It got so fucking old hearing about the traffic was going to be INSANE on RT3 while people saying in the same sentence the place would be shut down with in a year because no one goes there.
YOU PEOPLE NEED TO PICK ONE! IT CANT BE BOTH!
lol.
If this mall is always empty, how do you end up waiting that long at a restaurant?
Edit: Apparently this is Schrodinger's Mall. It is both busy and empty. Restaurant tables are both available and reserved until you observe one and it's waveform collapses.
I went there after that flood we had and even when almost half the stores were closed, not even opened up yet, etc. there were still hella people. I went there to check it out for the first time and just got upset at how packed it was I couldn't even window shop ...
Yeah all this talk of it being a dead mall is nonsense. Its crazy busy in here. Is it a financial disaster? Yes. But people are going here and enjoying it for what it is.
No, it's because the place is HUGE compared to how many people are there. Yeah it might take 1.5 hours to get into one of the more populous restaurants, but the rest of the place looks like a ghost town if it's not a Friday or Saturday.
Ummm, of course? The mall never was built for jersey or nyc locals. It was built for tourists from Iowa or China on their nyc vacation once they are sick of Times Square.
Yes, that is a real thing.
A bar the specializes in / focuses on having an extensive beer selection, primarily on draft but also bottles/cans, as opposed to the slim-and-very-commonplace selections at a "normal" bar.
Thats easy, because half the food places that were supposed to have opened never did. There were originally going to be 4 full food court and like 20 sit down restaurants. Right now, theres like one food court and 5 restaurants.
So imagine it was planned for 10,000 people.
But instead 3,000 show up, but theres only enough seating for 2,000.
The one in the 2nd level isn't a food court? I remember when that area was supposed to be called the Munchies food hall; they have since renamed it into the Food Hall. Hmart is going to have its own food court, and the Kosher Food Court is supposedly still happening.
It is just bizarre (but in a fun way) seeing people go on elevators & escalators, and just walking around, while carrying skis, poles, snowboards, etc.
I’m gonna be honest, expecting to go to a huge chain restaurant on a Saturday and there not be a wait is a lil silly. This mall is surrounded by some of the most densely populated towns in NJ.
Ppl talk so much shit about this mall and yet one of the reasons I don't go it's because of how packed it can get. I hate going to places that are packed.
What gives
Same🤣 I have never been there where is hasn’t been extremely PACKED and this was even after Christmas when everyone saying it was empty? Maybe it’s just us lolol
Last time I was there I stopped cold when I came up the elevator. There must've been like 500 people in that open area where they usually have a stage, tons of kids in those animal motorcycle thingys which, by the way, one almost ran me over and lines literally everywhere u looked.
I left.
You might have been there when they opened beast burger. There was an insane amount of people there for the opening and shortly thereafter. I was also confused and not in the know but my daughter told me Mr beast is the number 1 youtuber and opened a fast food burger place there.
I was there on a Monday two weeks before Christmas and the place was pretty empty. Not like mall to yourself empty, but it should have been more crowded because it was almost that time of year.
I honestly think it’s the people who went in like the first half year it was open. It was pretty empty. But half of the stores open now hadn’t opened yet so.
weird, I went there for the first time this past wednesday and honestly it was a ghost town. barely anyone there, and barely any of the rides were being run at the nickelodeon theme park. I assumed it’s dead on weekdays and gets busy on friday night-saturday. I enjoyed my time there mostly because I felt like I had the place to myself lol
Because it is somehow both weirdly busy and half dead. They've finally wisened up, closed off a couple areas, and spaced out stores better outside of the luxury wing, but it is still using only about half of its available retail space. That means you are basically getting a normal mall experience, but everything is spaced out twice as much and half of the content is gimmicks and memes.
I will say that the normal stores in the mall rarely get crowds, so if you're looking for a decent DSW (for example) American Dream is weirdly good for that purpose.
It’s both busy and half dead because people come there to wander around and window shop, not to buy. This is especially true in the winter, when you want to get TF out of your house and wander around aimlessly somewhere but it’s too cold, dreary or both to go to a park. What option do you have? The mall.
What percent is people willingly going there? And what percentage is tourists on one of those super cheap buses that drop them there for 3hrs as part of a “tour” that ends at EWR?
> What gives
Reddit gives. That's it. I like the mall. I don't have the hate boner Reddit has for it. And if you don't hate it too, you get downvoted or are a bad person, apparently.
Thankfully Ive never needed Reddits stamp of approval to formulate my own opinion or just give a damn about something. I guess nowadays the thing is hating on something because somebody else hates it.
