<p>Just wondering if any parents from Minnesota or adjoining states can tell me whether Mall of America is really worth a long weekend trip for sightseeing purposes? I’m putting some ideas together for some short trips to states that we haven’t visited before. I’ve seen some inexpensive airfares to Minneapolis lately.</p>
<p>Thanks for any advice or input.</p>
<p>Not from the area but we did stop at the MOA several years ago while nearby. Not sure it is worth a special trip itself but would do it as an “add on” when in the area.</p>
<p>My sister, who lives in SoCal, and I, who live in CT, met in Minneapolis for a weekend once and spent a lot of time at MOA. It was fun. The main purpose wasn’t MOA, however; it was just where we both got cheap flights.</p>
<p>H’s family is from the Twin Cities area and we go to the mall whenever we visit them (alas, not so often now, since it’s only a couple of siblings and their families left). So I’ve been going since it opened, and still like to stop by. It’s a fun place to visit and there are lots of things to do besides shopping. Plus, light rail runs right from there to downtown Minneapolis, so you could go there easily for dinner or the like.</p>
<p>It’s a mall. There’s a roller coaster in the center and a large food court. All of the stores are the same stores you’ll find in most any mall. It’s fine but not worth a special trip unless you are severely shopping-deprived.</p>
<p>I did a weekend there with my mom and sister when it first opened but that was an excuse for a girls’ weekend. It’s just a mall - a rather big one. Nothing special.</p>
<p>We visited when my son toured Macalester. I was disappointed. I didn’t think it lived up to all the hype, though I can understand that a local might feel differently during a long, dark, cold winter.</p>
<p>It depends on what kind of traveler you are. If you travel often and enjoy different kinds of weekends, Minneapolis is a lovely city and I highly recommend touring both downtown Minneapolis and MOA. </p>
<p>If this is your ONE big trip for the year, I don’t know that MOA would live up to your expectations. It is a spectacle, large and loud and the novelty of rides inside a mall is a fun diversion. But if you are choosing between saying “I’ve been to MOA” and “I’ve been to Niagra Falls”, I would vote for the scenic wonder.</p>
<p>That said, I am glad that I have been there several times during convention trips to Minneapolis. I wouldn’t take my family JUST to see the mall. But I would enjoy my family getting to see a beautiful downtown area, see some of the sites, along with the MOA.</p>
<p>I can’t say enough about the beauty, safety, and charm of downtown Minneapolis. (Of course, we were always there in the summertime. Can’t imagine living through the winters up there!)</p>
<p>Light rail… Does that mean you can take public transportation from the Megabus stop? From the airport? Sooner or later we will visit there, but it is a long drive from here.</p>
<p>Every store you could think of plus an amusement park.</p>
<p>Minneapolis IS a lovely city. It’s just that the Mall of America isn’t all that different from what you’d find in any generic mall in any suburban area.</p>
<p>MOA IS Different, IMO. It is commercialism on steroids, and if you enjoy strolling around and taking in the sights, you will not be disappointed. The lego store is a blast for the kids, you can get a mani/pedi, restaurants galore. I am no longer a “mall person”, and wouldn’t dream of heading to any of our local malls. But MOA, if you have interest in the slightly tacky, overblown sensationalism of a mini theme park inside a mall, well, this is the place to be.</p>
<p>You can take light rail from the airport or from downtown Minneapolis. </p>
<p>I love MOA, but then I live in a “shopping-deprived” area. Take a look online to see all the stores. It is .57 miles around, and 3 levels, so I never see the whole thing. We go once a year when we’re visiting our family. </p>
<p>If I went in the winter, I’d go during the St. Paul Winter Carnival. I’d also make it a point to visit the Walker Art Center.</p>
<p>MOA is a mall with an expensive mini amusement park, mediocre restaurants and a collection of stores available everywhere in US. I would not come to twin cities for MOA. </p>
<p>If you do come to twin cities, I second Walker Art Center suggestion.</p>
<p>If you are a big clothes shopper you might also enjoy the fact that MN has no sales tax on clothing.</p>
<p>We spent the better part of a day there years ago, and it was the better part of a day I would rather have spent elsewhere. It was just a mall with some merely OK amusement-park rides. It’s not as nice as the King of Prussia mall, here, but in the end that’s just a mall, too, notwithstanding that is has a whole bank of hotels to house people who come from elsewhere to shop there.</p>
<p>When my kids were in college in Chicago, it was some weird sort of hipster rite of passage to take an overnight bus to MOA, spend the day there gawking at the Middle Americans, and take an overnight bus back to Chicago. Both kids did it. Neither has suggested they want to go back there again, ever, including when we were actually in Minneapolis recently.</p>
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<p>While pretending that Chicago is not?</p>
<p>My teenage daughter loves the mall. Me, not so much. But it does have the only Nordstrom’s in the state, so that is a selling point for me. It has an amusement park with rides, lots of stores (two of many stores, which was confusing the first time we went), a cool lego store, and a nice aquarium. I was not aware that college students from Chicago would <em>gawk</em> at middle americans there, LOL. Minneapolis is a pretty hipster place – the Mall doesn’t really reflect the best of Minneapolis, IMO, but it is fun if you like to shop and eat. And if you find middle americans entertaining, I guess. 
