The only thing that makes this a ghost tour is the fact that 15 minutes into it you wish you were dead and could do ANYTHING other than be there!
First, let me preface this by saying that neither I nor my husband are into supernatural phenomenon. We were not at all going to be interested in orbs, spectral photography, or EMF detectors. If you are already into that, perhaps you will get something out of this. Having said that, we do love history, especially if it has a strange or macabre twist. Sadly, you won't get any of that on this tour either.
We started in the parking lot of Bobber's Island Grill where we sat for 15 minutes listening to the guide/driver (Brian, I think), prattle on about his personal life (which was not at all interesting), and then finally tell us a very disjointed story about a ghost girl and a freak car accident that supposedly took place outside the bar at some vague time in the past. It made no sense and I suspect it was actually just another personal tale about a girl who ditched him on a date that he turned into a ghost story. (Trust me, after hearing this guy's story telling over two hours, you will believe the same.)
And I use the term "story telling" very loosely. At times it was like the ramblings of a madman on a sugar high. I swear, the owners of the tour company found this guy sitting at the end of the bar in some dive telling bad stories to anyone who would listen and said, "This is our guy!" Even the stories that might have been interesting were plagued with odd details (like he was making stuff up as he was going along) and lacked any kind of structure that might make them believable. Worse than that, several contained flat out lies. For instance, we were made to believe that a woman named Madge Stanton, the adult (but youngish) daughter of the former owners of the Showboat Saloon, was found hung by the neck in a room above the bar. Her death was reportedly very suspicious, and the new owners went out of their way to "cover up" this suspected murder. The problem with this story is that it is a matter of public record that the daughter of the previous owners of the Showboat Saloon, Madeline "Madge" L. Stanton, lived to the ripe old age of 83 where she died after a long illness at St. Claire's Hospital in Baraboo. (Her obituary is printed in the Wisconsin State Journal, 21 Feb 1984.) Word to the wise, if you are going to make up a story, make sure it doesn't involve real people. No wonder the new owners were trying to cover up the story. It actually never happened!
Between tasteless comments about people from other states, suicide, and tragic accidents, bad stories about his ex-wife, and off-color comments about a myriad of other topics, we were ready to get off and walk, even if it meant being left in the middle of the cemetery at night in the cold. I've never seen a bus of people empty out so quickly as I did when we returned to the drop off point. The highlight of the night? My husband and I had a great story to tell people when we got back home. At least we could laugh about partaking in the World's Worst Ghost Tour ever! I don't advise paying $2 for this tour, let alone nearly $35/person. Keep your money and use it to buy a book about paranormal activity in the Dells. You'll learn way more and be far more entertained.