Super Nintendo World’s Donkey Kong Country Park Gets Opening Date

Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo have lifted the lid on the upcoming Donkey Kong Country expansion, coming to Super Nintendo World in Osaka, Japan. And in today’s Nintendo Direct, we finally know when the expansion is opening to the world — 11th December 2024.

We’ve had a few teasers sneak peeks at the park over the years, but this Direct gave us a really good look at what to expect. If you’re lucky enough to be in Japan when it opens, well… we’re pretty jealous!

To get to the new park, you have to go through the 1Up store and walk through a tunnel covered in rocks and bricks. The new area is fantastic, sporting palm trees, Donkey Kong’s treehouse, and the Golden Temple.

Showing us around the park, Miyamoto took us to a music-themed game using conga drums, where you’ll need three people to team up and hit the drums in time with the lights. There’s plenty of banana-flavoured food and drinks you can try (as well as a special hot dog which has avocado-flavoured sauce… hmm) as well as Funky’s Fly and Buy, a store where you can buy lots of DK-related merch.

Just like the main Super Nintendo World, there are also plenty of secrets that interact with the Power-Up Bands. But the big one will be familiar to Donkey Kong Country fans — letters have been tucked away in the park, which you can “collect” and register on the Universal Japan app to spell out Kong.

Inside the Golden Temple is a mine cart ride, and here’s where you’ll find lots of impressive animatronics for various Donkey Kong characters and companions. It looks like a chill little roller coaster — and we’re delighted Dixie is there to greet you. Could we get some Lanky Kong or King K. Rool though, Nintendo?

The Donkey Kong Country expansion was announced back in 2021 and was originally slated to open the barrel in Spring 2024, but it turns out, building parks takes a long time! At least we finally have a date. If you can’t get to Japan this December, then don’t worry, as Donkey Kong Country will be part of the Super Nintendo World opening at Universal Florida in 2025.

If you want to watch the Direct, you can do by heading to Nintendo’s YouTube channel.

What do you think of the new expansion? Are you going to be in Japan when it opens up? Peel back your thoughts in the comments.