Massive Nickelodeon Theme Park Coming To New Jersey

Nickelodeon is planning to build the largest indoor theme park in the Western Hemisphere at the American Dream Meadowlands shopping and entertainment center in New Jersey, it announced this week.

Spanning eight acres, Nickelodeon Universe will feature rides and attractions based on characters like SpongeBob SquarePants and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Nickelodeon will once again partner with Tripe Five, the developer it worked with for its branded park at the Mall of America in Minnesota.

Owned by Viacom International Media Networks, Nickelodeon already has partnered with Karisma Hotels & Resorts to develop the first Nick branded international hotel in the Dominican Republic. Construction on a second one, a 288-room property in Mexico, is already underway.

The 91-acre American Dream complex in East Rutherford also will house 450 retail, food and specialty shops; a 16-story Big Snow Indoor Ski Slope; a SEA LIFE aquarium; LEGOLAND Discovery Center; an NHL-size ice rink; an 18-hole miniature golf course; and a movie theater. The indoor DreamWorks water park will incorporate its popular movie franchises such as Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon.

The massive mall project has proceeded in fits and starts, but currently is scheduled to open in 2018.