Universal Studios Hollywood Update – The Calm Before the Mushroom Storm

P.S. Bowser has challenged us to a race and all of you, dear readers, are also invited to race on Team Mario. Indeed, it’s almost time for the grand opening of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood! With that on the horizon, we wanted to take a look around the lot this week to show you the new land, a new Toothsome restaurant in Citywalk, and the current construction and refurbishment projects. 

Super Nintendo World

Super Nintendo World is nearing its grand opening next week. The all-new super-star land is home to a new attraction, restaurant, and a myriad of wonderful interactive elements. 

Super Nintendo World Passholder Previews

Between Dusty, Nathan, and I, we’ve had the chance to attend multiple technical previews, including two passholder previews. The final passholder preview was today, February 11th. 

On non-passholder preview days, Universal has often kept the land open for the public, including the few hours after the final passholder time slots before park closing. The land is always subject to availability until the grand opening on February 17th. 

Each visit has varied in a few respects. Dusty, Nathan, and I all noted that things had vastly improved between our respective past visits. 

This is a land with a lot of thought put into it. Even between my first visit and our recent visit this week, I noticed quite a lot of polish was applied. For Dusty and Nathan, it had been a few weeks and I found it quite amusing to see them walk around and gawk at things saying “wow this wasn’t like this when we were last here.”

What we did not experience during our most recent visit was the rough start on the first day of passholder previews the week before. There were a number of miscommunications that led to the land being far too overcrowded than what I imagine they had planned for. Information relayed to us changed drastically from one moment to another.

We were not told there was a 2-hour restriction on wristbands or what would or would not be available to us after that time. What was supposed to be available changed during our 90+ minute wait for Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. That included requiring a reservation to eat at the modified quick-service restaurant, Toadstool Cafe, something we could’ve done at the beginning of our preview slot had we been informed. Frustrating, to say the least.

Despite this, it seemed by the time the final preview group came in, the Universal team had ironed out a lot of the issues. That’s quite the turnaround. Even still, the team members were trying their hardest to be accommodating and I can’t state how much their effort was appreciated. They even went as far as inviting passholders from that first day to return on another day. During that return visit, the issues I observed on the first day were indeed all resolved— they even offered a QR code at check-in to reserve Toadstool Cafe.

These previews are intended to be previews; they help park operations stress test and gauge how things work. Yet, the quick pivot and commitment to the guest experience (given the circumstances) show some great ingenuity on the part of Universal Studios.  Considering how wonderful this little land is, I hope Super Nintendo World is a smashing success (and have no doubts it will be). 

Super Nintendo World Virtual Queue and Reservations

There may be a virtual queue for entry into the land on busier days after the official opening, so make sure to check the Universal Studios Hollywood app. Phased entry is important to curb overcrowding inside the land and we hope that all the previews have given Universal plenty of information to make that process smooth. 

For those looking to dine at the beautiful Toadstool Cafe, the restaurant is intended to operate with walk-in availability whenever possible, but reservations were being tested during previews. 

We were informed signage was to be placed in various locations around the park (and probably the app) to tell guests the availability of both the virtual queue and how to make reservations for the cafe if needed. 

Around the Land

The childlike wonder as all three of us just played inside Super Nintendo World is entirely the point of this great new addition to Universal Studios Hollywood. This is a place you just want to stand in wonderment because it’s just that whimsical. Even Dusty agreed— someone who has no attachment to the Nintendo/Super Mario brand like Nathan and I do. 

Everything moves. It feels animated and alive like the source material. 

Attention to detail is even evident in the costumed characters. If you meet Mario, Luigi, or Peach, they have articulated heads. Their eyes can move and blink. Their mouths can move and articulate words with recorded voice lines. The dialogue is not too dissimilar to their video game appearances (just a few phrases, not full-length conversations). 

Super Nintendo World also looks wonderful with its nighttime lighting on. 

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is truly something I did not know I needed until I experienced it. 

The little Nintendo nerd in me enjoyed every little corner of the queue. Literally everything is a reference. 

Look closely at this portrait of Bowser. It’s signed by Shigeru Miyamoto, the father of Super Mario.

Interesting little vignettes powered by glasses-less 3D screens are everywhere. It doesn’t come across in photos… but in person this is 3D!

