If you guys are just catching up on the news that put Universal Studios Hollywood back on the map since The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I have three words for you: Super Nintendo World.
I recently visited Universal Studios Hollywood for their highly-anticipated new world, Super Nintendo World, just about one month after they first opened. And while it was great to be out enjoying a theme park again, I have to say that the Super Nintendo World experience left me feeling a bit underwhelmed.
While I was excited to see what the new land had to offer, the reality was that it was a bit lackluster overall. Why? The massive crowds.
Despite my mixed feelings, I’m happy to share my experience with others who are considering a trip to Universal Studios for Super Nintendo World. Ultimately, you can decide for yourself whether a trip to Universal Studios this year is worth it or not!
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What is Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios?
Super Nintendo World is a new themed area within Universal Studios theme park that is dedicated entirely to the iconic video game company, Nintendo. The park features a range of attractions and experiences that are designed to immerse visitors in the world of Nintendo, including rides, interactive games, and even a life-size replica of Bowser’s Castle.
This new world, much like the one in Japan, is designed to appeal to fans of all ages, with attractions that are inspired by classic Nintendo games like Mario Kart, Yoshi’s Adventure, and more.
The Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood opened on February 17, 2023.
Planning A Visit To Universal Studios Soon? Essential Tips For Your Visit
Buy your tickets in advance! Because of the crowds that Super Nintendo World has been drawing in, tickets have been selling out on some of the more popular days to visit! To ensure that you can even enter the park, get your tickets in advance here.
If you hate lines as much as I do, spend a little bit more money to skip the ride lines with the Express Ticket at Universal Studios Hollywood.
With this popular option, get all-day admission to the parks as well as one-time express access to each ride, attraction, and show the park offers. A limited number of Express Tickets are available each day, so pre-purchase yours to ensure the best possible experience.
On the day of your visit, try to beat the majority of the crowds. Plan to be at the front gate of the park by the time it opens. That way, you can at least ride 2-3 of the park’s best rides before the crowds flow in.
For Super Nintendo World: Download the app ahead of time in order to make virtual line reservations! Depending on crowds, park staff may not even let you into Super Nintendo World without a timed reservation. Download the app and be prepared to make your reservation on there as soon as you arrive at the park!
For Super Nintendo World: You can pay a little more money and opt for the SUPER NINTENDO WORLD™ Early Access Ticket. Ranging from $20 to $30 extra (depending on the date of your visit), this early access add-on gets you a head start on your day one hour before the theme park opens.
Where To Stay Near Universal Studios:
- The Garland in North Hollywood (6-minute drive from the park)
- The Tangerine in Burbank (8-minute drive + free breakfast!)
- Thompson Hollywood in Hollywood (8-minute drive from the park)
Super Nintendo World: What To Expect
Here’s what you can expect when you visit:
A Detailed And Themed Land
Super Nintendo World is gorgeous, playful, and fun — there’s no denying it! And the fact that it’s enclosed from all the other worlds means that it was really designed to transport visitors into the world of Nintendo.
To get in, you’ll have to go through the green tubes just as Mario and Luigi did.
The attention to detail within the land is what really brings these classic Nintendo games to life. From the rotating coins to the animatronic Yoshi moving around a tree, you’ll really feel like you’re in the game!
Attractions
The park features a range of attractions that are inspired by classic Nintendo games, including Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge the main attraction of the world!
On this new ride full of cutting-edge technology, you’ll put on the special goggles and battle Team Bowser on the iconic Mario Kart courses we all know and love. Alongside Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach, you’ll collect digital coins and throw shells at your opponents to win the Golden Cup.
Interactive Elements Like Power-Up Bands
In addition to rides, Super Nintendo World also features a range of interactive elements that allow visitors to engage with the world of Nintendo in new and exciting ways. For example with the Power-Up Bands, visitors can collect virtual coins and compete against each other in a variety of games and challenges.
