Welcome to Mario's World

Vroom, vroom! Your go-kart kicks to life, and you get ready to race. Competitors like Toad and Yoshi fly past you, knocking into each other like bowling balls. Everyone’s goal? To win the Golden Cup! 

Dodging slippery banana peels and gushing waterfalls, you race through the course at top speed. You toss a green turtle shell at an enemy. Wham! They spin to the side, and you zoom past. 

You steer through the course like a pro, picking up golden coins as you get closer to the end. You’re going to win!

This scene may sound familiar. You’re probably imagining playing a video game from Mario Kart, right? But this is no video game. This is real life! 

You’re actually sitting in a go-kart, steering it along a racetrack. And with the help of 3-D glasses, you see a Mario Kart course move in front of your eyes.

Welcome to Super Nintendo World.

Vroom, vroom! Your go-kart kicks to life. You get ready to race. Competitors like Toad and Yoshi fly past you. They knock into each other like bowling balls. Everyone’s goal? To win the Golden Cup! 

Dodging banana peels and giant waterfalls, you race through the course at top speed. You toss a green turtle shell at an enemy. Wham! They spin to the side. Then you zoom past them. 

You steer through the course like a pro. You pick up golden coins as you get closer to the end. You’re going to win!

This scene may sound familiar. You’re probably imagining playing a video game from Mario Kart, right? But this is no video game. This is real life! 

You’re actually sitting in a go-kart, steering it along a course. You’re wearing 3-D glasses. They show a Mario Kart course moving in front of your eyes.

Welcome to Super Nintendo World.

Vroom, vroom! Your go-kart kicks to life. Racers like Yoshi and Toad fly past you on the course. You toss a green turtle shell at them. Wham! 

Are you imagining someone playing the video game Mario Kart? Well this is no video game. This is real life! You’re actually steering a go-kart. You’re wearing 3-D glasses. They show you the Mario Kart course. Welcome to Super Nintendo World!

Let’s go back to the year 1985. A video game company called Nintendo has just released a game called Super Mario Bros. It stars two brothers who are plumbers. Their names are Mario and Luigi. 

The brothers travel through Mushroom Kingdom—battling enemies and avoiding obstacles—to save Princess Peach. She’s been kidnapped by a giant evil turtle named Bowser.

Super Mario Bros. became a huge hit. Players loved exploring the colorful world and discovering its secrets. Since then, Nintendo has released more than 20 games in the Super Mario series. Mario has also appeared in hundreds of other games, like the incredibly popular Mario Kart series.

Let’s go back to the year 1985. A video game company called Nintendo has just released a game. It’s called Super Mario Bros. It stars two brothers who are plumbers. Their names are Mario and Luigi.

The brothers travel through Mushroom Kingdom. They battle enemies and avoid obstacles to save Princess Peach. She’s been kidnapped by an evil turtle. His name is Bowser.

Super Mario Bros. became a huge hit. Players loved exploring the colorful world and finding its secrets. Since then, Nintendo has released more than 20 games in the Super Mario series. Mario has also appeared in hundreds of other games, like the incredibly popular Mario Kart series.

Mario’s fame gave the workers at Universal Studios Hollywood in California an idea. What if there were an amusement park that brought Mario’s world to life? 

“Mario is known by hundreds of millions of people who have grown up playing in those game worlds,” says Jon Corfino. He helped design the park. 

In 2016, Corfino and his team of engineers got to work. Fans loved Mario and knew the games inside and out. So Corfino’s team had to make the theme park look, sound, and feel just like Mario’s world. But how?

First up was bringing guests into the park. Mario moves around the game world through a series of green tubes. So engineers built an enormous green tube at the front for guests to travel through—just like in the game!

Mario’s fame gave the workers at Universal Studios Hollywood in California an idea. What if there were an amusement park that brought Mario’s world to life? 

“Mario is known by hundreds of millions of people who have grown up playing in those game worlds,” says Jon Corfino. He helped build the park. 

In 2016, Corfino and his team of engineers got to work. Fans loved Mario and knew the games inside and out. So Corfino’s team had to make the theme park look, sound, and feel just like Mario’s world. But how?

