New & Coming Soon to the Meadowlands
• American Dream, the three-million-square-foot entertainment and retail complex, has added more reasons for groups to visit. From the larger attractions like DreamWorks Water Park (America’s largest Indoor Water Park, pictured below), Nickelodeon Universe (the largest indoor theme park in America) and Big Snow (the first and only indoor real-snow, year-round ski resort); to other main attractions like the Paradox Museum (an 11,000-square-foot venue with more than 70 eye-catching exhibits designed to fool the eye), engage the senses and test visitors’ perceptions of reality; and Activate, an indoor, interactive gaming experience that features nine game rooms and an array of team-building experiences that challenge participants’ ability to work together.
• Other entertainment venues at American Dream include Blast 7D — a fully immersive and interactive 7-D ride, the Escape Game featuring seven escape rooms to test visitors' problem-solving and teamwork skills, and the Great Big Game Show offering a variety of game shows where teams face off with the lights, sounds, and energy of a real TV show production. There is also LEGOLAND Discovery Center to stimulate creativity or SEA LIFE Aquarium featuring 10 aquatic exhibits in underwater tunnels.
• Visitors can also celebrate legendary Garden State residents at the recently opened New Jersey Hall of Fame, also at American Dream. Attendees can sing on a karaoke stage next to holograms of Gloria Gaynor, Wyclef Jean and Frankie Valli, interact with holograms of Danny DeVito and Jon Bon Jovi or admire the Model T that Henry Ford gave to Thomas Edison in 1916. The 10,000-square-foot facility is open seven days a week, year-round.
• Gameroom, Powered by Hasbro at American Dream is a 41,500-square-foot entertainment center with an array of arcade games. Onsite food and beverage options at the new attraction include Gameroom Eats, a full-service restaurant, a cocktail bar called the Game Bar and a dessert shop called Candy Land Shake Bar.
• With locations in Paramus and Edison, learn to fly at iFLY — an indoor skydiving experience where you will literally float on a column of air simulating the free fall of a traditional skydive.
• Visit the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center in Montclair to learn about the baseball legend’s life as a major league baseball record holder, coach and manager, and the legacy of his integrity that made Yogi Berra a true national treasure.
• The number of attractions in the Meadowlands region continues to grow. Among the newest is Pinstripes, a restaurant and entertainment center that has opened at Garden State Plaza in Paramus. Groups from 20 to 1,000 can dive into cuisine from the venue’s Italian-American bistro menu while engaging in games of bowling and bocce, and ballrooms can be customized to suit a group’s specific needs and style.
• The new, $2.7 billion Terminal A has debuted at Newark Liberty International Airport. The facility, which can handle an estimated 13.6 million passengers a year, landed an impressive third-place finish in the World Airport Awards' best new global
terminal category. In addition to the new terminal, the $3.3 billion Newark Liberty redevelopment program includes a new parking garage and a centralized rental-car facility.
• The Meadowlands’ positioning as a go-to destination for groups may get a giant boost if plans for a proposed Meadowlands Convention Center district
come to fruition. The Meadowlands 2040 Foundation and Meadowlands Live
Convention and Visitors Bureau announced details about Phase 2 of the $1.6 billion project in February. The plan calls for the Meadowlands Arena to be replaced with a newly built convention facility that would include 300,000 square feet of exhibit
space, a 60,000-square-foot ballroom and about 75 smaller meeting rooms. Three hotels with a total of 2,200 guest rooms are also part of the proposal.
• The Hilton Hasbrouck Heights Meadowlands has completed renovations and upgrades
to its lobby and bar/restaurant venue. The 355-room property offers 32,329 square feet of meeting and event space.
• The Holiday Inn Hasbrouck Heights – Meadowlands has updated its public areas and food and beverage venues. The 244-room property has four meeting rooms.
More Meeting & Event Venues in the Meadowlands
• The 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium, hosts an array of large-scale events, ranging from football games to monster truck competitions and dirt bike Supercross events. The venue accommodates
private events in spaces including the 10,700-square-foot Commissioners Club, 18,000-square-foot EY Coaches Club and the Corona Beach Club and West Mezzanine Club, both of which measure 30,000 square feet. The stadium's robust calendar of events lists a variety of upcoming live events. Upcoming sports events the stadium will host the Copa America semifinals in summer 2024 and the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final.
• Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment is another popular venue for sporting excitement, with year-round harness racing and the FanDuel Sportsbook at its Meadowlands Racetrack. The facility has multiple spaces for private events, including a 6,034-square-foot trackside venue, 3,973-square-foot Skybox Suites and a second-floor Gallery that accommodates 75 attendees.
