When Will Everything Open At American Dream Meadowlands?

Nearly all of the shops, amenities, and things to do at American Dream Meadowlands will be ready to go when the $3 billion retail and entertainment destination opens in the spring.

But some things won't be coming as quickly as you'd like.

Shoppers, tourists, and kids will have a lot of places to go when American Dream opens to the public, even as some places won't be ready to open their doors.

Dreams of sipping champagne after a shopping spree at Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, and Hermes will have be put on hold, but just temporarily.

That section of the $3 billion retail and entertainment destination will not open when the rest of the facility does. The DreamWorks water park will also not open in the spring.

Triple Five, American Dream's owner and developer, is working to close that gap and have them open closer to when the rest of the 91-acre campus does, said Lincoln Palsgrove IV, an American Dream Meadowlands spokesperson.

The following attractions are slated to open in the spring when the doors swing open for the first time. Here is a sample journey a family could take on Day 1:

• The first stop could be the Nickelodeon Universe theme park. It will have two record-setting roller coasters — the Spinning Coaster, the tallest and longest free-spinning coaster in the world, and the Euro-Fighter. It is expected to be the largest indoor theme park in the western hemisphere when it is complete.
• While walking to browse some of the hundreds of stores, take a stroll through Sea Life aquarium's walk-through underwater tunnel and visit the tropical ocean tank.
• Mom and dad can take a ski lesson at the 800-foot tall indoor ski slope or visit For The Win, a huge adult-orientated arcade, while the kids visit the LEGOLAND Discovery Center with its 4-D cinema, LEGO brick pool, rides, and classes.
• Kids can also get some work done at KidZania, a miniature city run by kids 4 to 14 years old. It will have its own currency and companies like Honda, Sony, Kellogg's, Coca-Cola and others have sponsored businesses and landmarks in the attraction.
• Parents, don't worry about your kids wandering off. Triple Five installing a comprehensive information technology system that allows parents to use smart bracelets to stay connected with their kids throughout the complex. The system will integrate augmented reality experiences, and "evolutionary" and "revolutionary" displays throughout American Dream, Triple Five said.

Triple Five went through its own journey to secure financing for the project.

Development at the site languished for months while the Ghermezian family, who own Triple Five, worked to secure much-needed financing for the project. American Dream was slated to open in 2017, but Triple Five pushed back the completion date because it had difficulty securing the $1.6 billion in financing. It worked with Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan to secure the financing in 2017 and construction started back up again. The Ghermezians also developed and own two other world-class facilities: Mall of America and the West Edmonton Mall.

Between 30 and 40 million people are expected to visit American Dream within its first year of opening. Half of those are expected to be tourists visiting New York City. That's why an 800-room luxury hotel is being developed and a concierge reception team fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese, Arabic, and other languages will be on hand to help people. A casino could be coming too.

The campus is expected to generate $1.2 billion in income and 16,000 jobs in that same time frame.

There will be several ways to get to and from American Dream Meadowlands.

A commuter shuttle will run between the station NJ Transit operates at the Meadowlands and the Secaucus train station. NJ Transit will also operate a direct bus line from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City to American Dream.

New York Waterway is in talks to run a shuttle to take passengers to and from marinas along the Hudson River along the Gold Coast in Edgewater, Weehawken, and North Bergen.

But just as the narrative can change for people visiting American Dream, where no two visits have to be the same, the actual building has gone through its own changes since it was the ill-fated Meadowlands Xanadu project back in 2003.

That unsightly blue and white paneling on the side of the building is being removed and replaced with a white and silver color scheme. (See related: American Dream Is NJ's 'Ugliest Building:' Business Insider)

The inside of the building was mostly complete before Triple Five took it over in 2011. But Triple Five has designed the inside with a lot of windows so natural light floods the interior and shines on shoppers as they walk past the hundreds of flowers and other plants that will be placed throughout the campus. The plants will be changed out on a regular basis, Triple Five previously said.

Steel for the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park has been installed and the last of the five major arches spanning the wave pool in the water park was completed last month. (See related: 2 World-Record Roller Coasters Coming To American Dream)

"This unprecedented project will create tens of thousands of jobs, bring millions of tourists and billions of dollars in economic growth annually to Bergen County and the State of New Jersey," Triple Five President Don Ghermezian said earlier this year.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo: Construction continues on the DreamWorks-themed water park Nickelodeon Universe theme park. (Courtesy of American Dream Meadowlands)