Nickelodeon Unveils Theme Park Plans

NEW YORK/BLOOMINGTON, March 1: The Minnesota-based Mall of
America has teamed up with Nickelodeon for the construction of the first-ever
Nickelodeon-themed park, featuring new rides and attractions inspired by
properties such as SpongeBob SquarePants,
Dora the Explorer and Avatar:
The Last Airbender, with the grand opening
scheduled for spring 2008.

The Nickelodeon-themed park is a part of a re-branding of the
Mall’s seven-acre amusement park, and construction will begin after the
architectural plans are complete. While the majority of the creative elements
are in development, including the official name of the new park, the park’s
first upside down roller coaster, based on the animated Nick series, Avatar:
The Last Airbender, will be one of the
first rides to be introduced in the park with construction expected to begin
this year.

In addition to new rides, the newly revamped park will
include attractions, retail, games and entertainment, and food service
establishments, as well as costumed characters and live interactive
entertainment from top Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. shows such as SpongeBob
SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Avatar: The Last Airbender,
Danny Phantom, Jimmy
Neutron: Boy Genius and The
Backyardigans, among others. In line with
its four-year-old health and wellness initiative for kids and families, Let's
Just Play, the network will introduce healthy dining options throughout the
parks' eateries.

In addition to the new theme park, Nickelodeon will also
establish a store in the Mall of America occupying a more than 4,000 square
foot space, which will offer consumers items such as branded T-shirts,
souvenirs, novelties and more.

During the transitional period and the construction, the
amusement park, current attractions and rides will remain open.

"Both Nickelodeon and Mall of America have tremendous
family and kid appeal,” said Howard Smith, the SVP of Nickelodeon
Recreation. “This is
the perfect marriage of two entertainment entities: Nickelodeon, the number-one
brand for kids, and Mall of America, the top shopping and entertainment
destination in the country. We're absolutely thrilled to expand our brand with
our first stand alone Nickelodeon theme park and our largest retail presence in
such a wonderful destination."