News Universal Kids Resort Project 2026: New Children's Park in Frisco, TX

[GASM]

This guy calling out Six Flags as a whole is such a strange choice. They’ve been the discount chain for a long time, sure, but they also NEVER had the standard to live up to that Universal does. That’s the real issue here, that there was an expectation that wasn’t even remotely met.

Happily Ogre After is so pathetically horrible that it makes Superstar Limo look like a highly immersive, well executed concept. A swamp theme seems like it would’ve been a no brainer, but I guess a barren field with an uncomfortable amount of space between set pieces gets the job done too.

 

[amperedragon]

Honestly, while the park doesn't look great, I also don't think it looks like an epic disaster like many of the reviews are making it out to be. I think a lot of theme park people had higher than realistic expectations based on this being dubbed a resort, and if they'd gone with something like Universal's Land of Animation, the expectations might have been kept a big more in check. To me, the park looks on par with a Sesame Place right now, with the potential to grow to the level of a Legoland depending on what Universal decides to add to it. I'm also willing to give Universal the benefit of the doubt on a few things as 1. The park was rushed to meet an opening deadline imposed by the city, and 2. The park as a whole will look better in a couple years once all the plants grow in. Time will tell whether these early reviews are an unfair critique of an incomplete park or Universal truly cheaped out on the project with the intent to cut their losses and sell it off after three or four years if it wasn't going as planned.

 

[GASM]

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[themeparktribune]

This guy calling out Six Flags as a whole is such a strange choice. They’ve been the discount chain for a long time, sure, but they also NEVER had the standard to live up to that Universal does. That’s the real issue here, that there was an expectation that wasn’t even remotely met.

I think Universal was pretty clear from the start that this was not going to be some smaller version of its existing parks or anything on that level.

However, I think Universal made two missteps that really screwed up expectations and resulted in all this bad press.

1) Universal wasn't specific enough about what the park actually would be, in typical Uni fashion when it comes to new attractions. But with the Universal name on the park, people are naturally going to expect a certain level of quality from Universal.

2) The visuals Universal provided -- concept art and images -- gave the impression of something sort of Legoland-like, but that's not what being offered here. I thought that the worst case scenario would something on the level of the recent DreamWorks Land overhaul of KidZone in Universal Studios Florida, just as a full park -- but it doesn't even reach that level.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

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In all fairness- the arcade is operated by a third party

 

[Zachary]

In all fairness- the arcade is operated by a third party

I agree that that's important context, but the buck still has to stop with Universal for anything on their property. Some quality standards should be enforced to protect the public image of the brand and, among those, I would definitely reasonably include "no cringe, obviously AI-generated signage."

 

[mtpelepele]

Why? If I recall correctly, Busch couldn't do a damn thing about an outside game vendor painting over the murals there.

 

[Zachary]

Why? If I recall correctly, Busch couldn't do a damn thing about an outside game vendor painting over the murals there.

I mean, it's Busch's fault that it happened even if they were unable to prevent it in the moment.

The owner can be both unable to prevent something bad from happening at a specific moment and still be ultimately responsible for that thing occuring. If a park/chain signs a contract with a third party that doesn't give the park/chain first right of refusal over, say, visual alterations to the rented space or signage design within the leased area, the park/chain would be powerless to prevent ugly changes from being made or trashy signs from being displayed, but the park/chain would still be ultimately responsible for the ugly changes that were made or the trashy signs that were displayed due to their failure to negotiate terms in the original contract that would enable them to maintain control over these matters.

 

[themeparktribune]

If you've been following the online chatter about this park on other forums and social media, I find it very interesting that people defending the park are largely not doing so based on any of its supposed merits. They're instead largely arguing that any criticism from adults without children doesn't matter because they're not the intended audience for the park.

But childless adults still have eyes and can point out the obvious lack of theming and shade, or how barren the Shrek ride looks.

 

[michaellynn4]

I have a child. Two, in fact! Guess what - the park still looks like shit to me.

