Memories of WEM (West Edmonton Mall)

This isn’t the type of articles that I usually write but I thought it would be an interesting deep dive into the powerful ocean that is nostalgia. I was watching a video on YouTube by Best Edmonton Mall, a channel focusing predominantly on the past, present and future of West Edmonton Mall and he was discussing the Mardi Gras statues that use to occupy Bourbon Street. For those unaware, West Edmonton Mall is an entertainment complex in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada that started out as the world’s biggest mall and developed into a much different beast as time has went on. Bourbon Street is a section of the mall that houses restaurants. The area use to have a New Orleans feel, but now has become more of a standard restaurant food court area. Watching this specific video brought me back to when I was a kid and the colourful Mardi Gras jesters filled the area. They were implemented in the area sometime in the end half of the 90s as the theme of the area began to shift. I’ve always wanted to do a video or an article about my memories of the mall when I was younger for a few reasons. For one, the nostalgia I have is probably very similar to others older than me or the same window of age as me. The other reason that is more about the mall is the fact that West Ed over the past 10 or so years seems to be losing bits of its charm as time goes on. These elements that made this destination special are slowly being lost to time. I’m thankful for people like Best Edmonton Mall on youtube for keeping records of these things and I hope that this article can also help in that.

I was born in 2001, but I have memories of going to West Ed as far back as I can remember. In relation to what got me to write this article, I have many memories of going to the mall and seeing the jesters around and in Bourbon Street. Some might know what i’m talking about if they’ve seen Christmas In Wonderland, a forgotten Christmas film that also has ties to my nostalgia for the mall despite it not being the best of quality. Like the land changes in Disney parks, the jesters almost beckoned the customers in to try some of their more high end food locations and check out the interesting and unique decor. I’m not old enough to remember the statues of streetwalkers and tuba players or when there was a Johnny Rockets location or a Hard Rock Cafe location in that area, but I definitely remember when the mall began the revitalization of that area during the beginning of the millennium with the bright flashy colours of Mardi Gras. The colourful aesthetic and vibe of the area made it much more fun to visit and eat at, especially seeing it through a young pair of eyes. It had a fun energy that transported you to New Orleans for just a brief moment of time. It’s unfortunate that the area, now just called BRBN Street has become a bit generic and modern in a sense, because Bourbon Street definitely was one of the things that brought the mall its flair.

Another element that is closely tied to the mall’s identity is Galaxyland, the amusement park connected to the mall. The big news story of the year Edmonton has been the closure and dismantling of the world famous Mindbender, the roller coaster that still held world records. I unfortunately never got to ride it, but I had many chances to do so. My father recalls being at the mall and riding the Mindbender mere moments before the infamous accident that occurred. That moment is one that the mall is definitely not proud of, but it has become ingrained into their identity. My dad also has a wild story about the Mindbender that occurred one time when we were visiting. My family was in town for my sister’s soccer tournament and my dad decided to ride the coaster. There are two restraints on the ride, the lap seatbelt and the overhead restraint to keep you in the ride. My dad went on the ride and heard a metal banging noise throughout the run of the ride. He didn’t notice until the ride finished that he forgot to do up the lap seatbelt. While the Mindbender isn’t the brightest element attached to the mall in terms of history, I would have loved to try it out at least once now looking back in retrospect. It was an important part of the mall’s history and I kinda let it slip by me.

There are other rides that I was unable to try because they were gone by the time I was alive to ride them. One that my dad spoke highly of was the Drop Of Doom that was similar to how the Tower Of Terror drops you, but you get dropped down a shaft and end up on your back. Another addition to the park that was highly sought after by my dad was the zipper, that use to be a mainstay at Galaxyland. My dad has stories of doing the zipper as many times as he could with his friends. There are rides that I got to do throughout my times going there including the Autosled and the Astro Orbiter, two coasters that had a unique style to them. The park is currently going through a revamp connected to Hasbro. Similar to BRBN Street, Galaxyland is losing a bit of its identity in the process.

One element of the mall that I have many memories of is the World Waterpark, the large indoor waterpark located in the middle of the mall. I remember trying to swim through the massive waves that are created by a huge wave machine. I remember trying out all the slides, no matter how much they hurt to ride. I remember when there was a bungee jumping pad and people would always tell stories of trying it out and being completely scared. I remember hearing that there was a slide put into the park that sent you through a loop and being completely baffled how a person could go through a loop when it came to a waterslide. I remember going one time with my dad and he found out that the lazy river ride wasn’t operating anymore. He had memories of just riding that and enjoying the vibes. The lazy river has become a staple of mall nostalgia over the years as Matthew from Best Edmonton Mall even calls it one of his favourite attractions from the past.

Another part of the mall that my dad remembers fondly but I never got to try was the submarine voyage. There was a submarine that would take you under the lake where the huge pirate ship also sits and you could see such things as treasure, fish, mermaids and all things of that sort. It would have been interesting to try that out once and see what it would have been like to experience it.

Anyone who knows me knows I love movies, a few of my early movie going memories are attached to theatres in the mall. There’s only one cineplex location in the mall, but in the history of the mall, there has been 4 different movie theatres that were all operating at the same time. I remember going to see Looney Tunes: Back In Action at a theatre that use to be located on the second floor. That theatre was replaced by a live theatre called Jubilations that is also a unique experience for the mall. There also use to be a smaller cheaper second run theatre located in the main food court. That got replaced by some stores, but I have a memory of seeing Space Chimps in that theatre, a film that many forgot came out. There was also a dollar movie theatre in the basement of the mall but that got replaced by West 49’s skatepark at some point. I don’t remember seeing a movie in that dollar movie theatre but it might have been around when I was younger.

The big theatre and the one that is still around to this day is the huge cineplex on the third floor. That theatre is infamous for what it use to have, that being a big animatronic dragon that breathed fire on guests. I remember being a kid and going to that theatre only to be completely terrified of this big red dragon ready to blow some of its heat onto us. What made the situation even worse was the long escalator that led up to the theatre. It was almost like you were being sent into the dragon’s lair in hopes of surviving. At some point after my encounter with it, the dragon was taken out of the theatre based on the practicality of keeping it running. I have even more memories of seeing movies in that theatre after that encounter. Some of the movies I remember seeing at that special cineplex include the likes of Mr Beans Holiday and High School Musical 3. The most memorable of those moments were the times that we decided to try out IMAX. I remember seeing Tomorrowland with my family on one occasion and on another during a weekend where I spent time with my dad and watched a bunch of movies, we decided to watch the remake of Robocop. Other movies during that weekend included The Monuments Men and Pompeii, 2014 was definitely an interesting year for films.

The common theme that I find myself connecting to when reminiscing about the mall as how much of an experience it was. The best thing about the mall was always that it wasn’t just a place to shop as there was more of a focus on bringing the visitors an overall experience that they will never forget. It’s pretty clear looking back at the videos of the mall in the past that there was an emphasis on making it more than one would expect. That fact alone makes it a bit disappointing to me that the mall is going into a more neutral direction. That’s not to say that new stuff isn’t being added as they just got a cool go kart track, but the flavour that made the mall special is slowly going away as time goes on. That is probably in part to the rise in online shopping that I am also a instigator of. It also seems that after the crash that happened in 2020, the mall doubled down on the push to move in more of a neutral direction. It was already starting before that for several years, but that moment in time almost put the wind the the mall’s sails. That doesn’t take away what many including me and my family have. As the mall loses connection to what it once was and what made it such a unique experience, we still have our Memories of WEM.