There’s a long history that goes back decades revolving around the location of the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey. When I heard it was finally going to become a reality back in 2019, like actually open, I was non committal on having an opinion. It took some time, but I finally made it to the mall and subsequent visits brought me to some of the mall’s cornerstone entertainment options. I had the chance to visit the DreamWorks indoor water park, and it was far better than I imagined it would have been – it was great.
The American Dream mall
The American Dream mall at the Meadowlands in the Land of 1000 Diners has 3 million square feet of retail space. That’s three Dr. Evil’s pinkies to the corner of the mouth’s worth of square feet! American Dream officially opened on October 25, 2019. As of publication, according to the mall directory, there are 140 stores, 82 food and beverage options, and 27 “entertainment” options. Of those entertainment options, the DreamWorks water park is one of them.
The DreamWorks indoor water park
According to an early 2024 report, the DreamWorks indoor waterpark is the largest in the United States, clocking in at 8.5 acres in size. The park boasts to have the biggest indoor wave pool, 15 water slides, and a pile of other attractions and amenities. The place is big and it’s impressive. Everything is themed around DreamWorks intellectual properties, so get ready for some Shrek and the rest of the gang.
My trip to the water park
When Santa Claus came to town, he brought with him some tickets to the DreamWorks indoor water park and tickets to the Nickelodeon Universe theme park. It was a great plan that involved my two roommates, the older female one, and the younger one, as well as one of my roommate’s family members. Not wanting our tickets to get much patina on them, we headed to the East Rutherford location early on December 26th.
Truth be told, the fairer of my roommates and her sister snagged our tickets during a big Black Friday sale. Normally tickets start at $69.00 per person on non-peak days and $79.00 on peak. We were able to get our passes for $49.50 each and we used them on a peak day. According to our invoice, it worked out to a 50% savings.
We wanted to be at the park when it opened, to optimize our time there. Naturally, as things may go usually, we fell a little short, and got to the site a little after open. We parked in the “A” parking garage, a location that’s close to the water park.
The three of us were wearing our swimwear under our clothes so that once we got into the water park, all we would have to do would be shed layers and carry on. We over packed for this operation, but it worked out in our favor. Some friends who ended up using the extra towels we brought.
An important note…there is no towel service like there is at locations like the Great Wolf Lodge water park resorts. This is also not a hotel/lodging location/resort, therefore it’s not likely they have a large laundry service – if they have one at all. So remember to bring some towels.
Even though we already had tickets that were purchased online, we still had to check in and get our hands stamped, showing we paid. After getting processed, we were granted access to the doors into the water park.
Entering the water park
Once entering the foyer area, there were a couple of locker rooms to choose from to walk through. To be perfectly honest, some of the signage confused me concerning the locker rooms, but I think that’s because I did not take the time to process what I was reading.
There were “family” locker rooms, which were set up for adults with children, then there were dedicated locker rooms for individual genders. I went through the men’s room, and my wife took our little water park goer through one of the women’s family locker rooms.
The locker rooms had benches to use while getting changed. Naturally, the locker room also had lockers, which could be rented for the day. There were also rows of showers, which we utilized when leaving the park and we’ll talk more about them later.
First impressions
We got past the locker rooms and into the water park proper, it was beyond impressive. The property was huge.
The most obvious and memorable thing though was the cleanliness. Let me be blunt…people from Jersey can be animals, and the staff at the DreamWorks water park stayed on top of trash, debris, and water! Water? Yes water. Workers were constantly policing areas where water was building up and they’d squeegee it into floor drains. Big time kudos! to the staff and management for keeping such a well maintained, clean, and safe property.
Off to the right was a large area that was dedicated to the “Madagascar” IP. It was outfitted with a pile of slides. Straight ahead the vast wave pool dominated the middle of the property. Beyond the wave pool there was a play area themed around “Kung Fu Panda,” and more water slides could be seen further down.
Cabanas and “Skybox Suites”
Throughout the park there were blocs of private cabanas available for rent. There was also a swath of VIP “Skybox Suites.” The Skyboxes are private rooms with glass windows looking into the park for guests to retreat to. Pricing on the cabanas for non-peak time runs from $100.00 for up to five guests and Skyboxes start at $400.00. We visited during peak time and cabanas are priced at $300.00 and Skyboxes start at $700.00. If you have the means for either of these options, they seem great. But for me and my crew? We found a block of non-VIP plastic chairs to stake a claim.
Diving in
We made our way to the seating area that our family members grabbed for us. From there it was on.
The first attraction we hit was the “Far Far a Bay” wave pool. I’ve been to plenty of wave pools. Confession, wave pools are some of my favorite attractions at water parks. The Far Far a Bay wave pool has real waves that actually crest and break. It’s an impressive and huge attraction.
After spending some time at the Far Far Far a Bay, select members of my party decided to hit up some of the water slides. We headed to the back, where some tube rides were. The lines were not too bad for being Boxing Day, but we did not just walk onto attractions.
The water slides in the back
The attractions in the DreamWorks water park were designed by ProSlide Technology Inc. Personally, I ended up going on three of the bigger slides in the back. At the time of this writing, there are 24 attractions in the park, and 15 of them are water slides.
The Swamp n’ Splash was the first slide that we rode and holy cow. The attraction is a quad raft ride designed for four people to get on a big tube, with a minimum of two to ride. I rode with one of my companions and she and I had a blast. I screamed like a child as we whipped through the turbulent tubes and circled through the tornado funnels of this attraction. This was probably the most memorable of the slides I participated in.
Dragon And Donkey’s Flight was one of the slides I also rode. After hitting the Swamp n’ Splash, this was a much more tame attraction. While fun and exhilarating, Dragon And Donkey’s Flight did not completely terrify me. Similar to the Swamp n’ Splash, this attraction is a quad raft as well, and is a bowl design.
