Yoshi and Mario ride progress at Florida’s Super Nintendo World

There’s no doubt, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is a hit with markets for Nintendo, animated film, and family-friendly content. Yet, even with the movie’s huge success, it hasn’t even opened yet in Nintendo’s home country of Japan.

But there’s something else to consider. The movie’s success might affect the upcoming Super Nintendo World currently under construction in Florida, which will be the third iteration of the land. The first opened at Universal Studios Japan, with the second opening recently at Universal Studios Hollywood.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” could affect the land’s budget

One complaint that’s heard time-and-time again is that the budget was cut for theme park lands and attractions. Budget changes are rumored to be to blame for the loss of Epcot’s Mary Poppin’s attraction, Festival Center, and Play! Pavilion. While budget cuts are necessary for the large scope of attractions, even as much as we want to see companies spend, spend, spend, the success of this new film may result in Universe creative designers getting less push-back on costs for specific elements in this land.

Please don’t take that comment as any suggestion that the Japan and Hollywood versions are toned-down budget-cut options. On the contrary, these lands are some of the most detailed (spinning coins and walking goombas) and gamified you can find in the entire world. Instead, the boost that may come from the film’s success could be in the form of more character interactions (Toad doesn’t meet in the Hollywood version, but he does in Japan), more merchandise options (Japan just began offering a “golden” Power-Up Band), or seasonal decorations that we aren’t yet aware of.

Overall for theme park fans, this film’s success is a really good thing, as the film and the Super Nintendo World lands have one important thing in common: fan service. From iconic tunes to tiny details, they are both enjoyed by passive and die-hard fans alike.

Super Nintendo World Construction Overview

Below we have an overview of the Super Nintendo World construction. The massive show building will hold the Mario Kart ride. This attraction’s name changes slightly for each iteration. In Universal Studios Japan it is called Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge; at Universal Studios Hollywood it’s called Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. Bowser is also referred to as King Koopa, so this could be a simple Japanese terminology change as compared to the U.S. versions.

This mushroom kingdom will hold at least three attractions, character meet and greets, gamification areas, merchandise shops, and a rumored three different food and beverage areas.

Above we have the main portion of the Mario Bros. themed section of the Super Nintendo World construction. The yellow circle is where guests will walk through a warp pipe and come out of Princess Peach’s Castle into the land. The green circle is where guests will walk through an archway to head to the Donkey Kong portion of Super Nintendo World. The red circle is where we should eventually see a Bowser’s Castle facade for the entrance to the Mario Kart ride.

The scale of Super Nintendo World is massive

Super Nintendo World will be big. Very, very big. The arrows in the image above are pointing to two construction workers, in orange and yellow, as well as a work truck (which appears to be a Ford F-150). The truck looks small and the people are minuscule in comparison to this massive show building and land.

The tan track at the middle arrow will be a portion of the Yoshi ride, with the large white roofed show building being for the Mario Kart ride. The cranes and track at the top left of the image are for the eventual Donkey Kong roller coaster ride.

If that sizing comparison seems wild, take a look at Bioreconstruct’s tweet above. Now that massive show building seems smaller in comparison to just some of the work ongoing to get the entire area ready for Universal’s Epic Universe.

In preparation for opening day, Universal is working on the new Epic Blvd roadway, new hotels, the park entrance, and numerous themed lands. As a very rough estimate, looking over aerial photos from the lands and hotel construction, we estimate that over 130 different cranes are currently being used. These range from smaller carry deck cranes to the huge tower cranes.

Seen below we have another angle inside of the Mario Bros. themed section of Super Nintendo World. The yellow arrow points to where installation will install the facade for the Mario Kart ride. This section should be themed to Bowser’s Castle, complete with glowing red eyes.

Major areas are being prepared for themed elements

The green arrow in the photo above is pointing at the base of Mount Beanpole, the highest point of the land. This hilltop will feature the famous Mario end-of-level flagpole. This will be located above the Yoshi ride. It’s clear to see that this land will have multiple levels to it. Guests will enter out of Peach’s Castle onto the second level of the land. From here, they will have to head down to level one for the rumored placement of the Toad’s Cafe entrance as well as the walkway to the Donkey Kong section of the land.

These levels are used to fit the theme of the land. They also serve the purpose of hiding small areas for gamification purposes. From peeks at the frozen lands of the Super Mario Bros. games, to Bowser Jr.’s Key Challenge, augmented reality lenses, and much more, this land is attempting to use each square foot to its full potential.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” certainly won’t determine all the decisions for this upcoming land, but as ticket sales continue to rise, one can only assume it’s positive news for the upcoming land in Florida.

If you’re interested in the Super Nintendo World construction, you may also be interested in the making of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” Read more about how Nintendo choose the Illumination animation team, how the cast was picked for their roles, and how the composer for “F9,” “Transformers: Prime,” and “Iron Man 3” ended up working on an animated film.