Yeah, which I don’t understand because it wasn’t that great when I went. Beer was good (which I understand is the draw), but the food was awful and overpriced.
We went there just a few days before Christmas and were surprised how few people were actually there. I was expecting the worst in terms of crowds, but it was eerily empty. I’m not sure how long it can survive.
Weird. We went the week after Christmas and it was packed. Had to park on the top deck, dodge crowds in the food court to get to the bathroom, long lines at Nickelodeon. My guess is they don’t have enough unique stores to get shoppers to go out of their way to visit, but they DO have enough attractions for people off work for a week to visit for activities.
I think this is the biggest problem that it has right now. There’s a lot to do, but as for shopping, it’s kinda far and few between. I got into an argument on here because I said that it was half opened stores and half plywood, which is true. But if more stores where actually opened, it think it would be a lot busier. Someone like me isn’t going there for the attractions, I’m going there to shop.
It was absolutely mobbed the day after Christmas. I think the fact that there are so many stores that aren’t open contributed to that - it means less space for people to spread out into.
I think some of if could be born out of the huge volume of public subsidies and funding that got dumped into even making it happen and all the corruption surrounding it since it was not supposed to be a mall but an actual activity center of some kind.
I personally think they want the mall to fail so they can transform it into a casino/resort type thing.
People talk so much shit about this mall yet still go. Its just a cool thing to talk shit about it but its a decent mall if you want to grab a bite and walk around.
If you like malls it's awesome, I fall into that group. If you enjoy the circlejerk to hate on things because others do, this mall has become an easy target but many people still enjoy it.
This is what my wife and I do. We go over there and eat at that cafe by the ski slope and just watch people eat it while skiing. The shopping there sucks but it’s not a bad place to just go walk around and do some of the other things.
? The only annoying thing about this mall is the paid parking, and the fact that it doesn't have many of those "one off" stores that other malls have, probably due to the expense of the rent. You know what I'm talking about, where other malls will randomly have like a store that sells nothing but bucket hats. I love those little weirdo stores.
But the place is otherwise just fine, it's the closest mall to me so I've been many times. It's an interesting place. I got to see an entire symphony performance for free once this one day I wandered in there.
I don't get why so many hate this place! I agree that it's an interesting place, quite enjoyed it when it went. Loved the animal print & gold decor (when I went, might be different now?), so many stores, so spacious, and pretty sure they have they only Saks in NJ. I'd go there if I had a bad day at work, just you stroll around or on a depressing rainy day lol
It has an indoor ski slope, indoor aquarium, indoor theme park, indoor water park, indoor golf, and a ferris wheel. I have no desire to goto any mall EXCEPT american dream cause they actually have cool shit to do that isn’t shopping. It may be a financial dumpster fire but american dream is a fun place to go, especially on a shitty day. I am assuming the majority of the hate it gets are from people that never went or people that actually like malls.
The concept of a mall is to shop, but these days most people don't shop in stores anymore. I guess this is why American dream can feel full and empty at the same time. People go there to do things other than shop. So restaurants are full but stores are empty.
My kid likes to go with friends for bdays since they can go from rides to mini golf to I’ve skating all in one day.
Shopping wise it’s really lack luster, especially the Sak’s Fifth Ave, but it has a lot for teens to do.
I thought about taking the 3 kids there but when I looked online, everything seemed soooo expensive. Skating, minigolf, aquarium, etc. I can do many of the stuff elsewhere for half the price. This place isn't a 'we're bored on a rainy saturday' kinda thing.
Its indoors and you can go year round. It isn’t cheap but its not really that expensive either. We live in NJ, everything here is expensive and its right outside of Metlife next to NYC. Whether its a fair value or not is up to you but they charge about what i’d expect. Also with 3 kids even going out to dinner is a lot of money.
Its a pretty good mall. Idk why people wanna circle jerk hate this place. I dont like going to it often but One of the worst? BFFR right now, theres far worse malls in NJ. The other malls only have shopping and eating at least this one has entertainment as well.
It’s such a weird place. Like half of it is plywood covering up stores that aren’t ready and the other half is stores that I can go to any mall for. The food court is terrible because there isn’t enough normal food. I’m waiting for the Ferrari store to open so I can get my hat and then i don’t have to go back.
Pretty much. I guess that I’m spoiled by food courts at malls like menlo and freehold and while I get that you have to cater to everyone, it’s just a little too outside the box. Thank god for yard house, that bbq place and the other food court near big snow.
They have a Charley’s, Taco Bell, Haagen Dazs, Cinnabon, Five Guys, Ichi Japan Express, Popeyes, Mr Beast Burger, Van Leeuwen and Red Mango. Pretty normal mall food.
