After numerous delays, the Super Nintendo World theme park in Japan is finally opening in 10 days. Despite obvious fan demand, Nintendo has historically been skittish about opening theme parks centered around their worlds. The park was first announced in 2015 as an area within Japan’s Universal Studios theme park, which is located in Osaka. For years afterward, information remained scarce as Nintendo and Universal developed the area. In late 2020, a special Nintendo Direct gave fans a tour of the park itself, renewing excitement in the park’s development.
In January 2021, Osaka declared a state of emergency due to the pandemic, discouraging people from visiting crowded spaces and making it difficult for final preparations to continue on the park. Fans faced a wave of bad news as it was announced that the park’s opening was delayed due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in Japan. A new opening date was not given by Nintendo or Universal at the time of the announcement, causing many to worry. It seemed as though the park was stuck in a perpetual state of limbo.
Today, Nintendo announced in Japanese that the Super Nintendo World park will open on Thursday, March 18 – only 10 days from today. The tweet includes photos of the park that show a Yoshi area, Bowser’s castle, Princess Peach’s castle, and more. The blog post linked in the tweet reiterates some of the park’s many features, including a “Power-Up Band” that allows visitors to interact directly with some of the park’s scenery and complete challenges. Fans took to the comments to bemoan the fact that they don’t live in Japan and to wish for a speedy end to the COVID-19 pandemic so that they can pay a visit to Universal Studios in Osaka.
This news comes at a time when the COVID-19 vaccine is becoming more readily available. As more people around the world receive their shots and are able to travel again, theme parks are sure to be popular destinations. Nintendo’s willingness to open the park in 10 days means that the state of the pandemic has also improved in Japan, which is good news for everyone. The interactive elements really do seem as though they’re straight out of a Super Mario Bros game, which fans will love.
This park may be the only Nintendo-related theme park for a while yet, as the planned sister theme park in Orlando, Florida has been delayed until at least 2025. This theme park, which will be a part of the Universal Studios Florida complex, has had trouble with construction delays and COVID-19 complications, just like the Osaka park. For now, if fans want to experience the closest thing to a real-life Mushroom Kingdom that the world has to offer, they’ll have to visit Super Nintendo World in Japan when it opens in 10 days.
