Major milestones met for Yoshi & Donkey Kong at Universal Epic Universe

Super Nintendo World is currently open at Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood. The next, and biggest iteration is coming to Orlando, Florida. With new drone photos by Peaceful Thrill Seeker, we can look at major milestones in this upcoming land.

Universal Epic Universe will open with four highly themed lands, a large central hub and three hotels. Theme park fans are eagerly awaiting this theme park’s opening in 2025. Even Universal Orlando themselves is teasing the opening year, while still working on 2024 projects.

Yoshi’s Adventure ride in Super Nintendo World

Yoshi’s Adventure will be one of three rides in this land, alongside the Mario Kart and Donkey Kong rides – plus the expected Bowser Jr. interactive experience. Peaceful Thrill Seeker was able to get a clear view of the already installed ride vehicles. Yoshi’s Adventure is a family friendly ride with continuously moving ride vehicles. This adorable attraction offers a great view of Super Nintendo World – which is an extremely vibrant land, full of different levels and animatronics.

We are still more than 365 days away from the land’s opening. But that isn’t stopping Universal from plowing ahead on ride construction and installation. In fact, ride testing has already begun elsewhere in the park.

Super Nintendo World theming construction

Theming is a big, big part of Super Nintendo World. The designs, music and characters of the Super Mario Bros. games are so iconic – the land needed to be as well. Universal Epic Universe is bringing in these pieces with tons of themed elements.

• Yellow Arrow: Dessert pyramid theming, with this design inspired by Super Mario 3D World from 2013.
• Pink Arrow: Blue temple theming in the Donkey Kong area has begun construction.
• Red Arrow: Mount Beanpole, the tallest point of Super Nintendo World.
• Green Arrow: The base of Peach’s Castle, this will be the main entrance of the land.
• Blue Arrow: Part of the Bowser’s Castle theming, which will connect to the massive white roofed show building on the right side of the image.

Donkey Kong roller coaster track

Of everything coming to Universal Epic Universe, the Donkey Kong roller coaster is one of the most exciting. Outside of the Super Nintendo World Donkey Kong expansion happening now in Japan, this will be only coaster of its kind. For theme park fans, this is a whole new world of thrill ride. As a fan of Roller Coaster Tycoon, the idea of finally seeing roller coasters “jump off the track” seems like a dream.

Universal Creative took theming and engineering, and has begun assembling a ride that is sure to WOW the world. Simply put, you and your group will board a runaway mine cart. This cart will take you all on a themed roller coaster experience where you will “leave the track,” jumping to the next section of track. This Mine Cart Madness is achieved by a support system in plain sight.

Take a look at the zoomed in track piece. The wonky boards and silver steel track are theming only. That brown sideways steel track is the true hidden hero of this project. The coaster train will hold onto the brown track, but will appear to ride on the themed track above it. This allows Universal to maintain a safe track, with a storyline that is simply wild.

Donkey Kong Mine Cart Madness track elements

For the ambition and amount of work it takes to pull of this effect, Universal wasn’t going to use it just once. In fact, just from what we can see, the mine cart will leave the track numerous times for different elements. This ride isn’t 200% thrill, and will be more accessible as a family-friendly coaster. That doesn’t mean it can’t have thrilling aspects.

• Yellow Arrow: Tan support track, hiding among the land theming as the cart appears to jump the broken track.
• Pink Arrow: Brown support track, again hiding as riders “jump” from the ride path.
• Red Arrow: What is believed to be a cascading water element as riders “water drift” though the themed river.
• Green Arrow: Another broken themed track piece as riders head into a ride show building.
• Blue Arrow: Large supports for an eventual Donkey Kong Golden Temple facade.

Bowser’s Castle at Universal Epic Universe

Bowser’s Castle will be another major point of Universal Epic Universe, but has a few more stages before it is easier to distinguish. This castle will be the entrance to one of the land’s rides, Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. This immersive ride used augmented reality, in combination with intricate 3D sets, to bring riders into the world of Mario Kart.

No, this ride isn’t a high-speed attraction like Test Track at Walt Disney’s World Epcot. Instead some of thrill is reserved for the Donkey Kong roller coaster and elsewhere in the park. Instead this attraction is focused on the gamification process, which is obviously a huge part of the Nintendo brand. It also allows younger guests to ride along.

Universal Epic Universe is expected to open summer of 2025. There will be a lot of progress until then, but it is fantastic that we can already see these Nintendo properties coming to life. What ride would you run to first?

Back in August we took another look at Universal Epic Universe and how much progress had been made in just a few years. If one thing is true, Universal is moving along very quickly for their largest theme park ever!