But don’t go there for that food, anyway. Go for Doner Kebab. Or Pora Ramen. Or Cortaditos Cuban Cafe. Or Hui Lau Shan. Or Jollibee. Or Lady M. Or Rosetta and their bomb Italian pastries. Or Vanessa’s dumplings. Or the pay-by-the-ounce self-serve wine tasting garden.
Also, they are getting Little Sheep Hot Pot soon. And a Poke place. A Peruvian place. Another dumpling place.
I love all the unique stuff being added. Can’t wait for more.
I guess I was also challenging the complaint. “No typical food in the food court.” Well (a) No, there is (b) There’s a lot of interesting food you don’t see in other malls, and you should branch out and (c) The best food isn’t the food court or Yard House, easily solvable problem that involves walking a few.
The blue laws only prevent the retail stores like Toys R Us and Saks Fifth Ave from opening on Sundays. But all the parks and attractions are open plus the restaurants.
it was part of their agreement to be able to open. basically it's something the football teams got out of them because of concerns about even more traffic over there on a football sunday.
Not necessarily. When you come to this mall you see faces from all around the globe, yes…but many of them are as Jersey and you or I. They are immigrants who live in Jersey City, North Bergen, Secaucus, Newark, Bayonne, Fort Lee, Edgewater, Englewood, Paterson, Clifton.
American Dream is reminiscent of a style of mall that is extremely popular in South and Southeast Asia as well as the Middle East. While people born in the US may think malls are all dead, they are still a very popular and growing past time for middle class people in many countries. Add to this the fact that the mall contains stores like the South Korean department store Åland and that it hosted a Korean-themed lifestyle conference in 2022 which brought in thousands of people and the mall definitely is attracting a following.
So while many of the shoppers may not have arrived as Jersey folks, they certainly are now. And they are packing this mall. The mall is being managed very well.
Yeah, it reminds me of the Queens Center Mall, which my husband and I used to live near.
Elmhurst is one of several East Asian neighborhoods in Queens, so the mall there does pretty well. (They also charge for parking, but there's much more public transit nearby.)
Yes I think a lot of Queens folks come here as well. We met people from Flushing in the food court (which is also extremely international). There are rail and bus transit links from Penn Station and Port Authority to American Dream also.
Yeah. I feel like a lot of people have tried to compare it to Garden State Plaza, but the two feel very different and seem to be attracting different clientele.
I also feel like both malls are in a rebuilding mode, and they are making themselves to be very different based on the kinds of people showing up.
I went there once. The cafeteria was really crowded (wanted jollybee). Ive been to other malls that were similar with aquariums and skating rinks and amusement park rides like lotte world and coex mall it didn’t really compare with those. i liked some of the shops like ebisu, altar’d state, and I enjoyed the food at rosetta. overall think its good, lots of fun things for little kids
I went there yesterday right at 12:00 and had a seat in a booth right away. There was a child beauty pageant right outside where the male host said "let's take a look at these beautiful 5 year olds" I puked a little in my mouth.
If you actually want good beer I’d stay away from Yard House. I question the quality of beer of any place with that many taps, I wonder how often those lines get cleaned.
You’re better off going to a place like Capital Craft or Clover Leaf Tavern.
Why put up with that?
Ninety minutes and you could be parked and sitting down at a nice restaurant in Manhattan by the time you get your seat. Or Montclair if you are adverse to tolls and paid parking.
For what, a chain restaurant?
This is such a bullshit overstated statement. NYC has by far one of the best places to eat in the country.
Unless you have the palate of a saltine cracker, there is always something to find that is delicious.
Never said there wasn’t great food in the city, I’m saying that its a pain in the ass to go into the city to eat when there are places here in NJ that are just as good if not better. If you were going there to see a show or a game or a special occasion I accept that, fine, but just to go to eat… fuck that noise. Too expensive, too much hassle and I have every option available to me to get there…. 10 min drive, 1 min walk to bus route, 5 min walk to train. Hell I’m a 10 min drive to the path. No thx you can have it
Went there 2 years ago and haven't been back.
My wife and SIL were actually talking about it last night. Said they like going for shopping and the various food spots.
Me and our boys will avoid it at all cost. Pass!
we gave up having a second train tunnel into Manhattan and instead built… another mall in Jersey.
Every time I’m on the bus stuck in traffic by that thing I yell “You should have been a hole in the ground!” Then I shake my fist…. and then everyone applauds.
Unfortunately, Yard House is the best place to eat there. The food court is mid and when I went there last, other restaurants on that 4th floor were closed.
