It is the largest shopping mall in the United States by total area, home to a full-sized indoor amusement park, a massive aquarium, a mini-golf course, dozens of restaurants, hundreds of stores, and more attractions than most small theme parks. The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota is one of those places that defies easy categorization. It is simultaneously a shopping center, an entertainment complex, a tourist attraction, and a cultural phenomenon. Whatever you think you know about malls, this one will surprise you.
The Basics: Scale and Layout
The Mall of America opened in 1992 on the site of the old Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, just minutes from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The building covers 5.6 million square feet, of which about 2.87 million is leasable retail space. On any given day, the mall sees between 100,000 and 150,000 visitors, and it receives more annual visitors than Disney World, Graceland, and the Grand Canyon combined. These are genuinely staggering numbers for what is, at its core, a shopping center in a suburb of Minneapolis.
The mall is arranged on four levels in a roughly rectangular footprint, with the interior atrium occupied by Nickelodeon Universe, the indoor theme park. Four anchor stores anchor the corners, and more than 500 specialty shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues fill the spaces between them. Navigating the mall can be disorienting at first, but the color-coded entrance areas, North, South, East, and West, along with large directory maps throughout the building, make it manageable once you get your bearings.
Nickelodeon Universe
The absolute centerpiece of the Mall of America is Nickelodeon Universe, a 7-acre indoor theme park that occupies the entire central atrium of the building. The park features more than 30 rides and attractions, including full-sized roller coasters, a log flume ride, a Ferris wheel, and a variety of spinning and drop rides. The coasters, including the SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge and the Fairly Odd Coaster, operate on a single ride ticket or unlimited wristband system, so families can choose between paying per ride or purchasing an all-day pass.
The park is themed with characters and imagery from classic Nickelodeon cartoons, making it especially appealing to kids who grew up watching the network. But the rides themselves are legitimate, with several that are thrilling enough to satisfy teenagers and adults. The fact that all of this exists inside a building, insulated from Minnesota’s notoriously unpredictable weather, is part of what makes it so practical for families visiting the region.
SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium
Located on the lower level of the mall, SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium is a surprisingly substantial aquarium attraction that features more than 10,000 sea creatures across a range of habitats. The highlight is the 300-foot underwater tunnel that passes through a 1.2-million-gallon ocean tank teeming with sharks, rays, sea turtles, and countless other species. The tunnel’s curved glass walls surround visitors on three sides, creating the sensation of walking through the ocean itself.
Other exhibits cover freshwater environments, coral reefs, touch tanks where visitors can interact with horseshoe crabs and sea stars, and a jellyfish gallery. The aquarium also has a dedicated focus on conservation and education, with informational displays throughout explaining the threats facing marine ecosystems and what visitors can do to help. It’s a solid attraction that stands on its own merits apart from the mall experience and is particularly great for families with younger children.
Dining and Entertainment
The Mall of America has an enormous range of dining options, from fast food court standards to sit-down restaurants and specialty food vendors. The restaurant lineup includes well-known national chains alongside local and regional favorites. The Toasted Barrel, Yard House, Cantina Laredo, and a long list of other full-service restaurants are scattered throughout the mall. For a more distinctive local experience, look for the Minnesota-based options that reflect the state’s dining culture.
Beyond eating and shopping, the mall has a wealth of entertainment options beyond Nickelodeon Universe and the aquarium. The LEGO Store features one of the most elaborate permanent LEGO installations in the country, including massive sculptures built from millions of bricks. There’s an 18-hole miniature golf course, a comedy club, a couple of movie theaters, virtual reality experiences, a bowling alley, and an escape room operation. It’s genuinely possible to spend an entire day at the Mall of America without ever entering a clothing store.
Practical Tips for Your Visit
The Mall of America is located at the intersection of Interstate 494 and 24th Avenue in Bloomington, about 10 miles south of downtown Minneapolis. It’s one of the most convenient major attractions in the Twin Cities area to access: the Blue Line of the Metro Transit light rail runs directly from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport and from downtown Minneapolis to a station beneath the mall. This makes it entirely possible to arrive from the airport, spend hours at the mall, and return to catch your flight without ever renting a car.
Parking at the mall is free in its attached ramps, which have space for more than 20,000 vehicles. Weekends and the holiday shopping season from Thanksgiving through Christmas are the busiest periods. For the most relaxed experience, visit on a weekday morning when the crowds are thinner and rides at Nickelodeon Universe have shorter wait times. The mall is open seven days a week, with typical hours of 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.
The Mall of America occupies a peculiar place in American culture: simultaneously derided by those who see it as an emblem of consumerism and beloved by the millions who visit it each year for genuine fun and entertainment. Whatever your feelings about shopping malls in the abstract, a visit to this one tends to disarm even the most skeptical. It’s bigger, more entertaining, and more legitimately fun than you expect. Give it a chance and see what the fuss is about.
