Park Profile
www.parkworld-online.com
NICKELODEON UNIVERSE
Winter retreat for Minnesota kids
Want to ride a
rollercoaster in the dead of winter? No problem. Located undercover inside the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, Nickelodeon Universe is the first-ever stand-alone theme park dedicated to the kids TV network. Park World's resident big kid, Paul Ruben pays a visit
all of America is America's largest retail and entertainment complex. In addition to Nickelodeon Universe, the 4.2 million square foot (392,000 square metre) destination contains more than 520 shops, an aquarium and movie theatres.
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The fully enclosed seven-acre theme park features 25 rides including five rollercoasters and a log flume. Because it is surrounded on all sides by four stories of stores, Nickelodeon Universe is unable to grow in size, but has developed by changing its selection of rides and attractions. The most radical change in recent years was the arrival of the Nickelodeon brand and integration of characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer.
Branded Entertainment
General manager David Frazier
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The park has in fact been part of Mall of America since opening in 1992. Covered by a glass ceiling, it began life as Knott's Camp Snoopy featuring the Peanuts comic characters, then evolved into simply Camp Snoopy after Cedar Fair's acquisition of Knott’s Berry Farm in 2005. Cedar Fair departed a year later and the park was re-styled as The Park at MOA. Finally, in March 2008, it was re-themed as Nickelodeon Universe. "We believe that a branded park is important in this market, where there is so much competition for the entertainment dollar," explains general manager David Frazier. "The theming is able to enhance the rides and attractions, and the characters are a draw to certain demographics. Peanuts was a wonderful brand with lots of nostalgia, but we were excited
about the opportunity to freshen up the park and bring in a new, more youthful brand.” When searching for a new brand, continues
Frazier, “we looked everywhere but kept coming back to Nickelodeon. It’s the number one brand for kids, so in the end it was an easy decision. We work
SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge
APRIL 2010
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