Designing Universal's Nintendo World

I bet a Pokemon/ Pokemon Go related attraction will end up here, considering Pokemon has gone through a huge revival with Pokemon Go. There was also the video game from the late '90's, Pokemon Snap, that I used to play as a kid that would work beautifully for a dark "shoot 'em up" ride.

I love and miss Nintendo from when I was a kid 15 years ago.

I personally would love to race in a Mario Kart ride similar to Autopia, except also a dark ride. It would be cool to race but also drive through some crazy scenery! A Mario 64/ Mario Party attraction would be cool too.

Metroid would give them a good base for a scarier dark ride attraction, especially with the Prime games. Either a more intimate version of the Great Movie Ride's Alien portion, or, since it sounds like a land based on more interactive elements, a Men in Black: Alien Attack meets Forbidden Journey kind of thing.

I'd love to see something Zelda related, and obviously Mario will be there in some capacity. If they wanted a thrill ride, they should involve the F-Zero racing games, or even a Star Fox coaster. The sky's the limit!

After reading Max's comment, I agree that Mario Kart would be a better alternative to F-Zero. The kiddos don't even know what that is besides Captain Falcon's presence in the Super Smash Bros. games. XD

I excepted the first ride to be very interactive with rich themeing like Luigi arcade

and no doubt the rumor Mario Kart ride to be part roller coaster and part dark ride just a bit more easier for the kids to ride.

Is it all Nintendo properties? I thought it was only Mario

For Orlando, when this comes in Kidszone I would love to see a real life facade like London for Diagon. So a temple, a bit of Akihabara with an arcade and a sushi restaurant.
Behind that I'd love to see rides and pathways go over and under each other. An interactive Mario Cart attraction that goes trough the whole area, Luigi's Mansion (like Mystic Manor with an interactive component), Princes Peach castle housing a show/meet and greet with a big collection of characters, an interactive Firefox spinner with projection on the front windows that show enemies to shoot down.
Park 3 could get an highly themed Zelda area with a boat ride, restaurant's and shops. Top it off with a Donkey Kong highly themed family dark ride/coaster.

I'd start by making the area a recreation of the Mushroom Kingdom. The idea would be that Mario is hosting a gathering and has invited all his friends from across the digital universe. As a result, characters from numerous Nintendo franchises would be present in the area. The core part of the area contains all the restaurants, most of the shops, and various meet-and-greets. Additionally, the area hosts interactive game requiring guests to participate in minigames throughout the land to earn stars. Earning enough stars would qualify guests for certain rewards, but losing a game costs a guest a life. Lose all your lives and you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can play again.

The main attractions in each land would be accessed via warp pipes from the central area, each transporting guests into the world of a specific video game franchise. Each Nintendo Land would contain three separate attractions: two shared among the parks, and one that is unique to each individual park.

Shared attractions:

Mario Kart: This attraction would be a modified version of Gerstlauer's Spike Coaster, a powered coaster where riders control the speed. Four tracks run parallel to each other, and riders race through four separate environments on the ride (all physical). At a specific point in each section, riders receive an item to use on other racers. Depending on what a racer gets, they may get a speed boost, they may force another racer to slow down, or they could even send others spinning out of control.

Pokemon Training Camp: This attraction would not be a ride, but would instead be an extremely detailed walkthrough. Pokemon trainers don augmented reality equipment and are let loose in a safari-zone type area to capture Pokemon. Once they have captured a certain number of Pokemon, guests proceed to the gym where they face off against a gym leader. If necessary, multiple routes could be created to ensure this attraction has an acceptable capacity.

Unique Attractions:

Donkey Kong Country (Orlando): This would be an interactive dark ride following along with the adventures of Donkey Kong. Guests assist Donkey Kong in his mission to recover his banana hoard. Technologically, this attraction would be similar to the Six Flags Justice League rides, with a motion base vehicle, peanut popguns for riders to shoot enemies, and a mixture of physical and virtual scenes.

Legend of Zelda: Triforce Quest (Hollywood): This attraction would be a repurposed version of the Revenge of the Mummy roller coaster, as the ride is located directly adjacent to the likely Nintendo Land location in California. Guests join Link in the search for the Triforce, racing through a Hylian temple in a search for the artifact. Unlike other Nintendo attractions, interactivity on this ride would be limited.

Kirby's Dream Land Nightmare (Japan): This is an interactive dark ride through the home of Kirby, Dream Land. Guests join Kirby as he attempts to save the world. Mechanically, this would be similar to the Donkey Kong Country ride, but the gameplay would be more complex, as guests could gain special powers by targeting certain enemies.

In reality, I suspect the actual Nintendo Land will include Mario and maybe one other IP (probably either Pokemon or Donkey Kong), will be largely the same at all three parks, and will probably feature only one big attraction (with the potential for one or two smaller rides). However, Universal could opt to go all out on it, and in any case it is fun to dream.

Mario Kart "Boom Coaster" anyone? Throw in some brand-new patent to draw people in?

I am not a gamer, so this land will feel really unfamiliar to me, but it's great to see how excited everyone is about this IP.
My only suggestion is that there should be an additional line for each attraction. One for regular stand by guests. One for Universal Express guests/hotel guests. One for single riders where appropriate. The new line would have absolute highest boarding priority. It would be reserved for those who have won the privilege of a front of line access. Again, I'm not a gamer, but I imagine some sort of daily in park Pokemon Go type mobile based game that would extend game play beyond the Nintendo area. Players would play their video game and as they reach particular levels, they would win front of the line access to the attractions. There would of course need to be controls built into the system so annual pass holders would not be able to Bogart all the access, but if one is playing a game, there ought to be some kind of reward for doing well. Getting to skip a line in a theme park is a highly desired and relatively no cost reward to deliver.

How about a "Tom Sawyer's Island" like play area that is basically a real life of a mario level - Pipes, Beanstalks, Question mark blocks... and of course a Flagpole to slide down.

How about a "Tom Sawyer's Island" like play area that is basically a real life of a mario level - Pipes, Beanstalks, Question mark blocks... and of course a Flagpole to slide down.