Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge

Cool waiting area including the giant King Bowser statue upfront. 3D glass goggles attach to a ratcheting plastic headband - some folks didn't get the memo and so didn't see much on the ride - the staffers checking people didn't give them a clue either so they must've seen virtually nothing on the ride. Electronic scores by "cart" and you go through various courses throwing shells at the virtually projected (on the glass visor) course. It's almost like the old arcade games where you have to know how to shoot/hold different areas because it's not super-accurate (like a controller would be), so it feels a little off constantly with the adjustment. Since it's in Epic, lines were long, often over 200 minutes during the day and into the night. Single rider moved faster - about 40 min of waiting overall, but wasn't always open. Honestly, while might be entertaining for the kids, and I like the projection onto the visor (as clumsy as it feels and weighs the head/neck down a bit), it could use some fine-tuning. Not to mention operationally figure out how to increase throughput given the carts hold four...and so when loading, and offloading, it felt slower. Again, cool decor, but the ride wasn't as good as the decor.

We waited about 90 minutes first thing in the morning on a Saturday. I wasn't sure the right was going to live up to the hype or the wait. But it totally did. We all loved it. They did an amazing job making it feel like you were playing Mario Kart! I would love to go again but I'm not going to sink four hours in line for one ride to go twice in one day.

This was a super cool experience and easily one of the best interactive experiences in the park. Definitely try this ride if you have time to wait in line. Bring some friends and family if you can!

Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge is an augmented reality dark ride that is based on the Mario Kart franchise, primarily on the Mario Kart 8 video game. In the Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge queue, you'll tour Bowser’s iconic castle where you pass through the hall of medallions and trophies to the prized Golden Cup, and get an eye on his plan to defeat Team Mario as you prepare to face off on the track! The ride's exterior and queue are modeled after Bowser's Castle. The queue gradually reveals that the ride's plot involves "Team Bowser" (Bowser and the Koopalings) challenging "Team Mario" (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, and Yoshi) to the "Universal Cup". Guests are given the augmented reality's visors and enter the first pre-show room, which features Lakitu and Mii characters showing how to put on and adjust the visor. Guests then enter the second pre-show room, filled with replicas of Mii outfits from Mario Kart 8. Here, Lakitu explains the ride vehicles and the shooting gallery-esque gameplay. The four-person vehicles (modeled after "karts" from Mario Kart 8) follow a set path on a rail track. Guests attach the AR visors to the AR lenses in the vehicles, to view the Mario characters racing alongside them. Guests rotate their AR-wearing heads around to aim their Koopa Shell ammo, and press a button on their steering wheel to fire the shells at characters within the augmented reality. Guests accumulate points during the ride by successfully hitting the "Team Bowser" characters with their shells. If all four riders turn their wheels in unison at certain turns, they'll "drift" into the turn, earning more points. After leaving the boarding station, the ride vehicles turn into a corner where guests can practice aiming and firing in the augmented reality before heading to the starting line. The ride then takes guests through a variety of locations from Mario Kart 8 based on previous Mario Kart installments, including: N64 Royal Raceway, GBA Mario Circuit, 3DS Piranha Plant Slide, Dolphin Shoals, Twisted Mansion, Cloud top Cruise, Wii Grumble Volcano, and Rainbow Road. If the riders collectively earn 100 points, the ride ends with "Team Mario" winning the race. Currently, this ride has become the main attraction among all the rides at Universal Studios Hollywood. This groundbreaking ride has already drawn everyone's attention for its cutting-edge technology, intricate theming, detailed sets, and special effects. However, the wait time for this ride is extremely long, especially on weekends. This ride has also faced criticism for its slow pace, which feels out of place given its high-speed racing theme, as well as for the AR lenses that provide a limited view of the characters.

This ride was such a let down. I waited only 15 minutes to ride it and even that was too long of a wait for how terrible this ride was. They should have gone via the Cars ride route in California Adventure and this could have been amazing. Definitely not coming back to ride this.

The ride itself was actually not nearly as good as I expected it to be. It’s like a Mario kart game that I didn’t fully get using ar goggles. There is also a single rider queue. The queue however is the best I’ve ever seen with tons and tons of detail and cool things in the castle. Personally not a ride I would do twice

I do agree with others that the wait for this ride can be ridiculous at times. But as my family are big fans of Mario Kart, we had a great time. Those with larger heads, make sure to ask the park staff for a larger visor, as it made the ride possible for me to ride. Also those who are plus size, the back seats in the ride are a lot more accommodating. There are parts of the ride like being able to get more shells, neck pain, and ride length i wish could be adjusted. Wish they had more shirts for Team Bowser in the merch store

I love the fact that there is a game element and a chill train at the same time, but they got to work on their queue times… in my opinion, they should do a 2 express queue and 1 normal queue, we were in the normal queue and stuck for a good 2.5hours. Every second made the wait less and less worth it. If you want to rush all the rides, DON’T come here. Or buy the express pass!