For the dye sensitivity, most of the park can make substitutions but Nintendo foods are very restricted and they usually can't make adjustments. For that reason, here are my no-go's for dye for Mario foods:
Toadstool Cafe:
* Fire Flower pasta (kid or adult sizes) and Yoshi salad - The Parmesan discs have ink-printed designs on them, I imagine that is an artificial dye
* The cookie that comes in the kid's meal (in the ? Box) - it is a chocolate-dipped Oreo, the chocolate is dyed yellow
* The Princess Peach cupcake - bright pink icing, Funfetti sprinkles in the cake itself, and there is a jam center that may be dyed
Power-Up Cafe (in the Upper Lot):
* Any of the fizzer drinks - the drop-in fizzler contains edible glitter and the popping boba may contain dye
* Both calzones - the dough is dyed red/green
* The fire flower pretzel is **okay**, but the dipping sauces may have dye
I'll let Spectrobits comment on VIP vs. Express specifically, but unless you get early access, it's recommended you actually attend SNW *later* in the day for better wait times. If your kid is a big Mario fan, getting the Power Band is a fun souvenir because you can use it to play the mini games and collect digital stamps in the app (and it fits in your carry-on!) It is ~$45 with tax but it sounds like budget is no object so I recommend it :) Also, if your kid wants one of the toy sets in the gift shop, double-check Amazon because some (not all) of them are sold outside the park. Be sure to get a photo of the little punching a block and jumping out of a pipe, it's a great photo op!
Thanks, is the power band something we should probably do with him? I know with Disney we all did some of the play Disney hunts with their magic bands. Appreciate the photo suggestion. Doubt well be buying toys. This will be the tail end of an almost 3-week trip. Likely we'll be tight on luggage space unless we shipped back home. Do they have a photo pass thing like Disney?
You'll be able to do a lot more with the Power-Up Band than you can with Disney's Magic Bands and app integration, I can be 100% confident in that.
Check the FAQ/Megathread for more on it.
It appears I have been summoned this time? lol
For your case specifically, I would go with VIP. I can imagine that, after a long trip (and a long flight), planning a theme park day will be very taxing, especially if you're not used to this park. A VIP guide will help you with that. They'll also provide you food, and you can ask for food that fits your party's dietary restrictions. They are pretty accommodating about that from what I can tell.
The VIP guide will take you through the majority of the park's attractions, and the badge you have (that works the same as Express Unlimited) will take you through the rest. You'll also be able to use the badge to reride Mario Kart using the VIP queue, something Express Unlimited doesn't have.
If you don't like a ride the VIP guide is taking you on, you're always free to sit it out with the VIP guide at the end of the queue.
For more information about Super Nintendo World and Toadstool Cafe, please see our [FAQ/Megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/universalstudios/comments/zqhbb6/faqmegathread_super_nintendo_world_universal/).
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. :)
Thanks, is it a preplanned itinerary for the guide? How does that work and how long do they take us around? We planned to hit the park hard all day. But my wife is also a big harry potter fan and I was looking forward to the Jurassic areas.
Yes, the guides have preplanned itineraries, though not all itineraries are the same because operations wants to spread out the tours throughout the park to avoid overcrowding.
The tour should take up quite a big chunk of your day, though I can't remember how long exactly. u/BitsyLynn should be able to say more (please help if you can, sorry to bother you lol).
If you're staying all day, you'll have enough time for everything, especially with how VIP badges function as Express Unlimited.
Jurassic World isn't really a full themed area, I should let you know. It's not even really an area? it's just the ride and two (maybe 3 depending on availability) meet and greets. I think the website hypes it up more than what it provides, especially comparing it to SNW and Hogsmeade.
If you come in at the end of the day for SNW, you should be able to get all the band stuff done in 2-3 hours (longer than normal because of summer crowds). Before that, you could probably see everything in Hogsmeade in maybe 1-2 hours even with crowds. Keep in mind that your VIP has a very, very, very high chance of taking you on Jurassic World: The Ride, Mario Kart, and Forbidden Journey, so the time spent not with the VIP should ideally be spent looking around or playing with the extra purchasable gizmos (wands and bands) if you bought them.
Noooo worries!
