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

May 02, 2024 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.

Discuss on the Forums

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celluloid24 minutes ago

I Exactly. The great immersive completeness we are comparing it to is of The Disney Decade, which Disney themselves barely holds themselves to that often anymore. We can't say a Disney park stateside today would be built today woild.match Elic for two major reasons. 1. They have not budgeted an entirely new park while keeping up their current. 2. Everything new build post Galaxy's Edge(which had its own cuts) has been fairly ugly compared to previous standards.

Andrew C1 hour ago

Disney guests certainly see a lot of giant painted boxes nowadays. Honestly, Disney hasn’t cared about sight lines since 1998 so I’m not sure what standard we are holding universal to. I think it’s pretty obvious they had to give up a few minors things to stay within budget. And the things they gave up were probably the right ones. Given what they have provided us, I’ll take a few moments of awkwardness.

Tom Morrow2 hours ago

Nah, sorry. F-- this excuse. The real world, the average Orlando tourist DOES get it and that is why Disney is still the leader of the theme park industry and will still be a year from now. Though the average guest may not be able to articulate it, they surely will have thoughts like "Hmm, I don't recall seeing a sewage treatment plant from inside any of Disney's parks". I stand by this. On a subconscious level, unsightly views suggest "I guess they didn't care enough to make this is good as they possibly could". Literally every theme park enthusiast wanted and was anticipating Epic Universe to set the new standard for an immersive theme park, and now that we see that it did not, we should voice our criticisms that they should have tried 10% harder rather than shift the narrative to "Actually this was never an issue and only nerds cared about immersion all along (in a place where you are literally paying to escape the real world)." Honestly I didn't want to post so much negativity about an exciting new park that is mostly very good and in some aspects outstanding, but the attempt to stifle out any and all valid criticisms of it from some needs to stop.

Disneyhead'712 hours ago

Because it's Epic!? EPICOT seemed too convoluted.

Disneyhead'712 hours ago

I said earlier they went 90% in. Universal's way is to put up a hard stop at theming and everything beyond that, that is plainly visible but clearly not part of the "magic" is ok. Like when you look at SNW from Atlantic, the green hills painted on the surrounding wall stop and then the tan Mario Kart show building is plainly visible. But I think the General Public gets it. And I think it is really a non issue. Purists can stand there jaw dropped at the break in "immersion" while normies don't even notice. I mean, they see it, but they are in a theme park and are willing to ignore what the designer suggested they ignore.

Gringrinngghost2 hours ago

UEU is Universals official abbreviation.

Agent H3 hours ago

I think the coolest part is when you go between the two pirate ships like in the original concept art for the original pirates. Or least that’s what I’ve observed from video.

Chef idea Mickey`=3 hours ago

Is it more just fantastic than Epic. If so, that was a name that trended as would been the name before Epic Universe which would of been Universal's "Fantastic World's".

Disneyhead'714 hours ago

Is there an "official" acronym? I think "EU" is taken. There is a lot here to dump on the theme park community all at once. I mean, we have to come up with short hand acronyms for a bunch of rides, and restaurants. It's a work in progress. I think BM for Bar Moonshine is...not great. But they kinda asked for that one. Just sayin'.

Tom Morrow4 hours ago

Disneyhead is referring to the original concept name: Epic! At The Theme Park

James Alucobond4 hours ago

It’s not. Also, any company that stylizes a wordmark like that should be shunned. It’s the musical Oliver! all over again.

Pseybert5 hours ago

Why are you referring to the park as “Epic!”? Is “Epic!” the official name? I’m looking all over and have never seen it referred to as such!

UNCgolf5 hours ago

Yeah, that's definitely what they're going for. And obviously it works for tons of people, so the fact that it doesn't work for me is irrelevant in the grand scheme. It basically ruins the attraction for me though.

UNCgolf5 hours ago

Oh, I wasn't offended! I'm not opposed to parks building screen-based attractions, especially since some people love them. They're not designing a park specifically for me (that basically already happened with original EPCOT!). I do wonder if I'll ever experience a mainly screen-based attraction that I find truly great though.