Universal's Epic Universe to debut SUPER NINTENDO WORLD with iconic Nintendo games

14 days ago in "Universal Orlando Resort"

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Universal Epic Universe – SUPER NINTENDO WORLD concept art

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Posted: Thursday May 2, 2024 8:30am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Universal Orlando has today revealed official details about SUPER NINTENDO WORLD at Epic Universe, which will feature attractions, dining, shopping, and interactive experiences inspired by the Super Mario franchise and – for the first time in the U.S. – Donkey Kong Country.

Developed in partnership between Universal Creative and Nintendo, the land combines iconic Nintendo characters with Universal's theme park experiences to deliver a multi-sensory environment where guests can experience the fun and adventure of Nintendo games in a whole new way.

SUPER NINTENDO WORLD will debut at Universal Orlando Resort in 2025 as one of five worlds at the all-new Universal Epic Universe theme park, which will open in Orlando.

ENTER THE ICONIC GREEN PIPE

It all begins when guests enter the portal to SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, which will transport them through the iconic green pipe into the immersive land. As guests emerge from the pipe, vibrant scenery and exciting kinetic energy surround them as they are greeted by the familiar sights and sounds that they've experienced on their Nintendo game consoles – from the towering Mt. Beanpole and majestic Peach's Castle to swaying Piranha Plants, pacing Goombas, spinning coins, Blocks and more. Inside SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, guests will be able to explore Super Mario Land – where they'll enjoy adventures alongside Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and other characters; and Donkey Kong Country – where they'll encounter thrills featuring Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and other members of the Kong family.

SUPER MARIO LAND

The colorful landscapes of the Mushroom Kingdom come to life in Super Mario Land, where guests can experience:

Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge: Guests are invited to join Team Mario and battle Team Bowser for the Golden Cup in this groundbreaking attraction that fuses augmented reality, projection mapping technology and elaborate environments to bring the fun of the Mario Kart video game series to life in a ride-through experience.

Mario Kart

Guests up for the challenge will enter through Bowser's Castle – where they'll wind its corridors and get a glimpse of Bowser's deceptive plans to stack the odds in his favor – before boarding their kart and heading to the starting line. Then, guests steer through a variety of Mario Kart courses – collecting coins, tossing shells at Team Bowser, dodging obstacles, and more – as they join their favorite characters and compete to help Team Mario win the race.

Yoshi's Adventure: The Yoshi's Adventure attraction will make its U.S. debut when SUPER NINTENDO WORLD opens at Universal Epic Universe. On this family-friendly ride, guests of all ages will enjoy breathtaking views of Super Mario Land as they join Yoshis and travel through Mushroom Kingdom landscapes in search of glowing eggs – encountering many familiar characters along the way.

Yoshi's Adventure

Toadstool Cafe: At Toadstool Cafe, guests can enjoy a variety of tasty dishes inspired by the world of Super Mario and its characters, including Mario and Luigi-themed burgers, Super Mushroom Soup, Piranha Plant Caprese, Fire Flower Spaghetti and Meatballs and so much more. Guests will also get glimpses of several Toads cooking up culinary creations through various virtual windows as they dine inside the restaurant.

Toadstool Cafe

Yoshi's Snack Island and Turbo Boost Treats: Guests can also pick up treats, snacks and beverages at these walk-up dining locations.

1-UP Factory and Mario Motors: Guests can shop for souvenirs, apparel, toys and more inspired by their favorite Super Mario characters and adventures within these retail locations.

Meet and Greets: Guests can meet, greet and interact with Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad throughout various areas in Super Mario Land.

Meet and Greet

DONKEY KONG COUNTRY

Donkey Kong Country Overview

At the edge of Super Mario Land, guests will discover an entrance that leads them to Donkey Kong Country, where they'll explore the lush, tropical landscape from the video game series, complete with tall trees, waterfalls, landmarks such as The Golden Temple and more. Here, guests can enjoy:

Mine-Cart Madness: Guests will hop into a mine cart and careen through the jungle to help Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong protect the coveted golden banana on this first-of-its-kind family coaster. Utilizing an unprecedented ride system, innovative technology and a unique coaster design, Mine-Cart Madness will send riders on a thrilling adventure where they will experience the jaw-dropping maneuvers that they've seen Donkey Kong and the mine carts perform in the video games – including getting blasted out of a barrel, seemingly jumping over gaps as they speed along a rickety track, and so much more.

