Orlando’s Super Nintendo World reportedly won't open until 2025
The Epic Universe theme park was originally scheduled to open in 2023.
Nintendo fans will have to wait longer to visit a Super Nintendo World in the US. After a pandemic-related construction delay, Universal’s Epic Universe park in Orlando, which will include the Nintendo-themed attraction, will miss its originally planned 2023 opening date. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings told the Orlando Sentinel that Universal informed him the park will now open sometime in early 2025.
After the news broke, the company published an update on Epic Universe. It didn’t announce a new opening date, but it didn't dispute the mayor’s comment either. Universal did confirm that work on the project has restarted after Comcast, its parent company, ordered a delay near the start of the pandemic. It said work will “begin immediately,” but also noted it will take “several months” for the project to re-staff and scale.
Other than to say the site will eventually span 750 acres and include a theme park, entertainment center, as well as hotels, shops and restaurants, Universal hasn’t shared its specific vision for Epic Universe. We know it will include a Super Nintendo World attraction, but it’s not clear if that will open at the same time as the rest of the park.
The first Super Nintendo World in Osaka, Japan has faced its own set of pandemic-related delays. The theme park was originally slated to open at the start of February, but Universal Studios Japan pushed back the opening date after the city declared a state of emergency due to rising COVID-19 infection rates.