Japan is Opening a Nintendo Theme Park in 2021

After this pandemic is over, we are all going to need sometime to chill and have some fun. What better way then to spend sometime with Nintendo characters and worlds in real life at a new theme park?

Nintendo is planning to open a theme park next year. Originally planned to open this past summer but delayed due to the CV pandemic, Nintendo plans to let fans experience a one of a kind theme park featuring real-life Mario Kart races, Yoshi ride, and a Nintendo themed cafe, News.com.au reported.

Although the theme park won’t open until next year, a Cafe and Store selling exclusive Nintendo snacks and souvenirs will open this month ahead of the 2021 opening.

Among the menu items to be sold will be pancake sandwiches in the shape of Mario’s and Luigi’s hats in a variety of flavors such as strawberry shortcake and grape. There will also be cream sodas and soft drinks in super mushroom cups, along with exclusive Nintendo souvenirs.

Fans of various games series will be able to play Yoshi’s Adventures, a ride that takes passengers along a track with landscapes of the game as well as animatronic exhibitions. Guests will sit in Yoshi-themed cars as they travel throughout the Yoshi and Mario universe including Donkey Kong’s Jungle, and Bowser and Peach’s castles.

There will also be a real-life Mario Kart ride where you can race against all your friends. Athough whether or not there will items you can throw at your friends like bananas isn’t confirmed, and it’s very unlikely that Nintendo would have the ba-bomb or any of the other iconic weapons to use against your fellow racers.

However, something really cool that makes up for that absence is that guests will play Super Mario in real life using “power-up wristbands” and a smartphone app.

The app will show guests of the park where to find coins throughout the park as well as real-life question blocks to power up as well as a feature map showcasing all of the various park attractions.

After creating a profile on the app, those visiting the park can compete against each other.

The bands will track and sync visitor activities while walking around the park, letting guests collect coins and compete with each other. The bands will have six options based on the characters – Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Toad, and Yoshi, The Verge reported.

The park is developed in collaboration with Universal and Nintendo who have created the ultimate Nintendo real-life experience. Scores can even be sent back to a users’ Nintendo game console to build up for a future visit to the park, Universal Parks and Resorts Chairman and CEO Tom Williams said last year.

Senior vice president and chief creative officer with Universal Creative, Thierry Coup, said the park would give fans the experience of “living the game” in a video uploaded to Youtube.

If you are too far away in the U.S. or can’t travel to Japan you will have to wait as another iteration of the park in Orlando, Florida has been delayed indefinitely, as was recently announced. While the Hollywood, Universal Studios park is being developed and currently in the construction stage with no known expected completion date, BloopBloop reported.