By TUMBLEWEED SMITH

WE HAD A blast at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. It’s a water park under roof. We picked it to have a family reunion. While taking a break from the water slides and waves I moseyed up to the front desk and said I was a reporter and wondered if there was anyone available for an interview. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, I thought my chances slim to none of finding someone in the PR department on duty. I was right. No PR folks. But within 10 minutes I was on a balcony overlooking the grounds talking to the general manager, Jack Bateman, who has been in the theme park business 24 years and attended Texas Tech.

“The Great Wolf Corporation has been around since 1996,” says Jack. “This is the 11th lodge the company has opened and it’s the biggest one. We opened Jan. 10 of this year and are already adding 200 more rooms and 15,000 square feet of meeting space.”

Great Wolf is next door to the DFW airport and right across the street from the Gaylord, another big facility that is growing. There’s nothing like it within a 5-state area.

“We try to promote family togetherness here,” says Jack. “There’s something for all ages. Little kids can go to the wading pool or the Cub Club. Older kids can take part in our MagiQuest, where they wander the premises with a magic wand that opens treasure chests, makes pictures and trees talk and helps when they encounter dragons or wizards.”

THE PLACE looks like something you’d find at a national park in the north woods. And it has the names to go along with it, like the Camp Critter Bar & Grille and the Northern Lights Arcade. We stayed in the Grizzly Bear Suite that sleeps eight comfortably. But the water park, named Bear Track Landing, is the main attraction. A giant bucket holding 1,000 gallons of water empties every four minutes and people line up to get drenched. A bell rings just before the bucket dumps its water. The wave maker is activated by a loud wolf howl every10 minutes. The water slides for all ages are the best ever. I tried all of them, including the Howling Tornado, the most challenging. The temperature inside the water park is a constant 85 degrees.

You won’t find any long lines at Great Wolf, since entry into the water park is reserved for guests of the resort. Because it’s so self-contained, some people say it’s sort of like a cruise ship without the ocean. Everything is right here, including a spa.

THE COMPANY was founded in Wisconsin, where winter comes early and stays a long time. Jack says about 75 percent of the business comes from the Metroplex. The facility now has 402 rooms. Half of the 200 new ones will be ready in December, the rest in January. Great Wolf’s outdoor water park is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Safety is of prime importance. The latest filtering technology keeps the water clean. Rooms are deep cleaned after guests leave “to keep that brand new feeling.”

We enjoyed getting wet at the Great Wolf Lodge.