Is Donkey Kong’s Crazy Mine Car scary? What about the floating sensation? Spoiler alert! Where is the Pikmin Power Up Band experience hidden in the queue?

2024年12月6日SUPER NINTENDO WORLD

Mine Cart Madness: What Kind of Ride Is It?

To protect the Golden Bananas from the enemy characters (Tiki Tribe), you board a mine cart and set out on an adventure!

Ride in a four-seater mine cart, blast out of the “Golden Temple" with a barrel cannon, and race through the vast jungle with great enthusiasm!

Jump over broken tracks!? Enjoy a series of unpredictable experiences.

There are several points during the ride where you’ll get splashed with water. Be careful, as your face might be the primary target.

This new attraction is located in Super Nintendo World's Donkey Kong Country.

Mine Cart Madness: Is It Scary? Floating and Centrifugal Forces?

I personally didn’t feel much of a floating sensation.
Some people said they felt it a little.

However, it’s not as strong as the floating sensation you’d feel on rides like Hollywood Dream – The Ride.
Generally, roller coasters climb to high points using motor power and then fall due to gravity.
However, Crazy Minecart seems to be propelled by some mysterious force, which might explain the reduced floating sensation.
(After all, in Donkey Kong games, the mine carts move forward on their own, right?)

As for centrifugal forces, they’re also not very noticeable. Even though the mine cart speeds through sharp curves, the rails are slightly tilted (like the Tokaido Shinkansen), making it a course design where centrifugal forces are less perceptible.

How Scary Is It?: For People Who Aren’t Scared of Thrill Rides

Like in the game, there are parts where the cart jumps from rail to rail.
In the game, you control these jumps yourself, but on the attraction, the jumps happen automatically, creating a thrilling experience.

Since this is a story coaster, even those comfortable with roller coasters will find the thrill and surprises entertaining.
The fear of getting splashed with water that you can’t avoid adds a unique thrill not found in regular thrill attractions.

How Scary Is It?: For People Who Don’t Like Thrill Rides

The rapid acceleration at the start. The launch from the barrel.
The exhilarating movement of the mine cart.

The scary elements, such as the thrill that resembles Indiana Jones’ rides, are present, but when moving at high points, it feels reassuring, like riding an elevated train.
If you keep looking forward, you might not even notice how high you are, making it less intimidating for those afraid of heights.

Additionally, the storyline woven into the ride may make it enjoyable.
It’s less about being scary and more about moments like “Ah! I got splashed with water!”

Also, since the ride duration is about 2 minutes, any fear you feel won’t last long, giving a sense of security.

How Scary Is It?: For Young Children (Elementary School, Lower Grades, Kindergarten)

The tracks are broken and disconnected in various places. Before even entering Donkey Kong Country or lining up, you can see mine carts running on broken ruins.

Children who experienced it beforehand asked their parents worriedly, “Won’t the rocks break while we’re riding?"
Some also said, “The tracks are broken, so it’s scary."

For children at an age where they fully immerse themselves in Donkey Kong’s world, there might be kids who don’t even want to approach the attraction entrance.

However, no children were crying after actually experiencing the ride, so it doesn’t seem to be that scary in reality.

Mine Cart Madness: Wait Times?

This attraction uses a moving belt system at the boarding and disembarking points, synchronized with the ride.
A similar attraction is Space Fantasy – The Ride (XR Ride).

Each mine cart holds four riders, and during a one-minute observation, six carts departed.
(Dispatch time: 10 seconds)

This means 24 riders per minute, 1,440 riders per hour, and 11,520 riders over 8 hours can experience the attraction.

USJ’s attendance exceeds 10,000 visitors even on super quiet days, with 30,000–40,000 visitors on regular days and 70,000–80,000 on extremely crowded days.

Although the area’s entry is controlled with timed tickets, with 4,000 people queuing, it would result in a roughly 3-hour wait.
During pre-opening limited experiences, despite the smaller invited crowd, wait times reached up to 50 minutes.

When the attraction officially opens, wait times may extend to 3–4 hours.
With long wait times, line cuts (closing the queue) may occur several hours before closing time.

If you can only get a late timed-entry ticket, you might not be able to experience the ride, so please be cautious.

Without an express pass, you’ll likely need to wait a long time to ride.

Mine Cart Madness: How Wet Will You Get?

There are three spots where you’ll get wet.
Your face is the primary area that will get splashed.

For women, after riding multiple times, one side of your makeup might look undone, according to some reports.

Be careful to avoid losing your eyebrows!

On my second ride, I tried turning to the left or covering my face with my hands to avoid getting splashed, but it wasn’t very effective.

