Mall of America Amusement Park

During our Minnesota trip, we went to the Mall of America. Since we had the kids and they are all younger than teenagers, our focus was on the indoor amusement park to the exclusion of all five hundred and fifty-five stores. The park is called Nickelodeon Universe and has lots of rides themed after the shows on the kids’ network.

The fancy sign

Us walking in

We tried to go on the Backyardigans Swings, but the ride was temporarily shut down for mechanical problems.

Empty swings

I and the two older children switched to the Avatar Airbender, though more likely it is a stomachbender. The ride takes the classic boat swinging back and forth and adds two spinning ends, so riders are swung up and down while spun around at the same time.

Cool entrance

The track, empty

The track, with the car

Getting strapped in

We liked that ride a lot in spite of the scariness factor. Our next ride was the Fairly Odd Coaster, based on The Fairly OddParents show which we had never even heard of. This was a standard roller coaster with a car that spun around as it went.

Coaster with a longer track

The car spins!

Getting strapped in

We rode the log flume ride (a ride that seems to be at every amusement park ever made). The prescholar came with us on the ride. He was okay for most of it, except the big dips (two of them) at the end. He decided he did not like the Log Chute and is ready to debate anyone on its merits.

On the hidden line

"I object"

The pro photo that came out great

Closeup of our faces

We rode the Splat-O-Sphere, a ride named after one of those Nickelodeon game shows that kids enjoy. There was no slime here, only a quick ride to the upper reaches of the four-story mall and a quick drop back to the ground. They picked us up and dropped us several times, with varying pauses between drops. One time I was trying to pick out our next ride (the view from the top is very handy for that) but we were dropped before I could ask my children what they thought of a nearby coaster.

Get ready to drop

Going up?

The twistiest ride was surely the Sponge Bob Squarepants Rock Bottom Plunge. My daughter tried not to watch the riders in front of us getting on and being dragged up and dropped into mayhem. The ride is one with shoulder harnesses, leg braces, and foot bars. The car does several inversions (the fancy way of saying “going upside down”) and twists. It was fun but intense.

Looking from the line at all the twists

Steep drops

A car barely hanging on

For a more sedate experience, I rode with the prescholar (who didn’t ride the big rollercoasters) on the Ghost Blaster. Patrons ride through a fun house. The car is equipped with a shooting-gallery gun that shoots light beams. We were able to shoot at the ghosts and make them go away as we rode from room to room. The car also has a score meter which, happily, the young one did not check when the ride ended. My score was a lot higher than his.

Not a copyright violation

We rode the Pepsi Orange Streak, a roller coaster that didn’t do any fancy moves but did take us all over the amusement park. When my older kids were done, they had a secret conference about something.

A less twisty track

Going all over the park

Consulting at the end of the ride

Our final ride was the Brainsurge, which had us strapped into rolling contraptions that let riders turn themselves forwards or backwards as the ride went around. I was riding with my daughter and she took great glee in making us go every which way possible.

The brain is in the middle

My wife loved the amusement park for two reasons. First, she didn’t have to do any of the scary or tough rides. She rode with the prescholar on the carousel, the ferris wheel, etc. Second, since it was indoors, the amusement park had air conditioning! No hot sun and yucky humidity to deal with! The rest of us liked it a lot, though it does suffer from the common problem of slow lines.

On the other hand, the number of places to eat lunch was great, parking was free, and everyone had a good time.