Shopping for Thrills at Mall of America! Trip Report

Welcome, Thrillographers! It's mall time! 

Our travels have taken us to Nickelodeon Universe (Formerly "The Park at MoA" and "Knott's Camp Snoopy"), located in scenic Mall of America!

I haven't been here since 1999! Lots has changed!

Nickelodeon's signature ride these days is a custom Gerstlauer Eurofighter themed to everyone's favorite undersea dishwashing tool. 

The SpongeBob Squarepants episode after which this ride is themed is, ironically, about SpongeBob and Patrick getting on the wrong bus after leaving a theme park. 

While SpongeBob's time in Rock Bottom is largely unpleasant, SpongeBob's Rock Bottom Plunge is a great ride. Smooth, forceful, and cleverly wedged into a very tight space!

That girl is #cameraready! Love when that happens. 

Other major coasters at Nickelodeon Universe include an Intamin Half Pipe themed to Avatar: The Last Air Bender,

and a Gerstlauer spinner themed to The Fairly Odd Parents.

Perhaps Nickelodeon Universe's greatest trait is Paul Bunyan's Log Chute; the only ride in the park that has retained its original name and identity. 

The flume opened in 1992 along with the rest of Knott's Camp Snoopy. When Cedar Fair and MoA parted ways in 2005, the park was scrubbed of any Snoopy intellectual property. The log flume, which largely lacked any IP, remained unchanged.

Nickelodeon Universe has done a great job of maintaining the ride, and to this day feels quite akin to Knott's Berry Farm's famous Timber Mountain Log Flume. One of the dark ride scenes is a stereotypical country kitchen, in which there is still a large bottle of "Knott's Boysenberry Syrup" on the table. :}

For an indoor park, the foliage here is great.

Jimmy Neutron's Atomic Collider (formerly "Treetop Tumbler") is also original to the park. A rare Zierer Hexentanz, the Atomic Collider is the last of its kind in North America.

Several rides built for Knott's Camp Snoopy were also featured at Knott's Berry Farm. Both parks at one time had a Zamperla Roto Shake, a Chance Falling Star, a giant custom Zierer Tivoli coaster, a Snoopy bounce house, similarly-themed log flumes, a Morgan Manufacturing Balloon Chase, a Zierer Wave Swinger, and a Hexentanz. 

Knott's Berry Farm's Hexentanz was located in their Fiesta Village area, adjacent to their Falling Star. They were called the "Tampico Tumbler" and the "Gran Slammer," respectively, and both ran from 1987 until 2003. Knott's Camp Snoopy's Falling Star was the "Screaming Yellow Eagle" until 2007 when it became "Danny Phantom Ghost Zone." It was retired in 2014 along with the park's Balloon Chase.  

Knott's Camp Snoopy opened with a lot more structures than it has now. The buildings once home to the park's "Mystery Mine" dark ride were knocked down for Rock Bottom Plunge.

Several more structures on the other side of the Ferris Wheel (home originally to the ubiquitous Ms. Knott's Restaurant) were recently leveled. Looking forward to seeing what happens there! 

This ride is just so on point. Just another reason to love Gerstlauer!

While Nickelodeon is definitely a brand associated with young children, the SpongeBob coaster is only suited for real thrillseekers. 

It's just as well, since a huge percentage of SpongeBob's original fanbase are now in their mid-20s.

Other SpongeBob-oriented attractions in the park include a Pineapple-shaped bouncy house and an elaborate Flying Dutchman-themed ropes course and zip line. I think they're missing a fully-realized Krusy Krab restaurant, though. 

Nick Universe has a Peep Store, and I think that's pretty sweet, guys!

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shell Shock" was an impressive replacement for the park's aging Roto-Shake ("Mighty Axe" 1998-2005, "Tak Attack" 2007-2011), however the ride cycle is neither long enough nor fast enough for most guests to take advantage of the Gerstlauer Sky Fly's exquisite barrel roll capabilities. 

Just outside of Nick Universe is this amazing-looking Lego Store.

I wore the appropriate attire for my visit.

