Cloudtop Cruise

Lore & Background

In the Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge ride, guests experience a selection of locations from Mario Kart 8, including Cloudtop Cruise. The ride's layout takes riders through a variety of these locations, such as N64 Royal Raceway, GBA Mario Circuit, 3DS Piranha Plant Slide, Dolphin Shoals, Twisted Mansion, Cloudtop Cruise, Wii Grumble Volcano, and Rainbow Road. Cloudtop Cruise is one of the tracks that appears in the game Mario Kart 8, which is the primary video game inspiration for the ride. The ride itself is an augmented reality dark ride where guests wear AR visors and fire Koopa Shells at Team Bowser characters while their vehicle follows a set path on a railtrack.

In Their Own Story

The wind hums against the visor as the kart ascends past the tree line. Below, the green hills of the kingdom shrink into a patchwork quilt, but there is no time for sightseeing. The driver grips the wheel tighter as the track twists upward, defying gravity to cling to the side of a massive cumulus formation. A rival's banana peel floats by, discarded in the thin air, before the kart launches back toward solid ground.

Reader's Guide

In Mario Kart 8, Cloudtop Cruise is a sky-based track that features anti-gravity sections where karts can drive on vertical and inverted surfaces. The track is part of the Flower Cup in the original release of Mario Kart 8. Drivers navigate winding cloud paths and must manage their speed through sharp turns and elevation changes. The anti-gravity segments allow for unique driving angles, and players can use items to hinder opponents. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the track remains largely unchanged but benefits from updated graphics and smoother physics. Mastering the cloud surfaces allows for faster lap times than sticking strictly to solid paths during critical turns.

Did You Know?

• Cloudtop Cruise is one of the locations from Mario Kart 8 featured in the Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge ride at Super Nintendo World.
• The ride takes guests through a variety of locations from Mario Kart 8, including Cloudtop Cruise, N64 Royal Raceway, and Rainbow Road.
• Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge is an augmented reality dark ride manufactured by Dynamic Attractions.
• The ride opened at Universal Studios Japan on March 18, 2021, and at Universal Studios Hollywood on February 17, 2023.
• Guests earn points by hitting Team Bowser characters with Koopa Shells in the augmented reality, and if they collectively earn 100 points, Team Mario wins the race.