Shrek’s Sinkhole Slammer is another slide for the record books. This slide, like the Swamp n’ Splash, is a quad raft system with a tornado funnel. After riding the tamer Dragon And Donkey’s Flight, Shrek’s Sinkhole Slammer got the adrenaline going again.
The water slides in the front
In the front of the park was a jumbled area of a ton more slides. After getting my bodice up to velocities that I don’t think it should be taking without the protection of an enclosed capsule or helmet – I jest – I took a knee. They were fast slides! I skipped out on hitting up the “Madagascar” themed area, or the Trolls Rainbow Racers.
Those other slides included:
- Thrillagascar – FreeFALL slide with SkyBOX
- Jungle Jammer – FreeFALL slide with SkyBOX
- Surfari Slider – SuperLOOP slide with SkyBOX
- Speeding Frenzy – PIPELine
- Lemur Leap – ProBOWL 30
- Tube It! – PIPELine
- Zany Zigzag – Body slide
- Zanier Zigzag – Body slide
- Trolls Rainbow Racers – KrakenRACER
- Penguin Plummet – High-speed body slide
- Majunga Jump – High-speed body slide
- Mad Flush – Body bowl slide
Penguins Frozen Fun Zone
This is a nice area for smaller children 36”-48” in height. The Penguins Frozen Fun Zone is a safe place to allow kids to try out some mild slides away from the hustle and bustle of other areas.
Kung Fu Panda Temple of Awesomeness Play Structure
The Kung Fu Panda Temple of Awesomeness Play Structure is themed around the Kung Fu Panda IP. As far as water park play areas go, this one was fairly par for course. There were a couple of slides more appropriate for smaller kids, height ranges of 36” and 42”, and there was plenty of gadgetry to play with while on the structure. The area was slip resistant and kept the attention of some of our smaller travelers.
DreamWorks Dream Runner
This attraction was pretty cool. The DreamWorks Dream Runner is a “high speed water coaster” known as a HydroMAGNETIC ROCKET. The ride system works on electromagnets to propel the ride vehicle along. Up to four guests can get aboard the high speed and exhilarating attraction. I had a blast on this water coaster and it really was exhilarating. I was not expecting the ride to be as fast paced as it was. Therefore, add this to your must list.
Bubbly Lazy River
I’m a big fan of lazy rivers. Some complaints that I have about them, overall, is when there’s not enough tubes available for guests. This was not a problem with the Bubbly Lazy River. There were plenty of tubes available and the meandering flow of the river would usher guests along the back end of the park. My companions and I did more than a few circuits around this attraction.
Amenities that stood out
There were a number of very thoughtful things that were available to guests at the DreamWorks waterpark.
For one, there’s a private area/room where breastfeeding mothers may nurse their children.
For people that may have something that’s ailing them, a large pharmaceutical vending machine is on the property and the prices are consistent with what one would expect at a conventional pharmacy store.
All throughout the American Dream mall are water bottle filling stations for those who travel with their own bottles, cups, or tumblers. My recommendation to the management at American Dream mall would be to hook up with a company that makes high quality custom drinkware, such as Yukon Outfitters, and offer for sale tumblers and bottles with their branding on them. If they’re priced right, they’ll sell, there will be plenty of profit, and it’s hella good gorilla marketing.
Burger Shack quick service food
While in the park, there is a quick service eatery called the Burger Shack where you can get something to eat. What you’ll get at the Burger Shack is some of the standard fare you’ll find at similar family entertainment locations. The prices were not off the wall, especially since it’s the only game in town, and the food quality was good. No one complained about what they ended up ordering and just about everything got scarfed up. We had our lunch in the park but our dinner at one of the many dining locations in the mall proper.
Private party areas
There were a number of private party areas on the second level of the park. One of the party areas is described as being “a spacious, semi-private area overlooking DreamWorks Water Park” that can be rented for a three hour block. Planning a private party comes with a steep price tag to start, which includes ten guests and then more can be added based on their pricing rubric. The areas look like they’d be a great place to have a private event.
Exiting the water park
We pretty much closed out the park, staying all day. Upon exiting, you’d leave through the locker rooms, just as you’d traverse them when entering. I was eager to take a shower and get changed after being in the water all day.
The only two complaints I – and others in my party – had about visiting the DreamWorks Water Park is there were no shower curtains around the shower stalls and to turn on the showers, you had to press and hold in the valve while washing.
Other than the lack of privacy and having to hold in the button, there were no other issues there. The facility was clean. While we mention this, the individual shower stalls are way better than those facilities that have straight up “gang” showers…so, it was not nearly as bad as it could be.
There might be a logical reason for having no curtains, and I could probably rattle off a half dozen without giving it deep thought. But, would those reasons be enough to usurp an individual’s privacy while trying to shower?
It seems that it’s a money/water saving tactic for the shower valves needing to be pushed in and held when showering. But this arrangement is not one I have not seen at other installations of this caliber.
Overall experience
Everyone in our travel party had a great time. The DreamWorks Water Park was day one of our two day visit to the American Dream mall, and it’s quite the destination.
If you’re local to the mall, hitting up this location for a day visit is worth your time. If you and your crew love to travel, this is a decent destination to go to if you’re going to be in the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area. Or, coming to the area just for this destination and everything else the American Dream mall has to offer might be in order.
As far as indoor water parks go, this one ranks towards the top on what it has to offer, quality of experience, courtesy of workers, and cleanliness of facility. We will be revisiting this facility in the future.
The DreamWorks Water Park at the American Dream mall is located at: 1 American Dream Wy, East Rutherford, NJ 07073
