Gone are the days when shopping malls were just places to shop. Now you can go on adrenaline-pumping rides, go skiing, or even take in some art. Join us for a stroll through some of the planet's most amazing retail experiences.

When this 4.2 million square feet mall opened in 2006 it was the largest mall in the Philippines. It is now the fourth largest in the country, but is still pretty big: the mall has a 20-seater tram to ferry people around. The mall also has the San Miguel Coca-Cola IMAX theatre, with an eight-story high screen, and Director’s Club theater with 30 La-Z-Boys to stretch out in. 

You can lace up and skate in the Olympic-sized ice rink, or find your inner geek in the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center with 11 themed rooms.

It doesn't end there. The SM Mall also has an indoor arena for sporting events, with a capacity for 20,000 spectators. The venue opened in 2012.

The mall is still under construction with the expansion set to include a football field, a rooftop park, and botanical gardens. All works are planned to end by 2020.

Mall of the Emirates in Dubai was the world's first ever shopping resort, costing over 800 million Emirati Dirham ($218m/£178m). The multi-level complex features around 630 international brands with total of 233,467 square metres of shopping space.

The mall is packed full of luxury goods with over 80 of the worlds most renowned designed brands housed in the Luxury Wing. It also has two adjoining hotels, the 5-star Kempinski Mall of the Emirates and the 5-star Sheraton Dubai Mall Of the Emirates Hotel, both conveniently located so that shoppers can go straight from breakfast to their favourite shop.

The real gem is the world-renowned Ski Dubai, the Middle East's first indoor ski resort and snow park. You can even book in to have a Penguin Encounter where you can have "up-close and personal interaction" with the birds.

For those looking for more traditional entertainment the mall also has a 14 screen VOX Cinema and Magic Planet family entertaining area, which includes activites such as bowling.

This shopping mall in Hawaii makes the most of the state's good weather, and is the largest open air mall in the world. Built in 1959, the Ala Moana Shopping Center has done well to hold onto this title.

The mall also boasts one of the world’s largest food courts. The Makai Market food court was build in 1987, 28 years after the center first opened.

The cost to build the mall in 1959 was around $25 million, the equivalent of $220 million (£180m) in today's money. And the center has since been boosted by a $1 billion (£817m) investment in 2004.

Every year, the mall enjoys annual sales of over $1 billion (£817m), so the renovations were probably worth it. The mall draws visitors from around the world for shopping of course, but it also doesn’t do too badly for entertainment too as it contains one of Hawaii’s most popular public amphitheaters.

If you’re ever in Thailand and aren’t sure what to do with your time, head on over to Siam Paragon in Bangkok for some retail therapy.

The mall here was built at a cost of about $350 million (£285m) in 2005 on the site where the Siam Intercontinental Hotel used to stand. This Bangkok mall is one of the largest in Asia and has an impressive offering...

You can choose to spend at Givenchy or Prada, or do some window shopping at Rolls-Royce. But if you fancy a break from splashing the cash, you can always go to see the mall's sea life do their own spashing around…

That's right, the mall also has its own Siam Ocean World Aquarium. Not only that, the complex also offers an opera hall, a luxury hotel, an art gallery, an exhibition area, a movie theater, and a bowling alley..

Located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Berjaya Times Square has over 1,000 retail shops and was the world's largest building ever built in a single phase. It cost 1.75 billion Malaysian Ringgits, the equivalent of $417 million (£340m).

The centre is full of quirky delights, including a Grand Musical Staircase, and has 7,500,000 square foot of floor space for the 2.5 million people who visit every month. 

Spanning over 48 storeys it opened in 2003 and is made up of hotels, an indoor amusement park and shopping centre complex.

Located on levels 5 and 7 is the Berjaya Times Square Theme Park, which is the largest theme park in Malaysia. It contains 133,000 square feet of adrenaline-filled rides and activities.

Behold, the largest mall in the United States, the Mall of America. The super-complex is home to more than 520 stores, staffed by 11,000 employees year round, hosting more than 42 million visitors annually.

You can visit the supersized LEGO Store, ride the indoor roller coasters at Nickelodeon Universe – the largest indoor theme park in the United States – watch fish go by at the Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium or enjoy a virtual tour of the United States on Fly Over America.

