Saw a couple people in Cabana Bay wearing Mario / Luigi baseball hats already ... this is going to be the biggest thing in Orlando since HP.
It's been so,
so incredibly fun to see this phenomenon happen naturally down here. Nintendo merch, apparel, and props are getting more and more common around the parks and general Orlando area and I am so happy to see it.
I remember being in high school when this Universal partnership was first announced, and no one wanting to bring their 3DS to school cause being a Nintendo fan in the Wii U era was the nerdiest, most niche and isolating thing you could be. Nowadays, everyone has a Switch with Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, BotW; Everyone took their family to see the Super Mario movie; you walk into any store or mall and you'll find really high quality Nintendo tie-in products everywhere; kids are dressing as Pokemon, Link, Mario, Luigi, Peach for Halloween again; and of course, we've now got theme park lands at the same level of Potter and Star Wars to call our own.
As a lifelong Nintendo fan, seeing how the Nintendo brand has grown since 2015 and the start of the Switch era has been so absolutely surreal and incredible. From the brink of obscurity and bankruptcy, Nintendo has grown into a cultural titan to rival the biggest brands out there, and all of this without sacrificing the creativity, fun, and high-quality experiences that made me love them in the first place. It's just so cool.