Get Ready to Play: Exploring Super Nintendo World!
An Unofficial Walkthrough of Super Nintendo World at Epic Universe
Epic Universe is the newest theme park at Universal Studios Orlando. This park, opened in May 2025, features four portals that lead into immersive worlds surrounding a central hub called Celestial Park.
Celestial Park is home to the Celestians, cosmic adventurers who got tired of traveling by comet. They invented the technology, harnessed through the chronos that powers the portals, allowing all of us to easily explore the various worlds beyond.
In this series, I will take you through each portal and the main activities you can enjoy. So, let’s take a trip through a pipe and into Super Nintendo World.
Recommendation: If you want to complete as many games and stickers as you can in your visit, plan to spend most of your day in this land.
Super Nintendo World
Universal opened its first Nintendo-themed land in 2021 at Universal Studios Japan. They opened a second one at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2021. The latest version at Epic Universe is the largest of the three because of the addition of Donkey Kong Country. Universal is currently building a Super Nintendo park in Singapore and is slated to open in 2027.
Walking through the portal, visitors are ushered up an escalator designed to look like the warp pipes that take Mario and friends through various locations. At the top is the foyer at Peach’s castle, where portraits hang on the walls and cycle through different pictures. Watching the one on the right, we learn that Bowser Jr. has stolen Peach’s golden mushroom and we are invited to help retrieve it. To gain the three keys, you need to have a power-up band. You do not need a band to play any of the other games, hit the blocks or join in on any of the other activities.
Accessibility note: If you turn to the right side just after the portal entrance, there are elevators for the upper floor or you can proceed straight out to the ground level. This world does have two levels and there are several elevators located in the land, should you need them.
Ok, let’s pause and talk about power-up bands.
To band or not to band
Power-up bands are an additional purchase. Much like interactive wands in the Harry Potter areas, you don’t need a band to enjoy the land. You can still play many of the games, hit the blocks or interact with many of the items around the park. Also, not everyone in your party needs one. The bands retail for $60 and can be a big cost for a family. One way people minimize impacts on their wallet is to purchase one and share it for the entire party.
Power-up bands are sold in the shops at Epic Universe. They connect to the Universal app, where you can collect achievements through stickers and coins. If you are a someone who loves collecting stickers and achievements, this is for you.
There are eight character bands you can get and each day a leaderboard tracks the progress of each character. So everyone with a Mario band will contribute to Mario’s score for the day. You can check team or individual progress through the app, or leaderboards stationed around the land. As an added bonus, the bands can be used as an amiibo on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.
I highly recommend purchasing the bands and setting up yoru profile in the app before you go to Epic Universe. The bands are sold at City Walk. There are several stores in Epic Universe if you decide to add more to your party or purchase at the park.
Ok, now that we’ve covered the band, let’s strap on and get Peach’s golden mushroom!
Here we go!
Upon exiting Peach’s castle, you are smacked in the face with mushrooms, piranha plants, goombas, flashy gold coins and a brief moment of “which way do I go?” Turning to the right, you will find Peach’s meet and greet location, the elevators and a couple of oversized binoculars.
If you continue straight, you can take the staircase down to the ground level. But we are going to explore the upper level first.
Looking through the binoculars on the right, you will zoom in on characters waving from the far side of the park. If you have a band, you can collect a sticker when you look through it and focus on the character waving at you from across the park. There are several of these on the upper area. Make sure to stop at all of them to collect all the stickers. If your band is on your wrist when you use the binoculars, you should get the sticker.
Note: The technology isn’t perfect. Keep an eye on the app to make sure your collected stickers show up. Sometimes it does take several minutes.
From there, head over to the left side of the entrance to Peach’s castle where we encounter a couple of games. One is a giant slot machine with random items. Your job is to hit the blocks to stop the randomizing image to get all the same images. You can attempt this several times to collect all of the available items.
Quest: Obtain three keys
From there, head over to the left side of the entrance to Peach’s castle where we encounter a couple of games. One is a giant slot machine with random items. Your job is to hit the blocks to stop the randomizing image to get all the same images. You can attempt this several times to collect all of the available items. Now we are ready to take on the key challenges.
