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Universal Slammed As Guests Struggle to Evacuate Land When Fire Alarm Goes Off

Super Nintendo World Crowd
Credit: MHawk9955 Twitter

In less than two weeks, Universal Studios Hollywood will open its newest land — SUPER NINTENDO WORLD. The new land will allow Guests to dine at Toadstool Café, buy some great Super Mario merch (including Power-Up Bands) at the 1-UP Factory, meet some of their favorite characters like Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach, and even journey into Bowser’s Castle for an ultimate battle. SUPER NINTENDO WORLD at Universal Studios Hollywood is similar to the one that opened in Universal Studios Japan in March 2021.

Super Nintendo World

Credit: Universal

SUPER NINTENDO WORLD will officially open to the public at Universal Hollywood on February 17, 2o23, but has been doing technical rehearsals and Pass Holder Previews for the past couple of weeks. While the technical rehearsals didn’t see the new land too crowded, that changed when the Pass Holder Previews started. Guests have been flooding into the land and the line for Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge has been long, and Toadstool Café has been completely booked for the day as early as 11 a.m.

Toadstool Cafe

Credit: Eater LA

On February 5, Guests visiting SUPER NINTENDO WORLD were surprised when the fire alarm began to go off. Guests were informed they needed to exit the area, but it appeared they could only exit one area. Guests began to crowd around that area, and confusion and panic started to take over. A photo of the mass exit was shared on Twitter by user @MHawk9955, who said Universal Team Members didn’t seem to know what to do.

The whole land had to be exited out of a single tube and it was mass crowding and the alarms were blaring throughout the land and none of the TMs knew what was going on or what to do. I don’t normally get anxiety like this but I don’t even know if I wanna go back in if we can.

Many were shocked to read that Guests could only exit from the one area. Some commented that it didn’t seem fire compliant, while others shared that there were almost certainly other exits, although they could not explain why those exits were not used as well. One woman shared that she was there with her child, and they were crying during the chaos.

My kid was crying and panicking for sure. It was not handled well. Just glad it all ended up ok.

Universal Hollywood has not commented on the confusion and panic that happened when the fire alarms went off. There were also no reports of an actual fire in the new land, so we aren’t entirely sure why the alarm went off in the first place. Hopefully, Universal will use this as a learning experience, so things move more smoothly in the future, should the alarms go off again.

Another SUPER NINTENDO WORLD is scheduled to open at the Universal Orlando Resort when its third theme park — Epic Universe — opens in the summer of 2025.

About Krysten Swensen

A born and bred New England girl living the Disney life in Southern California. I love to read, to watch The Golden Girls, and love everything to do with Disney and Universal. I also love to share daily doses of Disney on my Disney Instagram @BrazzleDazzleDisney!

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