Good catch. I’d bet the ticket pricing is accurate however. Honestly, we should hear something very very very soon!
News Universal Kids Resort Project 2026: New Children's Park in Frisco, TX
- Thread starter Gavin
- Start date
Ummmm…can we talk about how fucking phoned in this place looks:
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That is laughably bad.. Seeing all of this right after epic universe gave us some of the most fantastic theming in any theme park is wild. I really wonder what they were thinking here.
I’ll admit I haven’t followed this park at all, but uh, what the fuck lol.
Is it a stretch to say Six Flags did a better job with Shoreline Pier’s theming than this? Off rip, it looks like someone plopped a few rides into a Hurricane Harbor.
Is it a stretch to say Six Flags did a better job with Shoreline Pier’s theming than this? Off rip, it looks like someone plopped a few rides into a Hurricane Harbor.
I understand that it's supposed to be a regional park and comparing its level of theming to other Universal parks is just setting yourself up for disappointment, but even when you compare it to recent additions at regional parks this is really weak. Recent themed lands at Six Flags parks such as Jungle X, Carowinds' Camp Snoopy & Aeronautica, as well as Shoreline Pier are all presented much better than this.
Everything I have seen literally looks like this was designed/themed so that if after 5 years they gave up and sold this, to let's say, Great Wolf Lodge, they could quickly remove all the IP and GTFO.
Or even if an IP just did not click remove/replace IP as needed without major infrastructure changes.
Or even if an IP just did not click remove/replace IP as needed without major infrastructure changes.
The comps of the raft ride and LA River are killing me.
Then when you look at the newest regional park to open up in the U.S.....Lost Island eats this park for lunch when it comes to theming, it's not even particularly close and was done on a FRACTION of the budget this got. Sincerely where did the 550 million usd go? This place looks sad.
I wasn't expecting what we got at the Orlando parks but I was expecting this to be a step above its main competitors in Sesame Place and Legoland. Dare I say that even the smaller Legoland parks look better than this does?
Can't wait to watch the Defunctland video in a few years lol.
I think this park looks horrible—well below par even in the regional chain park space as others have rightly highlighted. It looks like a stain on the Universal brand and will just remind locals why they travel to Disney.
That being said, I think people doomsaying about this park are completely wrong. I expect this park to do quite well. Low start-up cost, very little market competition, almost certainly miniscule operating costs, a constantly refreshing market of young families, a growing local populous, what is likely to be a passable guest experience backed by great customer service—even if the park sucks, it has a lot going for it in its market. In a world in which Sesame Place Pennsylvania, a park with a comparable ride lineup, worse location, worse weather, abysmal customer service, poor operations, etc can not only survive, but THRIVE, I have zero reason to think that this park won't be a huge financial success.
That being said, I think people doomsaying about this park are completely wrong. I expect this park to do quite well. Low start-up cost, very little market competition, almost certainly miniscule operating costs, a constantly refreshing market of young families, a growing local populous, what is likely to be a passable guest experience backed by great customer service—even if the park sucks, it has a lot going for it in its market. In a world in which Sesame Place Pennsylvania, a park with a comparable ride lineup, worse location, worse weather, abysmal customer service, poor operations, etc can not only survive, but THRIVE, I have zero reason to think that this park won't be a huge financial success.
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I really don't get the hate on this one. Huge opportunity for Universal to grow into more regions, and Universal Kids Frisco (plus Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas and Chicago, and the upcoming UK park) shows that they are hungry to do so. They should be encouraged to keep refining the Kids park concept, expanding it, and trying in new markets (PNE, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, Mexico, etc).
I keep seeing comparisons to Sesame Place (which is nice but... United isn't exactly handling the IP well). And Legoland - which seems like the Merlin have slowed down a bit in recent years. And Disney is the 800-lb gorilla in the industry, but never experimented much outside of DisneyQuest, Club Disney, ESPN Zone - all that died off. I'm willing to give Universal a shot here - but also know that what vloggers are seeing today isn't exactly a finished product.
I keep seeing comparisons to Sesame Place (which is nice but... United isn't exactly handling the IP well). And Legoland - which seems like the Merlin have slowed down a bit in recent years. And Disney is the 800-lb gorilla in the industry, but never experimented much outside of DisneyQuest, Club Disney, ESPN Zone - all that died off. I'm willing to give Universal a shot here - but also know that what vloggers are seeing today isn't exactly a finished product.
Holy Brutalist Architecture, Batman!
This looks like it could be a decorative fountain outside FBI Headquarters in DC!
Holy Brutalist Architecture, Batman!
This looks like it could be a decorative fountain outside FBI Headquarters in DC!
Someone posted this on the Theme Park Stop Discord (which is wild that the themeing matches up so well):
There's also concrete with blue tape (maybe for lights?). But if you look closely, there is additional themeing that partially complete:
Surely, there is more to come. Either there was a quality issue, or they were just running behind and decided to open the ride anyway to media, as it doesn't really affect the ride system. I'm guessing the latter. Plus also landscaping, which is usually the last thing to install anyway and could go in overnight. We're not seeing a finished product.
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Super random but this is only the second whatever-this-element-is-called I've seen on a raft ride in the US. Only other one I know about is at Wild Adventures.Holy Brutalist Architecture, Batman!
This looks like it could be a decorative fountain outside FBI Headquarters in DC!
I'm not saying everyone has to be critical of what they're seeing with this park, especially if they haven't actually visited -- but I have real hard time seeing how you could reasonably spin these pictures as something positive.
That said, there are some theme park bloggers acting like they're on Uni's payroll trying to push back on critics. And then some others who published very negative reviews even after being invited to a media event. Can you take a guess on which one I'd personally trust?
That said, there are some theme park bloggers acting like they're on Uni's payroll trying to push back on critics. And then some others who published very negative reviews even after being invited to a media event. Can you take a guess on which one I'd personally trust?
I don't know what I expected from that article, but it wasn't this:
A bad children's theme park = the iPad?! Themed amusement parks aimed solely at kids—both with and without major, licensed IPs—are like a pretty major, very long-running market segment in our industry. Has my guy never heard of Idlewild? Dutch Wonderland? Sesame Place? Castle Park? Santa's Village? Story Land? Enchanted Forest? He mentions Legoland, but then pretends that Legoland is somehow trying to be Disney...? It's obviously not true, but why would that actually matter at all to the end consumer? And how the hell could anyone ever claim all three domestic Legolands are trying to be Disney while simultaneously claiming Universal Kids Resort isn't?! I'm so confused.
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