By Brian E. Clark
Special to Channel 3000

Great Wolf Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells just got a whole lot better.

Not that the place was exactly lacking. But the recent opening of the 38,000-square-foot Bear Track Landing now brings Great Wolf's indoor water park offerings to an impressive 76,000 square feet. It even has family cabanas.

I had fun in the addition's new wave pool, on its new waterslides and the head-first, enclosed mat slide that is the first of its kind in the country. But don't take it from me.

My 5-year-old daughter, Maddie, also loved the offerings, especially the mat slide, officially dubbed the Mountain Edge Raceway.

When we got down to the bottom of the 315-foot-long mat slide, she declared, "Let's go again! I could do that ride forever."

Couldn't ask for much more of a ringing endorsement than that, now, could you?

Must have been the mat slide's tunnels and their sharp, twisting turns and that final long plunge down to the water-filled straight-away lanes.(Two go through pitch black tunnels, while two others are in the light. We stuck with the lighted ones.)

Truth be told, she wore me out on that ride. She didn't even mind the four-story climb to get the start. She could have done it over and over again all weekend.

And I thought it might scare her. No way.

The only drawback to the mat slide -- at least for her -- was that she weighs less than 40 pounds. So even though I gave her a head start, I always blew by her in the flats at the end. My 170 pounds gave me a lot more momentum. But the big smile on her face meant she didn't really care.

According to Tim Black, general manager of the lodge, the mat slide was designed to be a family-friendly competition, as well as a thrill ride.

In addition to Maddie and me, I saw plenty of other parent-child races going on. Lots of sibling rivalry playing out in an amicable manner, too.

We arrived at the resort in mid-afternoon in early April, checked into our family room and quickly headed for the water park.

My group - consisting of mom, dad, Maddie and her 3-year-old brother, Anders - tried out a couple of our favorite slides in the older sections that we'd come to like on earlier visits.

But it was Bear Track Landing that drew us back to the Dells, so within the hour we'd made the short walk to the new facilities.

First we tried out the zero-entry Slap Tail Pond wave pool, which we decided reminded us at least a teensy tiny bit of La Jolla Shores, one of our favorite beaches when we lived in San Diego. Only without the sand.

We were splashed by waves that were several feet tall, bounced around in clear inner tubes for 10 minutes, watched the water calm, and then rode the chop again.

Then we split up, for Anders wasn't big enough for the mat slide. But he didn't seem to mind, for he found an attraction that featured four stationary wave runners, complete with water squirters.

Maddie and I joined Anders and his mother at that play area and I soon became the target of choice, not only for them but several other kids.

After a couple of hours, we were worn out and retired to our room and dinner. Thankfully, the kids quickly conked out.

The next morning, it was back to Bear Track Landing, where we did a bit more exploring. Maddie, my little partner in all things adventurous, found another new water slide - Coyote Canyon - which dropped three stories over its 436-foot-long course.

But it was the racing mats that Maddie wanted to ride on - again and again and again.