The first leg of our families epic summer road trip to see National Parks started out not at a typical park at all. After a brief overnight stay near Chicago, our family made the trip up to Minnesota to visit Valleyfair amusement park and Mall of America to check out Nickelodeon Universe.

Along the drive, we used our RoadTrippers app to find interesting roadside attractions. For example, the Pink Elephant at a Shell gas station near DeForest, Wisconsin.

Eventually, our family made our way all the way to Mall of America as our first official stop of the trip. Our first order of business was to find a place to eat. After quickly trying to get our lay of the massive complex, and trying to find a place that offered a variety of menu items, we sadly decided on the Rainforest Cafe.

Certainly not my personal choice, but we knew it would appease the kids and also offer something vegan/vegetarian friendly for me.

Mall of America/Nickelodeon Universe

After eating, we did a quick look around the mall, but the highlight we all wanted to experience was the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park. Fortunately, we finished eating right before 5:00 pm, which offers a discounted evening ride wristband to experience the entire park.

What I was reminded of shortly after we arrived was that the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park started out as a Knott’s Berry Farm park, a favorite Cedar Fair park of ours (that we also later visited during this trip). So we were able to see things in the park that were reminiscent of the parks past connection.

Today Nickelodeon Universe is themed to characters from a bunch of their archive of animated figures.

Nickelodeon Universe offered some really great attractions that we were really happy to experience.

For example, the Ghost Blasters ride is the same ride we find today at several Cedar Fair parks, now called Boo-Blasters.

Another really incredible attraction was the PEPSI® ORANGE STREAK roller coaster. While the attraction might not have been the worlds tallest, fastest, or any other world record breaking stats, it made up for in being a terrific family ride.

The most surprising aspect for the Orange Streak was how long the roller coaster lasted, making its way around the entire Nickelodeon Universe. We wish more amusement parks offered great family roller coasters like this.

The one ride we were most excited to ride at Nickelodeon Universe was the log ride. Knott’s Berry Farm invented the classic log ride we know today. Did you know Disney modeled Splash Mountain after aspects of Knott’s log flume?

When Knott’s owned the park inside Mall of America, they also constructed a very similar log ride complete with animatronics!

What we did not know was that on the day of our visit, apparently one of the Stranger Things actors was in the park and they added a special overlay of scenes and music to the attraction. So we got to see the ride with a very special overlay, which was pretty cool.

Valleyfair

On the second day of our adventure in Minnesota, we headed to Valleyfair amusement park. This was a special day for our family, because it marked our families first visit to the park. In addition, after our visit, it meant our family has now gone to 10 of the 11 owned Cedar Fair parks.

Maybe it was the newness to us, but we absolutely LOVED Valleyfair. Great collection of rides, cute park with fantastic landscaping, and really good food (which is important since we run the CPFoodBlog)!

Our absolute favorite roller coaster was Renegade at Valleyfair. This super fast wooden roller coaster hugs the ground and flies through the track, offering an intense experience that is a lot of fun.

I have rode roller coasters and rides all over the place. I have jumped out planes. I have never been scared of a ride until North Star. While the ride has the appearance of your typical rotating swing attraction, North Star takes you up 230 feet. With so little holding you up but some small chains, North Star is absolutely terrifying!

While North Star is totally safe, it was a surreal feeling spinning so high in the air.

One of the coolest things we got to try when visiting Valleyfair was their new signature Colonel Oompahpah Shake. A massive margarita style cup is rimmed with sprinkles and filled with milkshake. Then it is topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and more sprinkles. Then skewers with funnel cake, donuts, cotton candy, and a sucker are inserted into the dessert.

While the Colonel Oompahpah Shake was massive, our three boys devoured the entire thing within a matter of moments.

You can get yours this summer at the Valleyfair Cool & Creamy stand.

Minnesota Accommodations

Our family’s go-to hotel and reward program is through IHG. Therefore, we elected to go with the Crowne Plaza Suites, MSP Airport – Mall of America for two nights.

The hotel adequately met our family’s needs with two queen beds.

The boys also thoroughly enjoyed the indoor pool complex complete with hot tub and sauna (which our kids had never seen before).

A block away from the hotel was also a nice little park that allowed the boys to use their scooters and get out some energy on one of the mornings we were killing some time prior to Valleyfair opening.

We also took advantage of the breakfast buffet at the Crowne Plaza which offered a nice assortment of warm and cold selections that were a step above the typical IHG breakfasts.

The only con of staying at the Crowne Plaza was the attached parking structure was in terrible shape and left a bad impression on the hotel. The first thing you should experience is not a dilapidated parking structure, especially when the facility houses conferences.

Following our adventure in Minnesota, next we were off into the heart of the trip and head towards the Badlands!

National Park Road Trip: Cleveland to Los Angeles (Part 1)
National Park Road Trip: Cleveland to Minnesota (Part 2)
National Park Road Trip: Traveling to The Badlands (Part 3)
National Park Road Trip: The Badlands (Part 4)
National Park Road Trip: Mt. Rushmore, Mammoth Site & Needles Highway (Part 5)
National Park Road Trip: Devils Tower and Onto Cody, WY (Part 6)
National Park Road Trip: Yellowstone Day 1 (Part 7)
National Park Road Trip: Yellowstone Day 2 (Part 8)
National Park Road Trip: Grand Teton National Park (Part 9)
National Park Road Trip: California or Bust (Part 10)
National Park Road Trip: Disneyland & Galaxy’s Edge (Part 11)
National Park Road Trip: Knott’s Berry Farm (Part 12)
National Park Road Trip: Journey East (Part 13)
National Park Road Trip: Worlds of Fun (Part 14)