Last December, we bought a Nintendo Switch. I’d always loved Super Mario games as a kid, and it sounded like a fun way to help get through the chilly midwestern winter months. As we started revisiting some old faves like Mario Party and Mario Kart, my 5 year old started to get really into Mario, Luigi, and the gang too!
So when we started tossing around ideas for a long weekend in June, visiting Super Nintendo World in California ended up being the winning suggestion!
Day 1 – Travel Day
Oof, our departure day for this trip was a tough one – minutes before boarding time, it was announced that our flight was delayed, and delayed, and… delayed. By the time we actually boarded, we’d been at the airport for over four hours. I’ve gotta hand it to my little travelers, though, they did great, considering.
Once on the plane, I experimented with some new activities and revisited some old favorites:
- Window clings – these were great! They entertained the kids for a long time, not messy at all, and super cute. Kinda hard to use more than a couple times, though, since they get a little dirty.
- Small whiteboards and markers – moderate amount of interest from my kids, new way to draw and write instead of crayons.
- “Create-a-Scene” sticker book – I liked this! The pages depicted different. backgrounds, and you could use the stickers to add characters and details.
- Travel “Guess Who?” – I’ve burned myself before by bringing things that have lots of pieces, and I’ve learned from it 😀 This was great – fun, but really nothing droppable, just the two boards.
- Clay – I’m told some people hate the smell of play-doh, haha, so I got actual clay. Not my most favorite activity, but the kids like it and it’s not too messy, so this was a repeat activity for us.
Once we landed at LAX and got our rental car, we were ready to hit the road… right during rush hour… in Los Angeles. A long, annoying drive to wrap up a long, annoying day, but In-N-Out helped!
For the first night of our trip, we decided to stay at a hotel near Universal Studios, since that would be our first stop the next day. We opted for an Embassy Suites – this chain is one of our faves since the rooms are spacious and there’s free breakfast, which makes for an easy morning.
Day 2 – Universal Studios Hollywood
We woke up bright and early the next day (the time change worked in our favor, phew!). After hitting up the hotel breakfast, we made the short drive to Universal Studios. Parking was super easy – we parked in the regular lot and it was totally fine, glad we didn’t pay for a premium lot.
We stopped at a shop in the CityWalk to get Power-Up Bands for the littles, which I set up during the rest of the walk in to the park
Super Nintendo World
We decided to go straight to Super Nintendo World first, with the hopes that crowds would be lighter since it was pretty close to park opening. Super Nintendo World is located in the lower lot, which requires you to go down 3 or 4 sets of elevators. It’s very efficient and moves quickly, but it’s honestly kind of a pain, especially if you have a stroller. So I’d plan to do everything in the lower lot at once, to avoid going up and down.
Walking into Super Nintendo World is VERY cool; you walk through a green pipe and emerge in a whole other world. We spent some time looking around and trying out the Pow boxes with the Power-Up Bands, before heading to Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. We had purchased the Express passes, so the line was only about 20 minutes long. Being in line was surprisingly enjoyable because of the awesome decor – I loved the feel of being in Bowser’s castle!
I can’t speak to the experience of the ride itself – my husband was going to take our son (D) on the ride while I waited with our daughter (Peep), and then I was planning to do a ‘child swap’, where I swapped in and went on with D as he went a second time and my husband took Peep. However, when we got to the end of the line, I was told that, for this ride, instead of getting right on the ride with a child swap, you get a printed out ticket, go back to the front of line and wait all over again (meaning another 20 minutes). It seemed to defeat the purpose of us all waiting in line together. Hopefully that’s something they change in the future.
I ended up giving my child swap ticket to my husband, who took D on a second time. My son seemed to really enjoy it! Husband was not as impressed, but I mostly just cared what the little guy thought, haha.
While the guys went on Mario Kart and then tried out the mini games, Peep and I met Toad (my DREAM COME TRUE) and tried to see Princess Peach, but she was gone every time we tried. We also missed Mario and Luigi. I don’t envy the people in the character suits and it makes sense for them to take breaks in the summer heat, but I wonder if there’s a better way, where multiple actors could switch in and out so there wasn’t as much waiting / missing out on seeing characters?
Toadstool Cafe
The four of us met back up at the Toadstool Cafe when it was time for our reservation. We learned the hard way that a “reservation” at the Cafe does NOT mean that’s when you’ll be seated. If you decide to try out Toadstool Cafe, be aware that you probably won’t actually be eating until about an hour (or more) after you arrive.
