"Well, I may not be an expert at some things, but I've got a black belt in shopping!" - Troop Beverly Hills
Anyone that knows me, knows how much I LOVE shopping! Just ask my hubby! I love shopping for anything: clothes, shoes, decorations for the house, shoot...I even like grocery shopping! Y'all know I had my bags PACKED in a hot minute when Will suggested a getaway to Minnesota to visit the Mall of America. People reacted one of two ways when they found out that we were going: "COOL!!!! The Mall of America sounds AWESOME!!" or "You're going all the way to Minnesota to go to a MALL?!" Ummm YEAH it's not just a "mall", it's like the biggest mall in America, hence the name, Mall of America!
What I LOVED most about this mall is that it's not just about shopping. There's a whole amusement park in this mall! There's countless, awesome restaurants that you can't find in NC. I've mentioned this before, but one of my travel pet peeves is going on vacation and eating somewhere that you can eat at at home. DON'T DO IT! Please don't roll up to a Chick-fil-A, Applebee's, or McDonald's when there's a Shake Shack, Benihana, and a Melt Shop. A few other attractions at the Mall of America include a movie theater, aquarium, Crayola Experience, Children's Museum, simulation rides, mirror maze, miniature golf, comedy club, and MORE! Plus the shopping! Don't tell me that you wouldn't go all the way to Minnesota to experience all of that in one, indoor, air conditioned location! Before I get TOO far ahead of myself...let me start from the beginning.
We traveled to the Mall of America at the end of February (delayed blog post, I know). The weather was obviously cold, but not as cold as I expected. The last full day that we were in Minnesota, there was actually a little "heat wave" and it was probably about 60 degrees. Apparently this is way out of the norm and if you ever plan to go to Minnesota you should skip the winter months all together. We did see some snow on the ground here and there, but it was not actively snowing in MN while we were there. We decided to arrive in MN on Wednesday and leave on Sunday. We got into MN around dinner time on Wednesday. We stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Bloomington. What we loved about this hotel is that 1. it was BRAND new- like only open for 3 months brand new, and 2. they offered a shuttle to take you back and forth to the MOA and the airport! This hotel had a fabulous indoor pool with a jacuzzi which was perfect to soak in after a long day of shopping! After checking in and putting on our walking shoes, we got in the shuttle and rode the short 10-15 minute ride to the Mall of America!
When you take the hotel shuttle, they drop you off just mere steps from the main entrance. What's cool about the shuttle drop off/pick up area at this mall, is that there are multiple heating lamps so you can sit outside and not freeze your fanny off! As you walk towards the entrance, there's the famous MOA Star that makes for an awesome photo op. As we entered the mall we were immediately amazed at how gorgeous the main entrance was! It was huge! White and pristine with beautiful artwork hanging on the walls. It really was something to see! Apparently, this was a new entrance into the mall that had recently opened. We decided to first find a place to eat. Holy cow. Talk about a variety of places to eat! There are multiple food courts and stand alone restaurants throughout the whole mall. You'll be in foodie heaven! We knew that we wanted to try out Benihana since we don't have one of those back home. We went and found out there was an hour wait, so we were able to put our names down and sit down with our phones and figure out the MOA app (we aren't crazy- of course I wanted to walk the mall for this hour, but Benihana is located in this corner of just other restaurants and we had one of those beeper things and we could only go but so far).
