anyone been?

[gator75]

has anyone been to the mall of america? if so how do you control yourself while there spending wise i mean we are going to disney atn the end of may, and we are doing a layover at the mall of america on the way home ans we have never been there so could someone please enlighten me?

 

[mombare]

I don't have a problem controlling my spending there, but I also only live 1.5 hours away!

When we go to MOA, we go for the rides and food. I typically do a little shopping, but nothing too much. How long is your layover? You may just have enough time to sit down to eat and look around - probably pick up a few things. If this is your trip back, I imagine you will be a bit tired also!

Just a note - the lightrail system is AWESOME! It is very easy to hop on the train and go to the MOA and get back!

Enjoy!

 

[ShiPooOwner]

has anyone been to the mall of america? if so how do you control yourself while there spending wise i mean we are going to disney atn the end of may, and we are doing a layover at the mall of america on the way home ans we have never been there so could someone please enlighten me?

I live about 15 minutes from MOA and it's a fun place to visit but for real shopping, I don't do much of it there. Whenever we have friends/family from out of town, that's where they want to go but I guess we look at it more in terms of entertainment than shopping. It's huge and I'm sure you will enjoy it, but don't worry about spending too much $$$ because after being at DW, you won't have any $$$ left to spend at MOA!

 

[gator75]

we actually live in north dakota and have never been. funny i know our layover is actually 2 days i should have said stayover instead.

 

[eroilersgal]

Depends on your family. We went with my husband's family which included our two and his sister's two Lego obsessed kids. Other than that, we stuck to the rides, t-shirts, and lunch for a party of 10 at Bubba Gumps.

 

[connie1042]

We very seldom SHOP there. We go to American Girl for my granddaughter, then look around, but never have done very much real shopping there. We do shop at Ikea, that is right across the parking lot. Love that store.

 

[pink_fins]

Live 4 hrs away. Agree with the other posters. I go there once a year to meet up with my sister (commercial bus takes me there)

We don't even stay there we go other places.

If we decided to stay there we go see a movie and eat a meal.
The resturants are rather pricy. But good You gotta check out the rainforest cafe.

The place is just too BIG. Plan on being overwhelmed. Wear walking shoes. LOL


have fun...It is the place for fun

gail,

 

[elgerber]

I live about 50 minutes away, and honestly rarely ever go there anymore. And when I do, I don't usually buy anything. It is great to walk around and check things out and eat. The park can be fun too, if your kids are the right ages for the stuff. But shopping is nothing special to me, just another mall.

 

[mom2kazkids]

When we travel there and are there midweek, we do the amusement park from 5 pm on with 1/2 price wrist bands. Kids have been able to get right on rides with little wait and get their fill in those 4 hours. (We did this last year on spring break for WI, but MN kids were still in school)

Barb

 

[Schachteles]

Obviously since I live in Minnesota my view of the mall is different (we go a few times a year and only shop at a few stores (ie Disney Store which is the only one in MN)).

But as a visitor, I wouldn't be that concerned, it is like a regular mall, just bigger (I have been to FAR "classier" malls in other cities. And if you are going for a layover, I would just plan to walk and check things out.

The rides are cool, but overpriced, as is Underwater World. The American Girl store is cool if you are into that, so is the Lego store, though if you are into Legos you can shop at DTD for those.

I would plan to just go and check it out, the Rainforest Cafe is nice (but really a "typical" RFC, the one in Orlando is nicer (or TRex is MUCH better at DTD).

 

[Jareds_mommy]

we have a mall thats bigger by a few hundred stores, i don't find it over welming and we never spend hours or money, The stores are the same as we have in the other malls here

 

[Arkansan]

My parents live near the MOA so we go there at least once a year. The best thing is that MN has no sales tax on clothes! (Here in Arkansas it is 9%!! I REALLY hate that part about living here!!!!)

Anyway, as PPs have said, it is not the best mall in the Twin Cities area for actual shopping--with the exception of Nordstrom! I could LIVE in that store. It is the only one in the Twin Cities and the region. I would also add the AG store to that short list. Obviously, outside of Chicago it is the only one in the Midwest. The rest of the stores are pretty much the same as in any other mall, just more picked over. I have MUCH better luck at the Eden Prairie Center in Eden Prairie (west of MOA), the Galleria, or Southdale Center (both in Edina) There is also a Cheesecake Factory in Southdale.

It is fun, though. And my kids love to ride the rides. Soon they will actually want to shop with me!

Hope you have a fun trip!

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

My daughter goes to U of M. She will take the light rail to the airport and MOA. As a family we were there over Easter. We just shop it like any other mall. Hit the stores we are interested in. At the Disney Store we bought gift cards from the Easter Bunny, for our upcoming trip. I also had coupons for Victoria's Secret, there are two stores. And I had coupons for Bath and Body, also two stores. We made a stop at Sanrio and the kids went to Forever 21's accessory store. Stopped by Ragstock, too. There is a Build-a-Bear Workshop located at MOA. I think the third level is restaurants.

 

[SkinsFan76]

We used to live in Lakeville, just South of MOA and never spent very much money there at all. It is definately neat to see, but the size is kind of overwhelming and a bit intimidating to do any real shopping. It is pretty cool to see how it is laid out and the amusement park, aquarium, and some speciality stores, but other than that it is just another mall. My wife and I aren't big shoppers though, so YMMV. Personally I enjoyed IKEA next door more, cheaper to eat too.

 

[Andrea_loves_Disney]

Yes, we have been to MOA lots of times and we love it! Even if you only have a few hours, jump on the light rail from the airport....go on over and check it out! Nickelodeon Universe (the theme park inside) is awesome! My kids love the rides and I like to walk around there even if I don't ride anything! (A wristband for unlimited rides is about $30 I think) As a previous post mentioned - no tax on clothes there!! It's like a built in discount on everything! There are lots of restaurants, a couple different food courts, and so many unusual shops in additional to all the normal mall shops! I love to shop so it would be no problem for me to spend 2 entire days there. We went in February and we were literally running out of the mall to get to the airport in time for our flight! So there's a big thumbs up from me!

 

[purplebelle]

I live in Chicago and went to the MOA for the first time this past January. I was somewhat disappointed in the mall as all the stores are ones that are readily available in Chicago. I was expecting more entertainment and fewer stores. Maybe my expectations were too high, so it was easy not to spend money since I lost interest in the mall after one go around.

 

[malibuconlee]

Went there in March. Not as big as I remembered, although it is huge LOL.

We spent maybe more than I thought we would be other than a couple of shirts I only bought some things I needed and hadn't been able to find locally. Dh bought a few things. We also had to take it all back in our suitcases!

Tucci Bunicci (sp?) is by the Barbie store and an AWESOME place to eat. Their butternut squash ravioli is wonderful!

 

[SaraJayne]

Tucci Bunicci (sp?) is by the Barbie store and an AWESOME place to eat. Their butternut squash ravioli is wonderful!

We've eaten there and it was fantastic...both the food and the service.

 

[Minnesota!]

We go almost weekly - we live about 15 minutes and have an annual membership to Underwater Adventures. We love it there. Rarely spend money outside of food/entertainment. We get a $20 wristband and each kid goes on about 3 rides. Lunch at Bubba Gump or samples at Le Gourmet Chef, Lindt, and the Cheese Store (or sometimes both lol!) and we get a great, fun day for under $70!

 

[daisy2jae]

We live apx 6 hours from MOA. We usually visit the Twin Cities once a year. We always make a trip to the MOA. However it's usually for the rides and to do a small amount of shopping. We usually do more outlet shopping while there to get our shopping in but we have a car that allows us to drive around.