Niagara Falls Will Add a Mario Kart-Style Race Track

If visitors can tear themselves away from the natural beauty of Niagara Falls, they’ll soon have a chance to step into a real world version of “Mario Kart.”

The video game-inspired racetrack is set to open in 2018 at the falls. According to Clifton Hill, the entertainment park on the Canada side of the falls, the “Niagara Speedway” will be “a marriage of traditional go-karts with the added fun and excitement of an elevated coaster-styled track. Drivers get to test their driving skills along the straightaway, negotiate hair-pin turns, and climb the elevated ramp as they head for the checkered flag.”

The ride attracted the attention of “Mario Kart” fans, eager to try a real-life approximation of the popular vintage video game.

Clifton Hill says the project should be ready by the spring. The ride is part of a new, 10-acre redevelopment project that the theme park has been working on since 2015. Completed projects on the site include a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum, a revamped Kelsey’s Restaurant with a larger outdoor patio, an expanded SkyWheel plaza, a Zombie Attack multisensory attraction, new concession stands and an expanded 700-car parking lot.