Next to the slot machine is the Goomba Crazy Crank and your first chance at a key. The objective is to turn a crank to speed up a moving platform that a goomba is on and make it fall down and hit the key. When playing the key games, make sure you touch your power-up band to start and end the game or you won’t get your key. Also, if you play a game and win and then play again, when you start the game you should hear Bowser Jr. laugh. Congratulations, you have unlocked a hard mode and a chance for additional stickers. Team members are nearby to help.
Next is the Koopa Troopa Power Punch game. Here, you want to hit the POW block at the right time to send a moving shell up the pipe to hit a block. Do that successfully and you will collect one of the keys to attempt a battle with Bowser Jr.
From there, turn toward the center of the land to encounter the next game: Pirranah Plant Nap. This game is best to do with a team of people. In the game area, there is a series of alarm clocks that will start flashing and blaring. The team needs to silence as many alarms as they can so the plant does not wake up. Do it successfully and you get another key.
If you have completed the games up to this point, you should have three keys and will be able to enter the final challenge against Bowser Jr. However, there are five games you can do to get the three keys. Let’s head to the next one.
Head back toward the Koopa Troopa game and head behind it. Look to your left for an entrance to the Bomb-om Kaboom room. There are several “?” blocks to hit before going in and a mini game just inside the first room. Here you will find some blocks on the left side and a giant “?” Block in the right corner of the room. Hit that block and get a fire flower to start the mini game and launch fireballs at flying koopas to gain some coins.
I have seen several people do the mini game and turn around and leave. But there is a door to the right of the mini game. Go through that and you go into a small room with bomb-oms. They will explode, similar in the Mario games, and you will “shrink”. As you progress through the room, everything is bigger to give you that feeling of being small. At the end of the room, you encounter the puzzle challenge.
Step up and touch your band to the key symbol on the screen causing an explosion and pieces to shatter off into the walls. Collect the shards and go back to the main screen where you will have puzzle pieces you need to put together. Complete it in time and you get the key. Run out of time and it explodes again.
With the key in your inventory, you make your way out of the room while your shrinking power wears off. You are normal size again.
When you exit this game you can turn to the left to take on Bowser Jr. or you can head around to the right side of the leaderboards to see a Thromp over a doorway. That is the entrance to the final key game: Thwomp Panel Panic. In this game, there is a screen of yellow and blue blocks. Your job is to quickly change the block colors so they are all the same color. There is a very short time to complete this and is easier with multiple people.
At this point, it is time to get that golden mushroom
Head to the entrance to the Bowser Jr. challenge. Touch your band to the lock symbol at the entrance to confirm you have the three keys needed and a team member will let you in. As you walk through this room, you need to hit the Bowser Jr. block and put your band up on the lock at the chest before you queue up to do the challenge. Peach will come on screen to provide instructions and then you are off to defeat Bowser Jr.
Completing this challenge will provide some additional stickers and unlock a hidden key that you can find through one of the large binoculars outside the adventure.
Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
We have reached our first ride entrance. This ride mixes a dark moving track ride, AR technology and projection mapping that lets you play along with Mario and friends and race while fighting off Bowser, Karnec and other characters. The line queue is full of easter eggs and fun call-outs to the games. Spend some time looking at all of the details. The book titles in the library are so fun to read.
The ride combines motion, fast turning, and a few spinning movements, screens and an AR headset. If you get motion sickness or just struggle with screen rides, like me, you may want to skip this one, or do what I did and get yourself a scopolamine patch.
It’s not as fast as some would like and the headset does take a bit of practice to figure out the aiming, but it is a fun ride. I would recommend this one if the wait time is 35 minutes or less.
Like most rides, you exit through a gift shop. Outside is a snack stand that sells popcorn and drinks in collector vessels. There is an elevator to go to the ground level and another set of binoculars before heading down the stairs.
Down to the next level.
Level 2
At the bottom of the stairs to your left is the entrance to Yoshi’s Adventure. Time to head in and go on an egg hunt. While you wander the queue, you will find a lit up block in a white and green spotted pattern. Each time you hit it, an egg is displayed on the wall above it. Each egg will be a different color. Continue to hit it until you get all the colors. This will earn you an extra sticker for collecting all six colors. There are also a few touchpoints to gain additional stickers, marked by a glowing egg.
