Sure, Tokyo Disney would be cool. But, do THEY have a video game theme park that you grew up with and am totally excited to interact with? Bring it on, Super Nintendo World!
Before we get to that epic experience, let's go through some of the highlights of the day!
I got an express pass (for WAY too much $), but it covered 4 rides where I could skip ahead of the giant lines. Sometimes it worked out in my favour, other times not so much (or a single rider was just as quick).
First up was the Spiderman Ride, where I zipped past everyone with the express pass. It was a fun immersive 4D ride where you go around NY battling Spidey villains. Once I got on, I remembered that I had been on it before the last time I went to Universal Studios Florida in 2010. Still, great fun! 4/5
The next one I went on was the Flying Dinosaur. I braved my fear of the drop down stomach feeling on roller coasters to tackle this LYING DOWN ride. It looped, it plummeted, at one point I closed my eyes (or passed out?) But it was reaaaaly good. 5/5
Some of you know how much I love Jurassic Park. I watched all of them (and Jurassic Worlds) during my first bout of covid! So I thoroughly enjoyed all the thematic elements of the Jurassic Park area. Including when a "raptor" and "triceratops" (and her baby in a stroller) came out for a little parade.
I also rode Jurrassic Park: The Ride (also in US Florida). It's a log flume ride where you get WET. In 39° heat, the soaking was quite welcome. But foolish me did not bring an extra pair of socks so I was uncomfortably close to trenchfoot by the end of the day. 4/5
Next up, the classic JAWS boat ride. I survived. I also used single riders to the best advantage, literally walking onto the ride. 3.5/5
I had lunch at an anime themed restaurant. It was called One Piece and is about pirates? I grabbed a fish n'chips kind of meal. But forgoing the curry on my rice after basic communication with the servers indicated it may have had chicken in it.
Honestly, I'm surprised at the lack of allergen awareness there was at USJ. Even on 711 wrappers it says what each item contains. The ekiban I got for my Shinkansen also had symbols on it indicating what was inside. It was a little frustrating that I couldn't find it anywhere (even in japanese!).
After lunch, I was pretty hot so I went to watch a show. To my utter astonishment, they had a show themed around Waterworld. You know, the 90s flop with Kevin Costner sailing around and the kid from Andre/Napoleon Dynamite has a map tattooed on her back? Yeah that one.
And you know what. It freaking KILLED. It was SO good. There were water-skiing tricks, flips from diving boards, machine gun effects, smoke, lighting, fire, plane crashes, a MAN ON FIRE. Honestly 6/5.
After that mind blowing expeience I thought, hey, maybe every show is amazing! Let's check out "Monsters Live Rock and Roll Show", featuring classic monsters like Frankenstein and Beetlejuice (?). Oh God. It was awful. I def didn't expect to hear the Wolfman sing Bon Jovi today, but at least it was air conditioned. 2/5.
I checked out a bit of the kiddie "Wonderland" which was Snoopy, Hello Kitty and Sesame Street themed. The teacups are my fav ride at Disney, so I thought the Hello Kitty spinning cupcakes would be great. Nah, this is the one ride a single rider does not enjoy. 1/5
I made my way over to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which I thoroughly enjoyed the last time I went to Universal. It was pretty similar ans the rides had not changed, so while I did enjoy a Butterbeer and loved the ollivander want expeience, it wasn't too overwhelming. The hogwarts forbidden journey ride is still 5/5 though!
I killed a bit more time before being allowed into Super Nintendo World by going on the Hollywood Dream Roller coaster. It's not a loopy one, just a big hills and corkscrews. But the cool thing is you can choose your own track to listen to. In honour of NOT getting Taylor Swift tickets, I chose "Shake it off" 4/5. I also went to the Minion World of Despicable Me where I rode a really fun 4D ride where you were being turned into a Minion. 4/5
And finally, the piece de resistance... Super Nintendo World. The main reason I got the express pass mentioned earlier was so I could gain access to Super Nintendo World since all the advance timed entry tickets were gone.
You enter a huge queue and I noticed numbers printed on the ground. I then googled the numbers as dates and realized they were connected to important Mario releases. Like in Oct 1988, when Super Mario 3 was released in Japan.
Upon entry to mushroom kingdom, it was sensory overload. Mario music, rotating creatures, and the incessant sound of kids gaining coins. You can buy a special watch which lets you hit coin blocks and collect coins as well as compete in mini games. I joined Team Toad (Kinopio in Japanese) with my bracelet and earned coins for my team on a leaderboard. It was really fun and interactive. Apparently it also ties to the Switch somehow (I don't have one) and can also be used in US California.
There are 2 rides in Nintendo World. The first (with my express pass) was Mario Kart. You walk through Bowser's Castle to compete in a virtual reality/track ride Mario Kart game. Also earning coins on your watch if you had it. I was God awful at it, but it was really cool. 5/5
Yoshi's Adventure did not allow for single riders so like a schmuck I stood in like for 50 minutes to go on the 3 minute kiddie ride that slowly goes through Nintendo World with some Yoshi characters surrounding you (hello Baby Mario!). It was cute, but less impressive. 3/5.
The whole area was very cleverly designed. From the knickknacks on the desk in Bowser's Library to the murals of underwater enemies in the bathroom. There was definitely more to discover here but I didn't have too much time left.
I finally ended my long day by a quick visit back to Harry Potter to use my express pass and then did a last minute decision to go a 4D anime movie called "Jujutsu Kaisen". Now unlike the other shows where I got by not knowing Japanese, this one... not so much. It was confusing and I was quite out of my element as a non-anime fan. It was also 945pm and I was exhausted.
Overall, epic day and I loved it so much!
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