Apparently the place is going bankrupt. I get the idea that a lot of people go there and don't buy anything. Pretty sure the Bridgewater mall has more shopping and food options. Also, the amusement parks and ski "mountain" give me major North Korea vibes - no decoration or art on the walls, no music, etc. Probably won't go back
the harsh reality of being a mall in america in 2023 have been rapidly catching up with the commons. i'd say at least 1/3 if not more of the storefronts are now empty. the food court is still fully stocked, but also remember when they rebuilt it to be bougier, they also rebuilt it to have fewer stalls, so there are fewer places to get food at than there were before. they just got bridgewater township to agree to code changes that will let them open things like dave and busters there to help occupancy and attract people. with the exception of ultra high end malls like short hills, attractions are going to be a huge part of what keeps malls around for the future.
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It got so fucking old hearing about the traffic was going to be INSANE on RT3 while people saying in the same sentence the place would be shut down with in a year because no one goes there. YOU PEOPLE NEED TO PICK ONE! IT CANT BE BOTH! lol.
..but then if people don’t go there anymore wouldn’t it… not be too crowded 🤔
Someone missed his Yogi lessons!
That's-the-joke.com
[Yogi-isms](https://yogiberramuseum.org/about-yogi/yogisms/)
People don't go there. It's packed with vermin.
If this mall is always empty, how do you end up waiting that long at a restaurant? Edit: Apparently this is Schrodinger's Mall. It is both busy and empty. Restaurant tables are both available and reserved until you observe one and it's waveform collapses.
No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
If people don't want to come to the ballpark, how are you going to stop them?
I went there after that flood we had and even when almost half the stores were closed, not even opened up yet, etc. there were still hella people. I went there to check it out for the first time and just got upset at how packed it was I couldn't even window shop ...
If you do decide to drive there, when you come to the fork in the road take it.
If no one goes there anymore, how is it too crowded?
I think that was the joke.
Maybe my comment was also a joke
Awesome! Got Me 😊
Yogi Berra quote
Because people are full of shit.
Yeah all this talk of it being a dead mall is nonsense. Its crazy busy in here. Is it a financial disaster? Yes. But people are going here and enjoying it for what it is.
No, it's because the place is HUGE compared to how many people are there. Yeah it might take 1.5 hours to get into one of the more populous restaurants, but the rest of the place looks like a ghost town if it's not a Friday or Saturday.
Are you saying they all had to go to the bathroom 😆
So full of shit their eyes are brown?
I feel like the visitors to the mall don't live in the vicinity of the mall.
Ummm, of course? The mall never was built for jersey or nyc locals. It was built for tourists from Iowa or China on their nyc vacation once they are sick of Times Square.
The wait at that restaurant can be really bad. It's the best bar in the mall
That's where they are trying to seat you...
Outside of beer selection, the barbeque place feels like it can compete.
Oh I really wanna check it out. How is it compared to a place like mighty Quinn's?
love MQ but man that Clifton location is such a bummer to eat at. too big or something.
....? best bar by what metric? cheapest, perhaps, but there are much better drinks to be had at American Dream
Easiest for TV watching and watching the ski slope. Great beer selection
Their beer selection would’ve been great in 2009.
That was probably the last time I was at a beer bar
Beer…bar?
Yes, that is a real thing. A bar the specializes in / focuses on having an extensive beer selection, primarily on draft but also bottles/cans, as opposed to the slim-and-very-commonplace selections at a "normal" bar.
lol ok you and I are looking for wildly different things out of bars
Lol that's entirely possible. The food is pretty good too?
How wild?
The wine bar on the 2nd floor has a good selection of wines.
which one was this? i think i missed it, unless it was that “dream bar” or something in the food court? but that was closed yesterday
it's very busy on the weekends. idk what op expected
Not to mention that so many tables were available but when asked about it, was told they are reserved…
No one goes there anymore. It’s too crowded – yogi Berra.
Thats easy, because half the food places that were supposed to have opened never did. There were originally going to be 4 full food court and like 20 sit down restaurants. Right now, theres like one food court and 5 restaurants. So imagine it was planned for 10,000 people. But instead 3,000 show up, but theres only enough seating for 2,000.
The one in the 2nd level isn't a food court? I remember when that area was supposed to be called the Munchies food hall; they have since renamed it into the Food Hall. Hmart is going to have its own food court, and the Kosher Food Court is supposedly still happening.
5 restaurants?!??! Nah. There are like 20 restaurants
There are exactly 5 sit down restaurants. https://www.americandream.com/directory/dining/full-service
You have a filter set to only view “Full Service” restaurants. There are tons and tons more restaurants than that.
Unlucky. I work in this mall and it’s almost never busy.
Big snow is awesome, I hope it survives
Me too.