Head up the stairs and sit inside a Yoshi vehicle. This is a conveyor ride. It’s slow. It’s cute and it has some of the best views of the land. But you can’t sit back and relax. You need to help collect eggs. On the console in the vehicle are three egg buttons. As you progress through the ride, keep an eye out for the eggs. When you spot one, hit the egg button that matches the color you find. Get all three and you can touch your power-up band to the center sensor and collect your stickers.
Also, enjoy the song that will now be stuck in your head. Baa, ba buh ba baaaa
In the center of the courtyard is the meet and greet area. It also has several blocks you can hit. There are also mushroom sitting areas if you need a break from the sun.
This area hosts Toad’s Cafe. Step inside the entry and you will see presents hanging from the ceiling. A screen on the left side wall invites you to pick a gift, large or small. Tap your band and see what gift you get. The cafe is a sit-down, quick service restaurant where you will order from a QR code on the table. Keep an eye on the windows as they have some fun things going on.
The last stop in this area is the 1-Up Factory shop, but not just for shopping. Inside this store you will find an 8-bit character spot. Wait, I haven’t mentioned those yet. We will come back to that.
Pass through the archways and you will find a snack stand, a Coke Freestyle station and a merch kiosk. There is a restroom and a bottle fill station here as well.
Next stop, Donkey Kong Country
Step out of the shop and head to the right and through the portal for Donkey Kong Country. And get ready for some contagious music. The second I step in there I can’t help but start shaking to the beat.
Right after you walk through the portal, head to the right to the plants and find one that has a DK symbol on it. Touch your power-up band there to collect a puzzle piece. You will find a second puzzle piece at the plane wing next to a merch kiosk. Keep an eye on the crates and barrels around for the DK symbols and tap them. Once you complete one puzzle, loop back to those same touchpoints to complete the second puzzle.
You will find a small shop and then the walkway is divided by some crates and foliage. You will notice some of the crates have big letters on them. Tap them to spell a word and collect stickers for them. There is also a slot machine game there where you can collect several items to add to your collection of stickers.
Heading down the right side path after the slot machine and you come to The Bubbly Barrek. This quick service kiosk serves banana pineapple-flavored soft serve and collectible cups. Is it situated next to Donkey Kong’s meet and greet spot. If you go down the left side path from the foliage there is a game where participants need to bang drums to a beat. Work together to master the beat and release Rambi from the crate to earn another sticker.
The last thing to do is continue down the path to the entrance of Mine-Cart Madness.
Mine-Cart Madness is a unique roller coaster that has a clever illusion. The track you think you are riding on is not the real track. There are intentional gaps on the ride to make it appear you are flying off the track or leaping across gaps. In reality, there is a second track underneath the fake one. This coaster is a short ride, jerky and has some surprise turns and hidden drops.
Within the queue you will find a few more sticker opportunities. One requires some teamwork and timing as two people on opposite sides of the room have to activate the statues to gain the teamwork sticker.
This ride consistently has a wait time over 105 minutes throughout the day. If you see it under 90 minutes, head over and ride it.
Hidden 8-bit Characters
Earlier I mentioned collecting an 8-bit character in the 1-Up Factory. Along with the tickers you collect from the games and rides, you can also collect 8-bit characters hidden around the park. Get them all and you earn an extra sticker: Pixel Perfect.
If you want to find them on your own, just keep an eye out for the Mario M symbol around the land and touch your band to it to light up the 8-bit character.
Super Nintendo Store
Head back toward Peach’s castle, just past the 1-Up Factory store and there is an exit on the ground level. As you head back to Celestial Park, stop by the Mario fountain with the gold coins for a fun photo op.
Next to the fountain is the Super Nintendo store. This is a smaller store than 1-Up Factory, but it is worth a stop to see the stained glass atrium featuring several Nintendo characters, including Link.
That wraps up the walkthrough of Super Nintendo World at Epic Universe. Join the email list to receive future posts in this series.