And that's not all. More than 7,000 people have got married at the Mall of America. And another fun fact, The Mall of America used to have a high school! 

It cost more than $650 million to build the Mall of America in 1992, the equivalent of $1.2 billion (£980m) in today's money. The mall's expansion in 2014 cost $325 million (£265m). It’s estimated it generates almost $2billion (£1.5 billion) in annual revenue for the state of Minnesota.

This shopping center is the second largest in the UK by retail size with 280 shops and services for customers to enjoy. While brands and labels vary, some of the more popular stores are the department stores Selfridges and John Lewis.

It's the architecture that gives this mall its wow factor. The Dome (pictured) cost $6.1 million (£5m) for a start. And there are lots of Venetian marble beauties for you to have a look at too.

The themed food court called the Orient is the largest in the UK. The design incorporates styles from around the world including New Orleans, China, Egypt, Italy, America and Morocco.

The center took 27 months to build and cost £600 million in 1998. That's the equivalent of £1 billion ($1.2bn) in today's money. In 2011 the site was sold for £1.65 billion ($2bn), which is the largest single property acquisition in British history. The centre welcomes 30 million visitors every year, and is set to go under £74 million ($91m) expansion.

Built inside The Venetian Hotel & Casino and The Palazzo in 1999, this Las Vegas Strip shopping mall experience offers a once-in-a-lifetime shopping experience. For those of you who haven’t been to the Grand Canal Shoppes before, there’s something a little different about how you’ll be traveling…

There aren’t many malls you can say you enjoyed a relaxing gondola ride in as you window shop, are there?

The build of the elaborate hotel and shopping mall totalled $1.5 billion in 1999, the equivalent of $2.3 billion (£1.9bn) in today's money. The developers sold the Grand Canal Shoppes mall in 2004 for $1.4 billion (£1.1bn).

Howver, the mall still sits within the luxury hotels. For shoppers who decide to make the most of the experience, suites can cost as much as $10,000 (£8k) per night. 

Discover Inside America's abandoned shopping malls

Since it opened 11 years ago, Westfield London has welcomed over 250 million visitors and generates around $1.2 billion (£1bn) in sales every year. And last year it got even bigger...

Costing $848 million (£600 million), the expansion has made the mall the largest retail centre in Europe. Opening six months ahead of schedule, the extension increased the total footprint of the centre to 2.8 million square feet of letting space. 

As part of the grand opening, John Lewis celebrated opening their 50th UK store. A dedicated new outdoor events space has also opened, with a focus on alfresco dining. The expansion also included KidZania, and indoor city play experience for children who take on "jobs" and are either paid for their work as a police officer, doctor or whichever role they choose, or pay to be entertained in the indoor city built to scale for children.

Last year also saw the opening of a boutique bowling venue, indoor mini-golf, and an indoor cycling centre. 

It’s estimated it cost $1.2 billion to build the biggest shopping center in North America in 1981, the equivalent of $3.4 billion (£2.8bn) in today's money. The size of 104 football fields, the Canadian shopping mall was actually the biggest in the world until 2004. 

But shopping might be the last thing on your mind as West Edmonton Mall is also home to the world’s largest indoor amusement park – Galaxyland – which has more than 24 rides to enjoy.

And that’s not the only world record holder in the building. The mall also boasts the world’s largest indoor wave pool.

There’s also a casino, dinner theater, 18-hole mini-golf course, ice rink, world-class hotel and the small matter of more than 800 stores in the space of 48 city blocks! This is one place you really can shop, play and stay. 

Read The future of shopping will look like this

Opening in 2008, this mall is part of the $20 billion (£16bn) Downtown complex. And with 120 restaurants and 1,200 shops (70 are exclusively set aside for haute couture) this complex is more like a mid-sized city. 

You can enjoy the 76,000-square-foot SEGA indoor theme park, or free yourself from the kids at KidZania (pictured) which is part of the chain that is also present at the Westfield shopping mall in Shepherds Bush, London.

The mall also has Dubai’s largest Cineplex – Reel Cinemas – with 22 screens, and the Dubai Aquarium and Discovery Centre where you can see nearly 33,000 sea creatures.

Named the top attraction in the city of Dubai by US News & World Report, The Dubai Mall unsurprisingly has a lot of visitors, drawing in 80 million visitors every year. That means that it takes the titls of the most visited mall in the world.

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