Ep. 33: Host Office Party: A Spring Break Adventure

[00:00:00] Mall of America. For more than 30 years it has been a retail leader and an international destination and it remains the largest mall in the U.S. Not to mention it welcomes millions of guests from

[00:00:10] around the world. It's huge, but it's also so much more. In this podcast you're going to hear the real stories of how it started and why it continues to thrive. You'll hear about challenges

[00:00:21] we've faced along the way and what you can learn from them. We will feature guests and experts from all walks of life and business. And along the way you'll laugh, learn, and maybe even

[00:00:31] change the way you look at things. So if you're a fan of the mall, a brand new visitor, an entrepreneur or a dreamer, prepare to dive deep into so much more. This podcast is presented by the Bloomington

[00:00:43] Convention and Visitors Bureau. Hey Mall of America fans, welcome to this episode of So Much More. I am Jill Renzlo, your host for today's show. And this is your ever so popular favorite office party edition. So I'm super excited to be joined today with my co-host,

[00:00:59] Chris Grant and Dan. Welcome gentlemen. Hello. This is when the fun begins. So we're going to talk about all things spring break today. So it's a little unique because our weather in Minnesota has

[00:01:12] been not very wintery this winter. And so it almost feels like we're ready in springtime. But we know that Mother Nature will probably take a little turn and we'll still probably see a little bit of winter before we get there. But let's talk about spring break, which is

[00:01:25] unique for Mall of America because typically individuals or families are focused on that one week during the year that they have off from school or work and get a chance to escape.

[00:01:36] But for us here at the mall, we get to enjoy multiple weeks. And so Grant, I would love for you to kick off this episode by explaining the spring break timeline and what we get

[00:01:47] to prepare for every year. Yeah. Mall of America is a regional and national destination. And that means spring break happens for different people at different times. And our spring break season is really a six week season that starts in March and goes through middle of April.

[00:02:06] And those guests that come here come here for different reasons. There's guests that come here for one or two days. There's guests that come here for seven days. And it really

[00:02:16] depends a lot on what they want to do. And I think that from a spring break standpoint is really important to us is that we create an environment that is easy for guests to come

[00:02:28] to spring break and enjoy it because spring break is something that everyone really looks forward to. But some people maybe are on a budget this year and they can only do one day. And that is great. Or maybe they're they've saved and they're coming in for five days.

[00:02:42] And that's great as well. We want to create an experience that lets them do it for five days and lets them do it for one day as well. And being a destination where families love to come visit,

[00:02:52] we have a lot of different options from our events or attractions. All of the different brands that are here in the building. And Chris, your team has been busy at work getting things prepared because we want to fill people's itineraries full of fun.

[00:03:05] So what are some of the things on the calendar that families can expect? Yeah, it's interesting. It is that challenge of you want to do something programmatic so people that are planning their spring break through that six weeks

[00:03:15] have some consistency. So we have programmatic things with live entertainment Nickelodeon Universe like the Paw Patrol Pups Off Duty Show. We're going to be introducing slimings in a different way this spring break. So those will be things that

[00:03:30] guests can do over the course of those six weeks. And then the rest of the team is working on those things that are one off or very quick hits. There's a lot of basketball

[00:03:39] happening over spring break for us. I'm trying to learn more about the collegiate level basketball but because of the men's Big Ten and women's Big Ten, we're going to have a half court built in the Rotunda for part of the time people are here. The Harlem Globetrotters

[00:03:53] are going to do an activation here. And so it's that challenge of those unique offerings over that time period as well as some consistency as well. Yeah, so our fans, our listeners, our viewers, Chris has been a newly conformed basketball fan and is

[00:04:10] diving into the basketball world. It's been fun. It's true. It's true. Man, what a slippery slope that was. Yeah. And then all of a sudden in my mid 40s I'm all into pro basketball and it's

[00:04:21] actually been a blast. It's been a ton of fun. You mentioned slimings and I know what a sliming is. I just realized that maybe some of our listeners don't know, hey, we're going to do slimings differently. Like what is a sliming? That's a good point.

