today was a good surprise soft opening/technical rehearsals as it was open to everyone but the park was empty so the land didnt feel overcrowded
the ride did take about an hour and a half of wait but there were so many things to see on the queue and my phone is filled with pictures
also these two chicks in front of us kept making out so that made the time pass by fast too
the first half of the queue is kind of boring but once you enter bowser mouth and into the castle, so many things to see
a complaint i have though is you dont directly enter to bowsers mouth into the castle like in japan, there’s an indoors entrance and then you up the stairs
its all about the visual, in japan you enter and then there’s long stairs that leads to the bowser statue (pics below) the on in Hollywood felt underwhelming, you cant even really take a decent picture of the Bowser head entrance from downstairs
this is the view from the land itself, the entrance is elevated and kind of blocked off
japan has this
that leads to this
but back to the ride, its good and creative, it is going to take a few rides to get a hang of it, i only rode it once and i was focused on the game part with aiming and driving that the effects on the background (physical design) fell on the wayside, next time i got to pay more attention to the ride itself
but its a good ride with good effects, its not fast but you’re too busy playing (shooting shells, driving, collecting cubes stars, etc…) and how the headset works is great, its a must experience
we got to the park at around 3pm, got out at 4:30 went to get try the toadstool cafe and by the time we got out the land is closed by 5 so i didnt get to do much
with that said, food is one thing universal just cant compete with disney, they just dont got it quite right
the lemon slush drink is super meaty, meaty with boba, fruits and other stuff, its ok as a drink but you cant take a sip without choking on something so i wouldnt recommend it
the mushroom bacon cheeseburger was good but its no gourmet thing and the patty is ok but its simple and done well and oh the fries were really good, love the truffle fries
the desserts however is no bueno, it looks cool but it looks better than it tastes good
the blocks are inedible cookie wrapped around tiramisu but its frozen tiramisu and you can taste it in the middle like there still some ice crystals in there
the cupcake is a birthday cake cupcake with a lot of super sweet icing, the cake itself is average but its nothing special, save you rmoney and get some sprinkles or something
overall i am very impressed with the land (batuu take note and play some signature music to make it feel epic) and they make you feel like you stepped in super mario world and i thought its goign to small and crowded but it didnt feel like it
and the ride is really good and has good replay value - food on the other hand is kind of disappointing but the restaurant theme is cool with screens acting like windows to the “outside” and things happen and so far the customer service were great - they sit you so you dont have to wait and bring your food to you, they were exceptional
i hope they are able to expand it int he future with the donkey kong theyre building in japan and florida and then maybe pokemon and zelda, they did something great here and universal gets a 1up over disney on this one…