West Edmonton Mall ~ tell me all about it!

[SandraC]

Hi all! We saw a bit of West Edmonton Mall on TV yesterday and I was IMPRESSED! I went to their web site ~ very nice! So tell me about it! What's it really like? Too big? Tell me about the hotel in the mall? THANKS! S

 

[E.Jane]

I've been there twice, and stayed at the hotel. ONly had a standard room, which was very nicely decorated. I don't know what the theme rooms are like - they had pictures at the check-in and they looked a little "gaudy" to me.

The mall itself is on one hand awsome, and on the other, totally frustrating! It's far too big to cover in a day. Despite it's size, I found many of the "same ol', same ol'" stuff. Really, it struck me as any other mall, just 20 times bigger. On the flip side, of course, there's the ice rink which is really nice. The amusement park section didn't appeal to me at all. WDW it ain't!!

I know lots of people pack their kids up and head to the hotel for a mini-vacation. I just don't get it. They can hang around our local mall for free!

It's worth seeing once - I'm not sure I'd pay the money to make a special visit there again. Both trips for me were business related.

 

[Timon]

I live 3 hours away and I have been many times. If you are young or have kids, it's a great place to be!!! Hubby and I stayed in the Hollywood Theme room a few years ago and it was neat!!! Some of the other theme rooms are even better but Hollywood was the only one they had available at the time.

The waterpark is awesome! The dolphin show is very good and the mini-golf is fun too! It is a typical mall with some cool stuff thrown in, which is what makes it worthwhile to visit. I like the big ship inside...replica of Columbus' Santa Maria (I believe..hmm maybe it's the Nina or Pinta...it's ONE of them anyway ) and the rollercoaster in Galaxyland (formerly Fantasyland before Disney got a hold of them!) is AMAZING!!!!! You pull 4.5 G's and it's indoor!!! We did some Cosmic Bowling at Red's and had a blast! There's also a lot of unique shops that are hard to find anywhere else and TONS of good food opportunities.

We haven't been in awhile...but now that I think about it, we should make a nice mini-trip out of it soon!

My sister takes her son every couple of months and he loves it!

It is definitely something to see at least once!

 

[SandraC]

THANKS!

E.Jane ~ when you say people sometimes make it a mini vacation and you don't get it LOL! It reminds me of folks who don't get it when I tell them we are going to WDW again!

Timon ~ THANKS for the great review! Sounds like my family would love it! When we went to the web site, my dd just flipped for the dolphins! We have been thinking of visit western Canada. We would wait a couple year thou. DD is really into dinosaurs, so we thought about visiting Drumheller. MIL and FIL flew to Edmonton, rented a car and drove to Vancouver and back to Edmonton. I think that's what we would do. I would likely stay at the hotel for a couple nights ~ we could enjoy the Mall for two full days (especially the dolphins!) and then off to BC.

Thanks again! S

 

[epcotfan]

If it is a stop on a visit to somewhere else then by all means take a peek. I personally would not make a trip to Edmonton specifically to see this mall-I was very dissapointed. I guess I just felt like it was the Eatons Center with a mini section of the CNE attached to it.
If you like shopping then you will be happy-but most of the stores I saw were here in Toronto too.

I was there this past May and went a couple of times visiting friends-mainly to eat or go to a movie. One said the water park is kind of gross (sorry to put it in those terms) He worked there years ago and quit because of that. You can view it through a large glass window. It doesn't have much theming. I decided I didn't want to go. People were eating really close to the water. Didn't seem like the cleanest water park I've been to.

The attractions are no better than anything you would find at the CNE. My friend told me that there was an accident on their major coaster that killed 3 people. I was scared watching it.

The dolphin pool is very, very small. I cringed at the size of it...poor things. I did think the skating rink was a nice touch.

I wish I had saved my $ for WDW.

 

[epcotfan]

Forgot to add I didn't stay in the mall. I found a better deal at the Sheraton in downtown Edmonton. Lovely room with a great view. I was supposed to go to Calgary but there was a freak snow storm while I was there and had to change ressies to the Coast Inn Edmonton-which was also downtown and very nice. Both hotels had great staff. I got a deal on the Coast Inn at the last minute through expedia. If you are willing to drive there are some good deals on rooms in downtown edmonton.

 

[bev r.]

SandraC,

I have to agree with Epcotfan. The mall is 10 minutes from my house, and it is not something that you want to plan your trip around or make it the highlight. There are many other great things around Edmonton to see if you are passing through such as the Odyssium and Fort Edmonton. WEM really not any different than any other big mall in Canada. As for the Dolphins, there only two of them left and the last time I was there they were not running any shows, due to one of the three remaining dolphins had died. I don't want to burst your bubble, but the mall really nothing spectacular. But if you are a shopaholic, enjoy....

