Orlando's Epic Universe park reportedly delayed until 2025 as Super Nintendo World eyes opening in Osaka

Universal Studios is opening one iteration of its long-planned Super Nintendo World on March 18. Unfortunately for residents of Orlando, it's nearly on the other side of the world in Osaka.

The park at Universal Studios Japan broke ground in 2017 and was meant to be open in time for Japan's 2020 Summer Olympics. Like those Olympic games, the opening had to be pushed back to 2021 amid fears of a global pandemic. As the opening day approaches, fans of the game developer and theme park alike can get some idea of what might be in store for Orlando.

The first Super Nintendo world includes attractions themed after Super Mario games, with Princess Peach's castle and a Yoshi's Adventure ride on offer. The ride guaranteed to cause headaches among adults in long, side-winding lines is a real-life take on Mario Kart, complete with some of the game's signature power-ups and weapons.

As Osaka's outpost gets ready to open, crews are hard at work on building Orlando's own Super Nintendo homage. Construction of the new branch of Universal Studios Orlando, dubbed Epic Universe, was halted as the coronavirus cratered the tourism industry and shut down theme parks. Universal claims that the park is back on track in a press release.


“The restart of construction of Epic Universe is a terrific moment for our employees and for our theme park business in Florida,” said Brian L. Roberts, CEO of Universal's parent company Comcast. “It is our single largest investment in the state and represents our enthusiasm for the spectacular park and the economic opportunities it will generate.”

According to a report from the Orlando Sentinel, enthusiasm is all we'll have to hold on to for quite a while. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings told the paper that park officials are hoping to open some time in 2025.