Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge - General Discussion

[Gartooth]

I got to ride this 5 times on my recent trip. I think I mentioned the AR was kinda blurry my first time but it absolutely looked better on later rides so I may have just not gotten a good headset the first time.

I'll come right out and say this is one of my favorite rides at the Universal parks. It is up in the same echelon of rides like Spider-Man and Hagrid's to me. It strikes the right balance of a beautiful dark ride making you feel like you're on an adventure in the Mario world while also feeling endlessly re-rideable with an itch to get a better score or get that achievement you missed next time.

The interactivity of it all is just such a blast and after learning it on the first ride the controls and way to play the game became second nature for me. I love seeing the race play out at different angles by looking around and finding hidden targets to shoot. To know that with time this attraction will get even better as the tech and AR improves has me excited to see how it will look like at Epic Universe in a couple years. Also the queue for this ride is gorgeous and filled with Easter eggs that the Nintendo fan in me was gawking at in line, so even when there was a delay in the queue I enjoyed the atmosphere of it all.

 

[shiekra38]

Seems like the more you ride this and experiment/play around with its controls, the more you get out of it and the more you master it

The fun level continues to grow each time

Some would compare it to...you know...playing a video game

 

[salismetho]

Seems like the more you ride this and experiment/play around with its controls, the more you get out of it and the more you master it

The fun level continues to grow each time

Some would compare it to...you know...playing a video game

Yeah for better and for worse, this has the biggest "video game" feel I've ever seen in a ride for sure. It's really well done, but it means that people who only want to ride it once will get a lot less out of it

 

[shiekra38]

Yeah for better and for worse, this has the biggest "video game" feel I've ever seen in a ride for sure. It's really well done, but it means that people who only want to ride it once will get a lot less out of it

A major theme in this land is "repeatability" and Mario Kart is a major part of that

I think in the coming years the re-rideability chances will increase

As it stands, it's simply far too popular and crowded to experience it as intended, which is more than once

 

[Jerroddragon]

Some people will wait for it more then once but the line gets long and when most other rides are walk on, its hard not to just skip this line if both the single rider and normal Q are over 60 mins

 

[shiekra38]

Something else to factor in is this land is operating at a handicap already with it being only the MK attractions

We can talk all day about the side quests, but not having Yoshi or (soon in Japan) DK, and with the land being so tight it leads to a one ride on MK scenario

I really don't think this land will be fully 'experienced' as intended for quite a few years

Either way, MK is getting some great reception online

Ironically the biggest complaints have been about nonsensical things

 

[Jerroddragon]

Something else to factor in is this land is operating at a handicap already with it being only the MK attractions

We can talk all day about the side quests, but not having Yoshi or (soon in Japan) DK, and with the land being so tight it leads to a one ride on MK scenario

I really don't think this land will be fully 'experienced' as intended for quite a few years

Either way, MK is getting some great reception online

Ironically the biggest complaints have been about nonsensical things

Agreed but man would have been nice if they had someone in the room telling them this was the outcome.....

I'm happy to hear reviews are positive, while not a perfect ride. Its really fun and the Q is basically second to none

 

[shiekra38]

Agreed but man would have been nice if they had someone in the room telling them this was the outcome.....

I'm happy to hear reviews are positive, while not a perfect ride. Its really fun and the Q is basically second to none

If only they had a gigantic queue where they could repeat the rules of the game several times for people to understand what they're doing

 

[Jerroddragon]

If only they had a gigantic queue where they could repeat the rules of the game several times for people to understand what they're doing

They have two rooms made to tell you how to play....I love the Q and the worst part if the two rooms where they tell you the rules so for me I'm fine with that. The app could have a video/pictures but please dont touch the 10/10 Q.

 

[BriefCasey]

A major theme in this land is "repeatability" and Mario Kart is a major part of that

I think in the coming years the re-rideability chances will increase

As it stands, it's simply far too popular and crowded to experience it as intended, which is more than once

[Laughs in Feb. 6 previews (to where it was so dead they let you re ride it without getting off)]

I can't imagine how long it'll be until it gets to be that dead again. Rain and cold didn't stop this ride from having the longest wait time compared to everything else.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Next January

my guess is we will have a few weeks earlier next year where the crowds die down
But even then maybe not. But that’s the best guess because I know many people who want to go but haven’t yet and they are locsl, my friends who didn’t go with me before the land I’ll always think we’re kinda crazy not to take a day off work to enjoy the land empty

 

[shiekra38]

[Laughs in Feb. 6 previews (to where it was so dead they let you re ride it without getting off)]

I can't imagine how long it'll be until it gets to be that dead again. Rain and cold didn't stop this ride from having the longest wait time compared to everything else.