The ride itself is quite interesting. I’ve been explaining it to friends as “a cross between Toy Story Midway Mania and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway…on steroids.” It’s a slow-moving car on a track that drives around gorgeous practical sets with digital elements mixed in— but then there’s the added Augmented Reality (AR) element that adds the other “racers” and quite a few in-visor special effects and set additions. It’s a beautiful mix of multimedia. 

Bowser’s Challenge has this swagger that makes it all look effortless, but in truth, I haven’t experienced anything quite like it. This is the first time that one of these “video game-like” rides actually felt like a video game to me. And why wouldn’t that first time be a literal video game adaptation? The AR may be the key here, as the attention to detail is quite high. Even things as intuitive as shooting a (physical) wall or other riders with an (AR) shell will cause the shell to bounce off in a believable manner. 

At its core, this is (mostly) a traditional dark ride, yet manages to avoid feeling like old (Mario) hat.  

Here’s a tip. Universal Studios ride vehicles can be a bit tight on different body sizes. If you think this may affect you, there’s a seat to the right just inside the warp pipe entrance to the attraction to test if you’ll fit well. This is also where the entrance to the single-rider queue is.

There’s quite a lot I haven’t touched on here, including the mini-games and the Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown, so definitely check out Dusty’s full rundown of the entire land below:

Let’s-a-Go! Universal Studios Hollywood Celebrates One Year of Super Nintendo World

Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen

After a few delays, the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen finally opened at Universal CityWalk a few weeks ago. Formerly Hard Rock Cafe, this steampunk-inspired restaurant oozes (chocolate) charm.

Everything has a coat of bronze-age mystère, all the way to the ceiling with its painted dirigible mural. 

The far wall shows the “kitchen” preparing chocolate treats.

It’s quite the spectacle to sit in, aided by Jacques and Professor Doctor Penelope Tibeaux-Tinker Toothsome walking around. 

We were blown away by the creative and delicious food and drinks.

Here are the few items we tried:

It’s difficult to explain just how wonderful the food really is. Many restaurants create food that looks great but tastes just okay. Toothsome manages to make food that looks even better and tastes just as good as it looks!

Beyond just dining, there’s also a milkshake bar and a shop.

The shop was surprisingly interesting and full of unique items. 

The two big displays are entirely made of chocolate!

We couldn’t help checking out the intricate steampunk figures.

This is a chocolate emporium, so indeed there’s quite a lot of chocolate and treats for sale!

Overall, this was an amazing concept for a restaurant. And unlike many themed resturants which are fun to look at but don’t offer great food, Toothsome has a really delicious and diverse menu. 

Don’t miss everything you need to know about Toothsome Chocolate Emporium:

Toothsome Chocolate Emporium at Universal Studios Hollywood Is a Sweet Surprise!

Universal Studios Construction

Even with the upcoming Super Nintendo World opening, Universal Studios Hollywood is doing quite a bit of construction around the park. The central plaza next to the Kung Fu Panda attraction is currently behind walls. Heavy equipment on the other side. We’re curious. 

The entire complex of Universal Animal Actors and Special Effects Show is now officially closed. The space will be used for future expansion. 

Two retail spaces are now also closed in CityWalk, not too far from the Universal Studios main gate. We wonder what the future is for these, will they combine into one big space?

Two major buildings are also being built on property. One will be another hotel, but I’m not sure what the other will be.

Refurbishments

The only attraction down for refurbishment right now is Jurassic World. This is an annual refurbishment required to upkeep water attractions like this. 

Construction on what I believe is the new hotel is peaking out behind the entrance to the attraction. If this building gets much taller, you’ll be able to see it from Jurassic World and Super Nintendo World. 

  

This and That

Universal Studios Hollywood is such a lovely little park to enjoy spending time in. This is especially true on a day like this past Monday, where at noon, most of the attractions in the park were under 20 minutes. As a note, the picture above was taken right before our Super Nintendo World preview where we walked onto Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge and rode it three times in a row without getting off. 

No trip to Universal is complete without a visit to Hogsmeade to buy a butterbeer…

 

To end this update, I’d like to share some photos from Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite Universal attractions and happens to be extremely photogenic. 

Let’s Hear From You

That’s it from the studio this time. Make sure you’re following MiceChat as we’ll be covering the grand opening of Super Nintendo World next week. I also have quite a bit of video of the land I’ll be sharing soon on the MiceChat YouTube page (Subscribe Here).

Let’s hear from you folks. Are you excited about the upcoming Nintendo land? Does Toothsome sound more your speed? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.