Legends of the Nick Universe
On October 25, 2019, The American Dream Mall opened their Nickelodeon Universe theme park to the public. The mall was located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and was the second Nickelodeon Universe in the country. The first was the location in the Mall of America that opened in March 2008. The American Dream’s Nickelodeon Universe is similar to that of the Mall of America location. Each has attractions for all ages themed to different Nickelodeon properties such as Spongebob Squarepants, Fairy Odd Parents, Rugrats, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and more. These attractions range from roller coasters, spinning thrill rides, and kid play areas. Today we are going to take a look at an attraction unique to the New Jersey location: The Legends of the Hidden Temple Challenge.
Entrance to the attraction found at the Nick Universe in New Jersey
No need to worry about temple guards lurking on this attraction!
Legends of the Hidden Temple was a game show that ran on Nickelodeon in the mid 90s. It involved 6 teams of young contestants competing in numerous obstacles courses and challenges. The show was hosted by Kirk Fogg and narrated by a giant talking stone head named Olmec, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. Baker also voices Perry the Platypus of which you can find our blog about their attraction here:
https://www.thethemeparkfiles.com/blog/oh-there-you-are-perry
In the show, the final 2 players compete in an elaborate temple run challenge for the grand prize. The show was famous for its challenging temple run challenge, which featured frightening Temple Guards and the frustrating room featured in every episode: the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. This room had guests put together a monkey statue that was only 3 pieces, but faced with a ton of time pressure to properly complete it. Over 120 episodes were made of the show in total, with only 32 teams beating the final Temple Run round. The show became a classic and one of the most popular game shows that Nickelodeon produced in their lineup.
As a result of its popularity, an attraction was built around the game show at the new Nickelodeon Universe. The ride is called The Legends of the Hidden Temple Challenge, and debuted alongside the opening of the theme park. It is a 92 ft tall ropes course and was made in partnership with sky trail manufacturer RCI Adventure Products and amusement park developer Ride Entertainment. The ride is also considered the world’s tallest adventure ropes course. At the front of the attraction, Olmec can be found, greeting guests as they embark on this treacherous journey.
Olmec Statue featured at the entrance of the attraction
Below Olmec are the Steps of Knowledge: they originate from a round in the original gameshow that featured contestants answering questions about the episode’s theme
The attraction is split into two unique sections. The bottom section is for those 36-54 inches tall, while the upper section is open to those 48 inches tall. The ropes course can also hold up to 90 participants total at a time, which is quite a stark contrast to the show, which just had 2 contestants during a run. Different levels of the attraction are also themed and named after rooms from the show. There’s Medusa’s Lair, Viper’s Nest, Troubled Bridge, Bamboo Forest, Pharaoh's Secret Passage, and of course at the top, there’s the iconic and challenging Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
The temporarily closed Legends of the Hidden Temple Challenge attraction
If you look carefully, you can see the Shrine of the Silver Monkey
As a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the park shut down in March 2020. When it reopened in August 2020, Legends was not among the reopened attractions due to the nature of the ride. As more rides have reopened in the park, The Legends of the Hidden Temple Challenge still remains closed with no exact reopen date. Despite being closed for now, The Legends of the Hidden Temple Challenge will reopen sometime in the near future and offer plenty of thrills and nostalgia for those who wish to take the challenge.