Rather than retype it all, I'm just gonna put what I said on twitter.
And yeah, Universal definitely oversold this thing which really sucks. So much for getting that early drop...I think the land is in dire need of a snack stand and the power up band dispensers are looking like a fine place to put them when every other store with SNW stuff including 1 Up factory seems to be carrying them. >_>
I did find Mario Kart more enjoyable second time around, though. That tip to place the headband lower definitely helped a ton.
Though, had I known it would be a cluster f to get into Toadstool Cafe and that you could get reservations, I would have done that and THEN go on Mario Kart.