They can use it to keep score throughout the land as they complete challenges, defeat Bowser Jr., collect digital coins, and more. Virtual games include:
- Goomba Crazy Crank
- Koopa Troopa POWer Punch
- Piranha Plant Nap Mishap
- Thwomp Panel Panic
- Collect at least 3 keys with your band and you’ll get the chance to confront Bowser Jr. to recover the stolen Golden Mushroom in a final Shadow Showdown!
Power-Up Bands are available for purchase at a number of SUPER NINTENDO WORLD retail locations in Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal CityWalk as well as inside the land at the 1-UP Factory store.
Character Meet-and-Greets
Super Nintendo World also offers visitors the chance to meet and interact with some of Nintendo’s most beloved characters, including Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach.
Themed Food and Merchandise
Super Nintendo World features a range of themed food and merchandise options that allow visitors to take a piece of the Nintendo world home with them. From Mario-themed snacks to exclusive merchandise, there’s a way for every Super Mario fan to enjoy the land.
Within the souvenir store, you can find all kinds of goodies including keychains, pins, backpacks, t-shirts, wall decore, plushies, and more. Some of the items have a more modern design (based on how the games are now), while others have more of a throwback design (with pixelated versions of Mario and Luigi).
In terms of themed dining, there’s the Toadstool Cafe featuring all kinds of dishes (not just ones related to mushrooms).
At the time of writing, here are some of the items they served:
- Mario Burger (bacon, mushroom, and cheese)
- Luigi Burger (pesto, grilled chicken)
- Chef Toad Short Rib Special
- Fire Flower Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Bowser’s Fireball Challenge – how fun!
- Super Star Chicken Salad
- Tomato Soup in a Super Mushroom Bowl
- Toadstool Cheesy Garlic Knots
- Piranha Plant Caprese
- Yoshi’s Favorite Fruit and Veggie Salad
There’s also a snack shack that sells goodies like Mario/Luigi-inspired drinks (fruity cream soda with mustache straw), soda in mushroom-shaped collectible drink cups, and popcorn that comes in a souvenir container of your choice.
The souvenir containers for the popcorn were a big hit as we saw many, many parkgoers carrying one.
Virtual Line Reservations
Depending on the day you visit, you may need to make reservations to even get into Super Nintendo World. You do this by downloading the Universal Studios Hollywood app and making the online reservation within the app after buying your park ticket and arriving onsite.
Reservations are not always required to enter the land, but it’s important you check on the day of your visit so you don’t miss out. You can find more details about virtual reservations here.
During our visit in March 2023, reservations were required, but we had no clue that was a thing until we had arrived mid-morning.
Super Nintendo World Review: My Personal Experience
Prior to my visit, I had seen pictures of how cute Super Nintendo World in Japan’s Universal Studios was. I knew I wanted to see this world for myself and relive my childhood!
So after my friends did a bit of research to determine which days would have the least crowds, we decided to book tickets for a Monday visit (March 13, 2023). We used this crowd calendar website to help us decide.
Despite having done our due diligence of checking for crowds, and despite visiting on a Monday, we failed to realize that there was one school district in Southern California that had its Spring Break that week.
The website lied to us! Or whoever created it just didn’t foresee all the spring breaks around the area? Needless to say, the hoards of families made the whole day a lot less enjoyable.
My partner and I actually visited last October and experienced lines of less than 10 minutes throughout the park. It was amazing, and that was the experience we had to compare this theme park visit to.
The two experiences were like night and day.
This time around though, even the mediocre rides within the park had waits of 60 minutes to 120 minutes. And get this: at one point during the day, the line for Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge was 240 minutes. For those of you who don’t want to do the math, that’s 4 hours. Ridiculous.
Once we got into Super Nintendo World, we were amazed, yet a bit let down. I’ll explain.
There’s no denying how cool the land looks, feels, and sounds, with the coin-collecting sounds and sights of Piranha Plants and angry mushrooms stomping along the horizon! Plus, the land was a lot bigger than I had anticipated.
