Super Nintendo World (Osaka) - Donkey Kong Expansion Thread

[BatCom]

Have to wonder if OLC is celebrating this. I imagine DK was meant to compete with Fantasy Springs.

 

[Magic-Man]

Have to wonder if OLC is celebrating this. I imagine DK was meant to compete with Fantasy Springs.

Probably not, because now the Fantasy Springs hype will be undercut by DKC hype instead of both going at once.

 

[belloq87]

Hopefully whatever issue they're encountering now will enable them to avoid the same problem with Epic Universe's version.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Hopefully whatever issue they're encountering now will enable them to avoid the same problem with Epic Universe's version.

The one silver lining imo. In an ideal world, this should lead to at least one less glaring technical flaw on Epic's opening day.

 

[Suchomimus]

 

[chris.g]

Something I came across that is probably worth sharing in this thread, but should also be taken with the SMALLEST grain of salt - a user on Resetera who claims to know staff within UC states that Universal wanted the land with King K. Rool as the central villain, going as far as to design drafts with him in mind - but Nintendo wouldn’t budge. Interesting if true.

Metroid Prime 4 BEYOND - First Trailer - Releases 2025 News - Nintendo

Hope they give Sylux his own game where he does nothing, gets beat up a lot, and then halfway through the game, Samus becomes playable and then the game turns into Metroid Prime 5.

www.resetera.com

 

[Jerroddragon]

I love King K Rool

No idea why you would not want a villain in the land

I really think these CEO and heads up need to talk to people because Villains are in

 

[Clive]

Something I came across that is probably worth sharing in this thread, but should also be taken with the SMALLEST grain of salt - a user on Resetera who claims to know staff within UC states that Universal wanted the land with King K. Rool as the central villain, going as far as to design drafts with him in mind - but Nintendo wouldn’t budge. Interesting if true.

Metroid Prime 4 BEYOND - First Trailer - Releases 2025 News - Nintendo

Hope they give Sylux his own game where he does nothing, gets beat up a lot, and then halfway through the game, Samus becomes playable and then the game turns into Metroid Prime 5.

www.resetera.com

I believe there's truth to this. Nintendo has been very resistant to using King K. Rool and other elements from the RARE Donkey Kong games unless they absolutely must. Getting K. Rool into Smash Bros was very much an uphill battle. Right now, they prefer to emphasize the Retro Studios iterations of the characters.

I love King K Rool

No idea why you would not want a villain in the land

I really think these CEO and heads up need to talk to people because Villains are in

There... is a villain, though. Tiki Tong is all but confirmed to have a scene on the ride.

Beyond that, though, Nintendo has always been weird. Most people would assume/want Mario Kart to be a fast-paced thrill ride -- and Universal Creative pitched versions of that -- but Nintendo said no. It's just how it is.

 

[BriefCasey]

Beyond that, though, Nintendo has always been weird. Most people would assume/want Mario Kart to be a fast-paced thrill ride -- and Universal Creative pitched versions of that -- but Nintendo said no. It's just how it is.

This is news to me. Is there any source on pitches of a faster ride?

I'm still okay with what we ultimately got though, I still feel like things might have gotten sacrificed if it were fast, but I guess it's hard to say when I(/we?) don't know what those pitches looked like.

 

[Freak]

I just wished the spins were at least a hair snappier and I would’ve forgiven the slow speeds.

 

[TheUniC6]

I believe there's truth to this. Nintendo has been very resistant to using King K. Rool and other elements from the RARE Donkey Kong games unless they absolutely must. Getting K. Rool into Smash Bros was very much an uphill battle. Right now, they prefer to emphasize the Retro Studios iterations of the characters.


There... is a villain, though. Tiki Tong is all but confirmed to have a scene on the ride.

Beyond that, though, Nintendo has always been weird. Most people would assume/want Mario Kart to be a fast-paced thrill ride -- and Universal Creative pitched versions of that -- but Nintendo said no. It's just how it is.

This is news to me. Is there any source on pitches of a faster ride?

I'm still okay with what we ultimately got though, I still feel like things might have gotten sacrificed if it were fast, but I guess it's hard to say when I(/we?) don't know what those pitches looked like.

I am going to guess that the faster versions of MK would still have been a dark ride, but maybe used a different type of motion based RV and other effects to give off the illusion of going fast.

 

[Gartooth]

I've followed Nintendo's games for many years and absolutely none of this is surprising to me that Universal Creative would be denied access to certain characters and franchise elements by the people involved with overseeing the park's development on the Nintendo side. In the sense that regardless of whether the rumor is real or not, I do imagine these kinds of conversations are exactly what happened when designing the parks.

I have the utmost respect for Miyamoto and I wouldn't have become a fan of video games if not for his works, but it's clear he holds a gigantic amount of sway at Nintendo on creative decisions that probably no one dares to challenge given his status as a living legend. Nintendo fans are very, very sensitive to any criticism to their top talents but I think even Miyamoto himself would admit he's made mistakes on making games before so I mean no disrespect when I say the man isn't always right.

So to get back to the subject at hand, why were elements from the Donkey Kong games on Super Nintendo, the era when the Donkey Kong Country series first started and was arguably at its peak in popularity, completely ignored in a land made in response to Donkey Kong Country's enduring popularity? Despite a theme park wanting to bank on generational nostalgia, which means appealing to not just the kids who love DK but also their parents?

Well just look to the Mario Land that made sure to have no mention of a famous character in the series like Wario yet contains several easter eggs dedicated to Pikmin which has no relation to the Mario world and is one of the company's most niche franchises. It seems entirely to come from the whims of Nintendo's top creative leads like Miyamoto and nothing more.

 

[Pacific]

I mean judging by how she was implemented (Power-Up Band but basically zero merch and was used in marketing approximately two times) I think Daisy being included into the land was a last minute Uninversal convincing Nintendo decision.

Nintendo is a very stubborn company, ahaha. Like already stated, Wario & Waluigi are quite literally nowhere to be found besides a (probably unintentional) easter egg on the Mario Kart ride.

 

[krazyhorrorkid]

I fear this ride may have a lot of technical issues when it opens.

I’m hoping that by the time it opens in Orlando they have worked themselves out.

 

[Ron101]

I fear this ride may have a lot of technical issues when it opens.

I’m hoping that by the time it opens in Orlando they have worked themselves out.

I’m also worried about the smoothness of the coaster, a big thing that will determine its popularity. Just the track design and the elevated train position makes me worried.

 

[BatCom]

Someone on Twitter noticed that in the schedule for the all-night HHN event taking place on Oct. 18, the park schedule specifically refers to "Super Mario Land" instead of "Super Nintendo World".

They're speculating that this means DK could be open by then. Another person replied that "Super Mario Land" was always used on the stamp list on the SNW app, so this may not mean anything.

 

[TheQueueLineLectures]

Soooo at what point do we get concerned that we don't have an opening date? This should have been open for months already.

 

[Pacific]

I'm definitely getting ever so slightly concerned. Feel like we'd have am opening date by now. Maybe it opens in late November, early December.

 

[SilicaKong20XX]

Maybe we'll hear something in an August to September Nintendo Direct regarding DKC at Universal Studios Japan...

 

[TheQueueLineLectures]

Hoping we get good news soon, just so weird that the Epic Universe version is fully testing and this hasn't even opened yet