American Dream water park reopens after display helicopter crash

Six days after a giant decorative helicopter fell into the pool and injured four people at American Dream’s water park, visitors lined up to enter the attraction when it reopened Saturday.

“Amazing … it’s a blast” was how Manhattan resident Chloe Slotkin, 30, described the DreamWorks attraction.

Speaking by phone from inside the water park, she said she drove there Saturday from Manhattan with her husband and their 6-year-old. The line to enter the water park was long at 11 a.m. and stretched to the entrance to the indoor ski adventure area, she said.

The Record was not permitted to enter the water park on Saturday.

The mall has removed the suspended helicopter from the water park after a state investigation found that damage to the wire holding it up caused the fall.

“Damage found on the wire rope used to suspend the helicopter” was directly responsible for its falling into the pool, the state Department of Community Affairs said in a statement to The Record.

The state collaborated with a third-party engineering firm to inspect the site.

“This helicopter feature has been permanently removed. The engineering firm also deemed the current remaining features to be structurally sound and safe for continued use,” the DCA said.

The water park has several displays suspended from the ceiling over its main pool, including giant figures of Shrek and Kung Fu Panda.

American Dream immediately closed the water park to visitors after the previous Sunday's incident. A DCA building inspector arrived onsite shortly afterward and issued an emergency “Notice of Unsafe Structure.”

A “Cease of Operations” was also issued and remained in effect throughout the week while a two-part inspection took place. That involved examining all the components of the decorative helicopter and all other suspended objects in the water park.

American Dream spokeswoman Jessica Griffin released the following statement on Friday: "American Dream is pleased to announce the DreamWorks Water Park will reopen on Saturday, February 25th, having met all safety regulations and requirements following a rigorous investigation and review conducted with the state, County Department of Health, and independent engineering consultants. We are excited to welcome guests back to the water park and look forward to seeing visitors enjoying the facility this weekend."

Maybe it was the winter freeze Saturday morning, but food courts and the parking lot leading into the water park and other attractions were packed. The megamall’s history of accidents — there was also a 2021 fire that shut down the indoor ski slope for eight months, and an indoor snowboarder’s tragic death in December — did not appear to be on anyone's mind.

The Slotkin family was at the mall’s Nickelodeon theme park from Wednesday until Friday during their son’s midwinter break, and had booked a hotel right across from it.

They already had tickets and came back “every single day” to see if the water park had reopened, so it made sense to drive back to American Dream on Saturday morning, she said.

Queens resident Melissa, who did not provide her last name, was headed to the water park with her family. She said she heard about the helicopter fall but was going in anyway.

“If something has to happen, it will happen,” she said with a shrug.

Amelia Smith was visiting with her two children from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. A friend told her to check out New Jersey’s megamall.

There aren’t many busy malls where they live, she said, so she brought her kids. It was an experience, but she said she would skip the water park.

Ridgewood resident Marc Gurreri was at the mall for the first time with his wife, sister and two children.

“I’m here to check it out,” he said.

He had heard about the helicopter dropping into the water, but he was more interested in learning about snowboarding options for a future trip at the indoor ski slope.

The mall certainly had “the wow factor,” he said.

Would he come back?

“Maybe not on a Saturday,” his sister advised, looking at the crowds.

The mishap on Feb. 19 left four patrons of the park with non-life-threatening injuries when the helicopter, which normally hangs from the ceiling of the water park, became detached and fell into the pool just after 3 p.m. The park was evacuated. The rest of the mall and its attractions remained open.

The Amusement Ride Safety Inspections Unit, an arm of the state Department of Community Affairs, had been on site at the water park, DCA spokesperson Lisa Ryan said earlier last week. The agency deemed the water park an “unsafe structure” and ordered it to stay closed while the investigation was taking place, Ryan said.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: American Dream water park opens after display helicopter crash