[00:04:33] So previously Nickelodeon is synonymous with slime. That was a big part of what helped launch their live programming and network. So we have had slimings in Nickelodeon universe only really as part of our double dare stage show. But because that show has sunset,

[00:04:51] we've been looking for new ways to introduce slimings because it's such an important part of it. So we're building a show specifically around only the sliming habit. And sliming is literally slime getting put on someone. Correct. Yes. The coolly slime. Dump. Dump. Yes.

[00:05:07] There's no gentle placement. It is a privilege. There's no request. Yes. Yes. Privilege to be slimed. It is the highest Nickelodeon honors just to just get gallons and gallons of slime dumped over the top of you. So yeah,

[00:05:17] you can do one person. You can do families all at the same time. We've had several athletes here over the years who've been able to participate in it. But now we're going to bring that unique experience to the guests. That is fantastic. It'll be fun.

[00:05:29] It is. It is. I'm packed for us the Paw Patrol event or entertainment Facebook of. Yeah. Paw Patrol is hugely popular and the team worked really hard with our partners at Spin Master and Nickelodeon to create a live show using some of our pups from

[00:05:46] Paw Patrol. So it's Pups Off Duties and it's a small live show with performers, Chase and Marshall kind of going through what they do when they're not busy. You know, saving the city, saving the Chickaletta for a mere good way. So it's just a fun little interactive show,

[00:06:05] little stage show. It's really cute. Fun for all ages. The team does a great job with it. Oh. Have a lot of fun with it. And Dan, you have some fun things that you've been

[00:06:13] working on with regards to tours and showing folks behind the scenes because people come back time and time again to Mall of America and always looking for something new. So explain a little

[00:06:22] bit about your tours and what you create with the entertainment team. Yeah, we have VIP tours, which are awesome and the entertainment team leads most of them. We have public tours Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturday mornings. Guests can buy tickets online or at the entrance if

[00:06:38] you want to come at the time of the tour. They're so much fun. And then we also do private group tours. So if a family is coming during spring break, right? And you want a private

[00:06:47] customized tour, we will offer that as well. Guests can find all that information on our website. But it's fun because it's a storytelling walking journey through the Mall, through the 32 years of the Mall's history, right? We talk about what was here before the Mall. We show relics of

[00:07:02] our history, this land's history. But then we also tell some really fun stories. But guests also get to see some behind the scenes areas that a typical guest never even knows exists.

[00:07:14] We take you behind the scenes of one of our world famous attractions that is so much fun and has so much lore and storytelling behind it. And on a really good day, we take you really far back

[00:07:25] into that area and show you, we show you some holiday warehouse storage areas, which may sound kind of boring. We have amazing storage here at the Mall and how we keep things from one

[00:07:36] season to the next is phenomenal as well. And then we also will customize that for other areas as well. One thing that I love is you may, guests who take the tour, may very likely have a chance to participate

[00:07:50] and experience our world famous Candy Cane Institute, which by the way is magical. It's absolutely magical. It is. And I also love how you just made looking at storage sound exciting.

[00:08:02] It is. But here's the truth. Have you ever seen Raiders of the Lost Ark? And at the end of that movie, the big warehouse with the craze. That's kind of what we have here. It's phenomenal.

[00:08:18] Okay. So we have all worked here for an extended period of time. We've experienced spring break with our families. We've welcomed guests here. Dan obviously has an inside scoop behind the scenes because you're showing our guests all the time. But we all have those

[00:08:32] inside secrets, those treasures that we would recommend to guests that come here. And I think, so I'd love everybody to chime in on this, but I would say one of the things for me is the fact

[00:08:42] that there's when you come back, there's always something new and we've added some new attractions. I think it will be really fun for families this year between Museum of Illusions and Wink World. There are two of them that don't take your entire day.

[00:08:55] They're easy attractions to work into your itinerary and really something for all ages. And especially with those are even for that young adult that would really enjoy as well as some of the younger folks of the family. So those are two of my recommendations for this upcoming

[00:09:09] season because they're new to the mall if you've been here before. But Chris, any thoughts on your recommendations of some of those fun treasures for families? I mean, depending on the size of your group, I think Escape Game does a fantastic job here. And there's multiple

[00:09:21] offerings for different skill levels with their escape rooms. I think their production value is second to none and every one that I've done has been a blast. So I like that for a bigger group.

