Nickelodeon is setting up shop in America’s biggest mall.
Nickelodeon struck a deal with Mall of America to brand the mall’s indoor amusement park under the Nickelodeon name. This is the first time the network is lending its powerful brand name to a theme park.
The seven-acre park, formerly known as Camp Snoopy, will re-open under the Nickelodeon name in spring 2008. Mall of America lost the Peanuts license in 2005, and shifted from Camp Snoopy to the generic name The Park at MOA in January 2006.
The park will include live shows, retail shops and restaurants, as well as rides and attractions featuring Nickelodeon characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and The Backyardigans. Costumed characters and “live interactive entertainment”—including Nick’s signature green slime—are planned.
Nickelodeon gets 4,000 square feet of retail space, its largest retail presence in any one location worldwide, to sell branded apparel, novelties and souvenirs. Its restaurants will feature healthy foods to align with Nick’s 4-year-old health-and-wellness campaign “Let’s Just Play.”
The park’s official name hasn’t been set yet, but some plans are already clear: The park will add its first upside-down roller coaster, the Avatar Airbender, named for Nick’s animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The park also will add a free-fall tower for teens and adults.
Construction starts later this year; the park will remain open during construction, according to the companies.
“Both Nickelodeon and Mall of America have tremendous family and kid appeal,” said Howard Smith, senior vice president of Nickelodeon Recreation, in a statement.
Mall of America executives expect the Nick name to draw more families to the mall, which hosts about 40 million visitors each year.
“Nickelodeon’s family-friendly focused entertainment is a perfect fit for Mall of America,” said Maureen Bausch, vice president of business development for Mall of America, in a statement. “We expect the newly themed park will draw even more new visitors from around the United States, as well as international travel markets.”
Nick has a similar licensing deal with Holiday Inn for Nick-themed family suites in the Orlando Holiday Inn, including a Nick-themed water park.
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