When my girlfriend first invited me on this trip, the first thing she said was that we’re going to Super Nintendo World, because she rightly guessed that would be the thing we were most excited about. So when we first got past the gates of Universal Studios, the first thing we did was head to the Lower Lot and follow the Warp Pipe to Mushroom Kingdom.

Seeing the place in person felt like stepping into a Mario game and even before seeing the attractions I was already mesmerized by this area.

Most gamers will recognize the sound we heard when we walked through this Warp Pipe.
Super Nintendo World first opened in Japan in 2021 but it didn’t reach Hollywood until 2023 so the park is still new to most Americans and not surprisingly, the area was packed with people when we visited.
There’s some impressive engineering all over this place. The coins spin around in circles, the enemies walk back and forth, and when you hit the bottom of a Mystery Block with your fist, you hear that famous “ba-DUNG” sound from the video game. There are many other touches that Mario fans will appreciate throughout the area.
She couldn’t resist.

We also met some famous faces while we were there. We got to take pictures with Toad, Princess Peach and both Mario and Luigi.

Touching Toad’s head isn’t allowed so being the tall person I am I did the safe thing and crouched down.
Apparently Peach has a lot of responsibilities as the princess because her arrival kept getting delayed and delayed, but she eventually came out just in time for us to catch her and get a photo op with her.
Oh yeah, the costumed characters at this park talk, so Luigi actually told my girlfriend he liked her Luigi dress.

The main attraction at Super Nintendo World right now is Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, which is a cross between a dark ride and an augmented-reality shooting gallery in which you sit in a kart and try to beat the other team by scoring points the same way you would in a Mario Kart game: collecting coins and throwing turtle shells. All while wearing goggles that make it look like Mario characters are driving alongside you as you steer your way to victory. Took me a while for my primitive brain to figure out exactly what I was doing, but it was a lot of fun.

The line to the ride starts outside Bowser’s Castle and through his sinister lair until you reach the racetrack. It’s a long way up a few flights of stairs but the queue is so amazing and detailed that you will have plenty to enjoy while you wait for the race to begin. These pictures I took are just a few of the many things I saw.

The only thing left at Super Nintendo World that my girlfriend really wanted to do was visit Toadstool Cafe. When we first got there the restaurant was fully booked and there were no tables left, but being a dutiful boyfriend I let Constance know the minute the cafe opened up again. Not only was the food great, but the restaurant had some nice touches. For example, when you look out all the windows that surround the room, it looks like you were dining in the actual Mushroom Kingdom. At one point a Toad looked through the window from outside and waved at the customers.

Keeping with her Luigi theme, Constance ordered a Luigi Burger. Meanwhile I ordered a Mario Burger.

We spent most of our first day in the park at Mushroom Kingdom and used the second day (my birthday) to check out all the attractions we didn’t get to on our first day, but once the day was over, we went back to our hotel, left in the morning, took a Lyft to Burbank and flew back home, but I’m glad I was lucky enough to get to visit Super Nintendo World. As a Nintendo fan, it was a mind-blowing and memorable experience. And so was this entire trip to Los Angeles. If it was just Super Nintendo World that I got to see, that would be enough, but I also got to see a ton of great theme park attractions, see some famous landmarks in person for the first time ever, take some great pictures and explore the streets of Hollywood, the place that I constantly obsess over in this very blog. For a shy, homeschooled kid from Oakland who never in his life thought he would be able to afford a Hollywood vacation, and for a film-obsessed idiot who calls himself an entertainment junkie all the time, it was a dream trip!