[00:09:31] For a smaller group, I think honestly, they do such a good job with the atmosphere in the park over spring break for slime break. It's super fun to just walk around. There's a new

[00:09:43] sculpt that will be hitting the floor as well. Squidward is going to be on his bench waiting for the bus. Super fun photo op. And obviously we have a new attraction going in that

[00:09:52] you alluded to, but Boots Banana Swing will be there for the younger guests and then Fly with Opa will be opening this spring break too. And I think those are going to be fun opportunities for

[00:10:01] families. I've got little alert kids as you guys know. And a couple of things that I'm planning on for spring break, my kids are really into cradle experience. They, my five year old wants

[00:10:12] to have his birthday party there. We're going to come there again. It's a great mixture of hands on play, but they also have a little climber in there and all sorts of stuff like that.

[00:10:20] That's great. And then also my sons are really into remote control cars. And there's a place called rides makers here at the mall where you get to customize your remote control car from scratch.

[00:10:30] And they've been asking to do it for a long time. So we're going to come here and do that for spring break over here as well. So I'm excited for that. I guess I can, Dan, how about you?

[00:10:37] Yeah, I love it. I mean, there's so many options here, right? One of the things that I love is fair on four, which is located on level four here at Mall of America.

[00:10:45] I mean, for the adventurous, there's go carts that actually go really fast. They kind of scare me a little bit. But then you also have an axe throwing, which if you're enjoying an adult

[00:10:55] beverage kind of scares me a little bit. And then there are also some arcade games, and there's arcade games, which also scare me a little bit. So I live in fear, but I love fair on four. It's so much fun. I should call it fear on four.

[00:11:10] But it is so much fun. But a couple of other things that I think people don't often think about, if you're coming with groups of adults or something, there are so many places to grab a nice drink or cocktail here. So it's a nice place to, you're busy,

[00:11:24] you're going all day long. It's nice to kind of sit back and take a break. But for those who maybe have kids or you just don't want an adult beverage, someplace like Capital One Cafe, which if the mall is busy and there's a lot of noise and

[00:11:38] action going on, you can step back and go, you know what? I'm going to sit and relax. My feet hurt a little bit. I'm just going to enjoy 20 minutes and then I'm going to get back at it.

[00:11:47] There's so much to enjoy. And I think sometimes that's overwhelming for families to think about and plan for. And I think even just taking a step back, just spring break in general, because a lot of times families are juggling different schedules. They might have kids

[00:12:00] at different ages. But what's great is we can be a destination for a couple of days or if you come for longer and visit family and friends. There's so many things in the marketplace and we work really closely with all of our tourism partners to create those packages.

[00:12:14] But when you look at giving families advice of how to get started, how to plan, what is the best path to prepare before you come to the mall? What advice do you guys have? Grant, I'll have you go over. I'd probably start with our website, right?

[00:12:27] We have a lot of information about the Mall of America. We have the events that Chris talks about. We have the different attractions. It's a great starting place for you planning your

[00:12:35] trip. We also have our area hotels on our page. So you can book your stay directly on our Mall of America website. And from there, I would just start to look at what else is going on around here as

[00:12:49] well. So if you're coming here for five days, like, hey, go over to the zoo for a day. There's different partners that we work with depending on where your kids are at or where you're at

[00:13:00] that you can really plan an immersive spring break trip here at Mall of America, but exploring the partners as well. Yeah. If you have your date range, definitely look at the website and see if

[00:13:10] there are any events that are happening that you want to be a part of. It's nice to have a couple of those things to anchor your day, but I would also just leave it as open as you can so

[00:13:19] you can discover some stuff once you get here. So I think don't overwhelm yourself because it is a lot, but our social team does a great job of highlighting a lot of these attractions as well.