Some places that you might consider in addition to the mall, if you visit – The Guthrie (theatre), The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, biking or walking/jogging the trails around the Chain of Lakes, Minnehaha Falls and the Mississipi River. There is a neat science museum in St. Paul. And there are quite a few good restaurants and pizza places. I like the quirky organic ones myself. And there are lots of good bakeries here.</p>
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<p>Yes, and yes. The Minneapolis Megabus stop is now two short blocks from the Target Field (Twins baseball stadium) light rail station, at the northern terminus of the light rail line. From there it runs south through downtown Minneapolis with stops at the Metrodome (soon to be demolished and replaced by a new Vikings stadium, but the new stadium is still a couple of years from completion), the airport (both terminals), and the Mall of America at the southern terminus. A second light-rail line will open in mid-2014 connecting downtown Minneapolis with the University of Minnesota and downtown Saint Paul.</p>
<p>It’s very convenient for visitors who can fly (or Megabus) in, get a hotel either at MOA or in downtown Minneapolis, spend as much time as they like at MOA and easily get downtown for additional shopping, restaurants, sporting events, cultural events, etc.</p>
<p>I live about 10 minutes from MOA. I avoid it like the plague–too big, too noisy, too crowded for my taste. But then I’m not much of a shopper. When I need to shop I prefer one of the smaller malls around town–quieter, less crowded, easier in-and-out, less of a spectacle. Some locals love MOA, but I’d guess well over half the shoppers are out-of-town visitors. Minneapolis-Saint Paul has a large rural hinterland; it’s the closest big city not only for “greater Minnesota” (Minnesota outside the Twin Cities metro) but also for western and much of northern Wisconsin, northern Iowa, the Dakotas, Manitoba (well, there’s Winnipeg, but we do get a lot of Canadian shoppers), parts of Nebraska, and even eastern Montana. It’s quite common for people from these areas to make a weekend or even a week of shopping at MOA, taking in a Twins or Vikings game, and getting their “city fix.” </p>
<p>MOA also attracts surprisingly large numbers of foreign visitors, especially Europeans. Air connections through MSP are convenient and many items, especially consumer electronics and clothing, are much cheaper here than in Europe. Swedes fly in to MOA to shop at H&M, the Swedish clothing retailer; they say they can often get the same items here for a little over half what they’d pay in Sweden. Some European visitors say they come with two big empty suitcases apiece and more than pay for their trip with what they save on items they purchase here. Minnesota’s policy of no sales tax on clothing is even a bigger deal for Europeans than for Americans; retail prices there reflect the value-added tax (VAT) which operates as a mark-up with every transaction from manufacture to final sale.</p>
<p>I find the whole spectacle amusing, and a bit baffling, but then as I said, I’m not much of a shopper. Is it worth the trip? To me it wouldn’t be; it’s just a shopping mall on steroids. But clearly it is to some people.</p>
<p>The MOA is 10 minutes from my house so it is the mall I shop at. Kids used to go the amusement park but it has been years since we cut through the middle to see the rides. I miss Bloomingdales but shop a lot at Nordstrom’s and Nordstrom Rack. There are a few new stores that have been added in the last year. Light rail from the airport is quick and easy. I shop during the week and it is never crowded but weekends are packed with visitors. There are many things to do in MPLS…museums are excellent, theater is fun, and plenty of beautiful parks and trails to walk when it is warm. There are some fun and quirky places to eat in MPLS and St. Paul. If you go you will have to try Juicy Lucys at Matt’s Bar, The Nook or The Blue Door and compare who has the best. All have been on HGTV/Food Channel. I also love the different pizza places. Have fun!</p>