Super Nintendo World Will Heat Up Orlando Theme Park Wars in 2023

Super Nintendo World is coming to Orlando in 2023, which means the start of the 2020’s is going to be filled with big brand new attractions in the theme park mecca.

We first reported on the new Super Nintendo World back in 2016 when details were still fairly vague.  We knew they wanted to bring it over, but that was about it. 

Now we have some solid plans and even an estimated opening year in 2023.  The date was confirmed in a phone call with Comcast Corporation executives back on January 23rd. 

The new Nintendo themed area will be housed in Epic Universe in Universal Orlando’s ‘Fourth Gate,’ which already features Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay.  It’s currently the only announced themed zone of the new park, though there is speculation on various blogs as to what else could be announced for Epic Universe in the future including some Harry Potter and How to Train Your Dragon themed attractions.

Here are some tidbits from the official press release:

SUPER NINTENDO WORLD will be an expansive, highly themed and immersive land featuring Nintendo’s legendary worlds, characters and adventures. Guests will feel as if they are playing inside their favorite Nintendo video games – in real life. It will be filled with incredibly fun rides, shops, a restaurant and interactive gameplay throughout the land. And there will be something for everyone, regardless of age or gaming experience. Universal Studios Japan will be the first Universal theme park to feature SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, followed by Universal theme parks in Hollywood, Orlando and Singapore.

If you’ve been following us here at The Geekiary, you know our attention has mostly been on Disney’s upcoming Star Wars hotel, scheduled to open in 2021.  With an estimated three day price tag of over $7,000 for a room (that fits up to 5 people, but still), it’s hard to say just how much this will ‘dominate’ Orlando when it opens.  It’s expensive and it has a fairly small limited capacity compared to all the nearby theme parks.

That said, us Star Wars fans are pretty dang rabid, so at the very least it’ll dominate in regards to buzz alone.  I’m sure that’ll hold public attention for a while as more and more people get to stay in it and experience all it has to offer.

But then just two years down the line you have Super Nintendo World opening. That will undoubtedly be way cheaper than a stay on the Galactic Starcruiser (current ticket prices are around $119 for the Universal parks), have a much higher capacity, and just generally be more accessible. 

So basically, Disney may be able to ride the buzz wave with the Star Wars hotel for a couple years, but Epic Universe could very well swoop in and steal its thunder relatively quickly.

I, for one, think some friendly theme park rivalry is a good thing.  Maybe it’ll drop some prices a bit (my wallet has been crying about the Star Wars hotel since the prices were announced at D23).  Or maybe it won’t. 

Maybe I’m going to have to bite the bullet and realize those prices are gonna stick and I’m gonna be very broke in 2021.  Just trying to optimistic, you know?  Sigh.

But anyway, Super Nintendo World is also scheduled to open in Japan this year sometime before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  If you can’t wait until 2023 and can afford a ticket to Japan, you should go check it out.  The trailer they released looks pretty rad.

https://youtu.be/fTSA709zNzY

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They’ve also written for Friends of Comic Con and is a 2019 Hugo Award winner for contributing fanfic on AO3. They identify as queer.

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