The No. 1 activity that was recommended to me when planning my first trip to the Mall of America with my daughters was Nickelodeon Universe. It’s a theme park in the center of the mall with rides such as a log ride, roller coasters and a Ferris Wheel, all with Nickelodeon character themes.
I booked our hotel room at Radisson Blu, which is connected to the mall via a walkway, and Nickelodeon Universe was only a short walk away. When you book directly through the Mall of America website, you can add tickets to Nickelodeon Universe to your order, which is what I did. (We had unlimited ride wristbands, which I think is more convenient than purchasing individual tickets/points for each ride. If you plan to spend a significant amount of time there, unlimited wristbands are the way to go.)
We started the day with the log ride, which had the longest line of about 40 minutes. No other ride had a long ride that day. My girls also liked the banana swing, SpongeBob roller coaster, Ferris wheel, and pretty much any ride. You really can’t go wrong.
A benefit of this theme park is that you can leave to get food elsewhere in the mall or leave the mall altogether for lunch. I took my girls to Benihana since they had never experienced it before, and then we returned for more rides. You can also go to the third-floor food court or dine at any other restaurant in the mall.
You can easily spend an entire day here with kids. (Note that the mall closes earlier on Sundays.) I would recommend Nickelodeon Universe to families visiting the mall.
Marette Flora is the founder of Floradise blog and personalized gift shop. Marette is a passionate storyteller and creator. She attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication.
She is passionate about creating helpful and meaningful things.