The Park at MOA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 The Park at MOA |
|
| Location | Bloomington, Minnesota  |
|---|---|
| Website | http://www.theparkatmoa.com/ |
| Owner | Triple Five Group (owners of Mall of America) |
| Opened | 1992 |
| Previous names | Camp Snoopy, Knott's Camp Snoopy |
| Operating season | Indoors, open all year |
| Area | 7 acres |
| Rides | 21+ total
|
The Park at MOA (originally (Knott's) Camp Snoopy) is the seven acre (28,000 m²) amusement park located in the center of the Mall of America (MOA), in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA.
On March 1, 2007, The Mall of America and Nickelodeon announced that the park would be renamed and rebranded as a Nickelodeon park, the first such venture for the company. A name has not been decided yet, and the rebranding is expected to occur in spring 2008. Nickelodeon will bring various characters, such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer, as well as their famous green slime. A 4,000 square foot Nickelodeon store as well as a family-oriented healthy food restaurant is planned. Already on the planning board is the park's first upside-down roller coaster, the Avatar Airbender, as well as a freefall tower.
Contents |
[edit] Design
The Park at MOA is primarily lit by a glass ceiling, which is also the source of most of the heat for the Mall of America. It was originally built by Knott's Berry Farm, and was managed by Cedar Fair after they bought Knott's in 1998, but has been managed by the Mall of America since early 2005. Unlike many indoor amusement parks, The Park at MOA has a great deal of natural foliage in and about the park, and its floor has a wide variance in height - the highest ground level in the park is 15 feet above the lowest. This allows for a far more naturalistic experience than would normally be possible in an indoor amusement park.
The Park has some smaller roller coasters, but mainly has flat rides due to space constraints. Near a shooting gallery is the site of home plate for Metropolitan Stadium, which was located on the site of the Mall.
[edit] History
The park was originally known as Knotts Camp Snoopy, and later, simply Camp Snoopy, and was themed around the Charles M. Schulz "Peanuts" comic strip characters. On January 9, 2006, Mall of America management announced that talks between MoA and Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. (which owns the national rights to amusement-park branding of the Peanuts license) had broken down, primarily over the Mall's rights to effectively market its park within and outside of the United States, and effective January 19, the park's Peanuts branding would end, the park being temporarily renamed "The Park at MOA" while new branding was being applied. [1]
Camp Snoopy themed areas are still located at the following Cedar Fair parks: Cedar Point, Dorney Park, Knott's Berry Farm, Worlds of Fun, and Michigan's Adventure.
According to the Star Tribune on January 30 2007, [2] the park at MOA was in negotiations with Nickelodeon for an exclusive branding deal which would see characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, Rugrats, and Jimmy Neutron inspiring rides throughout the park, and would mainly star Spongebob Squarepants. They also announced plans to build a freefall tower aimed at teens and adults.
In 2007, construction is set to begin on Avatar: The Last Airbender, a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter style coaster themed after the Nickelodeon show Avatar: The Last Airbender. The ride will feature two inversions, a vertical loop as well as a heartline roll, along with other elements, including the Euro-Fighter's signature vertical lift hill and 97 degree first drop. The $2.9 million ride will be 67 feet tall, the shortest Euro-Fighter built to date. [3]
[edit] Rides/Attractions
The park is free to enter, but the rides require patrons to purchase a varying number of tickets (points), depending upon the type of ride.
Six (6) points required:
- The Mighty Axe
- Paul Bunyan's Log Chute (Closing)
- Yogi's Big Rescue (Mystery Mine Ride) (Closing)
- Timberland Twister
Five (5) points required:
- Ghost Blasters
- Treetop Tumbler
- Pepsi Ripsaw Roller Coaster
- Screaming Yellow Eagle (Closing)
Four (4) points required:
- Bumpers (Closing)
- Camp Bus (Closing)
- Tree Swing
- Skyscraper Ferris Wheel
Three (3) points required:
- Americana Carousel
- Balloon Race
- Bloomington Express (Closing)
- Frog Hopper
- Lil' Shaver (Closing)
- Red Baron (Closing)
- Bounce
- Speedway (Closing)
- Truckin' (Closing)