The MOA app is fabulous. First of all, it's free. Secondly, it's a directory in your pocket. The home page of the app lets you know how long the mall is open on the current day. You can choose Directory, Deals, Parking, Events, Dining, or Information. There's also some tabs at the bottom of the first page which include: Home, Map, Concierge, My List, and More. As you look at the directory, you will notice that each store has an "address." For instance, Benihana is located at S358. As you look at all the different stores and all their different addresses, you will notice they are either N____, S_____, E_____, or W____. These stand for the north, south, east, or west wing of the mall and the numbers are the order of the stores. The first number denotes which floor the store is on. So if you are at Benihana, or S358, you should be able to figure out that Baja Sol Tortilla Grill is going to be right around the corner at S392. Both of these restaurants are located on the third floor. These addresses were life savers. They are located at the top of the storefront so they are easy to spot. Once you learn where N, S, E, and W is, and which way the numbers are running, it makes it easier to find whatever it is you are looking for. You can also create a list on the app. As you scroll through the alphabetized list of everything in the mall, you can click the check mark (which will turn green once selected), and it is added to the My List tab. When you click that tab you will have all of your shops and attractions bookmarked so you can see their address and get to their location easily. The Deals tab shows you different deals going on in a variety of stores. You can click the check mark and it will be added to the My List tab as well. The Parking tab is amazing. We did not have a car, so we were not able to implement this part of the app, but if we had a car we would have used the heck out of it. The MOA offers valet parking. On the app, you can tap the Valet button, and it will pull up a text message window where you can text the valet to let them know to get your car ready. There are also 3 other ways to record where your parking spot is: take a picture, record a memo, or write a note. Pretty nifty! The Events tab lists all the events going on at the mall currently and in the future. Again, you can click the check mark and it will be added to the My List tab. A LOT of celebrities will do events at the MOA. In the new food court on the third level, there are pictures and facts of the different celebrities that have had events at the MOA. It's really awesome! From book signings to performances, there's always something going on at the MOA! The Information tab gives you information on guest services, strollers, lockers, wheelchair rentals, disability assistance, gift cards, securtiy, and the parental escort policy (this is a policy where children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older from 4PM until close on Friday and Saturdays, and 2:30-close on Sundays). The Map tab allows you to see a physical map of the mall and you can zoom in and out. If you are connected to the MOA wifi, you can actually see your current location on the map. The Concierge tab allows you to text or call Concierge and ask questions. At one point of our trip, we knew we had seen a store but could not for the life of us remember where it was or find it on our app. We were able to text Concierge and they responded right back. How cool is that?! The Dining tab lists all of the food options. You can check off where you want to eat and it will be added to the My List tab. Here are the places that I ate, and what I thought about them:
Food:
Benihana: Benihana is your traditional Japanese hibachi style restaurant. You know the ones where you sit at a giant table with a bunch of strangers and the chef comes out and cooks in front of you. You may get your eyebrows burned off if he gets the flame high enough, and they always, ALWAYS, make the little volcano out of onions. Yup, one of those. It was AWESOME! Super delicious and totes worth the hour wait. There was nothing really that different that you would get at a normal Japanese restaurant, it was just really good.
Melt Shop: GRILLED CHEESE RESTAURANT, I REPEAT, GRILLED CHEESE RESTAURANT! Melt Shop is located in the new, 3rd level food court, Culinary on North (above the elaborate new main entrance I mentioned at the beginning of this post). This food court had a ton of your traditional food court favorites like Burger King, A&W, Panda Express, etc. as well as some new places such as Shake Shack, Piada (fast-casual Italian street food- they were doing a soft open when we were there and it looked AMAZING), as well as the Melt Shop. The Melt Shop offers up a variety of sandwiches, sides, and milkshakes. I got the traditional grilled cheese with creamy tomato soup. It was delicious! Will got the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese and said its as one of the best sandwiches he's ever had! YUM! Will got the garlic tots and thought they were just okay, perhaps a little over seasoned. Definitely a great spot for lunch, and very filling!
Great American Cookies: This is a favorite of ours. Yes, we broke our "have to eat somewhere different when out of town" rule BUT how can you resist a warm and delicious cookie snack when walking the mall. Shopping at the mall and Great American Cookies go hand in hand. The perfect pick-me-up!
Cantina #1: This is probably the least satisfying restaurant we ate at. There are (what seemed like) a million different Mexican food choices at the MOA, and we decided to try Cantina #1. We ended up splitting some nachos and Will enjoyed a Corona (this is a Corona owned and themed restaurant). I think that Cantina #1 is more for the bar experiencethan the food. If you are looking for a really good Mexican dinner, I would try out one of the other multiple Mexican restaurants available. Whomp whomp!
Doc Popcorn: OMGGGGG! Doc Popcorn was probably one of my favorite parts of MOA. Doc Popcorn is similar to Great American Cookie where you walk up and you can choose from an assortment of popcorn and drinks. You can get bags that you can eat out of right then, or to-go bags. They have soda and FROZEN SWEET TEA (probably the only sweet tea you will find in the mall!) and frozen lemonade. You can try samples of the frozen tea or lemonade- the tea was awesome! There are several sweet or salty popcorn flavors, and the popcorn itself is SO fresh! Will and I got a big to-go bag of Better Butter, Triple White Cheddar, and Cheesy Cheddar. They will mix it all up for you if you get multiple flavors. Some of the other famous Doc Popcorn flavors are: Apple Crisp, Sweet Butter, Klassic Kettle (not a typo), Salt 'n Pepper, Caramel Bliss, Hoppin' Jalepeno, Sinfully Cinnamon, French Toast, Denver Mix (white cheddar and caramel), Cheese 'n Caramel (Chicago mix), and Caramel Kettle. This was the perfect snack to get before heading back to the hotel. They serve it up warm and it's truly the best. The ladies working at the MOA Doc Popcorn were SO nice and awesome. We loved this so much that when we came home we research and found out that they have a Doc Popcorn kiosk at the Cary Town Center Mall in Cary, NC and the Tanger Outlets in Mebane, NC. If you happen to live close to either of these places, go get some!!!! Best. Popcorn. Ever.