Mine Cart Madness

POWER-UP BANDS

Guests can level up their fun in SUPER NINTENDO WORLD by purchasing a Power-Up Band, a wearable for their wrist that allows them to enhance their play throughout Super Mario Land and Donkey Kong Country. With the Power-Up Band, guests can collect digital coins by punching Blocks and playing interactive activities, collect digital stamps on attractions, earn digital keys to unlock an exclusive showdown against Bowser Jr., and discover other hidden surprises. Guests can also access Leaderboard screens in SUPER NINTENDO WORLD to see where they rank amongst fellow guests.

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rd80515 hours ago

It may be for a bit, so they don't have to DELAY anything. Although having reservations made for end of 2025 or beyond seems like it would be pretty safe of them to start backloading. Helios has a ways to go though still.

Andrew2515 hours ago

I think Epic should open with AP-access, but certainly w/ additional blockouts and a temporary reservation system for APs. Would be silly (IMO) to complicate the ticketing structure next year with various types of APs. As a current AP, I'm not expecting any sort of admission to AP preview with just the current APs offered... but I would like to upgrade instead of playing this game of whether or not I have to purchase individual tickets before an AP is offered w/ Epic. It's one of those questionable decisions the parks make that don't take into account operations. (I'm hoping I'm wrong).

Jon81uk16 hours ago

In a way they shouldn’t have the same issue as the Star Warst at Disneyland one, there people already had an AP giving access to the park. Whereas at Universal Orlando existing AP holders have only paid for access to two or three parks, they currently have no right to admission for Epic Universe. Therefore I expect it will be an additional ticket purchase anyway and Uni can adjust that AP ticket upgrade price depending on how busy regular sales are. I don’t get why they didn’t just install two tracks for DK, yes sightlines might have been harder to ensure riders on the second track don’t see the “real” track of the other coaster, but it would make it a lot more fun seeing other carts flying past you as well as increasing capacity.

ToTBellHop1 day ago

How much longer can it possibly be before they release 2025 resort packages?!

trr11 day ago

cheezbat2 days ago

Yes they want people to add to their stays, but they do not mind the idea of an attendance dip at Studios. They expect it. There is a major plan for redos and expansions over the next handful of years at the park. They know they have a few duds and will need all the capacity and headlining attractions Uni Studios can take to really make guests stay for a week.

Andrew253 days ago

4-passenger vehicles.... possibly dispatching somewhere in the ~20-sec range... 720 guests an hour without any operational issues. I'm hoping Universal can surprise us by dispatching trains closer to the 15-sec range (approx. 960 riders an hour)... but we haven't really seen a coaster w/ intervals like that in a grand scale.

bwr8273 days ago

I’m not up to speed on Donkey Kong other than the promo video. Why do we expect it to have low capacity?

Andrew253 days ago

VB also suffered issues at opening, so Universal still has that freshly ingrained into their minds lol There's 3 new hotels, along with the current 8 hotels, that are depending on Epic's success to keep them full and occupied. For the most part, outside of Donkey Kong, all of the other attractions will have decent capacity when operating correctly. Too early to start offering touring plans for EU... but I can guarantee that either Donkey Kong or the Sky Fly flat ride at HTTYD will need to be your first attraction based on the expected capacity of those two.

Rich Brownn3 days ago

Hagrids opened with only a few cars running (a problem cropped up at the last minute resulting in much reduced capacity). Hopefully that wont happen here -- i expect a fairly long Test & Adjust time (all the coasters are currently testing already) and probably a good preview period. The last thing they ever want is a repeat of USF's disastrous opening. (IOA also suffered but that was from a badly designed ad campaign). We can hope 3rd times a charm for opening a dry park for them here

lazyboy97o3 days ago

Just regular Standby and Express as exists in the north campus parks.

bwr8273 days ago

What kind of queue system are we expecting at Epic? All virtual like Volcano Bay? A mix of virtual and standby? Anyone think there will be express pass available in Epic’s first year? I think I heard that when Hagrid’s opened, lines were up to 8 hours long? And Slinky Dog lines were 5 hours long when Toy Story Land opened? My kids and I are excited about this park and hope to visit in its first year. But not if it means getting only two rides done per day while killing my feet standing in line.