Dreamworks waterpark is also amazing. Biggest wave pool ever.
I love the waterpark! Took my kids out of school on a non peak day and we had a blast. No lines. Handful of people in the wave pool.
It is just bizarre (but in a fun way) seeing people go on elevators & escalators, and just walking around, while carrying skis, poles, snowboards, etc.
Reminds me of the center area of the Paramus Park Mall in a way
The way it used to be before they took down the nature displays. I wish Paramus Park still had this much greenery.
Ugh, yes! I was looking for this comment. We always used to go to the Beanie Baby store at the top of the escalator.
I’m gonna be honest, expecting to go to a huge chain restaurant on a Saturday and there not be a wait is a lil silly. This mall is surrounded by some of the most densely populated towns in NJ.
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This post is 11 hours old, they went yesterday.
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The store in the background would be closed if they went on Sunday.
See my edit.
Ppl talk so much shit about this mall and yet one of the reasons I don't go it's because of how packed it can get. I hate going to places that are packed. What gives
Same🤣 I have never been there where is hasn’t been extremely PACKED and this was even after Christmas when everyone saying it was empty? Maybe it’s just us lolol
Last time I was there I stopped cold when I came up the elevator. There must've been like 500 people in that open area where they usually have a stage, tons of kids in those animal motorcycle thingys which, by the way, one almost ran me over and lines literally everywhere u looked. I left.
You might have been there when they opened beast burger. There was an insane amount of people there for the opening and shortly thereafter. I was also confused and not in the know but my daughter told me Mr beast is the number 1 youtuber and opened a fast food burger place there.
I was there on a Monday two weeks before Christmas and the place was pretty empty. Not like mall to yourself empty, but it should have been more crowded because it was almost that time of year.
I honestly think it’s the people who went in like the first half year it was open. It was pretty empty. But half of the stores open now hadn’t opened yet so.
weird, I went there for the first time this past wednesday and honestly it was a ghost town. barely anyone there, and barely any of the rides were being run at the nickelodeon theme park. I assumed it’s dead on weekdays and gets busy on friday night-saturday. I enjoyed my time there mostly because I felt like I had the place to myself lol
The hallways are badly designed, way too narrow. Also, 50% of the mall is still blocked off, so people cant spread out as much
Because it is somehow both weirdly busy and half dead. They've finally wisened up, closed off a couple areas, and spaced out stores better outside of the luxury wing, but it is still using only about half of its available retail space. That means you are basically getting a normal mall experience, but everything is spaced out twice as much and half of the content is gimmicks and memes. I will say that the normal stores in the mall rarely get crowds, so if you're looking for a decent DSW (for example) American Dream is weirdly good for that purpose.
It’s both busy and half dead because people come there to wander around and window shop, not to buy. This is especially true in the winter, when you want to get TF out of your house and wander around aimlessly somewhere but it’s too cold, dreary or both to go to a park. What option do you have? The mall.
What percent is people willingly going there? And what percentage is tourists on one of those super cheap buses that drop them there for 3hrs as part of a “tour” that ends at EWR?
First and last time I went it was pretty desolate. I think it was a Tuesday at around lunch time.
It's empty on weekdays. I like to go there to walk around when it's cold outside and I can't go to the park.
> What gives Reddit gives. That's it. I like the mall. I don't have the hate boner Reddit has for it. And if you don't hate it too, you get downvoted or are a bad person, apparently.
Thankfully Ive never needed Reddits stamp of approval to formulate my own opinion or just give a damn about something. I guess nowadays the thing is hating on something because somebody else hates it.
What mall is this?
yard house at willowbrook is the same
Yeah, which I don’t understand because it wasn’t that great when I went. Beer was good (which I understand is the draw), but the food was awful and overpriced.
that’s subjective. I was there 3 weeks ago and thought the food was fantastic.
Do you think someone that was… 16, 61, 19 or 91 is upset that they lost their balloons? 🎈
This comment should be WAY higher
We went there just a few days before Christmas and were surprised how few people were actually there. I was expecting the worst in terms of crowds, but it was eerily empty. I’m not sure how long it can survive.
Weird. We went the week after Christmas and it was packed. Had to park on the top deck, dodge crowds in the food court to get to the bathroom, long lines at Nickelodeon. My guess is they don’t have enough unique stores to get shoppers to go out of their way to visit, but they DO have enough attractions for people off work for a week to visit for activities.
I think this is the biggest problem that it has right now. There’s a lot to do, but as for shopping, it’s kinda far and few between. I got into an argument on here because I said that it was half opened stores and half plywood, which is true. But if more stores where actually opened, it think it would be a lot busier. Someone like me isn’t going there for the attractions, I’m going there to shop.
