Super Nintendo World Is Coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in 2023

Get ready to break some blocks and eat some mushrooms: Super Nintendo World finally has an American opening date. Universal’s Nintendo-themed attractions are coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in 2023, the company announced today, marking the stateside debut of a theme park land that opened in Japan in 2021.

Super Nintendo World is entirely themed to Nintendo’s number one dude, the helpful little plumber known as Mario. The Japanese land features rides based on Mario games, including Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge, a dark ride that uses augmented reality to recreate a Mario Kart race through Bowser’s castle, and Yoshi’s Adventure, a slow-moving sight-seeing tour through the Mushroom Kingdom. The land is also heavily invested in augmented reality, with various interactive stations throughout that work with the land’s Power Up Band add-on. Even if you aren’t one for rides or interactive games, you’ll want to visit Super Nintendo World if you’ve ever loved a Mario game; it’s a vivid, lifelike recreation of the Mushroom Kingdom, the fantastical land Mario fans have been saving since 1985’s Super Mario Bros.

It’s not clear how much of what currently exist in Japan will be coming to Hollywood. Universal’s press release states the land will include “a groundbreaking ride and interactive areas,” and that wording makes me think that either it’ll only have one ride (presumably Mario Kart) or else that Universal doesn’t consider Yoshi’s Adventure to be “groundbreaking.” Either way, the press release also promises themed dining and shopping, so hopefully we’ll all be eating fire flowers in Hollywood next year.