American Dream

This blog post is not going to do the American Dream justice. Because we did not do American Dream justice, we thought we would show up, walk around the mall, explore Nickelodeon Park, and get a peek into DreamWorks Water Park. Spend maybe 2 to 3 hours, and we would be on our way. Little did we know we would spend EIGHT hours at American Dream. BARELY scratch the surface, proving once again you cannot judge a book by its cover.

American Dream is phenomenal; it is a mall, but it has a theme park, a waterpark, and the largest indoor REAL snow year-round ski and snow resort. And everything is indoors, which makes it great for a North East location with cooler winters.

This mall (or should I call it an amusement park?) is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands area, right next to the MetLife Stadium.

I did not know this was a multi-day type of place because there’s no hotel attached directly to the mall. But without a flagship hotel, this allows for lots of cheaper options for places to stay. We are brand loyal to Hilton, and a Hampton located within a mile had rates as low as $99 per night.

When we arrived, we parked in the garage on the ground level, and I made sure to take a picture of the place we parked because this garage was enormous. When you enter the mall, it initially looks like a typical mall, you see a bunch of shops, but then you start seeing activities.

The first thing we stumbled on with the gold miners was a fun activity for the kids. It cost us $20, we shared one bag, and they got to search for gems. Then, as the three older kids searched for treasures, my toddler looked across and saw these animals you can ride, so I got in line while the kids were digging for gems.

As soon as my toddler got to ride her animal around the mall with my husband, we barely made it into another atrium, and we saw a Lego Discovery Center and Sea Life Aquarium. That is when I knew I was in trouble. My kids lit up like it was Christmas morning! Luckily we were able to get military tickets right on the spot. It was $44 for a combined pass at the regular price. But the military discount tickets were about 50% discounted. So when we go back, I will give you a rundown of all the costs because it is expensive if you plan on spending multiple days there.

The Lego Discovery Center was fantastic, and it had a Lego ride, a 4D movie theater, and an entire New York and New Jersey Lego room landscape built with legos. In addition, there was an indoor Ninjago play area, a creative learning class where we made a snowman out of Legos, and a Lego friends area where there was Free Play. There’s even a Dupleo preschool play area. We spent three hours in this one area.

Then my husband and older son went into the mirror maze next door. And I started the Littles in the Sea Life Aquarium. This is smaller than other Sea Life Aquariums we have been to, but there’s still a ton of stuff to see. Is there anything more spectacular at this one? No. But my kids wanted to see the fish, so that is what we did. I will probably skip this Aquarium the next time we come. But what I have not seen in other Sea Life Aquariums was the shark mascot that came out, this mascot is pretty giant, and my toddler ran away as soon as she saw it.

Then we headed to explore the Nickelodeon Universe theme park, the biggest indoor theme park in the western hemisphere with the tallest, steepest and longest rides in the world. It was insane. I cannot believe they could fit so many roller coasters in one small space. These are roller coasters that I was like; I don’t think I can ride that one; it looks too scary. There were Paw Patrol characters, Dora the Explora, and stage shows. All your favorite Nickelodeon shows had rides here—lots of thrills and lots of rides for the Littles. They even had a giant Legends of the Hidden Temple ropes course.

And then, of course, there’s always a dreaded claw machine, which we did conquer and everyone left with a stuffed animal. We did not even get on a single ride, and we spent an hour just exploring everything there was to do. You can pay to ride each ride individually or get an all-day pass. The all-day pass is the way to go because the rides are pretty expensive individually, costing up to six dollars a rider. So our goal is on our next trip, we will get an all-day pass for each person, which at this time was $79 per person.

This day was so long that we did not even get a chance to peek inside DreamWorks Water Park. This water park is claimed to be the largest indoor waterpark in North America, so I cannot even imagine what is inside.

Here are some things that we still need to see or explore. They have a black light mini golf, the Dream Wheel Ferris wheel, Angry Birds mini golf, an indoor ice-skating rink, the Tilt Museum, and let's not forget it's a MALL full of shopping and dining. According to their website, there are 450 stores at American Dream and 100 restaurants.

We will definitely be back and will come more prepared to have several days of fun! American Dream is great for summertime when it's too hot and winter when it's too cold. We look forward to having the COMPLETE American Dream experience on our next trip.