Now we can talk about USH needing an expansion to the land, it's far too small

But that doesn't change the ride's design at all

I imagine it will be quite a while

 

[Jerroddragon]

I think we could in a few years see an AR update but any big changed to the rooms will be longer then 5 years....though really would not mind the Pipe unground area leaving whenever it wants. Its not a bad room but we have the Plants outside already so to me I could lose that room and be fine

 

[Stryker]

[Laughs in Feb. 6 previews (to where it was so dead they let you re ride it without getting off)]

I can't imagine how long it'll be until it gets to be that dead again. Rain and cold didn't stop this ride from having the longest wait time compared to everything else.

That was an awesome day that will likely never be repeated again. I don't think I've ever come close to riding anything 19 times in a day. Got quite a few zen rides, too (does it count since this isn't a coaster train?). At times, it felt like there were more TMs running the ride than guests riding it. It really felt like there were only a few hundred guests in the land.

 

[Freak]

I went yesterday. Quick trip report:

Went back to the first time in about three or four weeks. This time has probably been the most unpleasant experience I've had with the crowds in general. I got a reservation to go inside at 3:30-4:00. Went to ride Mario Kart around 3:35 in hopes to be able to use thew single rider line. Lo and behold, they have it roped off because it filled up. Another reason why theme park influencers are the worst. They let everyone and their aunts know about it so they all use it, defeating the purpose of it. Also in the extended queue where you go outside and up the stairs, so many people were cutting the line so they could meet up with their folks after getting ice cream and whatnot. Completely ridiculous.

The line got stuck a few times because apparently the room where they hand you the Mario caps got ridiculously backed up. We got into the final preshow room where they tell you how to play and we got stuck in there for almost a half hour. We were closer to the front. When everyone entered, so many people pushed and shoved their way to the front, we were at the very back. We were dumb-founded as to why the line was hardly moving an inch. We come to the stairs and there is absolutely no one taking the second lane/staircase. Not a soul. Me and my sister decide to risk it, go down there and of course, it was open THIS WHOLE TIME. When someone saw that we went down there, one person followed, then another, and then pretty soon the whole room stopped getting backed up now that people discovered there's a whole other staircase they could've used. In not even thirty seconds after we quickly walked all the way to the front, the entire lane behind us was full.

Apparently this happened for a while because the TMs assigning us the rows acted very frantic. I guess they weren't meeting their ride capacity quotas. Might have explained why the backups/line freezing was happening. It was 6:30 by the time we left the ride. Absolute madness.

I really hope from here on out they have a TM supervising the area telling people they can use both lanes. If they had just done something as simple as that, they could've saved us thirty minutes in line easily. I really hope they're able to learn from this.

 

[BriefCasey]

I'd hate for that to be someone's first time on the ride. Hope I don't run into that on my next visit.

Lo and behold, they have it roped off because it filled up. Another reason why theme park influencers are the worst. They let everyone and their aunts know about it so they all use it, defeating the purpose of it.

I'm guessing this is as in whole parties of 5+ people go in there as opposed to 1-2 peeps? I can see how that's problematic, though I also can't help but wonder if it's just high demand.

 

[Jake S]

Another reason why theme park influencers are the worst. They let everyone and their aunts know about it so they all use it, defeating the purpose of it

i'm sorry your visit was frustrating, but I think we should keep in mind the purpose of the single rider line isn't to get a shorter wait. it's to increase capacity for an attraction. theme park fans often use the single rider line to get a shorter wait, but that's an ancillary benefit, not its purpose.

 

[imagineer89]

I went yesterday. Quick trip report:

Went back to the first time in about three or four weeks. This time has probably been the most unpleasant experience I've had with the crowds in general. I got a reservation to go inside at 3:30-4:00. Went to ride Mario Kart around 3:35 in hopes to be able to use thew single rider line. Lo and behold, they have it roped off because it filled up. Another reason why theme park influencers are the worst. They let everyone and their aunts know about it so they all use it, defeating the purpose of it. Also in the extended queue where you go outside and up the stairs, so many people were cutting the line so they could meet up with their folks after getting ice cream and whatnot. Completely ridiculous.