[00:13:29] So it's really easy to go on our social channels and take a look and see if this might be something you want to check out that with a combination of the events calendar. Find a couple of those things

[00:13:37] like I want to hit these, but then leave it free for the rest of your trip. And whenever I plan for spring break or any vacation, I always start with my budget, right? I sit down and look

[00:13:46] at what can I spend? What do I have? And the really cool thing about Mall of America and our surrounding communities is for regardless what budget level you're at, there's something here to do,

[00:13:56] which is so much fun. If you're a single parent and you don't have a lot of expendable income, there are some really fun things that are low cost at Mall of America that are going to create

[00:14:05] memories for you and your family. If you have the ability to spend more money, you can splurge and do some really cool things here as well. So I always start with the budget, look at the websites, our partner Bloomington Convention Visitors Bureau, they have a great website

[00:14:18] as well. So just check out all those resources. Chris mentioned watching our social media, which is so much fun. They do an amazing job, but when you're here, I would encourage our guests,

[00:14:29] do your own content as well. We love when our guests create social content. It's so much fun because they capture some emotions that we've never seen. Dan, you mentioned there's a little, there's a place across the street from Mall of America.

[00:14:43] So for those of you listening, we're across from the Minneapolis St. Paul airport. There's a place that is an airplane viewing area at the airport. You sort of drive around underneath a couple runways and there's this couple picnic tables. And my kids love going there

[00:14:59] and watching airplanes land back and forth. And I think those are the things, right? It's just like these little hidden secret things. Cost nothing. Cost nothing. Cost zero dollars.

[00:15:07] I used to do it for my trip. I used to do it for the top deck of IKEA. Oh yeah. That's where we go. It's great. There's a cool place and you can see it. You can find it,

[00:15:15] and I actually about once a month when I'm leaving work, I drive there. I'm that one single guy. But it's fun to watch these planes. Great. It is. We get distracted often because with it

[00:15:27] being across the street, we have the view of the airport often and it doesn't get distracting in meetings and things like that. But we talk about who comes here. And what's interesting is people

[00:15:36] look at Mall of America as a tourist destination. But what's interesting is there are a lot of families that have staycations during the spring break timeframe. And what I love about

[00:15:44] staycations is if you have a week off with your kids, you can split that up so that you have activity and you play and play with the family. But then you also have that time to have a little

[00:15:54] relaxation and rebooks. If you guys are like me sometimes when you come back from vacation, you need a couple days just to catch up, relax, unwind. So talk a little bit about those unique staycation opportunities for families to still feel like they're getting an escape,

[00:16:09] but they're close to home. So Chris, any thoughts there? I think it's the same thing Dan was talking about. Really, it depends on your budget and your budget level because it is.

[00:16:16] It's an easy day trip, but there's great hotel partners around here where you can make it a little bit more elevated and stay longer if you want. I think it just comes back to those same things,

[00:16:26] especially when you have so many, depending on the size of your group and the wants that people have, we have some of our greatest hits that are going to work for everybody. But then

[00:16:35] there's always something unique for people to look at too. I just think over the spring break time period, there's so much stuff happening in the Rotunda from week to week to week. It's going

[00:16:44] to look absolutely different. So it really just depends on what your family is interested in, but I guarantee there's going to be something that everybody's going to be interested in. When the mall first opened, I'm a single dad. I raised my son by myself and this more years

[00:17:00] than not was my spring vacation, Mall of America, but I couldn't come all week long. I didn't have the budget to. So I would do exactly that. We'd say, if we have a really good day Monday,

[00:17:10] tomorrow we're going to go to Nickelodeon at that time it was called Camp Snoopy and we'd come and spend some time and then you have another day or two of a really good day. We're going to go to

[00:17:19] what is now Sea Life but was Underwater Adventures. It was a really reward based system for me that gave my son something to look forward to, but it was something that I could digest and

[00:17:30] afford and it gave me something to look forward to and it helped his behavior tremendously that week. That's all I'm saying. Well, there's nothing more than having photos to capture those moments and those memories that last forever. And I think we deliver that really well here at

