Why Did Mall of America's Camp Snoopy Change its Name to the Park at MOA?

Over the years, the seven acre amusement park enclosed within the Mall of America's walls has been known by a couple of names. When the mall first opened its doors in 1992, it was called Knott's Camp Snoopy in tribute to the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, Charles Schulz. Schulz was born and raised in Minneapolis-St. Paul and the tribute allowed the mall to integrate a bit of local history into the tourist attraction.

One of the most obvious features of the park until recently was a large inflatable statue of Snoopy who smiled down on passers-by from the west end of the park. Snoopy became a popular meeting point for families and groups who split up during their visit to the Mall of America and the phrase "Meet me at Snoopy" was often heard.

In early 2005, however, the mall decided to take over operations of the theme park. Previously, the park was run by Cedar Fair, a company who operates several amusement parks around the country including Knott's Berry Farm in California and Valleyfair in Shakopee, MN. Because the Mall of America and Cedar Fair had different viewpoints on how to promote the amusement park, the mall decided not to renew their contract with Cedar Fair and that's when the dispute over the Snoopy theme began.

United Media, a comic strip syndication service, currently owns the rights to Schulz's creation and had already sold Cedar Fair an exclusive license to use the Snoopy brand in its own amusement parks. Though the Mall of America tried to haggle a deal with United Media, they failed and, in January of 2006, the mall was forced to change the theme of the park to it's current moniker, The Park at MOA. Everything Peanuts-related was ripped from the park, including several rides and shops featuring the cartoon characters.

These days, not much in The Park has changed. The atmosphere is still festive as both locals and tourists wander the area. The rides, midway games, food stands, and gift shops sometimes change but, for the most part, stay the same. Now, the most obvious feature of the park seems to be the colorful seven-story Skyscraper Ferris Wheel situated on the park's north end. Most first-time visitors to the park wouldn't notice anything unappealing and, I imagine, most enjoy their stay. But, for some locals, a little twinge of regret washes over us as we walk past the west end and remember Snoopy's gentle wave.