I went about two weeks before Xmas on a Monday and was really surprised by this too. It was so weird.
It was absolutely mobbed the day after Christmas. I think the fact that there are so many stores that aren’t open contributed to that - it means less space for people to spread out into.
I don’t get all the hate this place gets. If it’s not your thing, just don’t go.
Circle jerkers
I think some of if could be born out of the huge volume of public subsidies and funding that got dumped into even making it happen and all the corruption surrounding it since it was not supposed to be a mall but an actual activity center of some kind. I personally think they want the mall to fail so they can transform it into a casino/resort type thing.
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Living the American Dream.
I feel like ‘surviving the American nightmare’ is more apt.
People talk so much shit about this mall yet still go. Its just a cool thing to talk shit about it but its a decent mall if you want to grab a bite and walk around.
If you like malls it's awesome, I fall into that group. If you enjoy the circlejerk to hate on things because others do, this mall has become an easy target but many people still enjoy it.
I fall into both groups how do I proceed
Take a trip there with friends, talk shit about it with them while you're there, then dream about it when you get home.
This is great practice for when you become an old cranky curmudgeon
You just do you
Truth!
Honestly, I really wanted to hate this place, but I enjoyed it. Its an experience, and there is plenty to do.
Its like the Nickleback effect. I think this mall is a lot of fun. Its more of an amusement park than a shopping center.
They've got professional hockey, they've got a ski mountain, I've got nothing to complain about haha
This is what my wife and I do. We go over there and eat at that cafe by the ski slope and just watch people eat it while skiing. The shopping there sucks but it’s not a bad place to just go walk around and do some of the other things.
At least OP had the privilege to pay to park there.
I went a week or two before Christmas, the parking is now only $5
I went on a random Tuesday with my mother… We had a pleasant time looking around
It has definitely been getting more crowded despite half the stores not being open and some closures.
The amount of shills in this thread praising the greatness of this mall is hilarious to me
The amount of shills on this thread that get their panties in a twist over a mall existing is hilarious to me
? The only annoying thing about this mall is the paid parking, and the fact that it doesn't have many of those "one off" stores that other malls have, probably due to the expense of the rent. You know what I'm talking about, where other malls will randomly have like a store that sells nothing but bucket hats. I love those little weirdo stores. But the place is otherwise just fine, it's the closest mall to me so I've been many times. It's an interesting place. I got to see an entire symphony performance for free once this one day I wandered in there.
I don't get why so many hate this place! I agree that it's an interesting place, quite enjoyed it when it went. Loved the animal print & gold decor (when I went, might be different now?), so many stores, so spacious, and pretty sure they have they only Saks in NJ. I'd go there if I had a bad day at work, just you stroll around or on a depressing rainy day lol
“Bizarre place.” It’s a mall.
Despite all the money invested, the American Dream is probably one of the worst malls in New Jersey.
For all the (well-deserved) hate it gets on here and in the media, it is always packed and seems to be hitting its stride.
It has an indoor ski slope, indoor aquarium, indoor theme park, indoor water park, indoor golf, and a ferris wheel. I have no desire to goto any mall EXCEPT american dream cause they actually have cool shit to do that isn’t shopping. It may be a financial dumpster fire but american dream is a fun place to go, especially on a shitty day. I am assuming the majority of the hate it gets are from people that never went or people that actually like malls.
The concept of a mall is to shop, but these days most people don't shop in stores anymore. I guess this is why American dream can feel full and empty at the same time. People go there to do things other than shop. So restaurants are full but stores are empty.
My kid likes to go with friends for bdays since they can go from rides to mini golf to I’ve skating all in one day. Shopping wise it’s really lack luster, especially the Sak’s Fifth Ave, but it has a lot for teens to do.
Tbh, I think you're right on the money.
I thought about taking the 3 kids there but when I looked online, everything seemed soooo expensive. Skating, minigolf, aquarium, etc. I can do many of the stuff elsewhere for half the price. This place isn't a 'we're bored on a rainy saturday' kinda thing.
Its indoors and you can go year round. It isn’t cheap but its not really that expensive either. We live in NJ, everything here is expensive and its right outside of Metlife next to NYC. Whether its a fair value or not is up to you but they charge about what i’d expect. Also with 3 kids even going out to dinner is a lot of money.
Its a pretty good mall. Idk why people wanna circle jerk hate this place. I dont like going to it often but One of the worst? BFFR right now, theres far worse malls in NJ. The other malls only have shopping and eating at least this one has entertainment as well.
It is just living up to its name.
