Super Nintendo World forced to close rides after Goomba tower falls onto tracks below

Super Nintendo World’s Goomba tower in Universal Studios Japan came tumbling down last Monday narrowly avoiding visitors on nearby rides. 

According to Asahi Shumbun Digital (via VGC), the Goomba tower ride decoration fell several meters from the platform it sits on and came crashing down onto Yoshi's adventure ride. Fortunately, the statue fell in an area that isn’t accessible to the general public so nobody was hurt during the incident. 

In a video shared to Twitter, it appears Super Nintendo World’s staff was quick to rectify the situation as several members of staff can be seen attempting to lift the, probably very heavy, statue which features not one, but four, Goomba’s stacked on top of each other. The disruption apparently caused Universal Studio Japan to have to suspend some of the rides in the Nintendo-themed park due to safety concerns. 

It’s not yet clear what caused the tower to topple over however it’s possible that it could have been due to a strong gust of wind hitting the tower and sending it off its platform. According to the Asahi Shumbun Digital article, “the operating company is investigating the cause.”

Super Nintendo World has had a bit of a rocky start that began before the park even opened due to several delays from the COVID-19 pandemic. When it did eventually open on March 18, 2021, however, it unfortunately didn’t keep its doors open for long before Universal Studios Japan was forced to close the park again due to a COVID-related state of emergency being introduced in Osaka, Japan - where the park is located. 

Since then though, it appears the theme park has managed to entertain guests with all of its Super Mario-themed attractions, souvenirs, and food. This isn’t all the park will have to offer either, after months of rumors surrounding the introduction of a Donkey Kong area to the park was seemingly confirmed recently when guests began spotting construction of a Donkey Kong world in the park. 

Can’t get to Osaka at the moment? Don’t worry, Universal Studios Florida are also introducing their own version of Super Nintendo World soon, oh and Universal Studios Hollywood too!