[00:17:45] the mall with so many different experiences. And what's great is we are constantly reinventing what we're doing as well. And this spring break season, we're also extending our hours to make sure that Sunday through Saturday, seven days a week, we're going to be open from 10 to

[00:18:00] nine. So we recognize that those out of town visitors or even just the in-town visitors that are doing the staycations, they can come early and stay late and really enjoy the entire

[00:18:08] day. So we're super excited to roll that out for March and April. I will be the person that's here right when we open up. Like my kids are up at 6.30 a.m. by that time we've eaten breakfast,

[00:18:20] I've run out of things to do at home and like we are ready to go. So I will be when the door is open for sure. And pro tip for all of our visitors during spring break,

[00:18:30] especially be the first people in the door, right? Because you get the best parking, you get easy access to rides and attractions. It's great timing. Absolutely. So let's learn a little bit more about you guys and your spring break

[00:18:43] adventures. So share with our audience maybe one special memory that you've had of spring break over the years, whether it was when you were young and you went with your family or that you have taken either your grandkids or your kids to in the most recent years.

[00:18:56] So Dan, I'll have you start. Yeah. So one of the few years I didn't use Mall of America as my spring break destination because I had limited means and my son was in junior high at the time

[00:19:10] and all his friends were going to Florida, Texas, Cancun, wherever and I couldn't afford to go. And so in my brilliant mind I said we're going someplace south for spring break and he got

[00:19:21] excited and I just teased this for like two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. Well, I took him to Rapid City, South Dakota, not realizing that in April none of the attractions are open. We

[00:19:33] stayed in a really bad hotel and we got about 18 inches of snow. So we were stuck in a really bad hotel with nothing to do for three days did not go very well. But made a memory. And good stories. Good stories. I love it. Chris, how about you?

[00:19:49] Our go-to really once we kind of figured out our cadence was going to Disney with Dax over spring break and part of it was the familiarity for us. And it's the same things that make this

[00:20:00] place so unique. You've got your greatest hits, but there's always something new to enjoy there. But it was just be fun being able to have that time together. I'm going to embrace the great American road trip this year. My sister's live in Colorado,

[00:20:12] so it's about a 13 hour drive. We're going to see how far we make it every day with no real agenda, but try to get out to Colorado if it takes us three days to get there with my family of five.

[00:20:24] That's okay. It's more about the experience than anything else. So the plan is to get out and see my sisters this year. Are you going to try and like hit roadside attractions too?

[00:20:32] I think so. It's like, hey, I think we're going to have to get out, you know, seven, five and three year old kids like we're going to have to get out every couple of

[00:20:39] hours. So it's planning those stops along the way. And if we end up in Iowa the first day, we end up in Iowa. We stay at Odell and hit the pool and those things. How about you, Jill?

[00:20:49] Those family road trips are super fun. And I have to say Black Hills is one of my favorites, even though we've been to a variety of different destinations. But in a similar note,

[00:20:58] my in-laws used to live down in Arizona or winter in Arizona. And so we would every spring break take a different path to get to them. So we either fly into Denver and then drive

[00:21:07] down to Phoenix or we'd fly into Santa Fe or fly into, you know, different destinations. And so those road trips, we got to see a lot of the country on the west side of the U.S. And it was

[00:21:17] a lot of fun and just really enjoyed those memories. And so tip is try to get your kids to turn off their electronics because it is so fun to have those just those traditional road games that are fun to play as a family.

[00:21:27] My kids don't know that their iPad works in the car yet. Like they don't, they're like, Hey, can we bring the iPad? It's like, it doesn't work in the car. But at some

[00:21:36] point they're going to catch on. But right now, they just don't think it's even an option. So I'm going to try to do that as long as possible. But we'll see what it comes out of.

[00:21:43] That is fantastic. So to build on that, I have a few other questions, kind of a speed realm, but to get a little bit more insight of your vacation patterns. So let me know, do you prefer

[00:21:54] mountains, beach, desert or big city when you travel with your families? Dan? Historic towns. I'm sorry. Historic towns in a mountain. You always go off-scrub, but that's okay. We'll forgive you. Chris? Recently desert. Desert. Yeah, desert's been really interesting. I'm a beach guy living

[00:22:17] in Minnesota. Like it's really hard for me to not plan a vacation that doesn't involve ocean and the sun. I'm with you. I like the warm weather. I gotta go to the beach. I love it.

