Even though I am in a wheelchair with almost no mobility, I still enjoy visiting theme parks.  Just in the past year and a half, I have visited Universal Orlando, Disney World, Knott’s Berry Farm, Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris.  I was booked a cruise out of California in March anyways, so I wanted to combine a day trip to Universal Studios Hollywood.

When I booked my trip months ago, I already knew that Super Nintendo World was supposed to open in Universal Studios Hollywood in early 2023.  I was just glad it actually opened February 17 and that my friend and I will get to visit just 2 weeks after opening.

We will only be in the LA area for 2 full days in March so I booked our day to check out the new land on a Saturday.  I figured Super Nintendo World would be insanely busy so I had to get the annual pass for only $75 USD more that a Saturday day pass.

With this being a brand new area at Universal Studios Hollywood, I wanted to write about my experience in its own blog post.

Getting There

Since Super Nintendo World just opened and almost everyone who visits the theme park wants to check it out right away, Universal has put a limit of visitors inside the area to control crowd capacity.  Guests are told to make a reservation on the Universal app as soon as they enter the park as they will get booked fast.  Doors to Universal Studios opened at 8am and there were options to pay $20 to enter at 7am to get the early reservations.

We arrived at the park around 10.30am and as soon as we checked the app, the earliest reservation time was around 5pm.  Super Nintendo World is located in The Lower Lot area of the theme park.  We had to take an elevator that was right beside Springfield.  The elevator took us down to a shuttle area where we boarded a shuttle with a powered lift that took us to the Lower Lot.

About Super Nintendo World

With construction started in 2019, Super Nintendo World in Hollywood finally opened on February 17 2023.  It is the second Super Nintendo World to open as the land opened at Universal Studios Japan on March 18, 2021.  The Hollywood version is much smaller and only features 1 ride: Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge.

Besides the 1 ride, there is also a 1UP Factory which is a store selling various Mario and Nintendo related merchandise.  The Toadstool Cafe is a quick serve restaurant based on the Toad character and serves Mario themed food and drinks.

There is also the option to play mini interactive games when using a power up band.  These bands cost $40 and allows guest to feel more immersive trying to battle goomba, koopa troopa and more.  You get to collect coins and keys and eventually get to face Bowser Jr in the final battle.  These bands can be purchased at the 1UP store or several kiosks located throughout.

Accessibility and our Experience

Once we get to Super Nintendo World, the entrance had the iconic green warp pipes with different heights.  I was surprised they actually had a lower one with a cut out at the back so I can take a picture inside the warp pipe and stay in my wheelchair.

We then enter a horizontal warp pipe, we enter through Princess Peach’s castle and got to look at everything that surrounds us and we were in such awe of the sights with all the bright colors, the Mario theme music in the background and all the moving parts and characters.  It actually felt like we were in the video game.  The area was not that big and it was so crowded with people everywhere.

Even with limited capacity and reservations needed to enter the area, there were so many people everywhere it was a bit hard to get around at some areas.  We took lots of photos and videos on the main courtyard and then explored Bowser’s castle. 

We did not buy any power bands since the 1UP store and kiosks were swamped with long lines.  It was still great to watch others interact with the mini games.  There was also an elevator that took us to the upper level of Bowser’s castle.  There is a balcony area I could wheel to which gave great views of the entire land.

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge did not have a wheelchair accessible ride vehicle and we did not bother using the Attraction Assistance Pass to take a closer look since we would have to wait in a virtual queue for a while and if we left the area, there were no more reservations to get back into Super Nintendo World.

We did get to visit the 1UP Factory and while all the merchandise did look awesome and great, everything was priced accordingly.  Adult T shirts started at $30, while hoodies started at $60.  Small plush toys were $20 and went up to $60 for the large.  Lines to pay for merchandise went out the pipe door.

We then took a quick look at Princess Peach’s Castle and the Toadstool Cafe.  Reservations were needed to eat there as lines again were out the door.  Even with the big crowds, we were still able to get my wheelchair everywhere in the land.  

Final Thoughts

Visiting Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood was definitely fun and worth checking out.  The accessibility of the land area was pretty wheelchair accessible and was glad that there was an elevator to get to the upper level of Bowser’s castle.  Too bad the only 1 ride wasn’t wheelchair accessible but I will be back to see if I can be transferred into a ride vehicle. 

We did spend an hour in this new land and since I have an annual pass to Universal Studios Hollywood, I will review this area again when it won’t be as new or busy as this visit.  Come back real soon to see my next post about my experience at the rest of Universal Studios Hollywood.