Everyone say hello to my cousin Sheena! We came here together in 1999, and now here we are again!

The Fairly Odd Coaster (formerly "Timberline Twister"; not to be confused with the Intamin kiddie coaster of the same name at Knott's Berry Farm) is another example of Gerstlauer's amazing design chops.

The prototype Gerstlauer spinner, using the same track system as their popular "Bobsleigh" extended Wild Mouse-style coasters (a personal favorite of mine), opened in 2004 and threads its way through numerous obstacles (the only casualty being a small open-air theater). The ride layout was so popular that it has now been duplicated for five total U.S. regional parks. 

One of MoA's food courts offers great up-close views of the Log Chute.

Everything about Nick Universe's layout is quite impressive. It's got curb appeal from every angle, and features an anchor flat ride at all four mall entrances: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle: Shell Shock, "Shredder's Mutant Masher" (Chance Revolution), "Backyardigan's Swing Along" (Wave Swinger; formerly "Kite-Eating Tree"), and the Dora the Explorer-themed "El Circulo De Cielo" (originally just "Knott's Ferris Wheel," I think).

Another stretch of mall also gives great Log Chute views.

If this park isn't on your bucket list, it should be. The design of this whole mall is endlessly clever. 

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the actual mall part of MoA, but everything is newly remodeled and looks fabulous.

Other mall attractions include a Merlin-owned SeaLife aquarium, an amazing kids museum-style Crayola attraction, a copious volume of theme restaurants and bars, and "Fly Over America," the new-for-2016 attraction that uses a "Soarin' Over California" ride system.

Several recent mall establishments, including Fly Over America, Hard Rock Cafe, the Peeps Store, and American Girl replaced fixtures originally built for / themed to Camp Snoopy. 

Oh man! This really takes me back! Do kids even know what Double Dare is anymore?

Remember when Nickelodeon's whole end-game was "sliming" kids? Well they still do it here at MoA and I am living for it!

Any fans of Knott's Berry Farm's "Jaguar!" coaster? You'll love its precursor coaster, "Pepsi Orange Streak" (formerly "Pepsi Ripsaw").

I wish Knott's Berry Farm had a Eurofighter, but it seems that they've given up on building thrill rides all together. x}

One of Rock Bottom Plunge's best elements is that little airtime hill after the loop. Such a simple inclusion, but oh-so-effective!

Let's all take a moment to appreciate the shape of this zero-g roll. 

Who's up for a Ferris Wheel ride?

This is about as nice a Ferris Wheel view as anyone could ask for.

Here we have SpongeBob corner. Note the Flying Dutchman ropes course in the back. Beneath it is a basic "Ghost Blasters" shooting dark ride. 

The center of Knott's Camp Snoopy was once home to an elaborate Peanuts-themed fountain. Now it's home to a great roller coaster and a great drop tower! 

Here we have Orange Streak, Log Chute, and the new-for-2015 rides that replaced the Falling Star and the Balloon Chase: Shredder's Mutant Masher and a Zamperla Samba Tower called "Bubble Guppies Guppy Bubbler."

I don't have pictures of either of the new rides operating because of my shortcomings as a photographer and a person in general. 

Let's take a moment to appreciate that the Half Pipe extends well beyond the rafters of the ceiling.

Let's also appreciate just how close you get to the ceiling on this thing. 

Orange Streak's had quite a few support adjustments over the years to accommodate new rides and fixtures. 

Clever brand placement, MoA!

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. 

One last Orange Streak ride before we call it a day!

Fun Fact: beneath the Orange Streak station is *two* sets of bumper cars; a kiddie version themed to Rugrats, and a full-sized version known simply as "Crazy Cars." It once had a tie-in to the short-lived "The Naked Brother's Band" show, but all traces of that show's IP have been removed. 

Bye-bye Nickelodeon Universe! Thanks for being amazing!

Who doesn't love an impromptu visit to the country's largest indoor amusement park, am I right? :}

In just five short days from this posting, Thrillography will take on Walt Disney World! Who's excited?! :D

See you there. ;}