Super Nintendo World opening with two rides, wristband revealed that connects with console, more
Universal Parks & Resorts chairman and CEO Tom Williams has revealed new details about Super Nintendo World.
Speaking with Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Jessica Jean Reif Cohen, Williams confirmed that the first park in Japan is set to open next spring. Mario Kart and Yoshi rides will be featured in the first phase. There are other aspects to the park, including Peach’s Castle, restaurants, merchandise, and more.
Also revealed is a magnetic wristband that lets visitors “keep score and play with the various games”. Williams indicated that there will be connectivity “with your game console”, which we can assume is Switch given how it’s Nintendo’s main platform at the moment.
Here’s the full exchange between Cohen and Williams:
Jessica Jean Reif Cohen
So in 2015, you signed a partnership with Nintendo and as you said before, this will be the first park to open a Super Nintendo World. I think the plan is to open in time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The total cost has been reported at between $350 million and $550 million. Are you on track for that opening? Are there any details you can provide on that?
Tom Williams
We are going to open up next spring. It’s a whole new separate area of the park. It’s got food. It’s got merchandise. The first phase will have two rides, Super Mario Kart Ride and as well as Yoshi’s Adventures. Yoshi is one of the other Nintendo characters. There will be two rides. The whole land is interactive. And you are going to have a wristband that’s got the big red Mario symbol on it.
By the way, the wristband is super cool. It’s all magnetic. You slap it at your wrist and it just snaps on and it won’t come off. And that allows you to, on an interactive basis throughout the entire land which is built on three different levels. It’s got all the popular Bowser’s deal and Princess Peach’s Castle and all the different key elements. And you will be able to go up and keep score and play with the various games and that also translates to a score keeping capability, if you choose to do so within the rides and it actually interfaces back with your game console. So you can build on it and come back again and really got everything going for it.
Jessica Jean Reif Cohen
So what are the plans to take Nintendo to your other parks, Florida and –?
Tom Williams
We are taking it everywhere. Any place we are not going to start round one is in Beijing. There is a tension between the Japanese products in China.
Jessica Jean Reif Cohen
So what’s the timeframe for bringing it to the States?
Tom Williams
I only know we are bringing it. But I don’t want to defer attendance.
Jessica Jean Reif Cohen
Okay.
Tom Williams
But we are bringing it. You can count on it.