 

[themeparktribune]

Another positive review from someone who was hosted by Universal: REVIEW: Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, TX

 

[Zachary]

Another positive review from someone who was hosted by Universal: REVIEW: Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, TX

Basically: "The park is good and Universal did well because my 3 year-old was smiling throughout a media preview day at a lightly themed amusement park when there were zero crowds, no lines, free food and drinks, we could return to our free, on-site hotel room whenever, everything was clean and spotless, employees gave us personalized consideration, and I paid nothing for the experience." Truly revelatory, that—a 3 year-old has fun at a largely empty amusement park? Wild!

I did find this bit in the preamble about the park's purpose fascinating:

"Add in marketing language centered on immersion and themed environments, and it’s easy to see how some guests arrived expecting something different from what Universal Kids Resort was ultimately designed to be."

A lot of these reviews try to do a ton of expectation adjustment in their preambles, but most just assert their claims about the park's actual purpose/design philosophy/etc without evidence. This one is sorta interesting because, while it still ultimately makes the same assertions in practice, the author also volunteers the countervailing evidence directly from the park re: the park's asserted purpose.

If Universal announces something that sounds and looks like a theme park and then markets that thing as a park with "immersion and themed environments," why are all of these reviewers so desperate to convince their audiences otherwise? How do these reviewers know better than Universal what they set out to build and ultimately chose to market? Also, as long as we don't believe Universal is incompetent, isn't the very fact that Universal is choosing these marketing angles evidence for the idea that there is likely demand in the park's currently intended target market for "immersion and themed environments?" Shouldn't we be taking Universal at their word vs spending multiple paragraphs at the opening of every non-negative review to try to redefine expectations away from the very expectations this review admits Universal set?

 

[paintervision]

If Universal announces something that sounds and looks like a theme park and then markets that thing as a park with "immersion and themed environments," why are all of these reviewers so desperate to convince their audiences otherwise?

"Immersion" is a buzz word that gets thrown around a lot in the industry. Universal has used a lot of flowery words when describing this park but they've never really mis-represented what it was supposed to be* before it was opened. A big part of that is just not hyping the place up too much before they were close to a final product.

* (Only time they showed something that didn't make it was very early concept art that looks very different from the more recent examples. But they also didn't do the Disney thing and stand on stage at a D23-style event and proclaim it to be the next big thing, so I'm not really sure where the hate comes from.)

 

[GASM]

Truly revelatory, that—a 3 year-old has fun at a largely empty amusement park? Wild!

I thought Clementon Park was almost as cool as Great Adventure when I was like 6. Imagine my shock when I went back a few years later and actually noticed what a dump it was.

 

[CamisaAnn]

I had some rare downtime last night and watched some videos of this park. The defenders are largely arguing this is a park for small kids. I have a question, why build an entire park for such a small demographic of people, especially in a time when less people can afford to have kids, much less travel to a resort with them. And let's be honest in a time when fewer people want kids at all. Is there enough demand for this type of park?

 

[themeparktribune]

The defenders are largely arguing this is a park for small kids. I have a question, why build an entire park for such a small demographic of people, especially in a time when less people can afford to have kids, much less travel to a resort with them. And let's be honest in a time when fewer people want kids at all. Is there enough demand for this type of park?

I think the success of the various Legoland parks shows there is a sustainable market for parks aimed at this demographic. Sure, fewer people are having kids, but this is already aimed at a segment of families affluent enough to afford this kind of entertainment. It's not going to be catastrophically affected by a decline in birth rates unless we hit some "Children of Men"-type doomsday scenario.

 

[netdvn]

Parks geared towards small children are an untapped market in the US right now. There aren't a lot of high profile children's parks outside of Legoland, Sesame Place, Dutch Wonderland, Story Land, Idlewild and the scattering of Santa/Christmas theme parks around the country.

I think Universal definitely sees potential in the children's park market, but this project wasn't very well executed at all. At the very least, Universal should've built the park in an area that allowed them to build indoor structures and shade so people could escape the Texas heat at the very least.