 

[diz karen]

My daughter and I flew out for a long week-end a number of years ago. We had a great time. We stayed in one of the theme rooms. The Polynesian. Yes it was a little tacky but my daughter loved it. She had a great time in the giant tub in the room. Lots of bubbles, waterfall, etc. (I am sure if it was my husband and I we would have a great time in the tub too. )
I was not thrilled with the shopping as it was mostly just the same old stores.
We ate, went to a movie, skated, went on rides, sub ride, mini golf. etc. etc. It was just a fun convenint mini vacation.
My only gripe was that they charge a fortune for everything, because of that I do not think I would do it again.

 

[northernmouse]

Sandra C., I live in Edmonton, too. The mall is a tourist attraction, yes, (I avoid it like some Floridians avoid WDW!) but I would not plan a holiday specifically for it. The mall can be a lot of fun -- the shopping is good, and yes, a lot of it is what you will find in Ontario, with prices that are 7 (8?)% less because there is no PST. The amusement park is entertaining, and I've seen some of the theme rooms (have never stayed there). The campy factor makes them fun.

If your daughter likes dinosaurs, Drumheller and the Royal Tyrell (sp?) museum is a must. You can spend the whole day (or two) in the museum and exploring in the hoo-doos surrounding it.

What I would be inclined to do is fly in to Calgary, drive to Drumheller (an hour or so away), stay overnight to visit the museum, drive to Edmonton (about 2 1/2 hours) and overnight at WEM for a day or so, then drive to Vacouver via the northern route through Jasper (take two easy days to get to Vancouver), and return to Calgary via the southern route through Lake Louise/Banff (about two easy days). That way, you get to see all of what you want on a route that works like a big circle.

 

[SandraC]

northenmouse, I AM BLOWING YOU A BIG KISS! THANKS! S

 

[calgarygary]

I have to put in my two cents now. I agree with what others have said. Visiting Edmonton for the mall will be a huge mistake. The waterpark is of course a cement floor painted and textured to look like sand. The entire mall has not maintained the high maitenance standards which it opened with. Also, it is a magnet for gangs in the Edmonton area and has been a repeated scene of violence. The Tyrell is a MUST for any family that has an interest in dinosaurs. Calgary during the Stampede or Edmonton during Klondike days would be the best timing. Remembering that an exhibition is an exhibition - it's what's going on throughout both cities that is worth seeing and being a part of. Finally as to route, to come this far and not drive the Icefields Parkway (Lake Louise to Jasper) would be a mistake. Allow a couple of days so that you can explore the icefields and many scenic trails along that highway. Have a great time deciding. It's like trying to pick among the Orlando resorts, hard to be wrong but sure to see something better.


Gary

 

[Absimilliard]

Mindbender is the name of the huge rollercoaster at WEM. From what I founded on it:

Its a creation of the best rollercoaster designer, a german called Anton Schwarzkopf. He designed lots and lots of rollercoasters all over the world. He's famous for smooth and powerful rides!

Mindbender pulls a mighty 5,9-6,2 G's, the rollercoaster operating in the world with the most G's (another creation of Mr. Schwarzkopf in Houston, Texas pulls 6'7 G's! But, its been closed for a while for a while, due to the new restraints the park putted on it. Its opened for a few hours last year with those restraints, then closed. Its hasn't been open since.)

The accident you were refering about was caused by a few factors putted together:

- The operating manual was never translated from german to english

- The maintenance crew only relied on "visual" inspections of the ride.

What happened was that the axle of a car broke... flinging the car off track. In a tragic turn of events, the car restraints (a lap bar per rider) opened and... I'll spare the details.

Interestingly, the management of the place blamed it all on the designer, turning a blind eye on the faulty maintenance of the ride..

To make it "safer", they modified each train, so they have a shoulder restraint (a pair of bars that comes on the shoulders, in addition to the lap bar) and modified each train so they have 3 cars instead of 4. Now, these 3 cars are composed of "lead car", that have 2 axles (the original train was composed of one 2 axle car and 3 trailered 1 axle cars).

So, there you go, a small history of the ride.

P.S. To show you how safe the rides of this designer are under normal operation (good maintenance, etc.), in 1997 or 1998, a train was stuck on a Schwarzkopf rollercoaste... upside down. The train had the original restraints, the lap bars and even if the riders were stuck 2 hours upside down... nobody fell down or were injured. The train was stuck in a one out of billions thing (the launch malfunctioned and didn't accelerate the train enough). If the train whould have a few inches more on either side... its whould have rolled out, but fate decided otherwise!