Northwoods Candy Emporium: So you can't have popcorn without some chocolate! Will and I were in a rush to get outside for our shuttle, but we knew we would want a snack later. I took off to Doc Popcorn and Will ran to Northwoods Candy Emporium to load up bags of some amazing, fresh, chocolate treats. We had chocolate covered everything! Caramels, peanuts, cashews, turtles- the list goes on and on! They also have your fruity candies too, not just chocolate! They have sugar free options and salt water taffy.
Cadillac Ranch: Cadillac Ranch is a full service restaurant specializing in American food. They have a giant bar, inside and "outside" (as in outside in the mall, not literally outside) seating area, and a mechanical bull. We ate lunch at Cadillac Ranch so we did not see the bull in action. There are several TVs showing classic rock music videos. Cadillac Ranch is home to Minnesota's most famous burger: The Jucy Lucy (or Juicy Lucy). For those of you not obsessed with food and food related TV shows (like myself), The Jucy Lucy originated in Minneapolis. Two bars claim that the Jucy Lucy started at their restaurant: Matt's Bar and the 5-8 Club. I don't know who invented it, but I'm thankful they did! A Jucy Lucy is a cheeseburger where instead of the cheese being traditionally placed on top of the patty, it is cooked INSIDE the burger. Some people refer to these as an inside-out burger. They will tell you when they bring it out, that you have to cut your Jucy Lucy. Biting into can cause a fountain of HOT melted cheese to explode in your mouth. As appetizing as that sounds, these burgers come out hot, and who wants to burn their mouth up on some scalding, hot cheese? If you travel to Minnesota, you have to get a Jucy Lucy, and if you're at the MOA, get one at Cadillac Ranch.
Tucci Bennuch: The BEST place we ate while at the MOA was Tucci Bennuch. Tucci Bennuch is located on the lowest level of the mall over by Urban Outfitters. Tucci Bennuch is an Italian restaurant. They also offer the "outdoor" seating (where we sat and loved it!). Tucci Bennuch is famous for their baked spaghetti. Holy cow y'all. This spaghetti is like the size of a brick. It's huge, and AMAZING! Covered in ooey, gooey cheese and it comes with bread and basil infused olive oil. OMG you can't go wrong eating here! The atmosphere is just as awesome as the food. You will not be disappointed if you try Tucci Bennuch. The location is perfect for this restaurant as it is tucked in a nice, quiet corner. It's the perfect place to get away, rest your feet, and load up on some carbs.
There are a million other dining options at the MOA. From fast food, to fast casual, snacks, to sit down, there's literally NO way you will go hungry here! Here's a list of the other restaurants you will be sure to enjoy at the MOA: American Girl Bistro, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Buffalo Wild Wings, Cantina Laredo, Cedar + Store- Urban Table, CRAVE, Dick's Last Resort, FireLake Grill House + Cocktail Bar, Hard Rock Cafe, Hooters, The Lounge @ House of Comedy, Masu Sushi and Robata, Nordstrom Cafe, Rainforest Cafe, TiGER SUSHi, Tony Roma's, Twin City Grill, A&W (2 locations), Asian Chao, Auntie Anne's (2 locations), Bruegger's Bagels, Burger Burger, Burger King, Caribou Coffe (FIVE locations), Chipotle, Cinnabon, Coldstone, Cupcake, Dairy Queen, DavidsTea, Disco Fries, Fractured Prune (donuts!), Freshens (crepes & smoothies), Freshens Yogurt, Freshiii, Great Steak & Potato (2 locations), Haagen Dazs, icandy sugar shoppe, It's Sugar, Jamba Juice, Johnny Rockets, Lindt, Long John Silvers, Margaritaville (Opening Soon!), Meatball Spot, Nestly Toll House (2 locations!), Noodles & Company, Orange Julius, Panda Express (2 locations), Panera Bread, Peeps & Company (yes, THOSE Peeps!), Piada, Pinkberry, The Pita Pit, Pizza Studio, Qdoba, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Ruby Thai Kitchen, Sbarro, Shake Shack, Starbucks (3 locations), Subway, Villa Italian Kitchen, and Wetzel's Pretzels.
Don't tell me there's not SOMETHING you could find to eat!