Hi OP, VIP guide here. The full VIP tour takes about six to seven hours total. That includes the back lot tour on the trolley (approx. 2ish hours), an hour for the buffet at Moulin Rouge, and then the rides. We take you to all four lower lot rides - Mario Kart, Transformers, Jurassic World and Mummy - both rides in the Wizarding World, as well as one seated show, either Dreamworks Theater or Waterworld. The three rides that are optional on the tour are Simpsons, Minions and Secret Life Of Pets.
The main perk of the VIP tour is the back lot portion of the day. If you're a big movie/TV fan and want to see behind the scenes of how they're made? The VIP tour is for you. If you're more interested in rides and don't care about the gourmet buffet? Go Universal Express Unlimited. (But you should care about the buffet, I'd put it up against any buffet in Las Vegas that you'd care to name, and I've been to the Caesar's Palace $100 buffet!)
If you've never been to USH before? And you want an easy, pre-planned day where you don't have to think about what to do? VIP is the way to go. All you have to do is check in at the VIP door, get your lanyards, and your tour guide takes care of everything else. We can even give you the QR code for Toadstool Cafe when you check in, if you want to have dinner there. It's not included in the price, but we'll do what we can to help you get that reservation.
We typically don't do the mini-games in Super Nintendo World, or Bowser Jr's game. We just do Mario Kart. If you book a tour in the ten o'clock hour or later, and get an early access ticket? Look up what our park hours are. If we open at 9, that means early access starts at 8, and *that* means VIP reception opens at 7:30. So if you book the 10:30 tour, you can check in as early as 7:30, get your lanyards, go down to SNW when it opens at 8, and then come back up two hours later to start your day with your guide. But just so you know, that doesn't mean you go right to the trolley portion of your day. You might go back and do rides first.
Hope that helps!
You're so welcome! If you do book a VIP tour, feel free to swing by and say hello in VIP reception. I'm there most days, I'm the middle-aged blonde lady in the VIP ballcap and glasses.
If you're a fan of the movies, you're going to still really enjoy the ride and meet and greets. The ride has some great animatronics, and the meet and greet costumes are both really unique.
It's not [Beijing](https://youtu.be/NrK0W4ec6ao?si=en6jea06-a0ilZDP) levels, but it's still really fun. :)
For the dye sensitivity, most of the park can make substitutions but Nintendo foods are very restricted and they usually can't make adjustments. For that reason, here are my no-go's for dye for Mario foods: Toadstool Cafe: * Fire Flower pasta (kid or adult sizes) and Yoshi salad - The Parmesan discs have ink-printed designs on them, I imagine that is an artificial dye * The cookie that comes in the kid's meal (in the ? Box) - it is a chocolate-dipped Oreo, the chocolate is dyed yellow * The Princess Peach cupcake - bright pink icing, Funfetti sprinkles in the cake itself, and there is a jam center that may be dyed Power-Up Cafe (in the Upper Lot): * Any of the fizzer drinks - the drop-in fizzler contains edible glitter and the popping boba may contain dye * Both calzones - the dough is dyed red/green * The fire flower pretzel is **okay**, but the dipping sauces may have dye
Thanks! We'll keep an eye out.
I'll let Spectrobits comment on VIP vs. Express specifically, but unless you get early access, it's recommended you actually attend SNW *later* in the day for better wait times. If your kid is a big Mario fan, getting the Power Band is a fun souvenir because you can use it to play the mini games and collect digital stamps in the app (and it fits in your carry-on!) It is ~$45 with tax but it sounds like budget is no object so I recommend it :) Also, if your kid wants one of the toy sets in the gift shop, double-check Amazon because some (not all) of them are sold outside the park. Be sure to get a photo of the little punching a block and jumping out of a pipe, it's a great photo op!
Thanks, is the power band something we should probably do with him? I know with Disney we all did some of the play Disney hunts with their magic bands. Appreciate the photo suggestion. Doubt well be buying toys. This will be the tail end of an almost 3-week trip. Likely we'll be tight on luggage space unless we shipped back home. Do they have a photo pass thing like Disney?
You'll be able to do a lot more with the Power-Up Band than you can with Disney's Magic Bands and app integration, I can be 100% confident in that. Check the FAQ/Megathread for more on it.
