We recently stayed at Glacier Canyon Lodge in December of 2022, a part of the Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. We will cover the whole trip and stay at the resort within a new trip, but focus on the aspects of the room at Glacier Canyon Lodge review here.
Traveling with a 22-month-old led us to look for a place with multiple bedrooms, a kitchen, and an entertainment area within our room. The other rooms at the Wilderness do appear nice, but Glacier Canyon checked all the boxes as we were planning our trip. Since our toddler naps, wakes up before things are open, and goes to bed before we do, it’s important for us to have separate and extra space while spending time in the room.
Booking
Booking the trip was easy through the Wilderness site and it’s a massive property so we had no trouble finding a room for a winter weekend. We were locked in on a specific weekend due to work schedules, but there are some other good options to get a good deal for a stay at Glacier Canyon. Part of the hotel is Club Wyndham, and the timeshare owners will sell stays to use up their points through eBay. There will be different day/month combinations, but worth checking out if you’re flexible. The other option was AirBnB or VRBO. Similar to eBay, the club members will list options to use their points. Some of the dates I looked at were up to 50% off, which is always appreciated.
When you book, they provide you with lots of options to enhance your stay. In our case, we had an upcoming birthday. This allowed me to surprise the December birthday with a decorated room door and a chocolate box in the room when we checked in. Also, I was able to add early check-in so we could arrive earlier in the day, avoid the normal check-in rush and start to enjoy our day off at 2 pm instead of 4 pm. PTO days are precious, so being able to maximize the day was very important. There was an option for an extra 2 hours of check-out but, we didn’t opt for it this time around.
Check-in
Check-in was a breeze, be sure you know the size of wristbands you’ll need for everyone in your group. Our 22-month-old did not require a wristband, but I’d imagine everyone over 2 will. This wristband is your room key and provides you access to all the resort amenities. You’ll then be directed to which door you should park by and you’re on your way.
Inside all the doors you park by are plenty of luggage carts. Make a quick stop at the door, pick one up and head up to your room. Our first impression walking in was very spacious. We had a 2 bedroom suite with full kitchen. Our door decorations were up and the chocolates in the room provided a great surprise.
Kitchen
The kitchen had all the major items, a full stove/oven, microwave, coffee maker, fridge, dishwasher, plenty of dishes/utensils, and some dish towels. There was no paper towel or basic spices, so plan accordingly. Above the kitchen sink is a breakfast bar with 4 stools and behind that a high-top table with 4 seats.
Living Space
The living space had a couch and 2 chairs, along with a coffee table in the middle. A fake fireplace is available, with a good-sized TV above the mantle. The fireplace was confusing to turn on at first glance, you have to pull down the grate up top and there are two switches for the lights and then one for the space heater. The main issue here is the heater blows on the grate you need to pull down. So, when you go to turn off the fireplace when you’re done it’s hot (poor engineering). The living space also has a murphy bed and a curtain that would allow you to set this up as a makeshift third bedroom.
Master Bed
The master bedroom is in the back of the unit, with a sliding patio door. Our view overlooked the outdoor waterpark which was obviously closed for winter but could be more exciting in summer. The king-size bed fills up the majority of the room, so it’s a tight squeeze with luggage in the room. There’s a TV at the end of the bed, so another place to spread out for entertainment. There’s a door to the main bathroom of the master bed.
Second Bedroom
The second bedroom is at the front of the unit. It has a unique bunk bed set-up with a queen on bottom and a twin up top. The structure takes up the majority of the room, but there is a small dresser with TV at the end of the bed. Since we had the crib for the toddler, it was a tight squeeze having this next to the bed, but it worked out. We did pull in one of the chairs from the sitting area for night time book reading which worked well. There is a door from this bedroom to the main bath as well.
Bathrooms
There is a 1.5 bath in the unit. The main bathroom sits between the 2 bedrooms, which with a toddler sleeping in one room wasn’t always the best. The doors were thin and the toilet/sink was against the guest bedroom wall, so we had to be quiet while he was sleeping. Overall, not a big deal. The bathroom is large with a full tub, hair dryer, and plenty of towels. The second bathroom is right as you walk into the unit and was a comfortable half bath.
Amenities
The room includes access to all the amenities that the Wilderness resort has to offer, and is connected to the main hotel through a walkway. You just head to the second floor and can access anywhere in the main Wilderness resort through the indoor walkway.
If you’re traveling with a little one, leave the pack-and-play at home, you can call ahead and request a full crib be in your room for free when you arrive. They leave a standard sheet to put on the crib mattress, but it popped up easily enough to get the job done.
The wifi was slow. We brought our own Firestick to use at night while our toddler was sleeping but ran into lots of buffering issues once the hotel got busy on the weekend. If you have something that relies on wifi, just be prepared for some slow speeds.
If you book direct with the resort and not through someone’s Club Wyndham account, you will not have a washer and dryer in the unit. However, there are washers and dryers available close to the room if you need to use them.
Summary
To pull it all together we had a great time and it was a great set-up for a few-day vacation. We will definitely be back with our toddler and highly suggest families with kids check out the resort. The two of us are also considering an adults-only vacation to the resort, but we would probably stay in a standard Wilderness room as we don’t need the extra space to entertain any kids in between activities. I hope you found our Glacier Canyon Lodge review helpful!
