Looking to learn random facts and insights about the Mall of America? You can take an Official MOA® Tour!
Did you know Mall of America has Official MOA® Tours? When I discovered this, I knew I was going to have to check one out! I was very excited to learn random facts about MOA, even after living here in the Twin Cities for most of my life.
The Official MOA® Tours take place on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 9am and tickets are $25 (you can also use points in the app to get the tour for free– we will share more about that later in the post). The tour runs around 90 minutes and be sure to wear comfy shoes! There is a lot of walking and exploring on this tour.
The tour I took started with facts about how Mall of America came to be. It’s located in the same place at the former Metropolitan Stadium, which when it was demolished, left the city of Bloomington with 78 acres to fill. There’s still a home plate installed in the floor by the SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge ride in Nickelodeon Universe, as well as Harmon Killabrew’s red chair.
A business group from Canada were actually the ones to suggest the building the biggest mall in America– thank you, Canada! Groundbreaking took place in 1989 and the grand opening of the mall was in 1992 and was attended by over 150,000 people!
I learned so many amazing facts on the tour, I don’t want to ruin all the fun for you, but let me share a few! Did you know over 9,000 people have gotten married at the Mall of America? One wedding at MOA even inspired the TV show, The Bachelor! Over 30,000 live plants and trees call the MOA home and each year there are Ladybugs and other insects released to keep the plants healthy.
A special part of the tour was getting to go inside the Paul Bunyan Log Chute Ride (I wasn’t allowed to take pictures or video during that part of the tour) but it was amazing to see the ride from behind the scenes! Did you know the first ride was actually sponsored by Brawny Paper Towels? So Paul Bunyan was actually modeled after the Brawny man! Paul Bunyan gets an outfit change with every season and his looks are actually designed by Christopher Straub from Project Runway!
We also got to see inside the former Bloomingdale’s, where all the holiday decorations are stored. WOW the Mall of America really goes all out for the holidays! Did you know there’s a secret speakeasy open during the holidays at MOA? Guess I know what I will be doing next year for the holidays!
I’d highly recommend taking the Official MOA® Tour at Mall of America! Tours are Tuesdays and Saturdays at 9am. The cost is $25/attendee but my tour was free after using points I had collected in the MOA app! There are also private group tours available, check out the MOA website.
Looking to save on your next trip to Mall of America, be sure to check out our blog post with savings at Nickelodeon Universe, FlyOver America, Sea Life Minnesota + more!
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Hannah is a married mom of 3 kiddos in the Twin Cities. Born and raised here in MN, she loves finding deals and special events to share with others.
Hannah enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading books, going on road trips up north, singing along with the radio and finding new thrift stores to shop! Hannah is also a fierce advocate for people with disabilities and is always on the lookout for more sensory friendly opportunities in the Twin Cities.
Laura says
So how did you use points? You never spelled it out in the article.