The top executive at American Dream is predicting that the mega-mall, whose Nickelodeon Universe theme park and NHL-sized ice-skating rink opened Friday, will transform northern New Jersey into a global tourist destination.

Don Ghermezian told the New York Times that the Triple Five Group, the property’s owner, used its other mall properties — Mall of America in Minnesota and West Edmonton Mall in Canada — as collateral and invested personal funds into the project.

“We believe we are visionaries,” he told the newspaper. "And sometimes to be a visionary, to step outside of the norm, you have to think big.”

Ghermezian further said that American Dream “absolutely” plans to compete with places such as Walt Disney World in Florida.

“You don’t need to get in your plane to fly to Orlando anymore,” he said. “You can just come across the river.”

The theme park and skating rink are the only two venues at American Dream, a massive shopping, dining and entertainment complex in the works for 17 years, that opened on Friday.

The others are arriving in stages through the first half of 2020.

Ghermezian told the New York Times it would have been a a “great injustice” to open the Nickelodeon park at the same time as everything else.

As for why the theme park’s main concession stands were not yet ready, he said, “If you want to be a nit-picker, I can’t stop you from doing that,” he said.

See more of our ongoing coverage of the American Dream mall here.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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