Epic Universe Has Its Own Version of MagicBands and Fans Can’t Stop Buying Them

With the opening of Epic Universe, Universal is bringing one of its most popular souvenirs to the Orlando resort!

For years, the wrists of Orlando-area tourists have belonged to Disney and its ever-growing collection of MagicBands. However, that may all change in the next few months as Universal’s Super Nintendo World accessory Power-Up Bands are making their way to the Sunshine State thanks to Universal’s newest theme park.

Power-Up Bands, which were first introduced with Universal Japan’s Super Nintendo World and came to America with Universal Hollywood’s version of the land, are wrist-worn accessories that allow guests to interact with Super Nintendo World’s environment, collecting “digital keys”, coins, points, and stamps throughout the land.  Once a band is purchased, guests can activate a QR code that syncs to the Universal app. Once their profile is set up, the band can be used to earn points and power-ups throughout Super Nintendo World.

The ways guests can earn keys include the following 5 games:

• Goomba Crazy Crank (“Turn the crank to make the ground spin fast enough to make a Goomba fall backward, winning you a key”)
• Piranha Plant Nap Mishap (“Run back and forth, tapping multiple alarm clocks to put the huge Piranha Plant back to sleep”)
• Koopa Troopa POWer Punch (“Hit a POW Block with perfect timing to send a Koopa Shell up the pipe and knock over the Koopa Troopa”)
• Bob-omb Kaboom Room (“Gather fragments of a key from around the room and assemble them before the giant Bob-omb goes kaboom”),
• Thwomp Panel Panic (“Are you fast enough? Try to flip every tile on the wall to be the same color and win a digital key”)

Keys are earned by winning Key Challenges. Guests who gather enough keys will be able to unlock the Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown, which allows them to “recover the stolen Golden Mushroom in a final Shadow Showdown.”

In addition to keys, guests wearing Power-Up Bands can also earn points that “can be used to unlock stamps for your game profile on the app, and you can compare how you’re doing to friends and other parkgoers that day on a leaderboard. A sound or light will go off when you’ve done something to gain points in this way. So, once your band has successfully interacted with something in the world, you’re good — although we understand if you wanna keep going. Punching the blocks truly never gets old. Don’t forget you can also gain points and accolades within the app by going on the many rides within the park. For example, if you gain a high score in Mario Kart you can expect to unlock a stamp in your gamer profile.”

At opening, Epic Universe will offer bands themed to Mario, Luigi, Toad, Yoshi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong.

According to Nintendo, Power-Up Bands can also be used Each Power-Up Band can be used as an amiibo for Switch games that support the feature. As the gaming giant explains, “To use a Power-Up Band as amiibo, tap the circular character icon in the center of the band to the NFC reader of the console. Power-Up Bands are not compatible with the Nintendo 3DS series and Wii U. To use Power-Up Bands with the Nintendo Switch, the system must be up-to-date with the latest software updated.”

Super Nintendo World’s Power-Up Bands are one of Universal’s most successful souvenir categories, and now they’ve arrived at Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe.

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Are you planning on picking up a Power-Up Band? Let us known the comments below!