Welk Resort Activities to Help Owners Find Adventure
Although travelers may be staying closer to home with staycations and road trips, Welk Resorts continues to take guests on far-reaching adventures through new offerings added to its popular INSPIRED For You activities program. The new lineup of customized vacation experiences blends spirited, memory-making fun through underwater virtual reality, escape rooms, and curated outdoor experiences while emphasizing health, safety, and social distancing. What’s more, everything can be done right on the property.
“Welk Resorts has always strived to help guests connect through inspiring, innovative and fun activities,” says Patrick Dolan, a chief fun officer for all seven Welk Resorts. “Rather than turning off the fun this summer, we adapted, stepped it up, and created new experiences that would create joy for our guests in private settings and in our beautiful outdoor property locations.”
Prior to the pandemic, Dolan attended an amusement park conference where underwater virtual reality was highlighted as an emerging trend not yet embraced by resorts. Following the conference, Welk Resorts became one of the first resort companies to offer the thrill-inducing activity, which also happens to be naturally socially distant. Currently offered at the San Diego and Palm Springs locations, the 30-minute virtual adventure takes place in the pool and offers four different experiences including skydiving, walking on the moon, a journey to the deep-water city of Atlantis and finally an adventure swimming around the Great Barrier Reef, meeting some spectacular marine life along the way. “My favorite Underwater VR experience is definitely sky diving,” Dolan said. “You are in your bathing suit, floating in the pool but the simulation makes you feel like you are darting past mountain tops, barely missing waterfalls and shooting through natural arches, before pulling your parachute and landing on the beach. It is truly an exhilarating experience.”
Escape rooms are another activity at Welk Resorts that are ideally situated to the current travel climate as the rooms are completely private for your family. What makes each property’s escape room unique is a signature theme adapted to the resort’s unique location and personality. In San Diego, guests are challenged by the ‘Survivor Island’, beach-themed escape room, while the ‘Outlaw Escape Room’ in Branson celebrates the area’s storied history of bank and train robbers. ‘Pirates of the Salton Sea’ in Palm Springs and ‘The Midnight Gambler’ Escape Room at Northstar Lodge in Tahoe both opened their doors in the fall of 2020.
“Escape Rooms are consistently our most popular onsite experience,” said Dolan. “Families get together in an ultra-themed, fun environment and work together to solve puzzles, follow clues and collaborate on the room’s mission. It’s truly a family team building experience and it’s so rewarding to see people celebrating their wins and working together across generations of family members.”
Welk Resorts’ has also pivoted its outdoor adventure options to make it easy for guests to explore the natural world in small family units without having to venture off or far from property. In San Diego, guests embrace their inner Viking at the new outdoor axe throwing and archery range. The Sunset Electric Bike Cruise showcases San Diego’s golden sunsets while riders embark on a winding tour of the stunning 900-acre mountainous property. Welk Resorts in Tahoe offers an adventure hike that includes breathtaking mountain views combined with insights into outdoor survival skills, Tahoe history and local flora and fauna. Paddleboard and kayak adventures, adapted for small family units, allow Welk Resorts’ Cabo guests to discover the majestic Sea of Cortez, while in Breckenridge, visitors simply step outside the resort front door to embark on a guided snowshoe adventure along the frozen Blue River.
INSPIRED For You activities are available at all of Welk Resorts’ properties including Welk Resorts San Diego; Desert Oasis by Welk Resorts in the Palm Springs area; Northstar Lodge by Welk Resorts and One Village Place by Welk Resorts in the Lake Tahoe area; The Lodges at Timber Ridge by Welk Resorts in Branson, Missouri; The Ranahan by Welk Resorts in Breckenridge, Colo; and Sirena del Mar by Welk Resorts in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. A new self-booking platform allows guests to book and pay for the experiences from their cell phones—limiting touch points throughout the experience. For more information, visit www.WelkResorts.com.
About Welk Resorts
Welk Resorts got its start in 1964 when beloved television bandleader Lawrence Welk bought a motel and nine-hole golf course north of San Diego. Married for 61 years, Welk and his wife Fern knew that one of the best ways to stay healthy and build bonds was through the shared experience of vacations. Today, Welk Resorts Today, continues to be family-owned and operated and has grown to seven quality vacation resorts. These include Welk Resorts in San Diego, Palm Springs, and Lake Tahoe, Calif. areas, plus Branson, Mo., Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and Breckenridge, Colo. In addition, Welk Resorts’ Platinum Points Owners have access to the RCI Exchange Portfolio of over 4,300 resorts in 110 countries, as well as the Experiences Collection, a portfolio of 16 additional vacation resorts including Four Seasons, Disney Vacation Club, and Fairmont properties in Hawaii, Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, and more.
Welk Resorts is led by Welk’s grandson, CEO Jon Fredricks, who honors his grandfather’s legacy every day by developing and operating quality vacation resorts that keep people connected to those they care most about through shared experiences and memories. For more, visit www.WelkResorts.com.