Attractions:
If you need a break from shopping, try one of these awesome attractions:
Nickelodeon Universe: The Nickelodeon Universe is an indoor amusement park located in the center of the MOA. It's really crazy to be walking through the mall and happen upon this park. This is a full-fledged amusement park with rides appropriate for the tiniest guests, to adults. Each ride has a "points price" and in order to ride, you can purchase a wristband and load on a certain amount of points OR you can buy an all day pass. You can either purchase your band at the customer service desk within the Nickelodeon Universe, or you can order it from a kiosk located right inside the entrance. An all-day wrist band costs $34.99, or a two-day wristband for $48.99. All-day and two-day wristbands give you unlimited rides. You can save $5 per wristband if you order them online. Nickelodeon Universe has an awesome website with prices, ride information and more. There are 2 attractions located within NU. The first is Dutchman's Deck Adventure Course. This is a ropes course and zip line. You can purchase to just do the ropes course or just the zip line, or a combo of the two. Prices for this attraction ranges from $11.99-15.99. Moose Mountain Adventure Golf is located right outside of the NU. It is only $9.99 to play, and this is a full-fledged mini golf course. Children under 5 years old can play for free! Rides range from 3-6 points each, and they are categorized as either a family, junior, or thrill ride.
We ended up only riding one ride. It threw us for a loop and after we rode it we were just done with rides for the day. We rode the Fairly Odd Coaster which seemed pretty tame. It was your typical rollercoaster that had some hills and quick turns but it looked like it wasn't going to be a big deal. What is unique about this ride is how the car you sit in spins. Not out of control fast, but just enough to get you dizzy. Well, that's how it seemed until we got on it. The car is supposed to hold 4 people but somehow Will and I got a car to ourselves. Looking back we were stupid to sit beside each other. We were both oblivious as to what was happening since the side of the car we sat on happened to be the part that was 90% backwards the whole time...HOT MESS. We were whipping around and screaming and spinning. When we got off I was so dizzy I was just done with rollercoasters. Check out the website in the link above to see all the rides that Nickelodeon Universe has to offer. It's really an awesome addition to the MOA!
One little "Easter Egg" if you will, about the MOA is that it was built on the same grounds as the old Minnesota Twins baseball field. If you go into Nickelodeon Universe and walk towards the SpongeBob Squarepants Rock Bottom Plunge ride, look down and you will happen upon a home plate plaque marking the exact spot the home plate used to be! Stand on the home plate and start walking towards the log flume ride. Once you are in front of the log flume, look up...waaaaay up. You will see an original stadium seat attached to the wall. The seat is there to commemorate the 522 foot home run that hall-of-famer Harmon Killebrew hit back in 1967. It is said that that is the seat where the baseball landed. How cool is that?!
If rollercoasters aren't your thing, be sure to check out some other attractions at the MOA:
Crayola Experience + Store
I was so disappointed that we JUST missed the Crayola Experience + Store (what can I say, I'm a teacher!) The Crayola Experience + Store is fun for kids of all ages. There are 25 hands on activities for families to experience. You get to learn how crayons are made in a live presentation and create your own crayon! How awesome is that?! This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you are a teacher or you have a child of any age, you have to check out the Crayola Experience + Store. General admission is $19.99, or if you are a MN native, an annual pass is $34.99.
Fly Over America
Fly Over America is a flight simulation tour that flies you through all the great American landmarks our country has to offer. This attractions is $16.95 for adults, and $12.95 for children 12 and under. Unfortunately we had JUST missed the grand opening of this ride! Here is a short video that is sure to get you pumped up for this experience.
Amazing Mirror Maze: So Will and I were a little skeptical about the Amazing Mirror Maze. It's $8.95 a person (unlimited access) and it's located just outside of the new entrance (upper level) food court. Before you enter, they give you gloves to wear to keep your fingerprints off the mirrors. Y'all. This mirror maze was NO JOKE! It was so hard!!! We were wandering around for like 30 minutes completely lost! At one point we ended going out of the entrance and had to turn around- hot mess! We eventually did find our way out and were pleased that for a mere $8.95 we were entertained for a good half hour!
Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium: I never expected to go to an aquarium at a mall! This was such a cool experience because you can get that break away from the hustle and bustle of the shoppers and stroll through a really awesome aquarium. This aquarium has touch tanks with sting rays and other creatures, stamp books for kids, and the infamous shark tunnel! This 300ft. glass tunnel is award winning (we're talking Travel Channel and Animal Planet award winning). Hours vary depending on the day. Cost is $24.95 for adults 13+ and $17.25 12 and under. Children 0-3 are admitted for free. This is a nice, cool, getaway if you are burnt out from shopping.