When we got to the Cafe, they confirmed we had a reservation, which gave us the ability to get in line, which we waited in until we got up to the register to order our food. Then we waited in line to be seated. Then we waited for our food.
Once we were seated, it was kinda nice – the design of the place is very cute, making you feel like you’re inside a toadstool, with Toads milling around on video screens around you. The food was very cute as well, especially the themed desserts. I wasn’t blown away by the tastes, but it was cool.
Honestly, I would probably not ever do Toadstool Cafe again. It was expensive and frustrating; being in line after line as a hungry family was hard instead of fun. I’m glad we tried it, though – I think I would’ve felt like we missed out, if we didn’t.
Other Attractions
- Wizarding World of Harry Potter – I’d been wanting to see this for so long! As the kind of kid who would go to midnight releases of Harry Potter books, this was definitely something I needed to see! If we visit Universal again, I definitely need to get a wand and try out some of the ‘spells’ you can do with one.
- Transformers – Peep wanted to sit by Bumblebee and Optimus Prime for like half an hour at one point. I loved it, haha. Their little comments cracked me up – it was a nice spot to hang.
- Studio Tour – I remembered the Studio Tour from visiting Universal as a kid, and I still enjoyed it now. It was a nice break from walking and heat, and ended up being a way for Peep to get in a short nap. I will say the 60th anniversary version of the studio tour ran a bit long, but I think it’s back to the normal version now.
- Super Silly Fun Land – I wish I had known there would be a big water-play area! I ended up letting my daughter splash around there at the end of the day, since she was dying to, but since I didn’t bring her spare shoes she had to sit shoeless in the stroller for the rest of our time. Mom fail, lol.
- Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash – my daughter loved this ride so much that we went on it twice (and would’ve probably gone on a couple more times if we’d had the time). We also watched Secret Life of Pets 2 about 20 times in the days that followed this trip, so it definitely made an impression!
- DinoPlay – the little playground in Jurassic World was a great spot for the kids to run around for a few. It also allowed husband and I separately to go on the Jurassic World Ride which was fun.
Overall Thoughts on Visiting with Small Kids
You may’ve picked up the vibe that I didn’t 100% love Universal Studios Hollywood. I truly loved it for my son who was so excited to see Mario and the gang, and I really enjoyed the theming of Super Nintendo World and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
It’s a tricky park, though, when it comes to littles. For my daughter’s height (36″), there were really only a couple of rides she could go on (like I said, Super Silly Fun Land would’ve been good for her, but I totally didn’t realize it was a water area!). That, plus the waiting at Toadstool Cafe, the lack of characters to meet, and the hassle of the elevators, made it kinda hard.
That said, if you go into it with the right expectations, it can still be a really fun day! We did spend pretty much the entire day there, lasting until close, and I’m glad we gave it a try.
Days 3 & 4 – Zuma Beach & Pool
After we left Universal Studios, we headed to our Airbnb! We booked a place in Reseda, which felt like a good central location for anything we might want to do. I’m glad we rented a place with a nice pool, because it turned out that allll we wanted to do the next two days was alternate between beach and pool lounging.
Ahead of our trip, I was a little nervous because I was reading that many of the beaches near LA were unsafe due to bacteria. After a crazy-person amount of googling, it looked like Zuma Beach was our best bet.
I was really happy with our choice! The drive was beautiful and relaxing (especially because the children napped) and once we arrived, the parking was plentiful and $8. There was one port-a-potty but it was dis-gust-ing and we didn’t see any bathrooms at least near we were, so the children learned how to pee in the ocean that day, haha. The water wasn’t the calm, warm water of the gulf that we’d experienced at Indian Rocks Beach, but it did have one big advantage: we saw dolphins jumping in the surf all afternoon! They looked so close by and it was awesome!
After the beach, we stopped by Malibu Brewing Company for some snacks and brews, then back to the Airbnb for pool and relaxation. The next day, when deciding which beach to go to, we all agreed we just wanted to go back to Zuma, so we basically repeated the same day, except for getting pizza from Spruzzo after the beach.
Overall, we really enjoyed our trip to Los Angeles, the kids’ first time on the west coast! I’d love to return when the kids are a bit bigger and could appreciate some of the hiking and great food in the area.
