I spent 3 days in the American Dream mall, the continent's 2nd largest. Malls are coming back — take a look inside this one.

Malls like American Dream are doing a great job positioning themselves as multi-purpose entertainment destinations versus simply just shopping places. This strategy seems to be driving more traffic in their direction.

If anyone who comes to be entertained winds up spending more money than they anticipated like we did, business will thrive.

The mall is home to Nickelodeon Universe, the largest indoor theme park in the Western Hemisphere. Covering nearly nine acres, the park features 25 rides and offers one-day all-access passes with unlimited ride access starting at $59 during non-peak times. We visited during peak time which cost us $79 a person.

Most wait times for rides were between 20 and 60 minutes. Two rides were down for scheduled maintenance and another temporarily closed while we were waiting in line.

Our daughter is a daredevil so we focused on the heart-thumping, adrenaline-pumping rides like Skyline Scream, an indoor spinning drop tower, which she went on twice in a row. On the other hand, my husband and I kept our feet firmly planted on the floor and watched as she shot 121 feet up in the air.

This 9-level stand-alone attraction has separate admission and is currently only open on Saturday, Sunday, and select holidays. It was open during our visit but only a handful of climbers were on the course.

Between wait times and ride times, we spent nearly 4 hours in the park and didn't even come close to riding everything. We cut our park visit short to explore what else the mall had to offer.

We did however make a pit stop to check out the action and it did not disappoint. In fact, it guaranteed we'll be back for a future visit.

Big Snow also offers a host of other cold-weather activities such as Sno-Go Bikes, Snow Play, and Snow Tubing. Also, in addition to ski and snowboard rentals, they rent boots and outerwear so all you have to bring is your sense of adventure — and a pair of gloves as they don't rent those.

This NHL-regulation indoor ice skating rink was too good to pass up so we laced up and hit the ice for an hour before dinner one evening. It was also great for people-watching.

General admission which starts at $25 includes skate rentals and for an additional fee beginners can rent an adorable skate-aid in the form of a seal to assist with balance. Plus the tiniest skaters can sit and ride on top of the seal.

We brought our swimsuits but, in the end, we didn't venture inside the water park. It would've been nice to pop inside and enjoy its 81-degree tropical climate maintained throughout the year.

All-access passes start at $69 and for an additional fee, The Park offers skybox suites for groups and poolside cabanas, which I definitely see in my future.

Our family loved this glow-in-the-dark blacklight miniature golf course for its challenging holes and out-of-this-world decor, including a life-size astronaut. It was very crowded during our afternoon visit. Even though we had to wait our turn at most holes, the vibe was friendly and the golfers chatted with one another.

Our favorite feature was the course's digital scorecard available through a QR code eliminating the use for paper and pencil scorekeeping. Regardless of how we kept score though, our daughter still managed to beat us and even got a hole-in-one.

American Dream was filled with various quick-serve food chain options and more formal sit-down options. We had breakfast at our hotel but, except for one mediocre sit-down dinner, we ate at the food court.

Besides the standard fast-casual options like Taco Bell, Wendy's, Popeyes, and Charley's Philly Steaks, there was also Jollibee, the largest growing fast-food chain in the Philippines. There's a location in Times Square but since we'd never been there, and as die-hard fried chicken fans, we decided to try it at the mall.

There was a 45-minute wait and lots of sold-out items. The verdict? We're glad we tried it but it didn't rate that high on our list of fried chicken spots.

With over 450 stores, specialty shops, and services, there's something for everyone including Apple (which to our surprise had no wait at the Genius Bar), Boss, Primark, Uniqlo, Aritzia, Lululemon, Zara, and Sephora. There was also a 20,000-square-foot Toys R' Us that housed a two-story slide and its own ice cream parlor.

The Avenue, a luxury wing flanked by world-class retailers such as its anchor department store Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana, Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, and even an Hermès store, which is not a sight you often see in a mall, especially not one under the same roof as a water park.

Although we didn't buy anything from this mall area, it was nice to get out of the hubbub for a while, sit in one of the quieter rest areas, and charge our phones.

Besides the seasonal decorations, the mall, in general, is breathtakingly beautiful, filled with oversized chandeliers and comfortable modern seating areas that incorporate both art and nature. Because of this, we were inclined to walk around more and explore.

It was also the cleanest mall I've ever been inside.

On our first day in the mall, we came across a line of more than 50 people waiting to rent one of these adorable motorized ride-ons so we grabbed a seat and watched as people of all ages made their way around the area on pandas, unicorns, and giraffes. It was quite a sight.

On our last day, we braved the line which was still way longer than any line we'd experienced in the retail stores, and wound up renting an adorable Panda and taking it out for a 15-minute spin.

Before our arrival, we reviewed the mall's store directory so we knew there were a handful of must-visits, including Apple where my husband snapped up the new iPhone 15 and our daughter picked up the Apple Watch SE she'd been talking about for months.

Also, after recently standing in line in Soho NYC to gain entry into a jam-packed Super Puff store, it was such a treat to waltz right into Aritzia and check out their huge selection of Super Puffs. My daughter and I both splurged on new winter jackets and beanies to keep warm this season.

We also scored some great post-holiday sales at Aerie, Lululemon, Zara, Uniqlo, Torrid, and a costume jewelry store called Luvisa, and we also shopped at Sephora, Ulta, and H Mart.

After walking more than 20 miles in a little over 36 hours, we didn't even cover everything the mall had to offer so it's only a matter of time until we return.