Winter is coming. But the always 70-degree Fahrenheit (21 Celsius) Mall of America® is ready with end-of-year festivities and new amenities rolling out in the next few weeks.

After exhaustive hardware installation and miles of wiring, the Mall recently debuted free (and fast!) Wi-Fi. This feature will be especially important for international guests that don't have a roaming data plan who want to stay in touch with people back home and keep those social media platforms humming with posts of their fun and tax-free shopping adventures.

On November 9, Mall of America will unveil its paperless valet parking service, available for all guests. Vehicle drop-off and pick-up will be available at five different locations around the Mall. Yes, that means you can drop off your car at one entrance and have it brought to you at another entrance!

As if Black Friday weren't lively enough, we are bringing back “Twizzard” (a Twitter-powered indoor blizzard) for the four day weekend. Visit http://thetwizzard.com/ to learn how you can make it snow in our Rotunda event space, even if you're not in the Mall!

Our new thrill ride, Shredder's Mutant Masher, opens this weekend! The antagonist to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has devised a diabolical, giant pendulum that spins and swings riders more than 60 feet in the air.

Once again, we are pulling out all the stops for our holiday decorations, including two 44-foot Christmas trees in the Rotunda, seven 11-foot Nutcrackers and giant ornaments weighing 200 to 300 pounds! Also, more than 21 miles of energy-saving LED lights will be hung around the Mall to cheer even the most determined grinches this holiday season.

Upcoming attractions in 2016 include the 4D, multi-sensory ride FlyOver America (spring) and Crayola Experience (June).

Mall of America is across the street from Minneapolis - St Paul International Airport, a hub for Delta Airlines, with daily non-stops to London Heathrow, Amsterdam, Paris, Tokyo and many other connections. You can get to the Mall in about five minutes by taxi (US$14) or 13 minutes by light rail (US$1.75-2.25), meaning a Mall visit for dining or tax-free shopping on clothing and shoes can be easily done with a three-hour layover or longer. Or stay awhile at one of the two hotels attached to the Mall, Radisson Blu Mall of America and JW Marriott.

ABOUT MALL OF AMERICA

Mall of America® is the largest retail and entertainment complex in the Western Hemisphere. At 5.62 million square feet, the Mall is home to more than 520 world-class shops; Nickelodeon Universe®, the nation's largest indoor family theme park; SEA LIFE® Minnesota Aquarium, a 1.3 million gallon walk-through aquarium; Hard Rock Cafe; Moose Mountain Adventure Golf; Theatres at Mall of America, a 14-screen movie theater with digital projection including 4K, digital sound and 3D capabilities; Radisson Blu Mall of America, a 500-room hotel, and the five-star JW Marriott, both connected to the Mall by skyway. The Mall opened in August of 1992 and is located in Bloomington, Minn., just minutes from downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. Follow Mall of America on Facebook and Twitter.