Mall of America is the largest retail shopping mall in the United States with more than 2,779,242 million feet of retail space[1] (not including the amusement park), over 520 stores, 50 restaurants and Nickelodeon Universe®, the nation’s largest Nickelodeon® theme park with 24 amusement park rides including a roller coaster that winds around the enclosed atrium of the mall.
There’s also a 1.2 million-gallon aquarium that features sharks, stingrays, giant sea turtles and other types of aquatic creatures. It has an amazing underwater glass tunnel that goes from one end of the aquarium to the other, about the length of a football field.
It’s one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world, attracting more than 40 million visitors annually, more than twice as many people as the world’s largest amusement park, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World [1].
The Mall of America first opened in 1992 on the site of the former Metropolitan Stadium, where the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings pro teams once played. It was proposed and co-developed by the Ghermezian family of Edmonton, Canada who also developed the largest shopping mall in North America, the West Edmonton Mall.
Original plans for the mall included an indoor submarine ride and a convention center, but these plans were later eliminated due to budgetary concerns. The Ghermezian family fortune was first made by importing Persian rugs. It then grew from their investments in oil.
Mall of America Fun Facts
- 4 out of 10 visitors to Mall of America are tourists
- 4.3 miles of total store front footage
- 7 Yankee Stadiums can fit inside the Mall
- 24 rides and attractions in Nickelodeon Universe®
- 32 Boeing 747s could fit inside the Mall
- 65 semi trucks were needed to transport trees to the theme park to
- 70 degrees create the outdoor feel of an indoor park inside Mall of America no matter if it is spring, summer, winter or fall
- 86 hours is the length of time it would take to complete your visit to the Mall if you were to spend just 10 minutes in each store
- 258 Statues of Liberty could lie inside the Mall
- 350+ events are held at Mall of America each year
- 520+ stores are located in Mall of America
- 5,000+ weddings have been performed at Mall of America
- 11,000 year-round employees at Mall of America (13,000 during peak periods)
- 12,550 on-site parking spaces at Mall of America in two ramps
- 30,000+ live plants and 400 live trees climbing as high as 35 feet tall in Nickelodeon Universe
- 32,000+ tons of trash recycled each year
- 170,000+ Legos have been lost in the LEGO ® play area
- 1.2 million-gallon aquarium at SEA LIFE Minnesota (formerly Underwater Adventures)
- 4.2 million square feet of gross building area
- 40 million visitors annually which is more than the combined populations of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Canada
- 130+ million number of rides in the park since opening
- 650 million visits since opening cost to build
- $650+ million Mall of America generates in economic activity annually for the state of Minnesota
[1] Footage stats from icsc.org (October 2012)
Hi um I was just reading about the Mall of America and it sounds awesome!!!!!! 🙂 I really want to take one of my friends with me to go to the Mall of America because I want to hang out there for my birthday. It won’t be celebrated on my birthday but it will be happening in the summer …….that is if my parents allow me to. I have been doing ton of research on the Mall of America and some hotels near it. It is a ton of work!!!! well hopefully I will Be able to go!!!!!
You’re right, it is awesome. I went miniature golfing there once. It was really fun. If you go, you should stay. But then again, I’m only ten…