Mall of America (living, restaurant, vacation) - Minneapolis - St. Paul - Minnesota (MN) -Twin Cities - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

golfgal · 10-01-2007, 07:35 AM

A weekend in January is fine. If you were going in the summer or Dec I would suggest not going on a weekend but January is slow at the mall.

K-Luv · 10-01-2007, 08:41 AM

Since you say that your daughter is the 'book type' might I then suggest the Minnesota History Museum, or perhaps the Mill City Museum?

Hoosier · 10-01-2007, 11:22 AM

I'd really recommend a Friday vs. the weekend. I work about 5 minutes from the mall and walk the mall almost every day for exercise. Fridays are far better than a weekend day no matter the season. The mall has about 500 stores. Some excellent restaurants and right now the former Camp Snoopy, soon to be Universal studios owned is under construction so many of the rides have been torn out and new ones planned. The aquarium is really awesome and my young kids loved it! Me too!!

As another poster said, "it's just a mall", but how many malls have three levels that are 3/4 mile each? There is a movie theater in the mall too, three food courts, high end shopping as well as reasonably priced stores. There are stores on the second level geared toward the teen buyers. I know the mall has at least 2 Abercrombie and Fitch stores. There is another store that reeks of cologne, but can't remember the name...definitely a teen store. She will have a blast! And so will you.

The waterpark hotel (Grand Lodge) is not even a five minute drive from the mall, just across the way from the massive Ikea store (a must-see too). If you go to the Grand Lodge I'd recommend eating elsewhere...the restaurant is hotel food gone bad. I've eaten there a few times with co-workers and have sworn the place off. However the waterpark is all indoor and looks like a complete blast for kids of all ages.

veggggies · 10-01-2007, 12:13 PM

More great ideas, thanks! I've been to the IKEA in Northern VA (where we moved from a couple months ago). I'm tired of it!

I think will all the stuff there is to do, I'll plan an extra day for the trip!

Hoosier · 10-01-2007, 12:45 PM

Oh, just remembered that the light rail has a station at the mall and you can take it all the way into downtown Minneapolis. If you're staying down here in bloomington the light rail is an ideal way to travel to downtown. You should really enjoy it here! Minnesotans are the friendliest people I've met in all my travels. Sounds like a scene from "It's a small world".

LOL. But really, we lived on the west coast and moved here 4 years ago. The people are just wonderful here! And even if you're in Minnesota just for a visit you'll definitely see that "Minnesota Nice" truly does exist!

Forever Blue · 01-03-2008, 11:29 AM

I'm in my early 30s & I LOVE to shop! I'm in California & I'd travel to Minnesota just to go to this mall. I've never been before. Someone said it's just like any mall, just bigger, but there must be a lot more different stores, otherwise, how is it that much bigger than the average mall?

Other than the major department stores, what different things are there? I heard it takes 2-3 days to walk through it all.

sugarbeet · 01-03-2008, 11:35 AM

If you go to the mall on the weekend, try to get there early. It opens at 10am Saturday and 11am Sunday, I believe. Good parking spots can be hard to find once it gets busy. Once you're inside, though, the place is so big that I've never found it to feel unbearably crowded.

K-Luv · 01-03-2008, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forever Blue

I'm in my early 30s & I LOVE to shop! I'm in California & I'd travel to Minnesota just to go to this mall. I've never been before. Someone said it's just like any mall, just bigger, but there must be a lot more different stores, otherwise, how is it that much bigger than the average mall?

Other than the major department stores, what different things are there? I heard it takes 2-3 days to walk through it all.

The MOA is just your typical mall with typical (strip) mall stores. There are a few stores that are unique to the place, but in my opinion not worth a vacation for. There are also office suites (for non-mall related businesses), a National American University, an aquarium and small amusement park.

If you want shopping you will enjoy yourself more in Chicago, Boston, New York or downtown Minneapolis.

questioner2 · 01-04-2008, 06:56 AM

I think a frozen Minnehaha Falls is kind of cool. It is 6 miles from the Mall. I like Downtown Mpls and the Skyway System.

Hoosier · 01-04-2008, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forever Blue

I'm in my early 30s & I LOVE to shop! I'm in California & I'd travel to Minnesota just to go to this mall. I've never been before. Someone said it's just like any mall, just bigger, but there must be a lot more different stores, otherwise, how is it that much bigger than the average mall?

Other than the major department stores, what different things are there? I heard it takes 2-3 days to walk through it all.

What you should realize is that when you live so close to something like the mall of america it becomes no big deal. Like when I lived in Orlando, Florida. After going to Disney World and downtown disney three times in a month I really didn't care that it was there. Family was in awe that we lived there and thought it was cool. Disney lost its magic when I lived there. It was no big deal. So you may hear that from Minnesotans about MOA. However I've lived here four years (moved from out west) and my wife and I still enjoy going to the mall.

What's different? A sweet 18-hole mini golf course, underwater aquarium that holds sharks and lots of other saltwater fish. 500 stores of every kind. One store is an Oxygen bar. You can pay $20 for a cool time getting oxygen. Sounds odd, but I've seen it and it's worth the money. If you go to the mall when someone is performing in the rotunda that adds to the excitment. Recently Jessie McCartney was there, Rachel Ray and the list just goes on. You have a huge amusement park in the center of the mall, three food courts, sit-down restaurants, high end stores to moderate stores.

Some stores are definitely chain, but then you also get the experience of just being at the mall. If you like sushi there is an amazing sushi restaurant...Tiger Sushi that is there. Our first day at the mall we spent 10 hours there! Between going to the amusement park, eating and looking at all the shops it was a lot of fun!! Course I had to sleep the entire next day.

I do agree there is a lot to see and do here in the Cities, outside of the mall, but you could easily just do that and be satisfied. As I mentioned in a previous post, I work literally about 5 minutes from the mall and go over there regularly for lunch. There are many hotels in this area, Comfort Inn, Travelodge, Residence Inn, The Grand Lodge and I believe there are more on the south side of the mall.

If you want to see downtown Minneapolis we have a light rail station in the mall that takes you right into downtown. You can even take the light rail directly to the airport. It takes you very close to the check-in area.