I did receive free visits while in Minneapolis, but all opinions are my own.
Yesterday we talked about how to get to Minneapolis, and how to prepare for the spectacular winter weather. Now that you are here, you need to know all the awesome things to do in Minneapolis.
My family chose the Twin Cities for our vacation because we wanted to embrace winter. We are one of those weird families that actually LOVE snow and ice. Minneapolis and St. Paul was the perfect place to enjoy the wintry outdoors while having tons of fun doing it.
Things to Do In Minneapolis
St. Paul Winter Carnival
During the last few weeks in January, St. Paul hosts the St Paul Winter Carnival every year. This amazing event is free to the public and spread all across the city of St. Paul. We arrived towards the end of the carnival, but there was still tons to see.
The St. Paul Winter carnival was our first stop on our Twin Cities vacation. The weather was actually a warm 33 degrees which made it a great day to view the outdoor ice and snow sculptures without Jack Frost nipping at our noses too much.
It was absolutely amazing to see what these local artists and families could make out of ice and snow. We were even able to see an automated snow plow competition. My kids got to see how math and science students built, programmed, and challenged their creations during the annual snow plow competition. It was really neat.
If this is right up your alley, make sure to check out the St Paul Winter Carnival website to learn more about the event and how you can plan it to be a part of your vacation.
Mall of America
If being outdoors isn’t quite your thing, you can always head to the Mall of America. The Mall of America is the largest indoor shopping mall in the country. It’s home to 520 including shops like Lush, American Girl Doll, Lego, Cupcake and many more!
In addition to the amazing shops, Mall of America also offers over 50. Our family’s favorite is Dick’s Last Resort. They offer great food at affordable prices, plus a great experience. Dick’s is not like your average restaurant experience. At Dick’s don’t be surprised to have your straws thrown at you and insults hurled. This restaurant is not for cry babies. For more details on the MOA, check out my post on our Mall of America Family Vacation.
Sea Life Aquarium
Mall of America is also home to the Sea of Life aquarium and Nickelodeon Universe indoor Amusement park. According to my kids, both of these great attractions get two Crunchy kids thumbs up.
The Sea Life aquarium is located on the east side of the mall. It’s a smaller aquarium, but has a lot of things to do for an aquarium its size. The aquarium is home to 10,000 sea creatures including sharks, jellyfish, stingrays, and even turtles.
My kids loved the hands on tide pool. The tide pool was a great area where the kids got to touch starfish, sea urchins, and horseshoe crabs. There was a very nice educator there that told the kids about the different species in the tide pool.
Sea Life is also a great learning experience for young and old. The entire aquarium is full of great interactive quizzes, message boards, and experiences that our entire family enjoyed. It was really neat to learn about all the different species that called the aquarium home. Even though we have been to many different aquariums across the country, we still learned a lot during our visit.
Nickelodeon Universe
For the thrill seekers, Nickelodeon Universe is a must see at the Mall of America. This indoor amusement park was probably my kids favorite place in the mall (besides the food court). The park hosts roller coasters, a flume ride, and even kiddie rides with 50 rides in all!
Even though it’s a smaller park, it still had a nice array of rides all the way from toddler rides to those that were the ultimate thrill seeker (make sure to check out Spongebob’s plunge).
Nickelodeon Universe is located in the middle of the Mall of America and offers a more condensed version of your typical amusement park. We visited the park during the middle of the week, and my kids enjoyed being able to ride their favorite rides over and over again without the long lines of typical amusement parks.
If you do visit Nickelodeon Universe, I highly suggest purchasing the unlimited ride armbands. They are well worth the money and are valid from open to close the day of use. Your kids can ride and ride and ride, but I would recommend riding before lunch. Some of the rides are pretty intense. Just ask Mr. Crunchy.
The Crunchy family loved Mall of America so much that we wanted to even share with you our top tips of things to know and do to make the most of your visit! Stay tuned for the next post in this series to catch “10 Tips to make the most of your Mall of America Visit!”
