By Charly SHELTON

For anyone who has ever wished they could travel down a Warp Pipe and into the fantastical world of Super Mario, Universal Studios Hollywood has a new experience for you. A new land, a new ride and a new restaurant bring this dream to life in Super Nintendo World, which opened last week to a massive and delighted crowd.

The new land is located on the Lower Lot of the theme park, right next to Transformers: The Ride – 3D. Although guests enter off the lot from between giant soundstage buildings, once inside the land the guests feel entirely transported to a new world. It’s not that the sight lines are completely clear – a giant Minion can be seen from the Upper Lot and the giant sound stages are still somewhat visible. But there is so much going on inside the land that all the distractions of the real world encroaching seem to go unnoticed. The walls and hillsides are alive with motion, whether from Yoshi circling a tree in search of fruit or the gliding mushrooms that have been freed from ? blocks, or the Thwomp blocks crashing down in between Goombas marching and Piranha Plants swaying. Every surface above where the guests walk is filled with activity, giving the land the same feeling as a Super Mario Bros level waiting to be explored.

The land is home to a new attraction, a new store and a new restaurant. Toadstool Cafe is the land’s eatery, in which Chef Toad invites guests to dine inside a giant mushroom. Upon entering, Chef Toad himself welcomes guests via windows to the kitchen as he prepares some of the dishes available. These windows, as with all the windows of the restaurant, are digital extensions and feature characters and sets from the Super Mario Bros world brought to life, which are active as guests dine. Various Toad cooks can be seen working in the kitchen on one side of the dining area, and the other sides show views out into the land as the citizens go about their lives,

interacting with Mario and Luigi, until Bowser’s airship attacks and Mario has to step up to defend against it. The setup for the dining area is unique, in that guests place their order at a counter and are given drinks there, before being escorted to an assigned table for their food to be brought out from the kitchen by waitstaff. It is basically a counter service restaurant, but with a step up to be slightly nicer than the average. The fare is what’s to be expected from theme park food – burgers, chicken sandwich, spaghetti, salad, and cakes or tiramisu for dessert. One standout is the Short Rib entree, and another entree that is coming soon – Bowser’s

Fireball Challenge – promises to be interesting as well. But the environment is so fun and immersive that the food doesn’t need to be the star of the show, it’s more than worth a visit just to experience the space.

Next week, we’ll dive in to more on this amazing land and take a look at the new attraction – Mario Kart:Bowser’s Challenge. Super Nintendo World is open now at Universal Studios Hollywood.

  Charly Shelton