The other concept being discussed was a Legend of Zelda land that would replace Lost Continent in Islands of Adventure. Several concepts were rumored to be developed, including a Pokemon Snap omnimover and a Mack Inverted Powered family coaster dark ride. Pokemon was considered to replace KidZone in Universal Studios Florida. Universal had seen success in opening additional Wizarding World lands and they wanted to be ready to expand their Nintendo offerings if the first land proved to be a success as well. In an effort to create Nintendo worlds in ALL of their theme parks, plans were started for additional lands in the two existing Orlando theme parks.
They decided to move their plans for Super Nintendo World, with the Mario Kart attraction, over to this new park, named Epic Universe. However, before demolition of the KidZone area in Florida started in the Fall of 2017, Universal was granted permission to build their newest theme park in Orlando, on some recently acquired land near the Orange County Convention Center. This version of Super Nintendo World was designed to be built at Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Florida at the same time, both to the same specifications. Photograph of the first Super Nintendo World, Photo: Universal Studios Japan Designed to fit into the KidZone area of Universal Studios Florida, the original concept presented to Nintendo before they had even secured the theme park rights featured a large indoor Mario Kart attraction, an outdoor coaster based on Donkey Kong, play areas and kiddie rides based on properties like Kirby, a Pokemon Training Academy, and a Legend of Zelda area with a Hyrule Castle show. Universal’s original blue sky pitch for what a Nintendo-based theme park land could be included a wider variety of properties than the final plans they went with for Super Nintendo World. Be sure to check out the video version of this story below for additional visuals.
Let’s dig into a possible ride concept that may have been created specifically for a Zelda ride at Universal Orlando. While the original area would feature attractions set in the Mushroom Kingdom and Donkey Kong Country, additional lands based on Pokemon and the Legend of Zelda were rumored to be coming later. When Super Nintendo World was being developed for the Universal Orlando Resort, there were rumors of Nintendo lands opening in each of the theme parks.