Courtesy of the author
The rest of the park opens between 9 and 10 a.m., so we got to walk through it while it was empty, which was kind of neat.
The park employees made sure no one was running to be the first into the section, which I appreciated since there were not a lot of little kids like mine doing early access.
When we arrived at the Super Nintendo World, it was awesome to see it free of crowds. We were able to take plenty of photos before walking into Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge — the only ride in that section of the park.
I had seen photos online of wait times over two hours for the ride, but going in so early meant that we were on it minutes after walking in through the entrance.
After the ride, we were able to meet characters and take photos with them, which blew my son’s mind. The lines were incredibly short, so the characters were able to take plenty of time with each person for the photos.
We even got a reservation for the popular Toadstool’s Cafe
Courtesy of the author
Since we also had express passes — which allow you to go through a shorter and faster line for rides — we were able to go on Mario Kart again after lunch despite it having a 65-minute wait.
But the park was way more overwhelming now that it was officially open to all other ticket holders. This time, since there were more people riding, the experience had its ups and downs.
Last time, we basically walked right onto the ride so it was nice that we were able to take our time going through the castle leading up to it. It was filled with Nintendo characters and instructions on how to play the interactive ride.
On the other hand, the ride stopped several times on our second turn, leaving us stuck between screens (which prompted my son to ask what was happening over and over again). Also, the steering wheel of my kart didn’t seem to work properly — I didn’t really care about it, but it would’ve been a big deal for my kid.
By the time we got off the ride, Super Nintendo World was packed. Navigating through crowds of people was difficult, and the lines for every character meet-up were now hours long.
This section of the park doesn’t have a lot of shade, either, so we quickly left to enjoy other areas of Universal that were less crowded.
If I were to visit the park again, I would definitely pay for early access because it made a huge difference in experiencing the highly popular Super Nintendo World.