had our last meal in Wisconsin Dells. It was time to come back home.
We left Dells at 3:00PM and arrived at Mom’s home at 6:00PM. It took us a little longer since there was a bit of traffic. Jae and Kris joined us. We went to Old Country Buffet in East Dundee. We met Wonil and Michael’s group there. They were from a camping trip. It was one of busiest Wisconsin Dells trip I’ve ever made, but it was one of the most memorable trip.
More photos available at Seong Gallery
I liked the part when we saw Gina and Christine and Julie’s families at Old Country Buffet. But they had to leave a little bit early so I couldn’t really talk with them much. At least we got to see them.