This week I drove to the American Dream to scout out the venue for the upcoming July 2020 Transplant Games of America, about an hour up the NJ Turnpike since I live in southern NJ. What an amazing facility! Still under major construction, hopefully much more completed by our July event there, but what was open was awesome. Big Snow, the huge indoor snowboarding/skiing section has opened just a week or so ago and with an indoor tour (vs. just looking through the beautiful observation windows in the warm shop area) of the constant 28 degree (very cold!) snow-covered slope area one can envision how even that area will be complemented with restaurants that will overlook the slopes when completed. The slopes were busy and I can only imagine how popular this will be in the heat of a NJ summer season! (see Bill Soloway and I in the photo below)
The other area currently open was the amusement park, another beyond imagination part of the venue. Rides and colorful scenes invite visitors to pay almost $50 per person daily fee to enjoy this section. We viewed it from an overlook that didn't cost to visit. (See another photo in the REPLY section)
Finally, tempting the taste buds was the SWEET PLACE, an over the top candy shop, 2 stories (with a 3rd to come) of everything one can imagine in the candy world. The entrance is through a colorful canopy with columns and a huge Statue of Liberty (maybe 20 feet high?) made up entirely of jelly beans, some 1,500,000 of them!!! Despite wanting to sample everything (no, you don't get any free samples!), I couldn't see myself paying the $15.99/lb price to pick your own bag of treats. A family attending the Games in July would do well to keep the kids out of here unless they are prepared to spend a small fortune with bags that quickly fill beyond that pound mark. (again, see photo by Bill in the next REPLY).
There will be so much more to see and do by July that will serve as a distraction to the games, much the same way the Disney venue was many years ago when the US Transplant Games were hosted there in Orlando. Hope to see you there.