Super Nintendo World - Reviews, Photos, & Video (Spoilers)

[Jerroddragon]

Went to the Parks Friday with a Friend

He Bought a Band from the machines, they are fast but if the shop has no line then its honestly just as fast.

We got to play the Piranha Plant game with the alarm clocks and its fun, the big AA is very impressive.

Also two of my games went into what a cast member called "hard" mode. I have no issue with that but the CM needs to tell you before hand because not knowing could give you a huge disadvantage like in the koopa shell game I had no idea the timing would be different so my first throw was in hard mode so missed it the second throw was to see how the game works differently in hard mode and got in the third try but on days when these games will have lines would suck not to get a key because it's randomly kinda a different game from last time

The Crank game was already breaking yesterday after just two days of being used....so yeah USH is going to have to maintain these games every day basically or else add more because you can't have more then two games go down or people cant go in the boss/raid area.

Also we didn't want to eat but tried to tell us you can't just walk in the restaurant, its not a service restaurant so I guess just lie and get in line then when no one is looking walk in the restaurant if you want to see all the details in there.

Mario Kart was an hour line and the got to see the entire Q, the first Yoshi area is cute and glad we have it over just generic lines like over in Harry Potters Extended Q. My friend enjoyed the Q as well and only complaint was he thought Mario Kart was going to be like Cars Racers at DCA, he liked the details but wish it went faster which I responded the next two rides coming to the parks are coaster let older fans/families have something to ride in the new land together.

We went into the little side area near peaches castle, that has to be an area where they can add another game one day.


So here are my concerns after going to the land twice for about 3 hours each time. One people suck and touch everything the flag banners in front of Bowser castle might need to be replaced pretty soon because i saw so many adults pulling on them, many props also look like people somehow god mud/black stuff on them in two days...and these aren't even with the entire land filling up/the hours are limited. Also on MK the line is going to be insane once they have express line open, we moved pretty well in the Q until after the preshows then we just stood there for mins on end before moving just a few feet. I just hope Nintendo makes USH management stay on top repainting/repairing and keeping things open to make the land work better because if games can just break after a few days of minimum usage I'm just freaful of what next Christmas/summer brings.

So those are mt thoughts and concerns after two trips......ohh and like everyone else my friend thought the land would be much bigger. I really wish current Universal bold management green lite this and not the pre pandemic overly cautious management that only gave the minimum amount of space for what will become the most wanted area of the park for years to come. I know DK is coming but thats yearsssssssssssssss away and still would have been nice to have the full Nintendoland in the most populated states/most vacationed to state.
The quality is there but because of choices the land might run into some issues in the next year that Potter didn't.

 

[joerodriguez]

 

[DTH]

I thought the land was incredible. From a visual standpoint, I think this may be the best land of all time. It was insanely immersive, with eyesights filled from top to bottom with everything in the land. Can it be bigger? Yes, but for a land that's essentially a giant playground and a ride, I thought it was fine. Way better than an entire disappointing land for one disappointing ride (Web Slingers, and even to an extent, Galaxy's Edge when it was just Millennium Falcon). The interactivity is pretty cutting edge for a California theme park -- I really do think locals will be blown away. There's nothing quite like it in Disneyland, Knotts, or Six Flags. I easily spent about 3 hours in there and all I did was look around -- I didn't even have a 1Up Band, but I watched the people play the games. Looked around the shops and looked in the cafe, went upstairs to check out the VR viewpoint. Universal has truly outdone themselves and IMO, they have beaten Disney by a huge margin in ingenuity. Granted, I've never been to the East Coast, but that's just how it feels to me as a Cali local. Is Universal an all day park now? Between this and Harry Potter, I truly don't get why Universal never put much emphasis on lands. It seems they're going that way with the new Illumination place and Simpsons being kind of the predecessor (although that's leaving soon), but I really wish they'd overhaul the entire park to make things more cohesive and work. Without SES and Animal Actors though, that behind the scenes element is sorely missed and I feel Studio Tour is getting more dated by the day that they don't update their videos. Even something like King Kong just seems...meh now, because the film it is based on just doesn't feel relevant with the new King Kong films.

I can't wait to see what else is in store for the parks. I never doubt Universal's ambition and I am always blown away, I just wish they'd move away from screens and have a better cohesion throughout the parks.

 

[joerodriguez]

 

[Jerroddragon]

Went to the Land for the 4th time this week.

