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Nintendo-themed areas are coming to Universal Studios Japan, Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood. These will be expansive, immersive and interactive. They will be highly themed and authentic environments filled with multiple attractions, shops and restaurants. Back when Nintendo Land was first confirmed, we speculated that Mario Kart might make a good IP for an attraction, and when Universal Studios Japan confirmed that they are working on an attraction based on this popular Nintendo video game series, we hoped that this meant that such an attraction would also be coming to Universal Orlando Resort as well. And now it has been confirmed that a Mario Kart ride will indeed be the signature attraction in this new land.
Click to enlarge. Photo via UniversalAfter strong rumors for years, Universal confirmed in 2015 that it was indeed working developing a line of new lands with Nintendo, giving details on it coming to Orlando, Tokyo, and Hollywood.Last year a groundbreaking took place for the one in Japan and permits were pulled for the one here in Orlando. But as the one in Japan continues to push forward, there has been no indication of the one Orlando moving forward anytime soon and now we might know why.According to by sources, it now looks like Universal has chosen to not move forward with the plans to have Nintendo replace Kids Zone at Universal Studios Florida. The original plans for this area featured numerous Nintendo franchises, including Zelda and Kirby, both of which were later removed from the plans because the ride buildings for the Mario Kart and Donkey Kong rides seemed to take up the majority of the land.The most recent plans called for two major rides. One would’ve used augmented reality in a Mario Kart ride while the other, themed to Donkey Kong, would’ve used a patented coaster system that makes riders think they are jumping the track similar to how the carts in the Donkey Kong games do. A third ride would’ve been a slow-moving indoor/outdoor ride similar to Magic Kingdom’s PeopleMover but themed to Yoshi.
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