Universe of Light: This is a free attraction that we actually didn't know about, or we probably would have stuck around for it! At the close of the mall each night, a light show in the Nickelodeon Universe is displayed. Lasers, music, strobe lights, and smoke effects light up the NU for a fun end to an awesome day at the MOA.
Minnesota's Children's Museum: This is a small, interactive, children's museum for small children. The admissions is cheap- just $7.95 for all ages. I would compare this to a mini Marbles Museum (if you are from the Raleigh area). There doesn't look to be much to it from what we saw from the outside and from the MOA website, but it's a great way to entertain your children if they venture to the MOA with you.
House of Comedy: This comedy club is opened Tuesday-Sunday and offers multiple shows throughout the week. Not only can you enjoy a comedy show, they also offer up tons of food and drink options. This is a perfect getaway for any adults taking a trip to the MOA.
Sky Deck Sports Grille and Lanes: You read that right, a bowling alley IN the MOA. I mean why wouldn't they have one? The Sky Deck serves up your typical bar food and drinks. Come in to play from a variety of arcade games, catch a sporting event on one of the many TVs, shoot a game of pool, or bowl! The ultimate dude hangout when the women are shopping!
Two other awesome attractions/stores at the MOA are the American Girl Store (AKA MY 10 YEAR OLD DREAM COME TRUE!) and the LEGO Store. You can enter both of these stores through the Nickelodeon Universe. They have super cool store fronts, and the LEGO store has huge LEGO displays that are truly breathtaking to see up close! The American Girl Store has a hair salon for your dolls, American Girl Bistro (for lunch, dinner, desserts or afternoon tea), and you can set up special events or birthday parties. A dream come true!
Shopping:
Now I can't write a blog post about the Mall of America and not talk about the shopping! Y'all. This is a shopper's dream come true! From the Dollar Tree (for real!) to Nordstrom, the MOA has it ALL! Not only is the MOA home to every store you can think of, they also have multiples of the same store, but on different levels. We're talking like 3 Claire's (because who doesn't want to come to the MOA and get their ears pierced?!) and FIVE Lids. The list goes on and on! Your big department stores include: Macy's Nordstrom, and Sears. There's also a GIANT LL Bean which I found amazing since I've only ever experienced the LL Bean catalog. There are 39 shoe stores (including a TOMS store that JUST opened), 106 women's apparel stores, 70 men's apparel stores, 51 children's apparel stores, 21 electronics stores (including Apple and Best Buy), 21 jewelry stores, and MORE!
One of the stores that we had the best customer service in was the Nike store. This store was the coolest Nike store I've ever been in. The way it was set up, the style of the store, the people that worked there. It was just COOL. So I wore my old Nike's (DUMB I know) and my dog's were BARKING! We went into Nike and looked around and was immediately helped by some awesome employees. I found a fresh pair of kicks and they even offered to recycle my old Nike's- how cool is that?! So if you find yourself at the MOA with some sore feet, hit up the Nike store!
Sephora is every make-up lovers dream come true! It is HUGE and I had a gift card so I had FUN wandering around and sampling items. What's awesome about the MOA is that there's so many stores, Will could go off to one of his favorite shops and I could go to one of mine and then we could meet up in the middle when we were done. The BEST way to shop with your spouse by the way- ha!
The Barnes & Noble is huge and has a Starbuck's inside. When Will and I were tired of walking, we stopped in B&N, found a book, bought some Starbuck's and just chilled. I suggest doing this as a way to wind down in case you are getting restless with shopping.
Another fun fact about the MOA, there is an IKEA located across the parking lot, within walking distance! This is another fun break to get away from the mall, yet still enjoy some shopping! IKEA also ships to your home, so no worries if you find a new, awesome piece of furniture that's way too big for your suitcase!
Clothing items are TAX FREE in Minnesota! I see why they built the MOA there! According to Google, tax free clothing in Minnesota is defined as, "all human wearing apparel suitable for general use." Make sure you double check with your sales associate about what is considered tax free or not.
Check out a full lists of shops and restaurants here!
Lodging:
Yes, you can literally stay at a hotel that is literally connected to the MOA. SERIOUSLY. The two hotels are the JW Marriot and the Radisson Blu. Both of these hotels are BRAND new and gorgeous! If you stay at the Radisson Blu, concierge will arrange to meet you anywhere in the mall to pick up your bags. SHOPPERS DREAM COME TRUE!!!! Sign me up!!
Whether you are a big shopper or not, there is plenty to do for the whole family at the Mall of America. From restaurants, attractions, shopping, and more, you will have a blast at Minnesota's finest, Mall of America.
Happy Shopping!
-Cassie