•
Host a spirited event
at Bolero Snort,
a brewery located in the Meadowlands. Its venues include a tasting room with 10
tap lines and room for 60 guests, as well as an open-air beer garden, space for
live music and presentations and a tented area with seating for 90.
•
Located in the town of
Wood-Ridge, Fiesta Banquets offers onsite services and amenities, including food and beverage and
audiovisual equipment. Fiesta’s meeting and event spaces range from ballrooms
to breakout rooms and boardrooms and can accommodate groups of up to 500.
• Planners can treat attendees to sumptuous Italian cuisine
at Il Villaggio,
a restaurant with more than 39 years of history in Bergen County, New Jersey.
The venue’s banquet and gala space accommodates 50 to 275 guests and can host
anything from simple group lunches to extravagant ballroom gala events.
•
The
159-room MC Hotel, Autograph Collection
in Montclair is home to meeting and event venues including rooftop bar Alto, an
3,032-square-foot ballroom, a
458-square-foot gallery and a 380-square-foot boardroom, which accommodates 10
in a conference room layout.
• Proximity to major meeting and event venues is a big
selling point for the Courtyard by Marriott, Lyndhurst Meadowlands,
which is just 1.6 miles from both American Dream and Met Life Stadium and also
offers easy access to the Meadowlands Racetrack, Medieval Times and Prudential
Center. The property features 4,483 square feet of event space, including three
breakout rooms.
• For great value with a view, it’s hard to beat the accommodations and event space at the Sheraton
Lincoln Harbor Hotel, which offers a convenient location in Weehawken, N.J., just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. The property offers 4,348 square feet of meeting and event space as well as an Italian restaurant, 24-hour fitness center and
indoor heated pool.
• The Canopy by Hilton Jersey City Arts District is located in Jersey City’s
Powerhouse Arts District, just two blocks from the Grove Street PATH train station that runs into New York City. The 211-room property has a fitness center, restaurant and 2,128 square feet of event space, including four meeting rooms
• Dream Live, a 30,000-square-foot, customizable space that accommodates 900 attendees for standing events, is part of American Dream. Its 4,500-square-foot, Art
Deco-style lobby can be booked alone or with the main space. Features include a public-facing marquee LCD displays, as well as a video wall with nine 55-inch LCD displays.
• The Bergen Performing Arts Center, known as BergenPAC, hosts more than 200 live performances every year, ranging from music to dance to comedy. Planners can make use of multiple spaces within
the Englewood, N.J.,facility, including rehearsal spaces, the Sandy Bennett Art Gallery, the 80-person Drapkin Cabaret and Lounge and 1,367-seat main theater. In addition, the Performing Arts School at BergenPAC offers event space.
• Planners can dazzle attendees with big-screen presentations at the Showplace ICON Theater & Kitchen/Secaucus Kerasotes Showplace 14, a
multi-screen venue that hosts events including high-tech meetings, presentations and private screenings. Food and beverage options come from ICON’s Lobby Lounge and catering menu.
• Among the many group-friendly hotels in the Meadowlands area is the La Quinta Inn
& Suites by Wyndham Secaucus Meadowlands, which is conveniently located off of I-95 near MetLife Stadium and American Dream. Groups can make use of the property’s 10,000 square feet of event space, which includes 14 meeting rooms. Guests, meanwhile,
can also enjoy the free breakfast, free parking and indoor heated swimming pool.
• Planners looking for a hotel with a view in the Meadowlands area will find lots to like at EnVue, Autograph Collection by Marriott.
The 208-room property, located on the Hudson River waterfront in the town of Weehawken, features a 25,000-square-foot outdoor terrace that offers impressive views of Manhattan. More than 19,000 square feet of event space is also available on site,
including nine event rooms.
• The 427-room Hilton Meadowlands has 29,254 square feet of meeting and event space, with 29
meeting rooms, as well as a business center, exercise room, heated indoor swimming pool, restaurant and Starbucks onsite.
• The 126-room Element New York - Wood Ridge, located in Wood Ridge, has 628 square feet
of meeting space. The property offers free daily breakfast and features an indoor swimming pool, fitness center and a rooftop bar.
• The 159-room Hyatt Place Secaucus/Meadowlands, located near the Meadowlands Exposition Center, has two
meeting rooms and 1,100 square feet of event space as well as an onsite restaurant.
• The 149-room SpringHill Suites East Rutherford Meadowlands/Carlstadt offers a 380-square-foot meeting room, as well as an indoor swimming pool, fitness center and 24-hour business center.