一旦アウパ！

USJの駐車場にて。なんか大きな穴ボコが開けられたり、盛り土がされたり…。

そして封鎖範囲が 平面駐車場の一部から、平面駐車場全体に変わっていました。もしかしたら マリオのエリアはここにできる……かも？#USJ #Nintendo #任天堂 #マリオ pic.twitter.com/XYcePxnGc0

— USJ情報局　L.C.A.STUDIOS (@LCASTUDIOS_USJ) June 6, 2017

Japanese Instagram user and USJ fan l.c.a.studios_usj (who also has a Twitter account) was recently strolling about the park’s parking lot when she noticed a some construction going on.

USJにマリオが⁉︎ Mario⁉︎ in Universal Studios Japan. #follome #USJ #ユニバーサルスタジオジャパン #universallove #universalstudios #universalstudiojapan #universalstudiosjapan #universalstudiosorlando #universalcity #universalviews #universalorlando #universalstudiosingapore #universalstudiossingapore #mario #mariocart #mariokart #mariobarth #marioparty10 #nintendo #nintendoswitch #nintendo3ds #nintendo64 #nintendods #nintendofan #donkeykong #pokemon #pokemongo #supermario #japan #マリオ

A post shared by USJ情報局 L.C.A.STUDIOS/つむぎ(仮) (@l.c.a.studios_usj) on Jun 6, 2017 at 8:12am PDT

Considering the scale of the undertaking, she speculated that this might be related to the Super Nintendo World expansion. Shortly thereafter, she spotted a wall of bricks evocative of those used to construct in-game environments in the Super Mario games.

And lo and behold, when she turned the corner, she saw a life-size Mario stage, complete with pipes and Piranha Plants!

A second look at the photos reveals that one of the Piranha Plants is hidden in certain shots, which makes it seem like the man-eating flora might actually move up and down, just like they do in the game. l.c.a.studios_usj also says that behind the background there was some sort of fireworks-launching device ready to add pyrotechnic flare/flair.

In other news, Universal Studios Japan’s YouTube channel just released a new concept video for Super Nintendo World.

But perhaps most exciting of all is that while Super Nintendo World isn’t scheduled to open until 2020, and the real-world Mario stage shown here isn’t quite complete, it definitely doesn’t look like it’s three years from being done, either, considering that it’s fully painted and has a more-or-less finished facade. The level of visual polish suggests that Universal Studios Japan is getting ready to show it off to the public very soon as a preview of what the 2020 expansion is going to offer. The big question, of course, is whether that demonstration will be a stage show with USJ performers or an open-to-the-public event where fans can run through the stage themselves, and I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that it’s the latter.

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