Super Nintendo World Shows That Classic Theme Park Lands Are Becoming A Thing Of The Past

When Disneyland opened in 1955, it set a template for the idea of what a theme park is meant to be. It wasn’t simply a collection of attractions within a border. These rides -- along with restaurants, gift shops, and everything else -- were designed to fit together in small groups, creating different lands. Nearly 70 years later, this concept is still largely in use today.

But today, something is a bit different. Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood, follows in a long line of theme park areas that don’t simply bring together similar ideas. Instead, they focus on a single intellectual property in order to try and bring it to life on a grand scale. From the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, every new theme park land for the last several years has been like this, and, with this, it seems like the classic theme park land may be dead.