Went with a new group of friends and same comments as me and most people on the space. Its too small for how many people will come to this land, my friend who I game with agrees that everyone seems to have underestimated how Big Nintendo is and not only that but he brought up a good point, there is nothing else like this.
Name a place you go and get scores in a land for exploring it, doing meet and greets, riding the ride and playing the games and then unlocking a raid/boss. Its really going to be the talk of the town

Also on the note of size, MK got Evacuated this afternoon and the line was at 60 mins and the land was person to person, game lines were inside because the store, restaurant, ride, Raid/boss rooms, and the one game under the Thwamp could not have anyone in them under the fire departed gave the ok. It was helllll, I heard most people mumbling that were forced out of a Q many after waiting almost the entire 60 mins and a mom dropping the F bomb as she walked out. So I can't imagine when a fire alarm goes off and the line is at 120+ mins. (also bloggers like Ordinary Adventures were there you can ask them if you want conformation on how bad it got)

 

[theblueblurr]

My wife and I live in San Diego. At around 11:30 am yesterday, we decided to spontaneously chance the drive up to USH for a shot at Super Nintendo World and were not disappointed. No traffic there or back (huzzah), we parked near the front gate at around 1:30pm, bought tickets and had a virtual return time booked for 1:30pm - 2:30pm upon entering the park. Magic.

The land, was fine. It felt smaller than I had anticipated but there was hardly any crowd while we were there. Since comparisons to the mouse are inevitable, I'd say Galaxy's Edge is better built in terms of immersion (some of the sightlines in SNW are rough and some show elements are already showing wear despite the land not being officially opened yet) but SNW wins in terms of kinetic energy and land interactivity. Unlike GE, SNW's app is actually fun and even when I'm not in the parks I find myself opening it to look at other player's/team scores and plan my next goals/achievement stamps. The land is also leagues better than whatever Avenger's Campus is pretending to be. I love that the collecting of items/keys all leading up to a confrontation with Bowser Jr. felt like a second attraction in itself. One other thing I appreciated, is that you don't need to buy a band to battle Bowser Jr., the TMs were more than willing to let folks in to experience the fight without one, meaning they aren't putting that experience behind a paywall. One minor gripe I had with the land was a lack of quick drink/snack options within it. At one point I got really thirsty and realized there were no snack carts to grab say, a bottled water, etc. and couldn't even find a drinking fountain. It'd be nice if they'd roll a themed cart or two out when the walkways aren't so busy because when that happened, I realized my only options were to either A) wait in line at Toadstool's again, B) leave the land and not come back in or C) get over it.

The food, was good. Not much to say here other than I really enjoyed my meal and the theming of the restaurant in general. We ordered a bit of everything except for the garlic knots (they were out) and my favorite was the Fire Flower pasta. Yummy meatballs, mushrooms, cheese wafer and a spicy sauce. I really like spicy food so I would have liked the level turned up a notch but understand this would probably make the plate inedible to most, so I get it. It was still really good. Peach's cupcake was a bit much for me, maybe it's meant to be shared. The Mt. Beanpole cake was better for a single person, I think. Signature drink was good, but it was filled with so many extras (3 kinds of popping boba, manjo jellies, ice), that I feel like there wasn't enough "drink" to last the meal. Bummed I didn't get to try the knots. Next time.

The ride, was fun and better than I expected. I kept my expectations low after the mixed reviews of the original. We got to ride it twice (60 minute wait the first time, 20 minute wait the second). Thankfully we had done our research before riding, too, as I could see how the control scheme might confuse a newcomer on their first ride. But, I had a lot of fun. Once you understand how everything works, what your goals are, etc., it's really a blast and has a very high re-rideability rate with all the little secrets and goals the app tasks you with completing. I also understand why they went with the slower, dark-ride system after experiencing it myself. Nintendo/Universal had a choice to make; do they play it safe with a more traditional kind of coaster which people are likely expecting, or do they try something riskier? A coaster would have been a hit but the park already has one (with a rumored second on the way) and would prevent a significant portion of their target audience from even being able to ride the one attraction the land has. I think they built a very "Nintendo" ride. It's an attempt at something new and innovative (which they often do with their games and consoles), and is also something accessible for the entire family to have fun and play together. The AR wasn't "perfect" 100% of the time since it doesn't completely cover your entire range of vision but it never once worked so poorly that we couldn't win or couldn't understand what was happening. It was also, obviously, much better in person than any video online could try to convey. If I had to take any points away from it, it would be that the ride has a habit of coming to a complete stop at a couple of show scenes towards the end when they aren't loading/unloading fast enough. Zones ahead of you will get filled and as a result, your car will stop but the AR scene around you will continue regardless, which kind of sucked. Additionally, the speed of the ride is fine because there's so much going on around you normally but coming to a complete stop really kills the momentum completely, when it happens. We also rode twice and only on the second ride thru did my Power band actually successfully connect and record my score on the attraction (which was a bummer because I lost all my work for that first ride through).