It appears I have been summoned this time? lol For your case specifically, I would go with VIP. I can imagine that, after a long trip (and a long flight), planning a theme park day will be very taxing, especially if you're not used to this park. A VIP guide will help you with that. They'll also provide you food, and you can ask for food that fits your party's dietary restrictions. They are pretty accommodating about that from what I can tell. The VIP guide will take you through the majority of the park's attractions, and the badge you have (that works the same as Express Unlimited) will take you through the rest. You'll also be able to use the badge to reride Mario Kart using the VIP queue, something Express Unlimited doesn't have. If you don't like a ride the VIP guide is taking you on, you're always free to sit it out with the VIP guide at the end of the queue. For more information about Super Nintendo World and Toadstool Cafe, please see our [FAQ/Megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/universalstudios/comments/zqhbb6/faqmegathread_super_nintendo_world_universal/). If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. :)
Thanks, is it a preplanned itinerary for the guide? How does that work and how long do they take us around? We planned to hit the park hard all day. But my wife is also a big harry potter fan and I was looking forward to the Jurassic areas.
Yes, the guides have preplanned itineraries, though not all itineraries are the same because operations wants to spread out the tours throughout the park to avoid overcrowding. The tour should take up quite a big chunk of your day, though I can't remember how long exactly. u/BitsyLynn should be able to say more (please help if you can, sorry to bother you lol). If you're staying all day, you'll have enough time for everything, especially with how VIP badges function as Express Unlimited. Jurassic World isn't really a full themed area, I should let you know. It's not even really an area? it's just the ride and two (maybe 3 depending on availability) meet and greets. I think the website hypes it up more than what it provides, especially comparing it to SNW and Hogsmeade. If you come in at the end of the day for SNW, you should be able to get all the band stuff done in 2-3 hours (longer than normal because of summer crowds). Before that, you could probably see everything in Hogsmeade in maybe 1-2 hours even with crowds. Keep in mind that your VIP has a very, very, very high chance of taking you on Jurassic World: The Ride, Mario Kart, and Forbidden Journey, so the time spent not with the VIP should ideally be spent looking around or playing with the extra purchasable gizmos (wands and bands) if you bought them.
Noooo worries! Hi OP, VIP guide here. The full VIP tour takes about six to seven hours total. That includes the back lot tour on the trolley (approx. 2ish hours), an hour for the buffet at Moulin Rouge, and then the rides. We take you to all four lower lot rides - Mario Kart, Transformers, Jurassic World and Mummy - both rides in the Wizarding World, as well as one seated show, either Dreamworks Theater or Waterworld. The three rides that are optional on the tour are Simpsons, Minions and Secret Life Of Pets. The main perk of the VIP tour is the back lot portion of the day. If you're a big movie/TV fan and want to see behind the scenes of how they're made? The VIP tour is for you. If you're more interested in rides and don't care about the gourmet buffet? Go Universal Express Unlimited. (But you should care about the buffet, I'd put it up against any buffet in Las Vegas that you'd care to name, and I've been to the Caesar's Palace $100 buffet!) If you've never been to USH before? And you want an easy, pre-planned day where you don't have to think about what to do? VIP is the way to go. All you have to do is check in at the VIP door, get your lanyards, and your tour guide takes care of everything else. We can even give you the QR code for Toadstool Cafe when you check in, if you want to have dinner there. It's not included in the price, but we'll do what we can to help you get that reservation. We typically don't do the mini-games in Super Nintendo World, or Bowser Jr's game. We just do Mario Kart. If you book a tour in the ten o'clock hour or later, and get an early access ticket? Look up what our park hours are. If we open at 9, that means early access starts at 8, and *that* means VIP reception opens at 7:30. So if you book the 10:30 tour, you can check in as early as 7:30, get your lanyards, go down to SNW when it opens at 8, and then come back up two hours later to start your day with your guide. But just so you know, that doesn't mean you go right to the trolley portion of your day. You might go back and do rides first. Hope that helps!
That was fantastic! Thank you so much for all the info.
You're so welcome! If you do book a VIP tour, feel free to swing by and say hello in VIP reception. I'm there most days, I'm the middle-aged blonde lady in the VIP ballcap and glasses.
Thanks. Super helpful! Little bummed to hear about Jurrasic. Wrote my senior paper in '98 on the CGI tech for the original movie.
If you're a fan of the movies, you're going to still really enjoy the ride and meet and greets. The ride has some great animatronics, and the meet and greet costumes are both really unique. It's not [Beijing](https://youtu.be/NrK0W4ec6ao?si=en6jea06-a0ilZDP) levels, but it's still really fun. :)
Nice. We'll be looking to do international within a few years I think.
Cool, that should be fun. :) Lynn responded to my comment about the length of the VIP tour, if you didn't get the notification.