--- title: America's Largest Indoor Theme Park Set to Open in 2018 description: The new Nickelodeon Universe in the American Dream at Meadowlands mega-mall in New Jersey will be the largest indoor theme park in the U.S. canonical: https://time.com/4497140/nickelodeon-universe-indoor-theme-park/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-16T16:31:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:36:39.854Z og:title: Nickelodeon Theme Park Set to Open in 2018 og:description: The Nickelodeon Universe at New Jersey's American Dream mega-mall will be huge. og:url: https://time.com/4497140/nickelodeon-universe-indoor-theme-park/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d88d1360ecf8d3f/6988a670e20a87ed4ca92728/nickelodeon-universe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Nickelodeon And Mall of America Celebrate Opening Of Nickelodeon Universe og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nickelodeon Theme Park Set to Open in 2018 twitter:description: The Nickelodeon Universe at New Jersey's American Dream mega-mall will be huge. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d88d1360ecf8d3f/6988a670e20a87ed4ca92728/nickelodeon-universe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hang With the Ninja Turtles at Nickelodeon Universe, Soon to Be the Theme Park of Your Dreams > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a6f23597-fc35-4676-9260-5d13ff49f6fb&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 16, 2016 4:31 PM UTC  Actress Miranda Cosgrove, actor Nat Wolff, actor Alex Wolff, and recording artist Lil' JJ attend the grand opening of Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America March 15, 2008 in Bloomington, Minnesota. Actress Miranda Cosgrove, actor Nat Wolff, actor Alex Wolff, and recording artist Lil' JJ attend the grand opening of Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America March 15, 2008 in Bloomington, Minnesota. Cory Ryan—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 16, 2016 4:31 PM UTC If you’ve always wanted to experience living in a pineapple under the sea, you’re in luck: Nickelodeon is [opening what is promised to be the largest indoor theme park in the U.S.](http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2016/09/largest%5Findoor%5Ftheme%5Fpark%5Fin%5Famericas%5Fcoming%5Fto%5Fmeadowlands.html) at the giant American Dream mall property in East Rutherford, New Jersey, according to [NJ.com](http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2016/09/largest%5Findoor%5Ftheme%5Fpark%5Fin%5Famericas%5Fcoming%5Fto%5Fmeadowlands.html). [Nickelodeon Universe](http://time.com/4021259/nickeolodeon-rugrats-hey-arnold/?iid=sr-link2), as it’s called, will feature rides based on all your favorite childhood shows, so you can literally live immersed in animated nineties nostalgia; think _SpongeBob SquarePants_ and _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_. No word yet on how these rides will play out (presumably the SpongeBob experience will involve some form of a water slide, right?), but the 8.5-acre Nickelodeon section will join a DreamWorks suite of rides as well, meaning you can pop over from hanging in Shrek’s fairytale fantasyland to chilling with the Ninja Turtles and then hit up the sweet beasts of _How to Train Your Dragon._ The American Dream at Meadowlands is one of the largest mega-mall properties in the U.S., with three million square feet of indoor space. Originally proposed in 2003, it’s [been an embattled project ever since](http://www.wsj.com/articles/financing-plan-reawakes-american-dream-mall-project-in-n-j-1471222286), with stalled plans for an massive indoor ski slope, aquarium, Legoland, and retail. But recently — and ironically — it’s needed a boost from our northern neighbors; the Canadian development firm Triple Five swooped in to inject some life back into the Dream, and now it’s looking to open in 2018 after [eating up about $4 billion.](http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2012/07/american%5Fdream%5Fat%5Fmeadowlands%5Fcomplex%5Fto%5Finclude%5Fanimation-inspired%5Ftheme%5Fpark.html) A Nickelodeon Universe property also operates out of the [Mall of America in Minnesota.](http://time.com/3985668/mall-of-america-history/?iid=sr-link3) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4497140/nickelodeon-universe-indoor-theme-park/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4497140/nickelodeon-universe-indoor-theme-park/"},"headline":"Hang With the Ninja Turtles at Nickelodeon Universe, Soon to Be the Theme Park of Your Dreams","datePublished":"2016-09-16T16:31:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:39.854Z","description":"Welcome to cartoon heaven","url":"https://time.com/4497140/nickelodeon-universe-indoor-theme-park/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d88d1360ecf8d3f/6988a670e20a87ed4ca92728/nickelodeon-universe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d88d1360ecf8d3f/6988a670e20a87ed4ca92728/nickelodeon-universe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nickelodeon And Mall of America Celebrate Opening Of Nickelodeon Universe","caption":"Nickelodeon And Mall of America Celebrate Opening Of Nickelodeon Universe","creditText":"Cory Ryan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4497140/nickelodeon-universe-indoor-theme-park/","name":"Hang With the Ninja Turtles at Nickelodeon Universe, Soon to Be the Theme Park of Your Dreams"}}]}] ```