Universal Kids Resort - Frisco, Texas

[MikePat]

Silver dollar city continues to have the most unhinged social media in the industry….


So funny.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I'll say the food looks good.

Where's the rest of the play area:

 

[OrlandoGuy]

By the way, neither of the Texas Six Flags parks sell day tickets more than $50 through the rest of the summer.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I really believe a lot of this parks' visual issues could be solved with colored pavement.

It's in the art on the Visit Frisco website:


And before I get well actually, this is the same art used in Universal's promotional material, not the Dec. 2023 park layout, nor the January 2023 blue sky concept, which I am also posting below for reference:

 

[Blue]

When this was first announced, I expected a park full of Fantasylands and Seuss Landings. Once the ride lineup was announced, I expected a supersized KidZone. I'm not even sure this lives up to that... genuinely baffling that this was approved to open in its current state.

They should've went with a different name if they didn't want people to associate this with their larger parks. This just cheapens the entire brand imo.

 

[mainejeff]

This is the worst new theme park I've seen in years. I get that it's a kiddie park but.....yeesh.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

When this was first announced, I expected a park full of Fantasylands and Seuss Landings. Once the ride lineup was announced, I expected a supersized KidZone. I'm not even sure this lives up to that... genuinely baffling that this was approved to open in its current state.

They should've went with a different name if they didn't want people to associate this with their larger parks. This just cheapens the entire brand imo.

Well, they made a mistake with that initial concept art. It messed with people's expectations.

I think initial comparisons to Legoland were also a mistake when the more valuable comp was a Peppa Pig park. Except this park exists in a weird limbo where it has the size, merchandising, and food offerings of a Legoland but with the style, theming, and price point of those 5-15 acre kiddy parks. It's neither fish nor fowl, really.

Also, in the process of researching the theme park landscape of Texas, I discovered this video of the psychedelic boat ride at Six Flags Over Texas (which you can access for the low low price of $55 dollars. How a Peppa Pig park ticket is even close to the price of a Six Flags ticket is beyond my comprehension)

 

[Myah1220]

Funny enough, the two nearest Six Flags parks are a lot nicer than this. Just compare the raft rides at Over Texas and Fiesta Texas to the Minions one at UKP.

No you're right. Six Flags and even Legoland does better theming than this. This is maybe at Peppa Pig level. It's sad. I know I'm beating a dead horse but I truly cannot get over how Creative signed off on this. We all knew it was going to be smaller scale but smaller scale doesn't mean you have to go this bleak. I applaud people for trying to be optimistic but when you think of how much they're charging for what you're getting, it's really beyond the pale and Universal can do so so so much better than this.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

I accept the fact that this is a park meant for kids and was never meant to be as big as Universal’s usual parks.

If I were a kid at this time, I would much prefer to go to Wannado City if it were still open over this.

 

[Myah1220]

I accept the fact that this is a park meant for kids and was never meant to be as big as Universal’s usual parks.

If I were a kid at this time, I would much prefer to go to Wannado City if it were still open over this.

Right. Size isn't the issue. It's the fact that it looks so lazy and half-a**ed compared to the standards Universal set.

 

[Andysol]

Then maybe don't build a site-specific hotel and host influencers from across the country (but mostly Orlando)?

They need their shills to come in who won’t dare say a negative thing and ooh and ah over everything. Heck, the Trackers and others even had to limit their comments on insta so they could help damage control.

Well, they made a mistake with that initial concept art. It messed with people's expectations.

The issue wasn’t the concept art. It’s the name: “Universal”. They could have had any concept art- great or not. Because when you hear “Universal”, you expect top tier quality on par with Disney for the general population and superseding Disney (at least thematically) in the theme park community.

They’ve worked their asses off to finally get that reputation. And… now here we are.

I still think there are great elements. I still love the concept. I’m still excited. And I still think it will succeed. Hopefully they get the feedback and in 6 months time it looks much better. If they do nothing, I’ll be disappointed, for sure.

And can I mention one defense that no one has brought up? It’s still universal team members and operations. So the comparison to Six flags, Peppa or sesame place is night and day in that department. The difference in operations is so significant between those companies that they aren’t even comparable.

