Spring Break Trip: The Mall of America

Posted by Nicole Doud on

I have wanted to visit the Mall of America since I was in the eighth grade. I finally made that happen with our family last week over spring break! We drove through the Upper Peninsula along US-2 and stayed the night in Green Bay, WI. It was a four hour drive from the Mackinac Bridge to Green Bay. It didn't feel like four hours, maybe because the drive along US-2 is so pretty along Lake Michigan. I had never driven through Escanaba and Gladstone and all those little towns along US-2. We stayed at Tundra Bay Lodge in Green Bay which was right by Lambeau Field. We were planning to all do a tour of Lambeau Field, but Louie wasn't feeling great and we knew Johnny wouldn't last through an hour and a half tour. So Tommy and Andrew were the lucky ones to experience the field and get the tour. They LOVED it! Andrew was so excited after the tour! We highly recommend doing a tour. It was $75 for two people for an hour and a half tour and totally worth it. 
We then continued our drive to Bloomington, MN where the Mall of America is located. It was four hours from Green Bay to MOA. We passed over the Mississippi River and lots of farmland. The drive again, was really easy. I hoped to stop at Door County because it was only 45 minutes from Green Bay. Maybe next time! I didn't think the boys would love strolling the town and looking at shops! Ha!
We stayed at the Marriott Hotel connected to MOA. They had a small pool (no hot tub) and a restaurant for breakfast and dinner. We loved the hotel and so nice it was connected to the mall. 
We explored the mall Saturday evening and the boys were in awe at the amusement park section of the mall. They had roller coasters, rides, food stands, and more! We paid $75 I think for so many points to ride the rides. It was definitely enough for us. They had things for toddlers too which was really nice. It was very busy, I'm sure because of a weekend and spring break. We never made it into the Legoland store because the line was wrapped around the store. We visited the aquarium which was really fun! Something we didn't know is you can't just buy tickets and go in. We had to buy tickets from our phones (online) and then reserve a time to go. We had to wait two hours before the next slot was open. 
The restaurants all had long wait times as well. I recommend making reservations in advance if you want to eat inside the mall. Wait times were from 1-3 hours. Since the wait times were so long we opted to eat in the food court area. I don't recommend that. Service was very bad and it was dirty. 
We really did not go into many stores. We did hit up Old Navy and got the boys some summer clothes and I bought myself a pair of overalls I have been wanting for awhile and they were half off! We left the mall at 3pm Saturday and then switched to a different hotel located downtown to try something new. It was called the Hewing Hotel. It was really neat! Industrial and built in 2016. 
If we make another trip to the mall we will make reservations in advance for restaurants and stay at the Marriott again. If you plan on going in the future, I hope it's a great trip! It is something fun to experience especially since malls are not as popular these days. 
Nicole
xo

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  • Looks like a great trip—love that mall!

    Mary Lou Peters on

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