Donkey Kong country is open in Japan now and with the help of YouTube I've taken a little tour of everything. It's, well, surprisingly good.
The atmosphere is great, with nice music and interesting scenery. The Rhino crate minigame has a nice animatronic, regardless of whether or not the experience is fun or not, and the stores and restaurants all have fun theming.
The main event begins with the looming roller coaster, an indisputable icon of the area and new E-ticket for the whole area (let's be honest, mariokart was only ever an A-ticket anyway). The ride seems to be fairly well themed in the queue, incredibly themed on the outside with the minecarts skipping around obstacles. The animatronics are, for the most part, really advanced, especially the last few.
My main problem with the ride is the track gimmick. Of course it would never be perfect, but from the back row the track is hard to see and the real track is easy to see, especially on the first drop.
What do you think about this and the fact that it's making its way to EU? Thoughts?
My thoughts exactly. I can't wait for them to scramble and add a few B- ticket rides after opening like in IOA
I'm just not sold on this coaster as an e-ticket. First, the capacity, which appears no more than 1,000 pph, is going to be a major issue for an attraction of this caliber. Also the ride is incredibly short as a whole with many of the track jumping elements more visually interesting from off the ride than physically on the coaster (at least from early POVs).
I don't think there's anything wrong with this coaster, but I think it's going to have the same issue as 7DMT, a family coaster that guests approach as one of the top attractions in the park. That expectation sets an impossibly high bar for this attraction to meet.
I also think looking at Donkey Kong Country and Super Nintendo World as a whole in Japan further cements my feelings that Epic Universe is going to be seriously short on attractions when it opens. While I feel that the top rides are going to be best in class and worth what are likely to be massive waits, there just don't seem to be enough other attractions to occupy guests' time if they're not interested (or have already ridden) the big attractions. Supporting attractions rarely make or break a theme park, but it's those smaller rides, shows, and features that fill in the gaps to give guests a complete experience. I think UC is relying on upcharges (restaurants, wand activities, Power Band activities, and pay meet and greets) to support EU's major attractions.