Nickelodeon Universe at the American Dream mall is one of the largest indoor theme parks
in the world.
This place is home to 5 roller coasters, many of which are extremely disorienting between
their forces or backwards motion.
Then the park also has an interesting fleet of flat rides to round out the offerings.
So in this countdown, I will rank the top 10 rides and attractions at New Jersey’s
Nickelodeon Universe.
If you’re looking for one on the Minnesota park at the Mall of America, I have a separate
countdown for that location.
10) Skyline Scream- This is advertised as the largest indoor drop tower, as it stands
over 12 stories tall, but this combo tower is lacking in power.
The launch has decent kick to it, but you only get weak floater airtime at the top.
Then you rise to the top in a special section of the roof with glass windows, so you get
nice views of New York City, especially since you rotate at the top.
Then you drop back down.
The start of the drop gives a weak pop of airtime and is rather slow, but halfway down
the drop, you get a surprise and mildly forceful bit of acceleration.
I have an entire review on this attraction, but it’s an underwhelming ride…assuming
it’s even open because it has a lot of downtime. 9) Aang’s Air Gliders- This Zamperla air
race contains a graceful series of inversions.
The ride doesn’t invert the fastest, but the dual rotation is disorienting and you
get some hangtime too.
Plus this one runs a long cycle.
8) Shredder- This Gerstlauer spinning coaster has a long layout intertwined with Shellraiser.
The ride has plenty of elements, including some forceful helixes in the middle of the
coaster.
But the ride suffers from poor pacing.
The mid-course brake runs sap the coaster of its speed and spinning.
And then the ride also has a rattle like many of this park’s coasters.
Check out my review on this ride if you want to hear more.
7) Legends of the Hidden Temple- This 9 story tall ropes course is taller than several coasters
at this park.
It’s pretty freaky looking down on Sandy’s Blasting Bronco.
That height combined with the abundance of challenging obstacles, particularly on the
upper levels, makes it one of the better ropes courses I’ve experienced.
6) Jimmy Neutron’s Atom Smasher- This Chance Unicoaster can be as tame or as wild as you
like.
The toggle in the center allows you to rapidly rotate forwards or backwards.
Or you can stall yourself upside-down and get ridiculous hangtime.
5) Timmy’s Half-Pipe Havoc- This Intamin half pipe offers great visuals as you shoot
towards the roof.
And those full ascents also offer some nice floater airtime.
What’s weird about this one is that the green side tends to spin while the pink does
not.
You want to ride in the green side for the wilder experience.
This attraction feels more like a frisbee than a coaster, which is fine.
4) Nickelodeon Slime Streak- This Chance family coaster offers a fun and rowdy tour of the
park.
The first and third drops offer some nice laterals and while the layout doesn’t offer
airtime, it does have a lot of small humps and quick turns that make it feel like a bucking
bull crossed with a monorail.
I made a review for this coaster a long time ago, but my thoughts still apply.
3) Kraang Prime Pandemonium- This Zamperla inverting frisbee runs an incredible program.
This is a very long ride with floater airtime on the partial swings, sustained hangtime
on the full revolutions, and crushing positive Gs on the downswings.
Along with those forces, you also have terrifying near-misses with the ceiling and fans.
2) TMNT Shellraiser- This Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter is a clone of Takabisha.
The indoor setting makes the experience extra dizzying since the windowless roof and building
sides cause you to lose your sense of direction during the 7 inversions, many of which offer
some hangtime as you slow way down going through them.
But there are two elements that standout.
First is the powerful LSM launch that zips you into the first half.
Second is the record-breaking beyond vertical plunge in the second half that offers a fantastic
view of New York City plus strong ejector airtime.
This ride does suffer in the comfort department though due to the over-the-shoulder restraints
causing some headbanging and the shaky valleys.
The latter has only gotten worse since my initial review.
While this is a hard ride to marathon, it is still a fun coaster.
1) Sandy’s Blasting Bronco- This unique Intamin launch coaster occupies a small footprint,
but it’s chalk full of thrills.
This ride has one of the strongest LSM launches in the world.
You blast off from a standstill and part of the launch is uphill to pile on the positive
Gs.
Then you have 4 great inversions, including 3 Immelmanns.
The first Immelmann has hangtime.
The second has considerable whip and some airtime.
The third slows down at the apex for hangtime.
Then the final dive loop has even more hangtime.
Then midway through the ride, a turntable turns your train backwards.
The backwards launch is one of the craziest elements in the world as you are folded over
the lap bar.
Then the blitz of inversions is disorienting going forwards, but it’s even crazier in
reverse.
I love how wild this attraction is.
There is a rattle on some of the valleys, but it ultimately is the park’s best ride
as I note in a review.
That is how I rank the top 10 rides and attractions at American Dream’s Nickelodeon Universe.
What are your favorite rides at this indoor theme park?
Let me know down in the comments.
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