Your clothes won’t get soaked, but you’ll still get a bit wet.

On windy days, you might get wetter, or the water might splash more on your clothes instead of your face.

Regardless of where you sit among the four seats, you’ll get wet. The extent of wetness varies slightly based on factors like seat height and wind direction, but everyone gets wet.

Mine Cart Madness: Characters Appearing

– Donkey Kong
– Diddy Kong
– Cranky Kong (elderly gorilla)
– Animal friend Squawks (green parrot)
– Dixie Kong

Enemies:
– Tiki Tong
– Mole Miner
– Screaming Pillar (stone statue)

Mine Cart Madness: Key Points in the Queue & Power-Up Band Locations

This section contains heavy spoilers.

At the attraction entrance, there is a “Monkey Deity’s Mouth.” If you tap it with your Power-Up Band, you’ll receive a stamp and 15 coins.
(Only once. Multiple acquisitions are not possible.)

Proceed further to enter the interior of the Golden Temple.

There are murals resembling games from the Famicom era.

Additionally, this area has “Two Monkey Statues” (Pitari and Petari statues).
These statues can be activated with Power-Up Bands, but one person alone cannot succeed.
Cooperation between two people is required.

When successful, look up at the ceiling.
You’ll see a beautifully shining golden banana!

At night, when it’s dark, the banana shines even more beautifully.

Where Are the Hidden Bananas?

To earn the “Explorer” stamp, you need to complete all the activities on the Donkey Kong Country map.
Some activities, like finding puzzle pieces, are particularly difficult to locate.

The hidden banana isn’t part of the stamp system, nor does it appear on the map, so many people either don’t know it exists or fail to find it.

This hidden banana is located in the outdoor area of the Mine Cart Madness queue when the wait time exceeds 50–60 minutes. If the wait time is short, you won’t pass through the area where the banana is hidden, and you won’t be able to collect it.

This feature makes longer wait times feel more rewarding in terms of the experience.

Besides the hidden banana, being in the outdoor area allows you to get up close to the ruins, which are only visible from a distance elsewhere. The ruins are incredibly impressive when viewed up close.

Mine Cart Madness: Disadvantages of the Single Rider Line

Crazy Minecart also has a single rider queue.
For attractions with long wait times, single rider lines are often a great way to cut down on waiting.

However, this particular attraction has several disadvantages for single riders:

The previously mentioned “Monkey Deity’s Mouth” is not accessible via the single rider queue.
Additionally, the area with the two statues inside the temple is not part of the single rider route.

The outdoor Power-Up Band spots are also not reachable through the single rider queue.

Mine Cart Madness: Photo Opportunities

The Crazy Minecart ride is visible from within the area.
Notably, the part where it runs over the pond descends to ground level, allowing spectators to take photos without riding the attraction.

However, the crossing over the pond only lasts 1–2 seconds, so purchasing the on-ride photo might be a better option.

The photo price is ¥2,200.
Additionally, if you buy an express pass specifically for Mine Cart Madness, you must purchase the photo as part of the package.

It’s impossible to know the photo spot on your first ride.
On your second ride, you might notice the spot where the camera flashes, allowing you to locate the camera.

Mine Cart Madness: Hidden Pikmin Locations

The attraction queue contains two murals of hidden Pikmin.
One of them is relatively easy to find and has already been discovered by many. However, the other is extremely difficult to spot.

Those who find it may either have sharp attention to detail or be easily distracted—it’s hard to say which. Either way, they’re lucky!

The murals add a sense of story to the experience, so be sure to find them.

I won’t reveal the exact locations here because discovering them yourself is part of the fun.

https://happyell.co.jp/donkeykong-country
https://happyell.co.jp/donkeykong
https://happyell.co.jp/supernintendoworld

Happyell EditorChief Yasuhiro Motouchi

Appeared on TV Asahi’s TV Asahi program Gachigo Rise as “the real people who quit their jobs to support USJ"! I will introduce the fun points that are unique to the Gachi group called Gachi points. Appearing on TV Tokyo Dekamori Hunter, providing information and comments on Mainichi Broadcasting “Seyanen", cooperating and appearing in Disney movies on TV Asahi’s music program, etc. Recently, opportunities to cooperate in the production of TV programs have increased. I’m here.

Hapiel Co., Ltd. Representative Director
Theme Park Media He also serves as editor-in-chief of Hapier. I have been going to USJ for about 22 years since it first opened. USJ fan crystal rank certified. Recently, I go there about 40 times a year. We are doing strategies and congestion forecasts to enjoy short wait times for attractions. I have been going to Disneyland for 25 years.