Visiting "Super Mario World"

They really know how to build anticipation with ad's in hotels and businesses around town... -.-

I've been playing Super Mario since the 1990's when I was 4 years old when I received the 1985 Super Mario Brothers cartridge (that came with Duck Hunt as a B-Side with an orange plug in gun, but that's a story for another time). Back then, I never imaged that it could actually be a place that one could step into and literally be inside of the video game.

( Those of you who haven't visited Universal Studios subsidiaries, it's the little 'mall' that's outside of the admissions line of the park. You can't miss it as you have to cross through it. )

At this store.

The bracelet allows one to interact with the environment, as you do in the Super Mario Bros. games. It allows for when you hit a question mark from the bottom side, a brick, or something for hitting for you to extract coins from it that are then stored in your universal app on the phone under your super Mario bro's tab. Obviously when one accrues enough points you get rewarded, but I wasn't really into that at the time. I just wanted to see and experience what it was and what it had to offer.

I like the Universal Studios Hollywood a lot better than the park in in Orlando. Be there as it may, there are so many parks and very long distance in Florida of which I do sometimes have to pull out my phone and use google maps to be able to find the exit. The park in Hollywood doesn't have as many rides or roller costars, but it's still very intense as its the guest portion of one of the largest in use film studios in the world. As NBC Universal shows are taped just beyond the entertainment portion, but that too is a story for another time.

Luigi!

Souvenirs !

So naturally when I made it to the entrance of the 'Super Mario World' Its jam packed and any visits before 3pm must be RSVP'd. There isn't a way to RSVP without obtaining the QR code from entering the park- or having your agent take care of it 🤷‍♂️

Descending mountainside to the Super Mario World

So naturally, I does what I does. I schedule something for 2:30 and literally call someone with a Grammy and go rerecord a song I wrote 11 years ago with him until then.

02:30 arrives quickly and I'm back at the park for my reservation.

Obviously, the first thing we do is get in the line for Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge.

It evokes the same eerie feeling of impending video game doom, with red floors for lava and titanium colored walls- but first things first, they make us put on plastic red Mario hats.

The line outside of Mario Kart; Bowser's Challenge.

Inside of Bowser's Challenge

It's a small kiddie ride, a' la' Men in Black at Orlando Florida, where you are armed with a pistol and 3D glasses fit over your red Mario hat so that you can climate various villians while being sped along an indoor roller costar. It's a lot of fun, for the sake of the theme. But The Mummy ride across the road is better, still. In a sense this ride differently more child friendly. And word of advice for anyone looking not to gain a few more years waiting in line. Board as single-rider.

Outside of 1up Factory

Inside of 1up Factory

So many Mini-Mario's to take home.

The park was filled with many aesthetics from the video games not limited to fire flowers, 1-up mushrooms, villains.

A villian, remember not to jump on this one.

Park Aesthetics

A fireflower waves in the distance as a growth Mushroom peeks around the corner...

Outside in the crowd, at Super Mario World

And of course we b-line to Toad-Stool Cafe, which had a sign that said that they'd run out of food. Always be sure to have a reservation or you wont get to eat there As it's extremely popular and the wait after being admitted is still yet, another hour.

Toad welcoming us to Toad Stool Cafe

For dessert I had this very mysterious tiramisu.

Naturally I had to earn some coins

The environment is very interactive, as if you pay attention to detail there are quite a few walls and question marks that lead you to different very interactive games, not limited to a castle that's only enterable after you've collected 3 digital keys (which we got) to play this huge super Mario game were you literally have to jump a lot into the air and can get shrunken if you don't bat away little tiny falling bombs. It's faaaaaarrrrr out.

All in all, I had a smash blast and spent 80% of 48 hours in side of the Super Mario World figuring out puzzles, earning coins, and riding Bowsers challenge. There's even a vantage point you can climb to reminiscent of the cave levels (yes the theme song changes around you) where you can view the park from binoculars that show even more flying question mark boxes and villains in the true dimension that this park has transcended. I can't wait to see it again, for theme parks and recreations I give this one five out of five stars. Even with the monstrous crowds, the aesthetic is a thing to look at in itself to help the time fly by. You should check it out sometime.