Visitors to the sprawling theme-park ecosystem of Orlando, Florida will soon be able to ride what’s become one of the most talked about roller coasters on the planet, without booking an overseas trip to Japan. Epic Universe, Universal’s brand new theme park, opens on May 22, 2025 with Donkey Kong Country, a near-replica of the park that opened last year at Universal Studios Japan.
Donkey Kong Country is the only “portal-within-a-portal” at Epic Universe, meaning that you access the area by first going through a Super Nintendo World warp pipe entrance, then through another large “portal” toward the back of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Once through, visitors are transported into a lush, tropical landscape littered with barrels, palm trees, and piles of bananas. Guests can stop at the Bubbly Barrel, the area’s quick service eatery, for refreshments, like a Pineapple Banana Dole Whip. Music enhances the area’s ambience as various songs from the Donkey Kong games provide a banging bongo beat that reverberates throughout.
At the center is the imposing Golden Temple that houses the area’s only ride: the Donkey Kong themed roller coaster, Mine-Cart Madness.
On this ride, you board a 4-seater vehicle resembling a mine cart that appears to “jump” across mangled tracks, replicating Donkey Kong Country’s infamous rail-jumping level. The technology that brings this rail-jumping effect into real life is Universal’s patented “Boom coaster” concept. The ride vehicle is attached to an arm that extends far above the coaster’s real track, allowing ride designers to place fake minecart rails between riders and the coaster’s actual track.
This unique ride system has had the roller coaster community buzzing ever since the patent was made public as it really opens the floodgates for incredibly elaborate roller coaster theming. The patent even demonstrates several possibilities in addition to the rail-jumping effect, like gliding on clouds or jumping over obstructions on false tracks.
The unfortunate tradeoff with this new technology is that it makes the ride a bit bumpy and shaky, especially considering it’s a brand new roller coaster that hasn’t officially opened to the public yet. Since the center of gravity of each vehicle is so high above the real coaster track, the slightest bounce, shake or jolt is accentuated and amplified; similar to how a skyscraper’s top floors sway more than its foundation when facing high winds.
After riding it for myself, I would say Mine-Cart Madness is not a ‘headbanger,’ that’ll rattle you until you puke, but even employees warned of the ride’s roughness compared to the park’s other family roller coasters.
While the rail-jumping effects are uncanny, the ride is much more tame than you might expect. This is no white-knuckle roller coaster. Mine-Cart Madness is more of a family ride that relies on its special effects to provide its thrills.
The first big moment of the ride involves an ascent to the ride’s highest point where your mine cart vehicle is shot out of a classic Donkey Kong barrel cannon. Despite the effects and fanfare, you’re not launched through the air at high speeds and instead slowly glide from the barrel cannon onto a set of tracks and into the ride’s first tunnel.
The ride never flips upside down and never sends riders backwards like many of the other Epic Universe coasters. While Universal hasn’t yet publicized the ride’s top speed, it felt slower than the park’s most kid-friendly coaster, Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, which has a top speed of 45mph. (We reached out to Universal for specifics on Mine-Cart Madness’s top speed but did not hear back in time for publication.) The ride’s height requirement also reflects that this coaster is suitable for young children as it’s only 40 inches. (Although, kids under 48 inches must be accompanied by a supervising adult.)
Despite its bumps, Mine-Cart Madness is still a stellar attraction due to its innovative technology and incredibly elaborate theming. It’s clear that Universal’s designers worked closely with Nintendo to ensure the ride stayed true to the iconic franchise for diehard fans, while also offering a world-class themed experience for families. It’s just a bit concerning that the ride experience is already feeling a bit rough before opening day, as no roller coaster gets smoother as it ages.
Source：https://www.polygon.com/theme-parks/555343/epic-universe-donkey-kong-ride-mine-cart-madness-review[Disclosure: Reporting for this article was conducted out of a press event held at Epic Universe in Orlando, Florida on April 5. Universal provided Polygon’s accommodations for the event. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.]
