Any experience with the single rider line at Bowser's Challenge?

[kalandlily]

We are going to Universal for one day in late August. Nintendo land is our top priority, but the idea of doing a 7:00 arrival is a little daunting because we are a group of 9 and we're staying by Disneyland. Getting 9 people out of the house at, what, 5 AM, seems daunting or even impossible. Thinking of other options, I'm wondering if we could do Nintendo land last, in the late afternoon or evening. I can't find the hours posted yet but it seems like they could be closing anywhere between 7 and 10 on the day we go- which is a huge difference. We are an older group, ages 10 - 78, with 4 kids ages 10 - 17, so it is easier for us to stay up to midnight than wake up at 4.

Does anyone have any recent experience with the single rider line at Bowser's Challenge?

How about with playing the mini games? Or just crowd levels in the afternoon/evening generally?

Thanks so much!

 

[Nike4000]

The minigames only have 1 line and move very quickly because they're short and simple.

The Bowser Junior game also has 1 line, but 10 people play at the same time. You have to unlock 3 keys via the mini-games before you can play the Bowser Jr game so it'll take a little bit for that line to grow. However, on the Saturday afternoon we were at USH, the line for the Bowser Jr game said it had a 50 minute wait time around 5pm. When we tried it around 7, the wait was around 10 minutes. Like I said, they take big groups at a time.

Now, the line for the Mario Kart ride was hovering around a 2-3 hour wait most of the day and got up to 4 hours in the early evening.

 

[Ryan120420]

Something you need to keep in mind is Super Nintendo World uses a Virtual Queue to enter the land. They turn it on early in the morning when the land reaches capacity, and the VQ times sell out quick. If Super Nintendo World is the priority, you are taking a gamble that they will 1. Have VQ times available when you arrive at the park and 2. They will re-open the land to everyone later in the evening when park attendance starts to drop. Both are not guaranteed to happen.

If you want to arrive at the park later in the day, I highly suggest buying Universal Express for everyone in your group, or for those that Super Nintendo World is a priority. Express grants you 1 time, reservation free, entry into the land during your visit.



Single Rider for Mario Kart fluctuates wildly.

On my last visit, I waited 45min my first time early in the morning. Then midday I walked on 5 consecutive times. Stand by on my 6 rides was anywhere 60-100min+.

Based on other experiences with it, I have waited anywhere from 5-60mins.

 

[DLgal]

Couple things.

You can't arrive later than about 10:00am if you want a chance to get into the land at some point that day. VQ times sell out FAST. You need to commit to an early day. No other good way to do it. It sucks, I know. We live 15 miles south of Disneyland and have had to leave our house at 6:30am to make a park open time of 8. The early entry isn't specifically necessary, but you definitely want to be in the first wave of guests let into the land before they turn on the VQ.

They open the park gates around 30 minutes before official opening time. The main gift shop is open so you can purchase your bands and get them set up before the park opens. You will be held in a line in the Simpsons area, right at the escalators to the lower lot. They will let people start going down right at official opening time. Once you get down there, you can walk straight in. You definitely want to do this because:

1. This land has VERY little shade.
2. This land will feel like the surface of the sun in August and you will want to be done with it before 11am.
3. Once you are in the land, you can STILL obtain a VQ entry for later. This is gold. You will have your pick of times.

Also:
The mini games lines do NOT all move quickly. We waited for ONE HOUR for the one with the timers. The others averaged 15-30 minutes.

Now, onto your single rider question, it varies wildly. The single rider who sat next to me waited 60 minutes (wait time was posted 120 min). The second time, the single rider next to me waited 10 minutes on a 180 min wait. We use the Guest Assistance card. The first time, it took us 40 minutes to go through the "express" line. The second time, 10. This ride breaks down a LOT, but they are not full break downs. It's like an extended stoppage. This is part of the reason why the wait times are so long. This happened on our second ride while we were in the karts. We sat there for 10 minutes and then the ride started up again.

 

[Nike4000]

To add on to what @DLgal and @Ryan120420 said, our 9:45am VIP tour went directly to Super Nintendo World and the VQ was already sold out per our tour guide. So, yeah, plan on getting there early - very early!

I didn't think about the weather in August, but it's going to be hot as heck in Super Nintendo World in the afternoon/evening. Plus, there are high walls surrounding the area to enhance the immersion which means no air circulation whatsoever. It's going to be hot, muggy, and crowded with people who are tired & sweaty. Sounds like a ton of fun (not really).

As for the Mario Kart ride breaking down, our guide said that they have to stop it to load & unload handicapped visitors, so that might be a reason for frequent stops. It only stopped once when we rode it & that was for like a minute or two. However, with the newness of the AR technology, I wouldn't be surprised if breakdowns were common.

Also, getting our Power Up bands to connect to the Mario Kart ride to save our scores was hit or miss. Mine never worked, but my son's worked all but one time. They said we could talk to someone outside the ride who could add our scores to our bands, but we never found that person.