And while winter only lasts a few months, sometimes that can be brutal...
Last Friday, with a foot of snow threatening to dump on us...
We got on the road and headed East...And while one might think heading South would be a smarter move...schedule constraints and tight budgets don't allow for that just yet...
But...
Just 90 miles east of the Twin Cities found us at a gorgeous hotel & resort...
in none other than Eau Claire, Wisconsin!
The Metropolis Resort was built in 2008 - and is NOT your typical hotel...
There are so many different kinds of rooms to choose from - rooms with simple flair...
And spacious bathrooms with REALLY comfy beds & fresh linens and fridges and microwaves and flat screen television sets and ipod docking stations for alarm clocks and BALCONIES!
How many times have you been in a hotel and wished you could crack a window for a short while? We had a BALCONY!
And...after seeing a VIP in the hallway outside of our room...we looked out over our balcony - and who should we spy...but that very same VIP - SANTA himself!
Yes folks...Santa Claus actually STAYS at this hotel..He told the kids to get their lists ready...Wow, were they ever surprised!
So, while they were getting pummeled by 11 inches of snow back home - just 90 miles away, we were living it up in the tropics...tropics of the Metropolis Resort that is!
She's hard to see in this pic below but her pink goggles give her away!
I love going to places that have something for every age - zero depth entry pools & water slides for the young, the old, and everyone in between!
A hot tub, a lazy river...ah...maybe winter isn't so bad after all!
And while I thought the water park would be the biggest hit with our little swimmers...
It turns out, that Metropolis Resort offers a whole OTHER world -
ACTION CITY!
Action City offers Unlimited Play for Non-Hotel Guests AND Hotel Guests (for a small fee.)
Hotel guests enjoy All. Day. Unlimited!!! Bumper Cars, Laser Tag, Batting Cages, Rock Climbing Wall, Mini-Bowling, & Go Carts and more!
There are quite a few other attractions they offer outdoors when it's not winter in these here parts too! Unlimited Play is only $25/person for All Day Play (from open to close) & kids 5 and under (Our two kids!) are FREE with the purchase of a regular pass.
I cannot tell you how nice it was to be able to just scan the Action City Fun License (a plastic credit type card) whenever we wanted, without having to worry how much money was left on the card, if we had enough to bowl another game, or what have you.
D loves air hockey - and challenged his dad, his sister AND his mom...over, and over, and over and over again!
We did lots of bowling - and LOVED the mini lanes & mini bowling balls! So perfect for our pre k kids!
She JUST made it...and was tall enough to drive the Bumper Cars - Easily her favorite attraction of the weekend -
I got such a kick out of the humor on their height signs...D didn't think they were too funny, seeing as how he was about an inch too short for the Bumper Cars...
He was tall enough for this though...
The indoor Rock Climbing Wall!
They both had a ton of fun climbing up the rock wall- and by up, I mean...about 5 feet...but that's irrelevant...
Once we got to Metropolis Resort - We didn't even have to leave...(which let me tell you, when it's winter, and you've got young kids - THAT is a vacation in and of itself!)
The hotel offers several dining options - including Monkey in the Middle Pizza - where they make pizzas from scratch -
It. was. AWESOME!
Typically I'm a pizza is pizza is pizza kind of gal - but not this pizza...
This was so good - I was tempted to get one to go when we came home...but figured, we'll be back there again soon ~ (And - the rooms come equipped with a fridge and microwave, so...If you don't finish it, you can eat it later - like, at 11 pm when you finally get done playing games!)
On our first night there, there were so many birthday parties going on - What a GREAT place for a birthday party! Even with multiple groups of kids, we never felt crowded because this place is just that big!
The parties each get their own space (with closed off doors and everything!) - unlike some of the others we've been to recently, and I can totally see us bringing a couple of friends & having a slumber party there!
We've got a little boy turning four at the end of this month...hmmmmmmm?
Can you imagine bringing your kid and a half a dozen friends & staying in THIS ROOM?
The pizza we saw served at the birthday parties?
The Gorilla Pizza! Seriously...Check out the napkin holder in the middle of the table - THAT is seriously how big these things are! It's a 30" pizza - feeds 12-14 people and costs about $50 - but...there's a challenge...2 people, 1 hour. If you can do it - the pizza is free!
There is also an on site Dairy Queen and Orange Julius!
In the mornings - Metropolis Resort offers up a hot complimentary breakfast...What a nice perk...although, as with any continental breakfast I've ever been to - The trick is to get there early before the rest of the hotel wakes up and joins you...
But the made to order omelets? YES PLEASE!
