Shigeru Miyamoto attends the opening of Super Nintendo World in Orlando, Florida.
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Today, the Mushroom Kingdom officially welcomes theme park goers in Orlando, Florida, through the gates with the grand opening of Super Nintendo World. One of five areas that make of the new Universal Epic Universe — which also includes Celestial Park, the monster-themed Dark Universe, and worlds based on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and How to Train Your Dragon — Super Nintendo World is the latest extension of the Japanese company’s foray into physical theme parks with Universal.
Prior to opening day, Mario creator and legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto walked the red carpet to welcome fans to Nintendo’s latest IRL endeavor. Miyamoto was heavily involved in the design of Super Nintendo World, and as a notoriously hands-on creative, wanted to ensure that everything within the theme park remained true to the core ethos of his games.
“From a technical perspective, this land has so much that has never been done before and, from a quality perspective, the realism, the sense of satisfaction seeing the world of the video game come to life,” Miyamoto tells Rolling Stone via translator. “It’s really the idea of being able to enjoy this, [for] the entire family, from grandparent, parent, to grandchild. That’s what’s important.”
Officially unveiled in May 2025, Orlando’s version of Super Nintendo World is the third Nintendo-themed park to open following Osaka’s Universal Studios Japan and Los Angeles’ Universal Studios Hollywood, which launched in 2021 and 2023, respectively.
Inside the park, attendees can roam through physical manifestations of Nintendo games, including the Mushroom Kingdom and Donkey Kong Country. All around, animatronics bring to life characters like piranha plants, goombas, and koopas. In Donkey Kong Country, elder ape Cranky Kong springs to life outside of the Mine-Cart Madness ride, which is a family-friendly rollercoaster.
But it wouldn’t be a Nintendo park without fully playable experiences, and Super Nintendo World leans into the gamification of just about everything, with rides like Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge utilizing augmented reality features to let guests immerse themselves in the on-rails experience to win coins. Attendees can also purchase wristbands that interact with item blocks and find secrets scattered across the world.
Making everything playable was paramount to Miyamoto, who draws a contrast between the experiences of playing a game and going to a theme park. “One thing to note about video games is that when you purchase a video game, you take it home and you play it over and over again,” he says. “That’s some of the appeal of what a video game is. But when you’re at the theme park, it’s got to be fun. You play it once, and it’s got to be fun. That was quite a challenge to undertake.”
Miyamoto notes that the designers of the park were true fans of Mario, which was key to bringing the Super Nintendo World to life. “It really felt like this was something built by fans, and that really made me happy and brought me joy like nothing else,” he says.
The developer is well known for pulling inspiration from his childhood when developing games, with series like The Legend of Zelda and Pikmin evoking the forest and garden-rich aesthetic of his native Kyoto. But at Universal Epic Universe, he reveals that his favorite attraction is one based on a cinematic classic within the Dark Universe. “All the portals are great but to me, personally, I have a soft spot for Frankenstein that I watched when I was little.”
Miyamoto has worked at Nintendo since 1977 and is one of gaming’s most influential figures. Having created titles like Super Mario Bros. (1985) and The Legend of Zelda (1986), he’s led Nintendo software and hardware development for decades and currently oversees many of the company’s big pushes into other forms of entertainment. He was a producer on Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and is currently advising on its sequel, due to arrive on April 3, 2026.
Later this year, Miyamoto will celebrate another milestone with the 40th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. in September. On June 5, Nintendo will be launching its latest device, Switch 2, which marks the eighth generation of home consoles developed with Miyamoto’s input.
From Rolling Stone US.