Park Bloggin’
Reflections on an American Dream
American Dream Meadowlands will have more drawing power than Walt Disney World, according to Dr. Jack B. Samuels MBA, a.k.a. the Fun Doctor. The 2000 sq m retail and entertainment centre in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which opens next year at an estimated total project cost of close to $5 billion, is primed to become the single most visited tourist attraction in the United States. Jack Samuels reports
of America and the West Edmonton Mall. According to Triple Five, the attendance at their West Edmonton Mall is approximately 20 million people per year, with a trading area population of just one million. The Mall of America has a trading area population of just 2.5 million people, and draws approximately 30 million visitors per year. For ADM, the trading area is 25 million people, plus the huge numbers of tourists visiting the New York/New Jersey region every year. If we do the math, just based on the trading area population, ADM should project at approximately ten times the Mall of America attendance, giving it an annual attendance of 300 million people. Obviously, no facility could endure six million visitors per week, however - if the demand was that high there would probably need to be a reservation system in place. “There is no doubting the colossal numbers. American
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The Dreamworks-themed indoor waterpark will be housed under a glass dome, and will take up approximately eight acres.
Dream Meadowlands (ADM) will attract perhaps as many as 100 million visitors per year in my opinion, but is currently projected to attract approximately 60 million visitors - topping the Walt Disney World attendance by six million people. The only thing that may stop the colossal total attendance figure is some of the obstacles that still exist in this development, mentioned at the end of this article. The Triple Five redevelopment plan updates the previously
underwhelming synergy of the attractions and the look of the previous facility plans to bring mall development to the pinnacle of what this author calls a true ‘leisure mall’ - something that I envisioned in the early 1980s. ADM now
34 JULY 2018
merican Dream Meadowlands is being completed, after several attempts by other developers, by the privately held Triple Five Group, owner of the Mall
has the potential to not only draw the day excursion guests, but it also to draw tourists staying in New York City area: it is located less than ten miles from midtown Manhattan with connecting buses and trains.
An entertainment destination Unlike the Mall of American or the Edmonton Mall, where the dedicated entertainment space takes up only 20 per cent, 55 per cent of American Dream Meadowlands will be dedicated to recreation/entertainment and only 45 per cent to retail. What’s more, one of the mall’s leasing requirements is that all retail operators will be required to have entertainment or participatory elements in-store. The Lego store, for example, will reportedly feature a 4-D ride, and the Saks 5th Avenue store is set to to have some amazing gimmicks,
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