I visited the new American Dream megamall on its opening day and it was eerily empty
I took the 10:30 am New Jersey Transit 355 express line that went directly to the mall. The bus came on time and we boarded with plenty of extra space.
The ride to New Jersey was short, probably around 15 minutes in total. As we approached the complex, I saw a lot of areas still in the midst of construction.
I also saw the exterior of the complex's indoor ski slope, which is set to open in December.
I arrived at the mall after a short shuttle from the bus stop and made my way to the interior with a group of high school students who appeared to be coming on a class trip to opening day.
Over 350 shops at American Dream are set to open in March 2020. Right at the top of the escalator, I noticed a hand-drawn sign that let me know Forever 21 would be opening in that unfinished space eventually.
It was immediately noticeable that a lot of the mall was still in construction, likely in preparation for this final stage of opening.
Though devoid of stores, the corridors of American Dream looked mostly finished. But for the most part, there wasn't much to see.
In some places, it seemed like things were still being prepared at the last minute for guests. I even found a corner of boxes at the entrance.
After walking through some corridors, I made it to the complex's ice-skating rink, which lived up to my expectations rather well. Still, the mall seemed eerily empty for an opening day.
Next to the ice-skating rink, a large window revealed the unfinished DreamWorks Animation water park, which is expected to open on November 27.
From my vantage point, an opening in one month looked as though it may be unlikely. The park looked like it had a long way to go before completion.
Though most of the mall was not yet opened, there were some seasonal decorations lining the corridors that were a nice touch.
I found everything from game tables ...
... to trick-or-treating stations ...
... to pumpkin decorating craft tables.
The Halloween-themed decorations did a lot to liven up what could have been an endless stream of empty white hallways devoid of shops.
Finally, I made my way to the main event of the day, the opening of the Nickelodeon Universe theme park, the largest indoor theme park in the Western Hemisphere.
I was told by an employee that the theme park was mostly filled with friends and family of the owners and creators of the mall that day.
After a marching band procession with different executives and government officials, I headed up to a balcony overlooking the park to hear some opening day words.
"This is a big day for New Jersey and a whole lot of folks," said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy at the opening day ceremony with representatives from Triple Five Group, the group which has overseen the project since 2011.
"This is a journey that we're all still on, so there's a ways to go with the other phases," Murphy also said. "But this is a great first step."
I headed down to the theme park to check out the over 35 rides and attractions. A huge orange Nickelodeon blimp dripping with slime was the perfect welcome to the park.
The park was filled with rides of multiple thrill levels, from roller coasters to merry-go-rounds. Each ride was based on a different character or show from Nickelodeon.
There seemed to be something for all ages in the park ...
... and there were multiple opportunities to meet some characters from different television shows. First, we ran into Chase from Paw Patrol.
There were also some lifelike statues of other characters throughout the park, like this Squidward statue that appeared to be waiting for the next bus out of Bikini Bottom.
I loved seeing all the television shows I watched as a kid come to life in these rides. I found rides from shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The Fairly OddParents, SpongeBob SquarePants, and more.
Plus, the whole park was indoors, which attractions director Jeff Davis said is a great advantage. "I don't think there's any downside to having an indoor environment that's controlled, that you're going to buy a ticket and not have to worry about the weather," said Davis, who started his career as a rides operator in his teens.
Even though the sky was not necessarily the limit for rides here, the thrills still looked out of this world.
However, there were some tamer thrills available as well, like this ropes course themed after Legends of the Hidden Temple, a television show that aired in the 1990s and was recently rebooted.
Overall, the opening of the Nickelodeon Universe theme park seemed to be a great success for American Dream.
As for the rest of the complex, only time will tell if the center can keep itself on track for the rest of its slated opening dates — and if the crowds will show up to come and see everything the massive complex is promising.
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