Tourists Flock To Wisconsin Dells
The United States is a large country with numerous sites to see. So, The Early Show helps vacationers rediscover the U.S. with a series called “The Best Of America.”
The Wisconsin Dell is one popular site and the Midwest’s oldest attractions that attracts 2.5 million tourists annually.
Since the mid-1800s, tourists have visited the Wisconsin Dells to view a stunning work of nature.
“The sandstone formations on the Wisconsin River were carved by melt water from a glacier that came through here 10,000 years ago,” said Gorge Field. “They are only found in a few places in the world.”
And for nearly 50 years, one of the most popular ways to view the Dells has been aboard a vehicle that was used in the invasion of Normandy. A World War II amphibious craft called a “duck.”
“Everyone has seen a boat and everybody has seen a car, but the two combined … there's just something interesting about it,” said Field.
George Fields is the grandson of the man who brought the ducks to the Dells. In 1946, Melvin Flath brought surplus ducks and used them to give river tours. Today, there are more than 100 ducks still operating here.
Field explained, "We do tell them about the ducks themselves and how they were used in the war … as well as river and the rock formations we're going through on the river."
Although it was the Dell’s natural beauty that originally attracted tourists, it was a water ski show that really put the Dells on the map. In 1953, Tommy Bartlett, a well known TV and radio personality, brought one of the nation’s first water ski thrill shows and used his influence to promote the area.
“Tommy had a great understanding of what the general middle case of people wanted. And he delivered it to them,” said Bartlett. “He was always on the leading edge of bringing something that people hadn't seen … and of course he was a very famous radio and TV star in the Chicago market ... and he's what made the dells what it is today
Tom Diehl was Bartlett’s business partner. Today, he continues to run the water ski show that has drawn crowds for more 50 years.
"Tommy said. 'After I'm gone, always remember you have to give clean wholesome family entertainment to the masses because that's what they want,’" said Diehl.
In the '60s and '70s, tourism increased and so did the attractions. Visitors took dips in a swimming pool with a candyland theme or drive a go-cart through the stomach of 65-foot Trojan horse.
Bob Puhala wrote more than 30 travel guides focusing on the Midwest. He says that there’s plenty of kitsch left on the strip and today’s biggest draws are the water parks.
“I think that the Dells in the '50s developed that 'bigger is better' attitude to draw people in... You wanted to see something spectacular and different that you didn't see everywhere else," said Puhala. "It was a kind of a kitschy, bigger-is-better mecca … to be overwhelmed during their vacation."
Puhala said today there are 17 water parks with different kind of themes and he believe it’s the largest collection of indoor or outdoor water parks in the world.
Whether tourist preferred their attractions manmade or natural, the Wisconsin Dells is a vacation destination that’s uniquely American.
“This is essentially a family vacation spot ... they bill themselves as the number one Midwest attraction center and I wouldn't argue with that,” said Puhala. “If I had a family that loved to be outdoors, that loved to go on boat tours, that loved water, I'd head to the Dells.”
From Chicago, It’s over a three-hour drive to Wisconsin Dells.
For information anytime, contact the Wisconsin Dells at 1-800-223-3557.