Nickelodeon Universe (originally Knott's Camp Snoopy, later known as The Park at MOA) is the seven acre (28,000 m²) amusement park located in the center of the Mall of America (MOA), in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA.
On August 18, 2009, Nickelodeon and Southern Star Amusement announced that the second Nickelodeon Universe will be located in New Orleans, Louisiana and have a tentative opening date by the end of 2010. It was set to be the first outdoor Nickelodeon Universe theme park, but on November 9th, 2009, Nickelodeon announced that it had ended the licensing agreement with Southern Star Amusements.
Nickelodeon Universe 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. The floor has a wide variance in height - the highest ground level in the park is 15 feet (4.6 m) 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 small roller coasters, but mainly has flat rides due to space constraints. Near the Rugrats Reptarmobiles is the site of home plate for Metropolitan Stadium, which was located on the site of the Mall.
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. 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.
Camp Snoopy was never aggressively themed to the Peanuts franchise; the park had a very outdoors and woodsy feel with more subtle references to the Peanuts franchise. Much of the original theming in Camp Snoopy fountain and all around the park were already toned down by the time the rights to the Peanuts characters were lost.
Theming that was removed from the park prematurely and was never replaced include various kites near the ceiling, Charlie Brown and Lucy playing baseball above the Sports grill restaurant (although their baseball remained suspended in the air afterwards), theming in Snoopy fountain, the retheming of Snoopy Boutique the Snoopy Bouncer, and the Snoopy Shop and much smaller theming.
On April 7, 1998, New Horizon Kids Quest, Inc. opened a Kids Quest hourly child care facility in Knott's Camp Snoopy. The facility incorporated 17,385 square feet (1,615.1 m2) and served children ages six weeks to twelve years until it was removed in 2007.
In 2005, there were plans to revitalize the Camp Snoopy image, and a new logo was introduced in October, called the "roller coaster logo" to replace the "canoe logo", however this did not last long as there were even bigger and unexpected changes coming within the next few months.
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. All traces of the Peanuts branding was removed, some very sloppily, although the gift shops were allowed to continue selling Peanuts merchandise without the Camp Snoopy label. The inflatable Snoopy character was removed and it took several months before it was finally replaced by a generic tree house inflatable. Many other landmarks in the park were either replaced by generic landmarks or not replaced at all.
The park's new licensing deal and name, "Nickelodeon Universe", was announced on July 25, 2007. Construction began on August 27, 2007 with work to be completed in sections so 80 percent to 90 percent of the park remains accessible at all times. Nickelodeon Universe was completed on March 15, 2008.
New rides include SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge, a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter style coaster themed after the Nickelodeon show SpongeBob SquarePants, the Splat-O-Sphere, a tower drop-ride in the center of the park, and the Avatar Airbender, a surf-rider attraction located in the center of the park as well. The shooting gallery beneath the Ripsaw/Orange Streak roller coaster was gutted, and was replaced by the Rugrats Reptarmobiles.
The site of the Mystery Mine Ride was completely demolished to make way for SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge, a new Gerstlauer roller coaster. This site also included an Old Time Photography studio, and restrooms. Old Time Photography relocated into the mall (but not within the park) and restrooms did not return in this section of the park.
Levy Restaurants partnered with Nickelodeon Universe to include a themed restaurant at the park. The restaurant is called EATS, and it is located in the former Park at MOA food court. Recently, the partnership ended. The Eats area closed and was replaced with a Butterfly display.
On March 12, 2008, the Star Tribune reported that the price of ride points, daily wristbands, and, in particular, annual passes would take a significant price hike once the park transitioned to Nickelodeon Universe. The price for an annual pass, which has remained $99 per year since the park opened in 1992, will increase to $250, and daily wristbands will be raised from $24.95 to $29.95. Some decried the price increases as being unjustifiably high, when compared to other parks, such as much larger Walt Disney World at $249.95 and local park Valleyfair at $79.95-$99.95. Others defended the pricing as necessary to accommodate the millions of dollars of investment needed to rebrand the park as Nickelodeon Universe.
Even though the Nickelodeon cable channel has recently changed their logo in September 2009, Nickelodeon Universe still continues to use a variant of the splat logo. It is currently unknown when they will change to the new logo. Upon inquiring of a new logo for Nickelodeon Universe, this response is generated: "Nickelodeon Universe will be getting a new logo. Look for it in the next several months." The new, all text Nickelodeon Universe logo is revelaved in an ad for the park's New Year's Eve event.
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. Unlimited single rider wristbands or season passes are also available.
| Thrill rides | ||
|---|---|---|
| Camp Snoopy | The Park at MOA | Nickelodeon Universe |
| Pepsi Ripsaw | Pepsi Ripsaw | Pepsi Orange Streak |
| Screaming Yellow Eagle | Screaming Yellow Eagle | Danny Phantom Ghost Zone |
| The Mighty Axe | The Mighty Axe | Tak Attack |
| Timberland Twister | Timberland Twister | Fairly Odd Coaster |
| Treetop Tumbler | Treetop Tumbler | Jimmy Neutron's Atomic Collider |
| Mystery Mine Ride (1992–2007) | Mystery Mine Ride (1992–2007) | |
| SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge | ||
| Avatar Airbender | ||
| Splat-O-Sphere | ||
| Family rides | ||
|---|---|---|
| Camp Snoopy | The Park at MOA | Nickelodeon Universe |
| Americana Carousel | Americana Carousel | Carousel |
| Bumpers | Bumpers | Naked Brothers Crazy Cars |
| Ghost Blasters | Ghost Blasters | Ghost Blasters |
| Paul Bunyan's Log Chute | Paul Bunyan's Log Chute | Log Chute |
| Skyscraper Ferris Wheel | Skyscraper Ferris Wheel | El Circulo del Cielo |
| The Kite-Eating Tree | Tree Swing | Backyardigans Swing-Along |
| Kiddie rides | ||
|---|---|---|
| Camp Snoopy | The Park at MOA | Nickelodeon Universe |
| Balloon Race | Balloon Race | Balloon Race |
| Bloomington Express | Bloomington Express | La Aventura de Azul |
| Snoopy Bounce | Bounce | Pineapple Poppers |
| Camp Bus | Camp Bus | Diego's Rescue Rider |
| Frog Hopper | Frog Hopper | Wonder Pets Flyboat |
| Li'l Shaver | Li'l Shaver | Back at the Barnyard Hayride |
| Red Baron | Red Baron | Blue's Skidoo |
| Speedway | Speedway | Swiper's Sweeper |
| Truckin' | Truckin' | Big Rigs |
| Huff and Puff (1992–1995) | ||
| Rugrats Reptarmobiles[] | ||