First up was bringing guests into the park. Mario moves around the game world through green tubes. So engineers built an enormous green tube at the front for guests to travel through. It’s just like the tubes in the game!

In 1985 a company called Nintendo made a video game. It was called Super Mario Bros. It was a huge hit. Since then, Mario has appeared in hundreds of video games, including the Mario Kart series. Recently, workers at Universal Studios Hollywood in California had an idea. What if a theme park brought Mario’s world to life? 

Jon Corfino works at the park. In 2016, Corfino and his team of engineers got to work. They wanted the park to look and sound just like Mario’s world. But how?

Mario moves around the game world through green tubes. So engineers built a green tube at the front of the park. Next they built a copy of Princess Peach’s castle from Super Mario 64. The tube and castle look just like the ones from the games.

Now the engineers puzzled over the next question: What would guests do once they came in? 

Mario always has an objective in the games. He saves Princess Peach, collects stolen power stars, or defeats enemies like Shadow Mario. Along the way, Mario racks up golden coins and special power-up boosts.

So engineers designed games for guests to win prizes like golden coins and keys. They also came up with an objective: Bowser’s wicked son, Bowser Jr., has stolen the prized golden mushroom. Guests need to collect at least three golden keys to get it back. How? By winning games!  

One of the most exciting games is Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. Guests steer a car through a virtual race! Special 3-D glasses let them see images of characters and objects from Mario Kart and throw objects at opponents—just like the video game!

Now engineers needed to figure out how people would keep track of their prizes. The engineers made a high-tech wristband called a Power-Up Band. Guests can tap their Power-Up Bands all across the park to play games and collect prizes. With enough keys, they can enter the final challenge in Bowser Jr.’s hideout!

Now the engineers thought about the next question: What would guests do once they came in? 

Mario always has an objective in the games. He saves Princess Peach, collects stolen power stars, or beats enemies like Shadow Mario. Along the way, Mario racks up golden coins and special power-up boosts.

So engineers designed games for guests to win prizes like golden coins and keys. They also came up with an objective. Bowser’s wicked son, Bowser Jr., has stolen the golden mushroom. Guests need to collect at least three golden keys to get it back. How? By winning games!  

One of the most exciting games is Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. Guests steer a car through a virtual race! Special 3-D glasses let them see images of characters and objects from Mario Kart and throw objects at opponents. It’s like guests are actually in the video game!

Now engineers needed to figure out how people would keep track of their prizes. The engineers made a high-tech wristband called a Power-Up Band. Guests can tap their Power-Up Bands all across the park. This lets them play games and collect prizes. With enough keys, they can enter the final challenge in Bowser Jr.’s hideout!

The plans were ready, and the park was built. Before opening day, engineers tested each part of Super Nintendo World to make sure everything worked. Were the mouths on the piranha plants opening and closing? Check. Were the Power-Up Bands counting gold coins and gold keys correctly? Check. 

If something wasn’t working, the team made changes and tested again. Corfino test rode Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge more than 200 times! 

In 2023, Super Nintendo World opened to the public. The theme park was a hit! Since then, millions have visited the park to see their favorite characters and worlds come to life. It’s been so successful that another location is opening in Orlando, Florida, this year. 

Corfino says seeing the video games transform into a theme park has been meaningful to people of all ages. 

“I’ve seen 5-year-old kids and 65-year-old adults drop to their knees and start crying,” Corfino says. “They’re so happy!”  

The plans were ready, and the park was built. Before opening day, engineers tested each part of Super Nintendo World. They wanted to be sure everything worked. Were the mouths on the piranha plants opening and closing? Check. Were the Power-Up Bands counting gold coins and keys? Check. 

If something wasn’t working, the team made changes and tested again. Corfino test rode Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge more than 200 times! 

In 2023, Super Nintendo World opened to the public. The theme park was a hit! Since then, millions have visited the park to see their favorite characters and worlds come to life. It’s been very successful. Another location is opening in Orlando, Florida, this year. 

Corfino says seeing the video games transform into a theme park has been important for people of all ages. 

“I’ve seen 5-year-old kids and 65-year-old adults drop to their knees and start crying,” Corfino says. “They’re so happy!”