I traveled to the American Dream megamall on opening day and it was an unexpected breeze

Shoshy Ciment

Oct 29, 2019, 19:06 IST

I traveled to the American Dream megamall on opening day and it was an unexpected breeze

The American Dream megamall opened to the public on Friday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The 3 million-square-foot center has a theme park, ice rink, water park, and indoor ski center in addition to over 450 shops. It is one of the largest malls in North America.
Only the Nickelodeon Universe theme park and ice-skating rink were open to the public on opening day, in addition to some pop-up activities for Halloween.
I went to opening day of the megamall and was surprised to find that very few people showed up, despite the fact that the New Jersey Transit added express bus services meant for transportation to and from the mall.
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After over 20 years in the making, one of the largest malls in the US opened in New Jersey on Friday.

American Dream was first conceived in 1996 and has gone through various stages of development leading up to its highly anticipated opening.

The project was delayed multiple times and went through different owners in its over 20-year evolution. The first phase of the complex opened on Friday. Friends and family of some mall owners and employees were invited to experience the Nickelodeon Universe theme park on opening day. Though tickets to the theme park sold out before opening day, the public was invited to explore the unfinished complex and to partake in various pop-up Halloween-themed activities and an ice-skating rink in the mall.

The opening of the mall was expected to cause some traffic issues in the area. To help alleviate this, the New Jersey Transit added an express bus services to transport guests to and from the mall. The New York Waterway is also running a ferry service to American Dream from Manhattan with dedicated shuttles to help travelers complete their journey. Shoppers also have the option to park their own cars in one of the center's 33,000 parking spots for varying rates.

I took the New Jersey express bus line to American Dream on opening day and found it almost entirely empty. When I got to the mall, it was devoid of the large crowds that characterized Mall of America when it first opened in 1992. In general, the atmosphere of the mall opening felt rushed.

"[It is] nothing like I expected," said Yvonne Hicks, 57, who came from Teaneck, New Jersey on opening day and was unimpressed with the ill-prepared atmosphere in the mall. She said that the wheelchair accessibility center was closed when she arrived, so it was difficult for her to maneuver around the massive complex.

I noticed a few attendants walking around with wheelchairs later in the day, but I was surprised to see so many boxes and construction zones in the mall. However, the Nickelodeon Universe theme park was in excellent shape and seemed like it would do its job in acting as an anchor for foot traffic in the complex.

Here's how I got to American Dream from Manhattan on opening day and what I saw.

I left my office in Manhattan's Financial District at around 9:40 am on Friday, October 25.

From there, I headed to the subway at Fulton Street with plans to take the A or C train uptown to Port Authority.

The C train came first, so I got on board the semi-crowded train and made my way to Midtown.

Once I got to 42nd Street, I followed the signs to Port Authority.

After some maneuvering to the building next door, I made it Port Authority and began to look for the New Jersey Transit.

I bought an $18 round-trip ticket from the New Jersey Transit window for the 355 Express Bus to the American Dream, a line that the New Jersey Transit opened specifically for transportation to the mall.

A ferry from Manhattan to the mall would be opening a few days later, so the bus would have to do for today.

The express bus was scheduled to leave every half an hour. I was told to head to Gate 305 for the 10:30 am bus, so I followed the appropriate signs.

Once at the gate, I was surprised to find hardly anyone in line. I expected to see a huge crowd heading to the megamall on opening day, but there were only about four people in line.

The bus came on time and we boarded with plenty of extra space.

In fact, the bus was almost entirely empty. Still, the few of us on board were excited to see the what American Dream had to offer.

The ride to New Jersey was short, probably around 15 minutes in total. As we approached the complex, I saw a lot of areas still in the midst of construction.

We drove around the massive center for a bit until we reached the drop-off point near the front of the mall.

From there, we boarded a complimentary shuttle to take us the few extra feet to the parking garage and the entrance to the center.

Though devoid of stores, the corridors of American Dream looked mostly finished. But for the most part, there wasn't much to see.

A lot of the mall was in construction, likely in preparation for the final stages of opening.

After walking through some corridors, I made it to the complex's ice-skating rink, which lived up to my expectations rather well. Still, the mall seemed eerily empty for an opening day.

Next to the ice-skating rink, a large window revealed the unfinished DreamWorks Animation water park, which is expected to open on November 27. The park looked like it had a long way to go before completion.

Though most of mall was not yet opened, there were some seasonal decorations lining the corridors that were a nice touch. The Halloween-themed decorations did a lot to liven up what could have been an endless stream of empty white hallways devoid of shops.

Next, I stopped by the Nickelodeon Universe theme park, which was mostly filled with friends and family of the owners and creators of the mall.

The park was filled with rides of multiple thrill levels, from roller coasters to merry-go-rounds. Each ride was based on a different character or show from Nickelodeon.

To get back to Manhattan from the mall, I took the 2:00 pm express bus from the place I was dropped off and found it pretty empty.

I was one of just a few passengers on the bus back to Manhattan. The driver said he hadn't had more than about 16 people on his bus in total that whole day, which I thought was pretty low for the opening day of one of the largest malls in America.

The rest of American Dream has yet to open, so the crowds might just be holding out until they can come and do everything the massive complex is promising. Luckily, the plethora of options available for travel makes getting to the megamall a no-brainer.

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