The line got stuck a few times because apparently the room where they hand you the Mario caps got ridiculously backed up. We got into the final preshow room where they tell you how to play and we got stuck in there for almost a half hour. We were closer to the front. When everyone entered, so many people pushed and shoved their way to the front, we were at the very back. We were dumb-founded as to why the line was hardly moving an inch. We come to the stairs and there is absolutely no one taking the second lane/staircase. Not a soul. Me and my sister decide to risk it, go down there and of course, it was open THIS WHOLE TIME. When someone saw that we went down there, one person followed, then another, and then pretty soon the whole room stopped getting backed up now that people discovered there's a whole other staircase they could've used. In not even thirty seconds after we quickly walked all the way to the front, the entire lane behind us was full.

Apparently this happened for a while because the TMs assigning us the rows acted very frantic. I guess they weren't meeting their ride capacity quotas. Might have explained why the backups/line freezing was happening. It was 6:30 by the time we left the ride. Absolute madness.

I really hope from here on out they have a TM supervising the area telling people they can use both lanes. If they had just done something as simple as that, they could've saved us thirty minutes in line easily. I really hope they're able to learn from this.

I went last Thursday evening (around 6:30 or so) and had pretty much the same experience. Single rider line was mostly families/friends thinking they can outsmart the standby queue but that wait ended up being as long as the posted wait for standby. This is nothing new for single rider lines on the whole but the Mario cap distribution area was a problem, as you said. That area made things slow to a halt constantly due to the queue backing up; it certainly didn’t help that people were spread-eagle lounging on the stairs leading down to load, which effectively cut the capacity there in half. Growing pains are totally normal and expected for an attraction like this but I personally think I’ll wait a while to try this one again. It looks beautiful at night!

 

[highdefrex]

I went yesterday. Quick trip report:

Went back to the first time in about three or four weeks. This time has probably been the most unpleasant experience I've had with the crowds in general. I got a reservation to go inside at 3:30-4:00. Went to ride Mario Kart around 3:35 in hopes to be able to use thew single rider line. Lo and behold, they have it roped off because it filled up. Another reason why theme park influencers are the worst. They let everyone and their aunts know about it so they all use it, defeating the purpose of it. Also in the extended queue where you go outside and up the stairs, so many people were cutting the line so they could meet up with their folks after getting ice cream and whatnot. Completely ridiculous.

The line got stuck a few times because apparently the room where they hand you the Mario caps got ridiculously backed up. We got into the final preshow room where they tell you how to play and we got stuck in there for almost a half hour. We were closer to the front. When everyone entered, so many people pushed and shoved their way to the front, we were at the very back. We were dumb-founded as to why the line was hardly moving an inch. We come to the stairs and there is absolutely no one taking the second lane/staircase. Not a soul. Me and my sister decide to risk it, go down there and of course, it was open THIS WHOLE TIME. When someone saw that we went down there, one person followed, then another, and then pretty soon the whole room stopped getting backed up now that people discovered there's a whole other staircase they could've used. In not even thirty seconds after we quickly walked all the way to the front, the entire lane behind us was full.

Apparently this happened for a while because the TMs assigning us the rows acted very frantic. I guess they weren't meeting their ride capacity quotas. Might have explained why the backups/line freezing was happening. It was 6:30 by the time we left the ride. Absolute madness.

I really hope from here on out they have a TM supervising the area telling people they can use both lanes. If they had just done something as simple as that, they could've saved us thirty minutes in line easily. I really hope they're able to learn from this.

Oof. I was thinking about going during the day sometime early next week because I haven't been since those early soft opening days, but I think I'll pass now. And since I typically try to avoid going to any parks in summer because summer crowds everywhere are too much for me, looks like I won't be going until HHN kicks off at this rate, haha. Nice to see the land is a rousing success, but boy do I feel sorry for people experiencing it for their first time only to be packed like sardines.

 

[captainmoch]

The same exact thing of people not using one of the staircases until realizing it's open happened when I visited. As did the single rider line not saving any time, I noticed the ops weren't really using the line that much. I wonder what the deal is.