Excellent Travel Tips

Take a shopping trip to the biggest shopping mall in the United States, Mall of America. This mall is located in Minnesota and has over 520 stores all arranged in three levels of walkways. The mall is organized into four different areas each with their own unique decorating and style. With a total gross area of 4.2 million square feet it is a great shopping vacation.

Even though Minnesota has sub-zero temperatures in the winter the mall only heats the entrances. Heat is allowed through skylights and is also produced by all the lighting fixtures in the mall. Even during the winter air conditioning systems have to be used during peak hours to keep the temperatures at a comfortable temperature. Two nearly identical seven story parking ramps on the east and west sides provide 12,550 parking spaces. Parking lots on the north and south of the building bring the total number of spaces up to approximately 20,000.

The mall opened its doors to the public on August 11, 1992. It became the second largest shopping mall in total area and largest in total store vendors that there is in the United States. When it opened, however, it was not the biggest mall in the world because at the time it opened the West Edmonton Mall was the biggest mall. Mall of America is however, the most visited shopping mall in the world. There are more than 40 million visitors annually which is roughly eight times the population of the state of Minnesota. The mall employs over 12,000 workers and is a great place to work.

The Mall of America would fit seven Yankee stadiums inside of the Mall. This can give you more of a visual as to just how huge this mall is. It has over 13,300 short tons of steel which is twice the amount of the Eiffel Tower. If you spend only ten minutes per store you would need more than 86 hours to completely visit all of Mall of America. There are many attractions to visit other than stores.

Underwater Adventure is a great attraction to take children to see and is wonderful for parents too. Can you imagine traveling 14 feet underwater with shark, stingrays and giant sea turtles? This is possible by a 300 foot long curved tunnel that has a moving walkway that simulates a complete scuba diving adventure. The best part is you don’t have to get wet! From there you can go to Starfish Beach and go into a virtual submarine ride. In this attraction you can see over 4,500 living sea creatures. Underwater Adventures is great way to relax in between stores and give the kids something to do other than shop.

Mall of America is an excellent family vacation. There is great food, fun and awesome shopping. Take a week and head to Minnesota and see the Mall of America. It is truly a place that the whole family will enjoy. Just make sure you take some really good walking shoes because you have a lot of walking to do when you get there.