Mine the gap
Super Nintendo World details revealed for Epic Universe
As Universal Epic Universe, the highly anticipated theme park quickly taking shape in Florida, inches closer to its 2025 opening date, Universal Orlando continues its steady drumbeat of news and announcements about the lands, attractions, and features that are on the way. Long before the resort revealed the names of the other lands and IPs that would be showcased at its third theme park, it shared that Super Nintendo World would be part of the mix. Now, Universal has lifted the veil on exactly what’s in store for the video game-inspired land.
Mario and Luigi’s Florida outpost will be parkdom’s third Super Nintendo World after the original ode to the pixellated plumbers opened at Universal Studios Japan in 2021. I attended the grand opening of the second Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood when it debuted in early 2023. As with the existing lands, guests will enter the new one by making their way through a green warp pipe. The means of entry convention and the nifty transition it makes possible, was novel when it was introduced at the previous Nintendo lands. Epic Universe will more or less employ the same concept for the “portals” that visitors will use to make their way into all of the new park’s lands as well as its main gate.
Emerging from the pipe, guests will encounter a surreal, kinetic landscape filled with copious spinning gold coins, gargantuan chomping piranha plants, ambling Koopa Troopa turtles, and a barrage of other elements in constant motion. In the analog representation of Super Mario’s digital world, visitors will be able to punch question blocks, toss shells, jump to activate power-ups, and otherwise interact with and romp in the realm.
One of the E-Ticket rides at Super Nintendo World will be Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. I was mighty impressed when I joined Team Mario to race Team Bowser and rack up points at the Hollywood park. The first major attraction to incorporate augmented reality, it uses the media to great effect by convincingly displaying digital graphics onto see-through face shields that are attached to headgear fashioned after Mario’s trademark cap. But the highly ambitious and sophisticated ride also features practical sets with animatronics, high-resolution video screens, projection mapping, star fields, and a bunch of other theme park attraction goodness. Expect to be wowed.
Because the park at Universal Orlando’s new campus doesn't have the space constraints of its California counterpart, the third incarnation of the land will hew closer to the more expansive one in Japan. Hollywood’s truncated Super Nintendo World offers the single Mario Kart attraction, but as in Japan, guests at Epic Universe will also be able to experience Yoshi’s Adventure. The People Mover-esque ride will send passengers on an outdoor, elevated track through Mushroom Kingdom tableaus. Guests on the interactive ride will be on the hunt for glowing eggs.
Also like the Japanese version of the land (but not in Hollywood), Epic Universe will include a second mini-land within Super Nintendo World, Donkey Kong Country. (The expansion in Japan was supposed to open this spring, but is now delayed to late 2024.) The highlight will be Mine-Cart Madness, a highly unique roller coaster that will replicate the gaming experience in ride form.
You know how the carts in the Donkey Kong game leap over gaps and perform other physics-defying feats? Passengers aboard Mine-Cart Madness will experience similar baffling maneuvers thanks to some clever theme park trickery. Known as a “boom coaster,” the trains will seemingly navigate a rickety-appearing track with gaps in the rails. But the vehicles will be attached to boom arms that will connect to the real chassis that will roll along the actual track, which will be hidden from view. This setup will apparently also enable riders to get “blasted out of barrels” according to Universal. I’m especially intrigued by the boom coaster concept and can’t wait to climb aboard for a ride. Although guests will know that Universal won’t really be sending them headlong into certain calamity, I’m guessing that the sight of an impending gap in the track will nonetheless freak them out.
Rounding out Super Nintendo World will be the Toadstool Cafe. I got a kick out of the highly themed restaurant in Hollywood, which offers dishes such as Piranha Plant Caprese (which looked very much like its video game namesake) and Super Mushroom Soup. Visitors will be able to purchase optional Power-Up Bands that will enable them to amass digital coins and keys, engage in interactive activities throughout the land, and keep track of their scores.
Previously, I wrote about Celestial Park and How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, two of the other lands on tap for Epic Universe. I also shared info about two of the hotels, Universal Stella Nova Resort and Universal Terra Luna Resort, coming to Universal Orlando’s new campus. When the theme park resort reveals details about the remaining two lands, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, and Dark Universe, along with the third new place to stay, Universal Helios Grand Hotel, I’ll be weighing in.
Have you been to the other Super Nintendo Worlds? For the Epic Universe lands that have been revealed in detail thus far, do you have one that you are most anticipating?
Of the lands revealed so far, Super Nintendo World is definitely the one I'm most interested in. Having grown up with Nintendo since I was a kid, it's an IP near and dear to my heart. I can't wait to see the boom coaster in action.
I'm also greatly interested in Celestial Park, I have a feeling Universal will really create a beautiful atmosphere there. I never was into the How to Train Your Dragon IP, and even my kids never watched the movies, so that one's at the bottom of my list.
Obviously my most anticipated as a horror fan is Dark Universe, but I'll have to be patient until the details start trickling in for that one.
All of this sounds next-level.