I don't have much to say about the merch. It was about what you'd expect. Lots of plushies, tees, etc.. I purchased some pins featuring the various Mario Kart cups and a T-shirt with some Boos on it. It would be nice to see them offer some items related to the actual video game systems and games in the future. Maybe some special Switch/game carrying cases with the land logo on it, that sort of thing. Oh! -and I forgot to mention that your Power band doubles as amiibo when you get home. Which is awesome, even if it's only for six of the most generic character choices. It really adds a bit of value to the bands outside the parks, unlike Magic bands which just kind of sit there, awaiting your next trip.

Overall, I think Universal has a winner on their hands here. It's small, sure. The sightlines are rough and some elements of the land are even already showing wear and tear. But at the end of the day, the land and it's ride are a ton of run and what food they do offer is yummy. It sort of took me back to being a kid and experiencing/playing in Toontown. But it's for everyone and there's so, so much more to do. The difficulty of the challenges in the land even increases as you do them multiple times! I could easily spend an entire day just in this one area collecting stamps/achievements to increase my score.

 

[Jerroddragon]

My wife and I live in San Diego. At around 11:30 am yesterday, we decided to spontaneously chance the drive up to USH for a shot at Super Nintendo World and were not disappointed. No traffic there or back (huzzah), we parked near the front gate at around 1:30pm, bought tickets and had a virtual return time booked for 1:30pm - 2:30pm upon entering the park. Magic.


Overall, I think Universal has a winner on their hands here. It's small, sure. The sightlines are rough and some elements of the land are even already showing wear and tear. But at the end of the day, the land and it's ride are a ton of run and what food they do offer is yummy. It sort of took me back to being a kid and experiencing/playing in Toontown. But it's for everyone and there's so, so much more to do. The difficulty of the challenges in the land even increases as you do them multiple times! I could easily spend an entire day just in this one area collecting stamps/achievements to increase my score.

On the coaster part, which even one of my friends would have preferred, We are about to get back to back coasters with DK and F&F so I think they understand the need for another big thrill and a family coaster but this ride is ment to be seen by everyone like ROTS at Galaxy Edge and a dark ride is what makes that happen, coasters can't be ridden by everyone and while people on this forums mostly love thrills. I know many of adults even in their 40's who get sick by most the faster rides and honestly Potter/Transformers afterwards would not help you feel any better.

The park was in need of a ride that anyone, young or old could ride. On two of my trips I got to ride with my childhood friends that I grew up gaming with......its magical we ll had a wonderful time and also my friends all basically want the bands now after me letting them borrow mine and done some games/the boss with them.

So besides the size honestly think the land is just perfect and rememeber a few elements aren't finished yet. They still have to cover up some of the AA koopa/goba feet area so you can see the insides and a few of the screens in the Q in the Yoshi area were on but nothing happening yet...so hopefully once the land opens and you go again its even more themed by the time you see it again.

 

[theblueblurr]

On the coaster part, which even one of my friends would have preferred, We are about to get back to back coasters with DK and F&F so I think they understand the need for another big thrill and a family coaster but this ride is ment to be seen by everyone like ROTS at Galaxy Edge and a dark ride is what makes that happen, coasters can't be ridden by everyone and while people on this forums mostly love thrills. I know many of adults even in their 40's who get sick by most the faster rides and honestly Potter/Transformers afterwards would not help you feel any better.

The park was in need of a ride that anyone, young or old could ride. On two of my trips I got to ride with my childhood friends that I grew up gaming with......its magical we ll had a wonderful time and also my friends all basically want the bands now after me letting them borrow mine and done some games/the boss with them.

...

Absolutely agree on all counts, sorry if what I was trying to say didn't come out clearly. I definitely think they made the right call with the ride system they chose. It's something everyone can ride and doesn't alienate a huge portion of their target demographic. Additionally, while a coaster would be fun, there wouldn't be any way to make the "game" element work without folks losing their lunch or not being able to control it properly. Basically, they had to choose between the thrilling side of Mario Kart, or the actual "game" side of it to translate into reality. I think they made the right choice.

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

I like this land a lot. I think it's fun, cute, and expertly designed/engineered. It's small, yes, but Universal has really outdone themselves once again by designing a land that feels alive in a way that's totally unique to itself. This isn't Wizarding World or Galaxy's Edge -- it is entirely its own thing. They deserve all the kudos in the world.

