SUPER NINTENDO WORLD

11.12.2024

My sister and I were up around 6:30 am ready for the big day out at …. Universal Studios Japan in Osaka (USJ). Last time I was here, we went there around noon, hoping to get into “SUPER NINTENDO WORLD” but it was so popular that it has a limit on the number of people who can get in. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful. So this time, we made sure to get there well before the opening time. We queued for 30 mins, and gained entry from 8:30am.

On top of getting into the Nintendo world, the world’s first-ever “Donkey Kong Country” themed area based on the world of Donkey Kong, was opened for the first …. TODAY!! You, like Rob, might say what is the big deal? Well all the bragging rights for being there FIRST is enough for any Japanese person to get excited.

In the past, I have queued 1-2 hours for some rides, but today we managed to get onto 4 rides within 2 hours. In Nintendo World, we also ventured into the Yoshi’ Adventure & Mario Cart. They were absolutely adorable. The new ride, Mine Cart Madness, was more than a 2 hour wait, but we hung in there and it was well worth it. It was great fun.

The weather was perfect, blue sky with warm winter sun, the temperature was 15 degrees, unlike some of my teacher friends who went there this year and had to endure 35+ degrees. I am not sure I could have queued up this long in heat and humidity. 

When you get to USJ, you will be wondering why so many people are wearing silly hats like Mario, Donkey Kong, or a mushroom called Kinopio. However, the longer you spend in the theme park, the more you slowly get brainwashed into this crazy theme, and it quickly becomes a new normal. That side of things is a bit scary.

Buying mushroom soup flavoured popcorn and putting it in a normal popcorn box costs $7. However if you want your popcorn put in a star shaped plastic container, it costs $50 AUS. Buying a huge Yoshi soft toy costs more than the entrance fee seems like a really good purchase…… NOT!!! 

Fortunately Nana and I only got sucked into buying the mushroom soup flavoured popcorn, (without the star shaped container) which we thought was okay. 

Seeing some Nintendo characters was so exciting, Mario, Luigi, Kinopio and Princess Peach. I took many pictures. Ahhhhh, it happened again, I forgot there is a human inside just waving to us. 

We were satisfied with all rides and experiences, so headed back to meet Rob at the hotel around noon.  

On the way home we made a quick stop at Aeon Mall to get some lunch, play more crane games ( yes I got 2 toys and Nana got 0)*, then bought dinner. Yuri is coming to join us for dinner tonight which will be fun.

This is Mami, signing off now. Rob and I are going to start travelling tomorrow. First destination is Sapporo, Hokkaido! Yay! We both like winter up there as there is usually not a lot of wind chill there. Even if there is, we can always walk around Sapporo in the underground heated walkways. There is so much to see there and it is probably the most pristine of the four main islands in Japan.  

Looking forward to it very much. 

*The toys Mami won were so small they would have fitted into a thimble!!  By Rob.