[00:22:27] Okay. So if you have an option to do excursions activities, would you rather go hiking, go to museums, on tours or shows? Grant, you're up. I think hiking. It's one of those things where

[00:22:39] it sort of combines the exercise plus the unexpected. You just sort of get to spend time, that type of thing. So I'm on hiking right now. I agree. I love hiking. I love exploring new places and

[00:22:50] especially since we've been to the desert and doing some desert hikes, those have been really beautiful. It's going to watch out for those rattlesnakes. Yes, a lot of critters. I love taking tours, learning about a new place. Fancy that. I know. I love to get here.

[00:23:04] And that would say for me hiking as well. I love to just explore the outdoors and there's so many beautiful places to see. Fly or drive? Dan? Drive. Fly. Can I get back to you after spring break?

[00:23:20] I feel like you asked me that now. Asked me that again in April. It may give you a different answer. I'm going to say drive right now. I'm looking forward to the drive. We'll see.

[00:23:27] For me, it depends. We're going to check back in. We'll check back in. For me, it depends on the distance. I don't typically like long drives, but it depends what the destination is. I think you did it right. Flying to a spot and then driving a little bit.

[00:23:41] Yeah, I'll bring it up a little bit. I'll bring it up a little bit. That's a great idea. Okay. So best packing hack, Chris. Oh, wait till the morning of. Can you really take what you need?

[00:23:53] Grant? My wife's got me on the little cubes now. I use the packing cubes all the time. We recently went to Disney. She actually did my kids by day. So it was like, here is their Monday outfit and that's in one cube. So she just opened it up

[00:24:06] and did that for the kids. Very smart. That was great. Very smart. Less is more. You don't need seven pairs of shoes. Oh, but it depends. You never need that. I love it. My hack is I put all of my

[00:24:20] electronic, like my cords in one little pocket kind of organizer that I keep in my carry on. And so I don't have to be digging through everything. That's true. So in the plane you always want to have those easily accessible.

[00:24:31] Must have travel item. Grant? I bring when I fly, like a nice set of headphones that I can noise canceling, listen to movies, iPad, that type of thing. Or give numb verbals to the person sitting next to you that you want to relax.

[00:24:48] Yes, for sure. I agree when flying. Make sure you have the right headphones for sure and the power to make sure that you can keep them going. Perfect. Comfortable walking shoes. That was going to be mine. Yeah, comfortable shoes to wear.

[00:25:00] Wait, I'm sort of on lately. I've been uncomfortable shoes. What? Do you have uncomfortable shoes? I do. Get rid of them. Yes, I know, but they look awesome. I made sure it's on mine.

[00:25:11] So the last couple of times I've traveled, I've been wearing these pair of Yori joggers. These like travel pants that are like, they look nice, but they're also like really comfortable. And it's been like a game changer in like how I feel when I fly anywhere.

[00:25:27] So that may be my new answer. I only fly in those right now. That's good. No, comfortable shoes, comfortable clothes, very, very important. Well, I wish all three of you fun spring break ahead. We look forward to entertaining all of our fans that come here.

[00:25:41] Whether you are around the corner or across the country, you are welcome here for spring break and beyond. So that is going to do it for today's edition of So Much More. So we look forward to seeing you soon.

[00:25:52] Thank you for tuning in to today's episode of So Much More. If you want to hear more, be sure to subscribe to our podcast wherever you find your favorites, including Spotify, Apple or Google Podcast. And you can also watch a video cast on YouTube.

[00:26:06] Go to podcast.malvamerica.com to leave a review, ask a question, or give us an idea for the show. Until next time, thanks for listening. So Much More is presented by the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau, the official destination marketing organization for the city of Bloomington, Minnesota.

[00:26:24] Before your next trip to Mall of America, visit bloomingtonmn.org for answers to all your travel questions, deals and packages for hotel stays, and so much more.