Universal Studios Hollywood has narrowed the opening-date window for its upcoming Super Nintendo World.
The park now says that the video game-themed land will open in "early 2023." That's not a surprise, given the pace of construction progress on the land, which had prompted some speculation that Super Nintendo World might open in late 2022, before Universal announced in March that it would open in 2023.
Universal also confirmed today that the land's ride will be called Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge. At the initial installation of Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Japan, the ride is called Mario Kart: Koopa's Challenge, but Bowser is a Koopa, so... same thing?
The Hollywood installation also will be the same augmented reality motion base dark ride as the original in Japan, creating a "real life" Mario Kart experience for riders. "As part of Team Mario, guests will steer through courses underwater and in the clouds to compete for the Golden Cup while collecting coins to defeat Team Bowser and win," Universal said in its press release.
Here is Universal Studios Hollywood's new hype video for the attraction.
Universal Studios Hollywood also will sell the Power Up bands that visitors can use to track their scores not just on the Mario Kart ride but a wide variety of other interactive features throughout the land. Other Super Nintendo World merchandise is now on sale at the park in Universal Studios Hollywood's Feature Presentation retail store, near the front of the park.
If you would like to visit before the crowds descend upon the park for Nintendo, and take advantage of some discount deals, check out our travel partner's Universal Studios Hollywood tickets page. And for more theme park news and advice, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekly newsletter.
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Are there going to be any other planned attractions for USH?
I know one of the minor "peeves" about the land is that it is heavily based on Mario...curious to see if any of the other popular Nintendo IPs show up eventually....especially considering space is limited.
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Bowser is King Koopa's name since they changed it for Super Mario 64 in 1996 (along with Princess Toadstool, who now goes by Peach). I think it helps distinguish him from the random turtles that plod about the levels.