Super Nintendo World, the first theme park land based on Nintendo games, has been welcoming guests in California since 2023, and even longer in Japan. The East Coast will finally get their chance to enter the Mushroom Kingdom when Universal’s new park Epic Universe opens in Orlando on May 22, and what guests will find will make Hollywood’s version feel pretty small-time. There’s a cliche used routinely used in videogame marketing for sequels: they’re always “bigger and better.” So it’s fitting that that term is absolutely perfect when comparing Epic Universe’s Super Nintendo World to Universal Studios Hollywood’s.
This Super Nintendo World is significantly larger than the one in California. It’s spread out across two stories, with more interactive Power-Up band games, and two additional rides—including a whole Donkey Kong-themed sub-section not found in Hollywood. Everything in Hollywood’s version can be found in Orlando’s, with so much else on top. If you’re wondering which one to go to, and if a trip to Orlando is feasible for you, there’s really no question which Super Nintendo World you should visit. Epic Universe’s outclasses Universal Hollywood’s in every way.
Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is a fun dark ride that uses augmented reality to add elements from the game and imbue a sense of speed into its slow-moving technology. It’s a perfectly fine theme park attraction, but has enough problems that it doesn’t work well as the primary anchor of an entire land. And yet that’s what it has to do at Universal Studios Hollywood. It’s the only ride in that park’s version of Super Nintendo World, and although there is a bit of an upside to that—it helps shift the focus to the land’s interactive games, which are fantastic, and might be overlooked by people who immediately flock to rides before anything else in a theme park—it mostly just reinforces its negatives.
That’s not a problem at Epic Universe’s Super Nintendo World. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is one of three rides there, and not even the biggest or most eye-catching. That would be Mine-Cart Madness, a family-friendly roller coaster in the Donkey Kong Country part of the land. With a faster, more thrilling roller coaster next door, and the slower, more simplistic Yoshi’s Adventure dark ride above it, guest expectations for Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge can be kept in check. Not only does it not have to shoulder the weight as the land’s main attraction, but Mine-Cart Madness compensates for Mario Kart’s lack of speed and physical excitement, and Yoshi’s Adventure’s spartan design underlines how beautiful Mario Kart’s physical sets are, while also accentuating how much the augmented reality adds to the ride. The Epic Universe ride is basically exactly the same as the Hollywood one, but the new context lets it shine more brightly than ever.
We’re not here to diss Yoshi’s Adventure, though. Yes, it’s a short, very slow crawl through only a few scenes, designed primarily for the youngest guests at the park. It’s also really adorable, from the Yoshi-shaped vehicles you ride on, to the various Mushroom Kingdom characters (including Baby Mario) that you’ll see during the short trip. It also serves as a kind of scenic overlook for the main section of Super Nintendo World; the ride starts and ends outside, on the ridge next to the entrance to Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, letting you see the space from new angles and giving you close-up views of parts of the immaculately designed park that are otherwise always at a distance. Those outdoor stretches might be brutal on hot days—you’re right underneath the Florida sun—but if you’re in a Florida theme park in the summer you know what you’re in store for.
Mine-Cart Madness, and the entire Donkey Kong Country area, are the real stars here, though. Ideal for families, the coaster is the closest Universal gets to Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad—it’s a family-friendly coaster that’s still thrilling, surrounded by an impressively detailed environment. Instead of an old west ghost town, though, the train rockets you through a decaying gorilla temple in the jungle, complete with guest appearances from animatronic versions of Donkey Kong and his friends. It even recreates the cart-jumping action from the Donkey Kong Country rides. Your vehicle, which is designed to look like a minecart, sits atop two different tracks. The upper track, the one your cart seems to be riding on, is just for show; the vehicle is actually connected to the hidden lower track. About halfway through the ride the upper track starts to look broken and twisted, and your cart appears to jump over those gaps, safely landing on the opposite side. It’s honestly cooler than it sounds; you move really fast through that stretch (it’s a roller coaster, obviously you’re going fast) and have to be looking down to really understand what’s happening with the track situation, so many riders probably won’t even notice it. It looks better on the ground, before you get on the ride, when you’re walking up to the temple that it’s set in. They have the track-jumping section front and center, framed by the temple’s elaborate design work, like a teaser for the excitement within, and seeing that cart “jump” from track to track should pump you up. In addition to that cool gimmick, Mine-Cart Madness also has excellent music (something the Donkey Kong Country games have always been known for) and a splash section through a small lake that makes for a great photo opportunity. The rest of Donkey Kong Country looks amazing, and has its own themed snacks and line of Donkey Kong merchandise, and the only place you can find any of this in America is at Epic Universe.
Epic Universe’s Super Nintendo World doesn’t make Hollywood’s redundant or unworthy, or anything. If you’re on the West Coast, or going to be in California for other reasons, it’s still a beautiful, entertaining, immersive bit of theme park magic, and one of the main reasons to go to Universal Hollywood. Florida’s version just has so much else going for it—its larger and more detailed design, more attractions, more games, more food, more merchandise, more of almost everything that you go to a theme park for—that it totally eclipses California’s. And with the bounty of space Universal has to work with in Florida, and the rumors of additional Nintendo lands coming to its three Orlando theme parks, there’s reason to think Epic Universe’s Super Nintendo World will only get more super in the years to come.
Senior editor Garrett Martin writes about videogames, TV, travel, theme parks, wrestling, music, and more. You can also find him on Blue Sky.
