Is Universal Studios Mario Land Worth It?

Universal Studios proclaimed fun and enjoyment in its newly introduced Mario Land but do they actually succeed in committing to their statements? 

Universal Studios Hollywood recently opened up its newest attraction themed off of the Nintendo game series Mario and all other characters in its universe. I had the opportunity to visit Universal Studios and its new Mario attraction this past Spring Break and was surprised by the results of my experience in the newly introduced Mario Land.

I arrived at Universal Studios at 9 AM, only 1 hour after they had opened their gates for entry. My group and my first goal as soon as entering the park was to immediately head over to Mario Land and experience the new attraction first. Unfortunately, we were disappointed to find out that you needed to make a reservation in order to just enter Mario Land due to how packed the park was with many customers that had a similar objective as mine. Luckily enough after speaking to Universal Studios staff they let us know that more reservation spots would open up as the day progressed and around two hours later my group and I were able to secure a spot to enter Mario Land. 

When we finally entered Mario Land there was so much foot traffic that it made it difficult to simply just maneuver around the area. On top of that, Mario Land contained numerous “mini games” that mimicked the Nintendo series games, but charged $40 dollars to each individual in order to just get a chance to play. Not willing to pay $40 to just wait in line for an hour, we decided to just go on the Mario Kart Bowser's Challenge ride which seemed fun at first but failed miserably to meet expectations. To make matters worse, the wait for the ride was over 3 hours due to constant shutting down, causing customers to stand and wait in line for long periods of time. 

Overall Universal Studios Mario Land is not worth the hype, wait, or money for customers. Visually it did look amazing and was very accurate to the characteristics and setting of the video game franchise. I do recommend visiting Mario Land at least once to gain the experience for yourself, but maybe wait for the hype do die down, the rides to be fixed, and plan your visit with caution as the attraction can become very crowded and time consuming.