Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
With four separate water parks and 10 amusement parks and outdoor adventure centers, Wisconsin Dells is an easy sell for family leisure travelers, but it also offers clear value for meeting planners, particularly those whose attendees like to bring their families along for the ride.
Wisconsin Dells’ top resorts all include meeting facilities and water parks, as well as activities from golf to indoor theme parks.
“They have an offering that’s for two audiences: a traditional conventioneer and groups that bring families,” said Tifani Jones, director of sales for Wisconsin Dells Visitor and Convention Bureau, Inc.
At the high end in terms of space, the Chula Vista Resort and Waterpark includes a total of 200,000 square feet of meeting space, including two 14,000-square-foot ballrooms and a separate 8,000-square-foot conference center. Kalahari Resort, which has created an African-safari-themed property with both a water park and an indoor amusement park, features 100,000 square feet of meeting space.
The natural glacial gorge from which the town draws its name lies at the center of one of Wisconsin Dells’ most unusual meeting experiences. Group members can be picked up by charter boat from their resort and enjoy a cruise on the way to the Cold Water Canyon and Pavilion, a 70-year-old stone cabin in the woods outfitted for meetings and corporate retreats of up to 100 people.
In addition to the entertainment options for younger members of the family, one of Wisconsin Dells’ big draws for families is its multigenerational entertainment options. The Palace Theater in the Dells, which opened its inaugural season this fall with “Mary Poppins,” specializes in family shows with a multigenerational theme, and the illusion show at the Rick Wilcox Magic Theater appeals to the child in everyone.
Toledo, Ohio
Right along the Michigan border and the shore of Lake Erie, Ohio’s fourth-largest city has parlayed the demand created by its central location into a series of unusual meeting venues that serve as a draw for meeting planners and family visitors simultaneously.
“We’re easy to get to, affordable and offer experiences meeting planners can’t get other places,” said Richard Nachazel, president of Destination Toledo. “Where else can you find a walled fort from the War of 1812 like Fort Meigs, a large freighter commissioned the same year as the Titanic and one of the top zoos in the country? Our zoo was just ranked No. 1 by USA Today.”
Most of Toledo’s top family attractions also offer meeting space. Attendees can meet at the Toledo Zoo and strategize in the middle of a re-created African savannah or in a cozy glass shelter in the Arctic surrounded by seals and polar bears. While they take care of business, their spouses and children will enjoy spending the day exploring the “hippoquarium,” the parakeet retreat, the petting zoo, the penguin beach and the kingdom of the apes.
On March 27, the zoo will open a complete renovation of its aquarium that adds additional interactive opportunities for children with the marine life and may include new opportunities for event and meeting space. It is one of only two zoos in the United States that also have an aquarium on-site.
The Toledo Museum of Art, an award winning venue for its programming, world renowned exhibits and permanent collection, not only holds one of Toledo’s most beloved and unusual event spaces, the Glass Pavilion, but also offers special art programing and events for children ages 1 through 10.
“Every group that comes has people go to the Museum of Art; that’s one of our key attractions,” said Nachazel.
Since it opened in April 2014, the National Museum of the Great Lakes, located on a docked freighter that was the largest in the world when it launched in 1911, has welcomed groups for tours and meetings and events in the museum building or on the deck of the freighter, weather permitting.
