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Universal Studios Hollywood Opens Super Nintendo World on February 17, 2023
posted on by Alex Mateo
The Universal Studios Hollywood theme park announced on Thursday that the Super Nintendo World area will open at the park on February 17, 2023. The theme park streamed a video that previews attractions including Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge, Toadstool Cafe, 1-Up Factory, character meet and greets, and interactive features using special Power-Up Band wristbands:
The park's Feature Presentation store opened with exclusive Nintendo-themed merchandise earlier this year.
Construction is underway for the Super Nintendo World area in the lower section of the park, near the Transformers ride.
Universal Studios Japan opened its Super Nintendo World area in March 2021.
The park had originally planned to open the area in late July 2020, in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but delayed the opening to prevent crowding, as a countermeasure against COVID-19. (The Olympics event itself has been delayed until 2021 also.) The park then planned to open the area in February 2021, but this was again postponed due to the second state of emergency declaration for Osaka and other prefectures.
The first phase of the Super Nintendo World area opened with two rides named "Super Mario Kart Ride" and "Yoshi's Adventures." Visitors to the attractions are given magnetic Powerup Bands that allow visitors to interact with the attractions, such as hitting real-life "? Blocks." The wristbands are able to keep track of scores (including a park-wide ranking board), coins, and stars from various rides, and they are able to interact with a "game console."
The effort is part of the larger planned Nintendo-themed initiative that Universal is adding to its theme parks.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings stated to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper in March 2021 that, according to Universal Studios, its Epic Universal theme park is scheduled to open in early 2025. Epic Universal is slated to include Super Nintendo World. The new park was initially scheduled to open in 2023 before construction delays took place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction crews have restarted work at the park.
Sources: Nintendo of America's Twitter account, Universal Studios Hollywood's YouTube channel