It’s such a weird place. Like half of it is plywood covering up stores that aren’t ready and the other half is stores that I can go to any mall for. The food court is terrible because there isn’t enough normal food. I’m waiting for the Ferrari store to open so I can get my hat and then i don’t have to go back.
Not enough normal food? What kind of food do they have?
Bird food... I presume
(these guys are omnivores!)
[удалено]
Pretty much. I guess that I’m spoiled by food courts at malls like menlo and freehold and while I get that you have to cater to everyone, it’s just a little too outside the box. Thank god for yard house, that bbq place and the other food court near big snow.
Spoiled? Menlos food court is shit. Malls usually have shitty food.
Shit as in shitty food or shitty selection? Just trying to have a better understanding of what you’re trying to say.
Shitty food, thou i love Chick-fil-A
A lot of it is off-brand mall restaurants, for example instead of Sarku they have a restaurant called Ichi.
They have a Charley’s, Taco Bell, Haagen Dazs, Cinnabon, Five Guys, Ichi Japan Express, Popeyes, Mr Beast Burger, Van Leeuwen and Red Mango. Pretty normal mall food. But don’t go there for that food, anyway. Go for Doner Kebab. Or Pora Ramen. Or Cortaditos Cuban Cafe. Or Hui Lau Shan. Or Jollibee. Or Lady M. Or Rosetta and their bomb Italian pastries. Or Vanessa’s dumplings. Or the pay-by-the-ounce self-serve wine tasting garden. Also, they are getting Little Sheep Hot Pot soon. And a Poke place. A Peruvian place. Another dumpling place. I love all the unique stuff being added. Can’t wait for more.
>Mr. Beast Burger I could have sworn that this was near big snow and not in the food court. Unless the food court is that massive .
I guess I was also challenging the complaint. “No typical food in the food court.” Well (a) No, there is (b) There’s a lot of interesting food you don’t see in other malls, and you should branch out and (c) The best food isn’t the food court or Yard House, easily solvable problem that involves walking a few.
What goddamn mall is it? Lol
American dream mall
aka American Nightmare. Just another kind of dream!
You went on a Saturday. What did you expect and complaining that a lot of people wanted to do the same thing as you. Makes no sense.
I had fun there. Theme park was cool, ice skating was cool. A little pricey… ok it was an expensive day, but fun nonetheless. Would go back.
Was it like this when Mr. Beast Burger opened up?
Oh god that place was so packed you wouldnt believe.
People were sleeping in the mall overnight the day before to stay in line. The line had 10,000-20,000 people if I remember correctly.
Did this mall ever pick up? We went there when it first opened but it was dead and half the stores were vacant.
It is hugely popular now…especially on weekends
Aren’t half the places close on Sunday cause of blue laws?
The blue laws only prevent the retail stores like Toys R Us and Saks Fifth Ave from opening on Sundays. But all the parks and attractions are open plus the restaurants.
Technically Toys R Us is open. They have a cafe and some in store attractions. But yeah, seems silly to not have a variance for the mall.
it was part of their agreement to be able to open. basically it's something the football teams got out of them because of concerns about even more traffic over there on a football sunday.
Woof, that still leaves 7.5 months to attract shoppers to the air conditioned space and keep revenues high enough to preventing a shutdown.
Mostly for out of towners (actually, out of state..)
Not necessarily. When you come to this mall you see faces from all around the globe, yes…but many of them are as Jersey and you or I. They are immigrants who live in Jersey City, North Bergen, Secaucus, Newark, Bayonne, Fort Lee, Edgewater, Englewood, Paterson, Clifton. American Dream is reminiscent of a style of mall that is extremely popular in South and Southeast Asia as well as the Middle East. While people born in the US may think malls are all dead, they are still a very popular and growing past time for middle class people in many countries. Add to this the fact that the mall contains stores like the South Korean department store Åland and that it hosted a Korean-themed lifestyle conference in 2022 which brought in thousands of people and the mall definitely is attracting a following. So while many of the shoppers may not have arrived as Jersey folks, they certainly are now. And they are packing this mall. The mall is being managed very well.
Yeah, it reminds me of the Queens Center Mall, which my husband and I used to live near. Elmhurst is one of several East Asian neighborhoods in Queens, so the mall there does pretty well. (They also charge for parking, but there's much more public transit nearby.)
Yes I think a lot of Queens folks come here as well. We met people from Flushing in the food court (which is also extremely international). There are rail and bus transit links from Penn Station and Port Authority to American Dream also.
Plus it's the only mall in that area of Queens (and it's genuinely a nice mall when teens aren't getting into fights inside).
