American Dream, the entertainment and shopping extravaganza that North Jersey has anticipated for close to 17 years, is finally taking shape ahead of its projected spring opening.

Over the past months, as the pace of construction has moved faster, companies, including officials of American Dream,have turned to social media to share glimpses of their progress. Companies have also given updates of their own for industry insiders eager to keep up. Workers inside the construction site, too, have shared rare glimpses of the site on their social media pages.

Photos on Instagram, geo-tagged to American Dream’s location, showcase what appear to be the skeleton of a multi-level mall and videos of roller coasters twisting through the otherwise-empty complex. Other images show construction workers in hard hats walking through what appears to be the underbelly of some of the project's attractions, and sitting on ski lifts. The photos begin to piece together what the massive mall and its many features will soon look like.

The American Dream project, a product of Canadian-based developer Triple Five, is anticipated by experts to be the first of its kind. Officials, on the project's website, have boasted features unique to the 3 million-square-foot retail and entertainment complex, including a Nickelodeon Universe theme park, an indoor snow park, a water park and retail and dining options.

"We are creating something completely new and dynamic in the world's most incredible market,” Don Ghermezian, American Dream’s president and chief executive, told Women’s Wear Daily ahead of its CEO Summit in October. “We are redefining the future of retail and entertainment and reshaping the customer experience.”

Officials with American Dream did not respond to multiple requests to elaborate on the progress at the site.

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The company has already begun looking for would-be employees to fill some of the 16,200 jobs the project is expected to create, according to Triple Five. Its website has listed several open positions, including graphic designer, engineer, water park aquatics manager, ride maintenance supervisor and K-9 officer.

The last time officials released new information about the project was in November, when they sharedimages of its indoor Dreamworks Water Park. The photos show brightly colored tubes that seemed to be in the early stages of being put together on-site. Once finished, it will be the country's largest indoor water park, Triple Five has said.

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The American Dream project — first proposed in 2002 as Xanadu, a mega-mall envisioned by its original developer, Mills Corp. — had languished alongside the New Jersey Turnpike for nearly 15 years. Over the past year, however, passers-by could eye visible changes to its structures.

The multicolored walls, which go back to the project's early Xanadu days, began a transformation to more subtle tones. Walls began to rise throughout the project, and its outer shell was formed. Roller coasters, too, could be seen behind towering glass enclosures.

In August, officials announced that most of the project would be finished by spring, with the exception of the water park, which would be finished by September. An official opening date for the project has yet to be announced.

One aspect of the project that has progressed extensively is the Nickelodeon Universe theme park, which will have two record-breaking roller coasters. Across social media, curious minds could stumble upon images demonstrating progress inside the theme park that show the coasters beginning to form, along with other attractions, like a 10-story rope course.

Ride Entertainment, a Maryland-based company with deep ties in the attractions industry, is involved with multiple projects within American Dream's theme park, according to a December post on the company’s website. The company described its involvement in the project as its biggest announcement of 2018. Some of its projects last year included Tantrum at New York's Darien Lake and the Skycoaster at Adventure Park USA in Maryland.

Adam Sandy, president of Ride Entertainment's business development, did not respond to requests for comment. The company, however, shared on Twitter on Dec. 28 a photo of a 10-story attraction from Michigan-based Ropes Courses Inc. inside American Dream.

“Are you ready to climb nearly ten stories then free fall back to Earth?” the post read.

Ride Entertainment also is involved with two coasters that are being constructed at American Dream, according to its website. They are called Euro-Fighter, described as having the world’s steepest roller coaster drop, and the Spinning Coaster, which twists through the first coaster. Both are manufactured by German-based Gerstlauer. The two coasters are the largest in the park.

An international company, Martin & Vleminckx-The Rides Companies, or MVR for short, is putting the coasters in the Meadowlands, according to an employee who answered a call at the company’s Florida location. The employee, who said the rides are still being installed, referred questions to the company's on-site project manager, David Welsh, who declined to comment for contractual reasons.

MVR shared photos of the coaster’s installations on Facebook. “We are making great progress,” read the post, dated Oct. 4, 2018.

KCL Engineering, another company working with Ride Entertainment, was tasked with the job of lighting some of the coasters, according to a release on its website. Officials with the company said they could not comment for this story.

The company, which has worked on projects in California and Oregon, said its newest lighting concept will be installed at the indoor theme park in American Dream. It will be the company’s first East Coast installation of its signature roller coaster lighting system, the statement said.

“The complete lighting effects system will create a unique experience that syncs to music and other external inputs, displaying a thrilling light show for those riding the coaster, walking through the theme park, and even people miles away in New York City,” the statement read. “KCL’s exceptional lighting system is yet another element that will differentiate American Dream from any other project in the world.”

Another company, Newark-based Josloff Glass Co., also posted images on Instagram of a "drop tower" at the American Dream complex. One image, dated Dec. 17, 2018, showed a glass enclosure resurrected on the site, and other posts show earlier stages of its progress.

It was unclear where the "drop tower" was located on the American Dream site. An email to Josloff Glass officials was not immediately returned.

According to the company's website, it has also been involved with other local projects, including at the Prudential Center in Newark and at MetLife Stadium, which sits across the highway from American Dream. The company's Instagram account only shows images beginning in mid-December.

Some of the most revealing posts on social media, however, are from workers inside the complex. Videos, largely, show construction over time at the site, as attractions begin to take shape and ceilings begin to reflect the familiar outline of a typical mall. One image shows a worker sitting on a ski lift, which is likely part of the project's indoor ski slope — a curious structure visible to onlookers for years.

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Some aspects of the project will naturally be more visible to passers-by than others.

There is the glass-enclosed Dreamworks Water Park — billed as North America's largest indoor water park — as well as Big Snow America, described as the first indoor ski and snowboard park in the Western Hemisphere. An observation wheel with 26 climate-controlled gondolas to take in views of nearby New York City will also eventually begin to take shape.

Other aspects of the project, however, may remain largely under wraps until spring.

American Dream also includes a performing arts theater, an aquarium, a hockey rink and more than a dozen full-service restaurants. The complex will have a 1,400-seat, luxury theater complex, which will be the only CMX theater in the New York metro area, a Kidzania children's play space and a Legoland Discovery Center.

Triple Five last year announced there will be a food hall operated by the Munchies digital food channel and website, with demonstrations and events by celebrity chefs, inside American Dream.

News about what kind of eats will be in the mega-mall continues to break. Last week, a New York City-based Korean restaurant, Dons Bogam, told Jersey Digs it will be opening its first New Jersey location at American Dream. The restaurant did not immediately respond to a request for comment or confirmation on Thursday.

Triple Five has said the Bergen County project, when completed, will be 55 percent entertainment and 45 percent retail. Some of its anticipated tenants, which include brands that will have flagship locations in American Dream, are: Saks, Saks Off Fifth, Aritza, Banana Republic, Century 21, Gap, Hermes, Lululemon, MAC, Microsoft, Pink, Uniqlo, Victoria's Secret and Zara.

The developers of American Dream also own the largest mall and entertainment complexes in North America: the Mall of America in Minnesota and the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta. They also are building an American Dream project in Miami.