We all love to shopping but...if shopping is not your main intention at Mall of America, visit the many attractions inside the largest shopping and entertainment complex in the United States. The newly opened Nickelodeon Universe theme park brings Nick characters to life with 24 rides geared for the young and young at heart.
Admission to the park is free. Rides and attractions require varying numbers of points. Points are available for purchase individually or in multi-point packages. Pay-one-price unlimited ride wristbands are also available.
Because it's indoors, the park is open year-round whenever the mall is open, which is pretty much all the time.
Mall of America(Mall of America,60 East Broadway,Bloomington, MN 55425 ) is a super-regional shopping mall located in the Twin Cities suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. The mall is located southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north of the Minnesota River and is across the interstate from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. In the United States, it is the second largest enclosed mall in terms of retail space but is largest in terms of total enclosed floor area.
Design :
Mall of America has a gross area of 4.2 million sq ft. (390,000 m²), with 2.5 million sq ft. (230,000 m²) available as retail space.The mall is a nearly symmetrical building, with a roughly rectangular floor plan. Over 520 stores are arranged along three levels of pedestrian walkways on the sides of the rectangle, with a fourth level on one side. An addition planned north of the mall will allow for up to 900 stores. Four "anchor" department stores are located at the corners. The Mall is organized into four different zones, each with its own decorative style.
Notable attractions:
- Nickelodeon Universe
- Underwater Adventures Aquarium
- Bodies... The Exhibition
Nickelodeon Universe :Nickelodeon Universe is an indoor theme park in the center of the mall, formerly known as Knotts Camp Snoopy, Camp Snoopy, and The Park at MOA. The park features roller coasters, among numerous other rides and attractions, and is the largest indoor theme park in the United States. Unlike many indoor amusement parks, Nickelodeon Universe has a great deal of natural foliage in and about the park, and its floor has a wide variance in height - the highest ground level in the park is 15 feet above the lowest. This allows for a far more naturalistic experience than would normally occur in an indoor amusement park.
The park features two new roller coasters; SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge and Avatar AirbenderIt also has a golfing section called Moose Mountain. With 18 holes, designed to create a challenge for players hoping to seek a hole in one.
Underwater Adventures Aquarium :
Guests travel through a 300 foot long curved tunnel through 14 feet of water to view over 4,500 sea creatures including sharks, turtles, stingrays, and many more. Underwater Adventures offers special events such as sleepovers, scuba diving, snorkeling, and birthday parties.Children ages 2 and younger receive free admission, while admission for ages 3-12 are $11.95, and Adult admission for ages 13 & older are $18.95.
FUN FACTS :
- Minnesota's Mall of America is the largest, fully enclosed retail and family entertainment complex in the U.S.
- Seven Yankee Stadiums would fit inside Mall of America.
- Mall of America’s 13,300 short tons of steel is nearly twice the amount in the Eiffel Tower.
- Walking distance around one level of Mall of America is .57 of a mile.
- Spending 10 minutes in every store would take a shopper more than 86 hours to complete there visit to Mall of America.
- More than 5,000 couples have been married at Mall of America since opening in August of 1992.
- The Mall of America is located on the former Metropolitan Sports Stadium which was home to the Minnesota Vikings and Twins. Home plate can be found in Nickelodeon Universe®.
- There are 30,000 live plants and 400 live trees planted in Nickelodeon Universe.
Phase II Expansion :
Phase II is the planned expansion for MOA, developing a large, empty parcel of land north of the mall which was the former home of the Met Center indoor arena and integrating an IKEA store built on a portion of the property in 2004. Phase II, in current form, includes a dinner theatre, ice rink, three hotels, and a waterpark; similar in design to the West Edmonton Mall. The expansion will not make MOA exceed the size of the WEM (itself going under expansion). The plan has been impeded by a lack of public financing.
MOA currently estimates costs of $1.9 billion for the expansion, doubling the mall's size with a 5.2 million-square-feet extension. The mall's developers have asked for $234 million in state and local subsidies, but the request was vetoed as part of a larger bill by Gov. Tim Pawlenty on its first appearance in the 2006-07 session. Questions have arisen among Bloomington city officials as to the fiscal ability of the Ghermezians to finish Phase II.