I don't love the ride. I think it's good -- great, actually -- for what it is, but this style is just not to my taste. I'm a coaster person at heart and I wish this had more "oomph." It's definitely single-rider or 20-minutes-or-less standby for me.

The gamification is a good time. I didn't personally purchase a band (shared one with my wife), but it's fun to run around and punch stuff haha. If I was a kid here on vacation, I'd be obsessed with getting 100% completion. I think that's the draw here. Not sure people who visit the park frequently will find a lot of novelty in it long term. (I sure won't.)

I love the restaurant. I think the space is super fun and the food was really good. This will be my primary reason for returning to the land long-term, I think.

Overall, I'm so glad this is finally open and I hope it's a huge success.

 

[Stryker]

Looks like single rider will bypass the preshows. Good. They’re kinda useless after awhile.

 

[Magic-Man]

Looks like single rider will bypass the preshows. Good. They’re kinda useless after awhile.

Ohhhh so that's why that pathway is there!

 

[Stryker]

Video the SR queue.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Perhaps I am going to say something surprising: but this might be..the best single rider queue I've seen for a ride? Sure, it doesn't have the preshows, but it gives the views of SNW directly as a compensation; alongside having their own second level view of Mt. Beanpole directly.

 

[Evan]

Video the SR queue.

That turn into the room full of visors just felt wrong to me haha. I'd have slowly backed away in fear that I entered an area I shouldn't.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Went on Single rider today....it took 5 mins

The MK broke down while I was on it, will post pics of inside later but dont have many because I was at the start
Family in the car were pretty upset and were hoping they'd get at least a fast pass for waiting 40+ mins just to be kicked off and I told they they could try but its soft opening so......doubt it

Also made it to the top 10 of all time for a little while today, I took a picture and will post it later but......I'm done I got to the 10 ten and don't care if the erase the score I did it once, and I want it posted on my Tombstone

 

[imagineer89]

Perhaps I am going to say something surprising: but this might be..the best single rider queue I've seen for a ride? Sure, it doesn't have the preshows, but it gives the views of SNW directly as a compensation; alongside having their own second level view of Mt. Beanpole directly.

I was able to get on SR today - it made it essentially a walk-on and the views from up high were fantastic; however, there are only 2 screens that explain the visors/headsets and they’re in spots that are close together and cause a bottleneck if you stand to watch. I was able to figure it all out but felt like there could be a better spot for those screens.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Yeah the preshows are......fine.....at best by far to me the weakest part of MK (not the rooms but the videos) so no big lose and 9/10 single riders are locals or people who have done it before

 

[imagineer89]

Yeah the preshows are......fine.....at best by far to me the weakest part of MK (not the rooms but the videos) so no big lose and 9/10 single riders are locals or people who have done it before

Agreed that the preshow video is weak but to me that is a big loss. This is an example of an attraction that 100% needs a preshow to explain the system to new riders quickly and efficiently. I had never ridden before and had to figure out resizing the headband and connecting the headset, and then I had to figure out how to actually play the game. It’s my understanding that even with the standard queue preshow these aren’t too well-explained so it isn’t just an SR problem, at least until they add more descriptive VOs to the preshow (if that’s even planned).

 

[Jerroddragon]

Agreed that the preshow video is weak but to me that is a big loss. This is an example of an attraction that 100% needs a preshow to explain the system to new riders quickly and efficiently. I had never ridden before and had to figure out resizing the headband and connecting the headset, and then I had to figure out how to actually play the game. It’s my understanding that even with the standard queue preshow these aren’t too well-explained so it isn’t just an SR problem, at least until they add more descriptive VOs to the preshow (if that’s even planned).

I feel like if you get the AR on, you will understand it better by the training area

The games on the other hand can suck if your TM doesn't want to talk

Some are great and tell you how to play and others just let you go three times and lose and people walk away not very happy....especially kids

I try to yell out hints but....they don't always listen or hear me

 

[imagineer89]

I feel like if you get the AR on, you will understand it better by the training area

The games on the other hand can suck if your TM doesn't want to talk

Some are great and tell you how to play and others just let you go three times and lose and people walk away not very happy....especially kids

I try to yell out hints but....they don't always listen or hear me

Yeah, absolutely true - I do not have a band but was watching other people play and the ones who had never played before were left to fend for themselves. It’s not a carnival game, they aren’t losing money when people beat the games — they should be more communicative about rules/hints. The one exception was the TM working the Plant Nap Mishap; they were giving tips and letting groups play together to make sure they had a better chance to win.