You’ve got Bowser’s Castle in one corner, Princess Peach’s castle in another, as well as areas for the mini virtual games, the Toadstool Cafe, and the 1-UP Factory souvenir store.
But, it was way too crowded.
By the time we were able to get reservations on the app (we had to try all day as people kept swooping them up as soon as new time slots were released), we were assigned 4 pm entry.
At 4-5pm, the wait for the Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge ride stood at 180 minutes. As adults, we valued our time too much to be standing in line for three whole hours! So we decided to skip it this time around and potentially go back in a year or so after the crowds died down.
On top of that, we couldn’t even get into the themed dining room at Toadstool Cafe as it had sold out for the day (our visit was at 4pm).
In the end, we stayed at Super Nintendo World for about 20-30 minutes before deciding to head back down to Los Angeles to get Thai food at Thai Town nearby. (If you’ve never been to Thai Town, I highly recommend you add a meal here to your Los Angeles travel itinerary!)
Super Nintendo World: Final Thoughts
Is Super Nintendo World worth visiting? I think it is. Especially if you’ve been a lifelong fan of all things Nintendo (or have kids who love the games too)!
But is Super Nintendo World worth flocking to at this moment? No. I don’t think so.
I’m finding that the older I get, the less I want to wait in long lines. Super Nintendo World was honestly nothing but lines. While yes, seeing Princess Peach’s castle among the spinning coins was so cool to see, being among a sea of crowds was not so cool.
Super Nintendo World was filled with lines, kids, strollers, and people sitting on benches waiting for their kids — almost everywhere.
My recommendation? Wait until the newness and the crowds die down before planning your trip to Universal Studios.
Or, do it on a weekday when all the schools within ALL the school districts are in session.
During my midweek visit last October (before Super Nintendo World was open), we actually visited during the Halloween season. Because a lot of theme park goers saved their visit for the nighttime event, Halloween Horror Nights, the daytime crowds were virtually nonexistent.
Lines were very manageable and even popular rides such as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey had no lines at all. We rode it back to back two times with literally zero wait in between.
A tip for visiting in October: One thing to note is that because there is a nighttime Halloween event, the park closes early to its daytime guests so they can prep for nighttime ones. On the day of our October visit, the park closed at 5:30 pm. However, if your main objective is to see Super Nintendo World, with an early visit, this shouldn’t impact you too much.
And if the ONLY time you have to visit is during the summer season or the high season, then you can pay a little more money and opt for the SUPER NINTENDO WORLD™ Early Access Ticket.
Ranging from $20 to $30 extra (depending on the date of your visit), this early access ticket add-on gets you a head start on your day one hour before the theme park opens. This add-on has limited availability and a separate theme park admission required.
Universal Studios Hollywood: When To Visit For Least Crowds
If you’re looking to visit Universal Studios Hollywood and want to avoid the crowds, there are a few times of year that are generally less busy than others. One of the best times to visit is during the off-season, which typically runs from September through February.
During this time, you’ll find shorter lines and fewer crowds, as most people tend to visit theme parks during the summer months.
Another good time to visit is during weekdays, as weekends tend to be busier. If you can plan your visit for a weekday, you’ll likely have a more enjoyable experience with fewer crowds to contend with.
It’s also a good idea to check the park’s calendar and avoid visiting on days when special events or local holidays are taking place, as these tend to draw larger crowds. Spring break and winter break holidays for the kids are ones you should specifically be mindful of!
Finally, if you want to avoid crowds, even during the high season, consider visiting the park during the first or last hour of the day, as these tend to be the least busy times.
Overall, with a bit of planning and strategy, you can enjoy a fun and relatively crowd-free visit to Universal Studios Hollywood.
Looking for more Southern California travel tips? You may like:
175 Bucket List Things To Do In Los Angeles, California (From A Local’s Perspective)
11 Best Neighborhoods To Visit in Los Angeles (From A Local’s Perspective)
3 Days In Los Angeles: Your Ultimate LA Itinerary
