My family went to Super Nintendo World. The whole experience was confusing despite being a beautiful, immersive park.

• My husband, son, and I went to Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Hollywood.
• We are huge Nintendo fans and were excited to get three tickets.

When I first heard Super Nintendo World — a Nintendo-themed area inside of Universal Studios Hollywood — would be opening in 2023, I knew I'd have to check it out with my family. My spouse and I both grew up with the original games, and a love of all things Mario and Luigi had already been passed down to our son. My kid and I even dressed up like different versions of Mario for Halloween just a couple of years ago.

We sprung for three tickets to piggyback on the trip we'd already planned for our son's 9th birthday to LA. We hoped Super Nintendo World would be the grand finale of our family trip, but thanks to a combo of disorganization and extra costs, it wasn't the experience we were looking for.

We didn't know entrance was not guaranteed

My frustration began days before our arrival. Typically, you buy a ticket for a theme park and get access to all areas. But Universal's website doesn't make it explicitly clear there's a chance you might not get to enter Super Nintendo World.

Early access tickets — $20 additional per person — can guarantee morning admission into that part of the park, but they were already sold out for the day we were going. The only sure way to get inside was to buy a Universal Express Pass ($199 vs the standard $109 entrance fee per person).

There's a Virtual Queue option to reserve an entry spot into Super Nintendo World — but you can't access it until the morning of your visit. I was anxious we wouldn't get in, but I lucked out just as we boarded the tram to the park and got a 4:45 p.m. spot.

Getting into the area was confusing

After spending all day at the park, we made our way to what we thought was the line to get in. There were dozens of confused-looking families anxiously waiting, all saying they thought it was the right line, but as there was no signage, I decided to go ask a Universal employee for confirmation.

"Is this the line to get in for a 4:45 p.m. entry?" I asked.

"No, I have no idea what that line is for. Just show them your reservation and go on in," they said, pointing to other employees closer to the actual entrance.

Had we waited, we might've missed our window.

The park is stunning

Once we made our way into the park, we were all smiles, of course. In order to be "transported" in, you walk through a green warp pipe where you're greeted by fun animations of Goombas, Bob-ombs, and even Princess Peach. It was a great way to set guests up for what they'd be seeing next and totally psyched us up. After snapping some photos, we finally made our way through to the other side.

To say it's a beautiful and immersive experience is a bit of an understatement. I loved how the "world" feels like you're in a completely different place and no longer just in a corner of a theme park. You can tell a lot of work went into making sure all the details were perfect, from the enormous piranha plants to the towering thwomps to the jaw-dropping Bowser's Castle. My son was especially delighted to find tiny Pikmin characters hiding throughout.

You need to pay extra for bands to play games

After taking it in, we decided it was time to play some games. Except we found out you have to have a Power-Up Band in order to really engage with the games, like getting points and hearing sounds every time you hit a block. The bands at the Hollywood park — essentially slap bracelets that connect to an app — are $40 each.

With our shared Yoshi Power-Up Band, we were able to hit a few Question Mark Blocks, and I'm not gonna lie — it's pretty satisfying to see them light up.

Some reviews say you don't really need the bands to play, but I beg to differ. Not only do you miss out on the fun sounds and lights that only happen with a band, we actually tried entering one game area where we were told you must have a Power-Up band to enter. They said only one non-banded person can accompany you, so one of us would have to stay behind.

We couldn't eat at Toadstool Cafe

We wanted to have dinner at Toadstool Cafe, the Nintendo-themed restaurant on site. I'd been looking forward to this for a while, thanks to all the social media posts of Mario and Luigi Burgers and Princess Peach Cupcakes, which are all admittedly adorable. It seemed odd there was no line, and then we found out why: employees explained you have to make a reservation on the day of your visit — and you can only make this reservation in person. This means only folks with Universal Express passes who immediately ran over to the cafe get to enjoy it.

Since this is the only place to eat currently in Super Nintendo World, and you can't leave to get food and reenter, we were very disappointed.

There are no quiet areas

After picking up some layers from the only gift shop in Super Nintendo World, my son — who is on the autism spectrum — became visibly agitated. There are no "quiet" areas to escape the crowds and overstimulation, and the park was understandably packed since it's new. Despite not having even gotten to try out the Mario Kart ride, our kid was clearly done. I didn't want him to leave hating Super Nintendo World, so we made our way toward the exit. Not even seeing life size Mario and Luigi waving nearby was enough to make him want to stay a little longer.

I'm sure that many people have had excellent experiences at the new Super Nintendo World. In fact, I'm sure if I had known about all of these details ahead of time, I would have loved it too, as I would've been able to plan around all the issues. But I'll be waiting a while before giving it another go. As we exited, an employee asked for my honest feedback on the new park. I let her know we'll probably just be sticking with the video games for now.