American Dream Mall | Nickelodeon Universe | Tips & Tricks

Ten days ago, we went on our very first amusement park trip of 2020. Since it’s still winter here in south western Pennsylvania – every amusement park near us is closed. So, if we wanted to ride some roller coasters, our options were pretty much one: head south.

However! That has all changed this year with the opening of the American Dream Mall in Rutherford, New Jersey. This insanely massive complex houses not only a mall, but indoor ski slopes, an indoor ice skating rink, an indoor waterpark (which is slated to open in just 2 weeks!), and an indoor amusement park. Not only that – but the park is called Nickelodeon Universe & is 100% themed to all of the major Nickelodeon shows. Just in case you aren’t up on your current Nickelodeon offerings – PAW Patrol is on Nick Jr. And further, just in case you aren’t up on the current state of our family – Braelynn is obsessed with the PAW Patrol. Needless to say, this was a no-brainer trip to plan.

We enjoyed Nickelodeon Universe on Saturday, February 22, 2020. We arrived just as the park was opening at 10am and stayed until about 4:30pm. We went into the experience with completely open minds – not knowing what to expect at all. This place is so new, very little info is out there on the internet about it (in the form of reviews, YouTube videos, etc.) so, even though we had some hopes, we didn’t pin any especially high hopes on Nickelodeon Universe.

OVERVIEW

Overall, we had a really wonderful time! In some ways, the park exceeded our expectations – it truly is an incredible feat! They have several “big” roller coasters, plus a ton of “family” rides all packed into this indoor space. It’s absolutely beautiful how everything is intertwined & “works together”. It’s visually so stimulating!

Of course, no park visit (especially to a brand-spanking-new place) is without it’s hiccups. There were two “major” issues on the day we were there: the park got super busy, super fast. By lunch time, all of the lines to every single attraction met or exceeded a 60-minute wait. Thankfully, we had hit up the rides we really wanted to ride ASAP, but it was still very disappointing to realize that by about 1pm, our time of riding rides was over. Additionally, TMNT Shellraiser (the park’s “star” roller coaster) did not open until 11am. Well, according to the sign it was supposed to open at 11am. In reality, it didn’t open until almost 1pm – which was really disappointing as that meant that Derrick & I both only got one ride each on this coaster.

Other than that, we truly had a fun day. We all agreed that we’d like to go back – just on a non-weekend day (more on that below). It was a fantastic way to break up the winter here in the North East of the United States & we all left just a little more excited for the next few weeks when amusement parks will begin to slowly open again after the long winter.

Based off of our experience, I wanted to share a few of Derrick & I’s top tips in regards to planning your own trip to the American Dream Mall & Nickelodeon Universe!
*Just note: I’m writing this post in early 2020 – and some of these points may change as time progresses & Nickelodeon Universe grows into it’s own as an amusement park.

TIMING

I already briefly touched on this above, but if you can, go to Nickelodeon Universe on a weekday. From what we understand, weekdays are much less crowded & you’re more likely to ride every ride. In fact, Nickelodeon Universe isn’t a large park, so if you can make it there on a weekday, I would even consider opting for a Twilight Ticket (you can buy a discounted ticket to enter the park 2 hours before it closes for the day).
If you have to go on a weekend (because, “real life”), we highly suggest being there when the park opens (at “rope drop”). As soon as you arrive, hit up the “bigger” attractions – the roller coasters, the train, the drop tower, & the PAW Patrol kid’s ferris wheel. The park will get busier as the day goes on, so getting those “main attractions” out of the way first will allow you to move on to some of the smaller rides later.

FOOD/DRINK

Especially if you are going to Nickelodeon Universe with kids & will have a backpack and/or stroller, bring some snacks & drinks into the park. There is only one stand to buy food at within the park (and we found one other very small stand to buy drinks). The prices are pretty amusement park standard (in other words: they’re high), plus the line got really long really fast (it’s the only food option in the entire park after all). Bringing in some snacks (protein bars, trail mix, etc.) & drinks will allow you to skip the long food line & ride more rides!

TICKETS

Do yourself a massive favor & buy your tickets in advance, online. When we arrived at 10am on Saturday morning, we were able to get our wristbands within 5 minutes (there were just 2 families in line ahead of us). By this point, there was already a long line waiting to buy tickets at “the gate”. Why wait in that line? What’s worst: as we were leaving for the day (around 4:30pm), the line to buy a ticket at the gate stretched for about half a mile (I’m not joking). It just kept going & going – extending past the cue, down the long hall, and around the corner. It was insanity. If I was arriving to the park & needed to purchase my ticket to get in & I saw that line – I would have quickly & easily turned right around to leave. People were waiting well over an hour just to get a ticket, so save your waiting for the roller coaster lines – buy your tickets in advance.

CHARACTERS

There are lots of Nickelodeon characters in the park! We saw Chase & Skye from the PAW Patrol, Blue from Blue’s Clues, Spongebob & Patrick from Spongebob, and 2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – and honestly, there might have been more! Since Nickelodeon Universe is all indoors (and temperature controlled), these characters can stay out for long stretches of time (way different from Disney World). The characters themselves were in no hurry to push people along – they would play with the kids, get high fives, play peek-a-boo, and pose for multiple photos. The character attendants were equally in no hurry to move people along – which was really nice. And even though this was the case, the lines to meet the characters weren’t obnoxiously long – probably due to the fact that the characters were almost constantly out (no 20-minute time limit before the person inside dies from heat exhaustion). After an initial nervous/scared period where Braelynn didn’t want to go meet Chase, the kids loved meeting the characters!

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CONCLUSION

The American Dream Mall is only about 5/6 hours from the Pittsburgh area. That makes it a perfect little getaway! If you are looking for something to do this winter with your family – especially if your kids are into any of the Nickelodeon shows – we’d highly suggest taking a trip out to New Jersey! The indoor waterpark (themed to all the major Dream Works movies!) will open in about 2 weeks & with that addition, talk about a super cool destination! There are rides for everyone in the family to enjoy – it was a fantastic little getaway!