There were quite a few 'arcade type' games that we were able to play on our unlimited passes...games that we don't see at the usual 'arcade' places around here...
There were quite a few 'arcade type' games that we were able to play on our unlimited passes...games that we don't see at the usual 'arcade' places around here...
I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed or proud that our kids aren't so great at video games...but I'm leaning towards proud.
At one point a preteen boy walked up to me and told me that D was playing guitar hero wrong...that he didn't need to be pushing buttons, because I had it on the easy setting, blah blah blah -
Thanks kid...He's 3.
And again, the joy of the unlimited passes? It doesn't matter if you play a game 'wrong' - because you can play, and play, and play some more...
It's about having fun - not about winning or losing...
Though if there were to be any clear winners - it would have been on the indoor go cart track!
They had single cars and double cars - which was so awesome for families like us!
I won't tell you who the clear winners were - but you can guess which one of us is a little more heavy on the gas...
She didn't care though - In fact, I'm going to guess she was thankful I was a little slower when we were involved in a 6 car pile up at the end of our 2nd night.
Thank God for seat belts...and awesome staff.
(Seriously - I cannot say enough about the staff we encountered...Most of them were *young kids* - and I'm not sure if it's the small town that is Eau Claire or they are just so glad to be at work at such a fun place or what...but Wow - So So awesome, this staff...Friendly, polite, kind, GREAT with our kids and other patrons.
I have grown so used to being around *young kids* that wear a sense of entitlement in so many of the businesses we frequent - this was SUCH a great feeling!)
ANYHOO - back to the Go Cart fiasco...
Someone took us out on a corner...and the cars coming up on us must not have known much about brakes...because we were hit again, and again, and again...
H immediately started to cry - and I wanted to - but only because I was worried about her.
Even though we took some pretty crazy impact...we didn't really feel much.
She was scared - but not hurt.
The staff was there immediately offering us help, an ice pack, anything...
And after a few minutes of separating all of the cars - we finished up the race and parked the cars.
More our speed?
LASER TAG! I've never played laser tag! (Can you believe it!)
Our family had so much fun playing this game!!
We played several games with other kids & families too - what a RIOT!
This right here would be worth making another trip to Eau Claire! Unlimited Laser Tag with my family? AWESOME!
It was so. much. fun! We had a blast!
This right here would be worth making another trip to Eau Claire! Unlimited Laser Tag with my family? AWESOME!
It was so. much. fun! We had a blast!
What a much needed get away - But it didn't really feel like we went all that far!
There was free WiFi & an small work out area as well - and while we didn't have time to utilize them on this trip, I could see both of those coming in handy in the future!
Indoor water parks are a dime a dozen around here - but this, this place offered so very much more!
Metropolis Resort - located just 90 miles East of the Twin Cities - right off of I94 - There is something for everyone at this resort! I cannot WAIT to return again!
Are you interested in checking out Metropolis Resort?
Check out their website for some pretty awesome packages...
And...I'll let you in on a little secret...
If check this out at just the right time...You can get your hands on 1 of 20 half priced gift certificates - $250 for just $125!
You'll need to act fast...Half off Deals go FAST!
*** A huge thank you to Metropolis Resort for providing my family with a gift certificate to off set some of the costs of our weekend stay to facilitate this review. The words and opinions are my own, and it should be obvious by the pictures we took, that our family had a GREAT time! ***
9 comments:
I've been to Action City and it is awesome but I really want to check out this hotel. AntiSupermom had a giveaway for it about a year ago that I wanted to win so so so badly. I hadn't seen pictures of the rooms till this post though. Way cool.
How awesome! I love places like that, and that one seems to be a great one! I will for sure be checking them out for one of our many breaks.
I say we use the locker room for a ladies blog gathering. Seriously, how much fun would that be!?!?!?!
Thanks for the review Darcie, I'll be checking it out for sure. It seems like the perfect place to take my family!
Looks like a great place. Glad you guys had such a fun time!
Our family lives and breathes for places like this. Especially love that you can do multiple things to entertain everyone without ever having to leave. Good for you guys! P.S. Love the xmas card-too cute!
What a fun trip - always good to do something different in the winter - it does get long!!!
Amy
What a fun weekend for you and your family! Didn't know anything about this hotel in Eau Claire. Cool!
I've wanted to go to this place for about a year now! I'm even further convinced that it's totally awesome now!
WoW! My kids would LOVE that place! How did you fit everything in? We were thinking only an overnight, but this would take us days to do! I'll show PapaBear and see what he says....sure looks like it's worth the drive!
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