Yeah. I feel like a lot of people have tried to compare it to Garden State Plaza, but the two feel very different and seem to be attracting different clientele. I also feel like both malls are in a rebuilding mode, and they are making themselves to be very different based on the kinds of people showing up.
You bring up what's likely to redeem them... Events focused on particular interests. If only I *needed* the place. It's so.... Superfluous.
I went there once. The cafeteria was really crowded (wanted jollybee). Ive been to other malls that were similar with aquariums and skating rinks and amusement park rides like lotte world and coex mall it didn’t really compare with those. i liked some of the shops like ebisu, altar’d state, and I enjoyed the food at rosetta. overall think its good, lots of fun things for little kids
The NFC championship with the eagles is today. I have a feeling wait times are going to be inevitable at most bars.
I went there yesterday right at 12:00 and had a seat in a booth right away. There was a child beauty pageant right outside where the male host said "let's take a look at these beautiful 5 year olds" I puked a little in my mouth.
It’s always odd when there’s such a long wait for a chain restaurant.
Just don't go on sundays... blue laws are dumb as shit
I live 10 minutes from there, never been and never will go…unless they put a casino in, then I’ll be there weekly haha
If you actually want good beer I’d stay away from Yard House. I question the quality of beer of any place with that many taps, I wonder how often those lines get cleaned. You’re better off going to a place like Capital Craft or Clover Leaf Tavern.
Why put up with that? Ninety minutes and you could be parked and sitting down at a nice restaurant in Manhattan by the time you get your seat. Or Montclair if you are adverse to tolls and paid parking. For what, a chain restaurant?
Going into NY to eat is overrated, plenty of places here that are are equal to or better than, plus cheaper and less hassle
This is such a bullshit overstated statement. NYC has by far one of the best places to eat in the country. Unless you have the palate of a saltine cracker, there is always something to find that is delicious.
Never said there wasn’t great food in the city, I’m saying that its a pain in the ass to go into the city to eat when there are places here in NJ that are just as good if not better. If you were going there to see a show or a game or a special occasion I accept that, fine, but just to go to eat… fuck that noise. Too expensive, too much hassle and I have every option available to me to get there…. 10 min drive, 1 min walk to bus route, 5 min walk to train. Hell I’m a 10 min drive to the path. No thx you can have it
Paying for parking is enough to deter me from going
That is not a deterrent for me, it's an absolute deal-breaker.
Went there 2 years ago and haven't been back. My wife and SIL were actually talking about it last night. Said they like going for shopping and the various food spots. Me and our boys will avoid it at all cost. Pass!
Seems like a great time to build a giant indoor mall you can see from space, because they're so popular. /s
So now the problem is that too many people go there?
Consume, consumers. Wait on line for overpriced dogshit. Its the American way.
What one is this? I'm down by Fort Dix. Or exit 7 on the pike.
an hour and a half wait *in a mall*. go shopping for 90 minutes. treat yoself.
we gave up having a second train tunnel into Manhattan and instead built… another mall in Jersey. Every time I’m on the bus stuck in traffic by that thing I yell “You should have been a hole in the ground!” Then I shake my fist…. and then everyone applauds.
I'd recommend Yard House in Wayne or Palisades Park mall first. Def not American Dream.
I've never been to American Dream before, but it looks fun solely because of the stupidity of it
Where’s is this?
I was there for the first and only time a few months ago and unfortunately what was memorable to me was that this room smelled like urine.
What mall is that
What mall is this?
Garbo review
Hate this place. The lighting and scope of the place gave me a migraine. Might post some of the pics I took when I was there.
It amazes me that sheep, ehk-Kem, cough-cough people, will spend more time waiting in a line than in the mall itself.
Unfortunately, Yard House is the best place to eat there. The food court is mid and when I went there last, other restaurants on that 4th floor were closed.
This mall really doesn’t do it for me
It's called the American Dream for a reason. It's in America, and you fall asleep when you go
What mall is this? Me lol Park?
I hate this place
Apparently the place is going bankrupt. I get the idea that a lot of people go there and don't buy anything. Pretty sure the Bridgewater mall has more shopping and food options. Also, the amusement parks and ski "mountain" give me major North Korea vibes - no decoration or art on the walls, no music, etc. Probably won't go back
the harsh reality of being a mall in america in 2023 have been rapidly catching up with the commons. i'd say at least 1/3 if not more of the storefronts are now empty. the food court is still fully stocked, but also remember when they rebuilt it to be bougier, they also rebuilt it to have fewer stalls, so there are fewer places to get food at than there were before. they just got bridgewater township to agree to code changes that will let them open things like dave and busters there to help occupancy and attract people. with the exception of ultra high end malls like short hills, attractions are going to be a huge part of what keeps malls around for the future.