What are some of your favorite things to do in Minneapolis?
Looking for a hotel during your visit? You might want to check out my reviews on Places to Stay in Minneapolis and the Depot Renaissance Minneapolis!
Pam says
Sounds like you had a great time! While I am not a huge fan of snow and ice, these activities would tempt me to visit.
Crunchy Frugalista says
That’s the great thing about Minneapolis, they have things indoors and outdoors you can do! We loved the winter festival and visiting Minehaha Falls. They were frozen which was really cool!
Melody says
Okay, can I just say that I’m jealous, and that my kids would be begging me to visit the Mall of America if they were home right now? That Nickelodeon indoor amusement park is awesome!
BUT the one thing they can keep, is their snow lol! I have my own here in Ohio! 😛
Crunchy Frugalista says
Snow in Ohio is for wimps hahaa. I can say that because I live in Indiana (howdy neighbor). Mall of America is a trip all in it’s own! You should check back tomorrow for tips on things to do at MOA! Trust me, it’s a must read!
Amber Edwards says
Who knew there were so many cool things to do in Minneapolis! My favorite would definitely be the Ice sculptures. I’ve always wanted to see those! Always! They are just so amazing!
Crunchy Frugalista says
Amber, I could’ve done a whole post on nothing but pictures of the ice sculptures. There were some truly amazing ones! Sadly my camera didn’t capture the details of the ice of those that well. You should definitely go!
Jennifer says
Wow, how fun! Those ice sculptures are quite impressive!
Crunchy Frugalista says
Yeah, I could never do those! Me and a chainsaw = bad idea!
gingermommy says
Looks like a lot of fun. Love the ice sculptures
Crunchy Frugalista says
They are even better in person!
Cecile says
How cool is that dragon? I have never been to Minneapolis. If I go, I will have to remember all the great things to do there.
Crunchy Frugalista says
You should really the time to get up there. There are so many things to do during the winter and the summer!
Jenna Wood says
So much win here- I wish we had snow nearby so I could see some gorgeous Ice and Snow sculptures in person- that must be exciting every year!
Crunchy Frugalista says
They were absolutely amazing! After the cold though we were really ready to check out Mall of America.
Lena - @elenka29 says
So awesome – it looks like you had lots of fun. I love ice towns – they are amazing looking
Crunchy Frugalista says
They were pretty cool. Mall of America had ice castles you could walk around in, but we didn’t get a chance to do that.
Michelle says
You know, I kind of always wrote off Minneapolis because of it being so cold – but I didn’t realize there was so much you could do there! I think I could spend a week in the Mall of America alone and I love aquariums like that.
Also, I’ve always had a thing for dragon art, so love the first pic!
Crunchy Frugalista says
Yes, the mall of America could be a trip all of it’s own!The aquarium was really cool b/c it had all this great interactive stuff in it! Plus, the sea creatures were neat too!
Jodi @ A Mom Having Fun says
That looks like so much fun! That ice sculpture is beautiful. I’ve always heard so much about Mall of America…I really need to go sometime. Add that to my bucket list too!
Jenn @comebackmomma says
May need to take my family here for a future winter vacation. Looks like a ton of fun options both indoors and out.
Dawn says
I love to visit aquariums! If I ever visit, I will definitely keep that in mind. I also really dig that ice sculpture!
Dawn
Felissa (Two Little Cavaliers) says
Those snow and ice sculptures are amazing! I guess I have always been fascinated by what people can do with snow and ice maybe because the most I have ever built is a snowman and even that was super exciting having grown up in Miami with none of that.
I had no idea there was an aquarium at Mall of America. I was there once when I was 15 on a teen tour and we all rode the Ferris wheel.
Sandy a la Mode says
my friend is moving there soon! i should send her this!!
Crunchy Frugalista says
Sandy, Minneapolis is a great area. We are hoping to move there too!
SHELLEY R ZUREK says
I would come to see the Ice Sculptures! So beautiful.