 

[Evan]

They need their shills to come in who won’t dare say a negative thing and ooh and ah over everything. Heck, the Trackers and others even had to limit their comments on insta so they could help damage control.


The issue wasn’t the concept art. It’s the name: “Universal”. They could have had any concept art- great or not. Because when you hear “Universal”, you expect top tier quality on par with Disney for the general population and superseding Disney (at least thematically) in the theme park community.

They’ve worked their asses off to finally get that reputation. And… now here we are.

I still think there are great elements. I still love the concept. I’m still excited. And I still think it will succeed. Hopefully they get the feedback and in 6 months time it looks much better. If they do nothing, I’ll be disappointed, for sure.

And can I mention one defense that no one has brought up? It’s still universal team members and operations. So the comparison to Six flags, Peppa or sesame place is night and day in that department. The difference in operations is so significant between those companies that they aren’t even comparable.

It’s going to need a DCA level rebuild to fix this. I hope people are honest and tell them this is not acceptable based on their brand and level.

 

[DOOMBOT]

I'll say the food looks good.

Where's the rest of the play area:
View attachment 30020

For comparison, here's a splash pad in Huntersville, NC built in 2024 within a public park. Listed on the manufacturer's webpage here.

Does it look like the wildest thing in the world? Not really. But it does look substantially more playful, inviting, and a whole lot more like a swamp.

It's that grey concrete. It's making everything feel so much more liminal than it has to.

I think a majority of the complains would be remediated if it looked like the concept art.

View attachment 30013

For easy comparison, here's what that ride actually looks like as a paying guest.


Photo from Attractions 360.

I wonder if the issue was budget, time, or both. Obviously there was an internal push for more here that just didn't end up in the final product.

I really don't think this park is "beyond saving" by any stretch, but it does need a bit of a visual glow-up to make that lower budget stretch farther. To coin an Iger-ism, I believe the park in its' current state is a Brand withdrawal for UDX. The positive thing is, I don't personally think it needs anything too out there to get it on track.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I wonder if the issue was budget, time, or both.

Both.

 

[belloq87]

With the following caveats...

1. Everything I’ve seen has been secondhand through videos and photos.
2. It’s “meant for kids”*, and is competing on the “regional park” playing field.

... I think this park looks quite low-rent for what a Universal destination (of any kind) should represent and provide to the guest.

Part of Universal’s stated intent with this park (I believe it’s in the announcement press release, even!) was for it to become a stepping stone for kids and families before they discover the rest of the Universal parks (read: the “real” ones), but I have a hard time imagining the level of quality on display at Universal Kids would entice anyone to delve deeper into what Universal has to offer (if they weren’t already thinking about it).

I just do not think it makes the brand look very good.

* I don’t love that as a justification (or even an explanation) for going cheap on theme, because while it’s true that very young kids generally do not have the most discriminating or discerning tastes, I think it’s also true that high-quality experiences still register and imprint on them differently than lesser-quality ones. I’ve been going to Disney parks since I was four, and Universal parks since I was six. What I experienced on those early visits made me a theme park fan for life; I also visited Camp Snoopy at Mall of America during those years, as well as local carnivals, and had fun times with those... but I haven’t kept going back.

 

[DOOMBOT]

Also, just cause it keeps getting brought up, here's a reference for what the Winter Haven, FL Peppa Pig Theme Park looks like.

Credit: Enjoy Florida

Credit: Orlando Parenting

Credit: BGT Safari

Look at that shade, look at those colors. It's nothing spectacular. A lot of the theming is flat and the fiberglass figures are very simple. The plot of land it sits on is a good deal smaller than Universal Kids. But I believe they knew exactly how to prioritize the budget and limit the scope to guarantee guests enter a park that feels complete upon opening day. It's simple, small, and quaint, but also cute and playful. Perfectly suited for its' target audience.

For anyone who hasn't been, I'd also check out this POV of the Baby Brother's Dinosaur ride. It shows a solid example of how to pull off a simple cheap themed ride for this demographic.

The figures are nice and big and attention-grabbing. The foliage is full, lots of greens and browns. Flat foliage theming is abundant too to keep it feeling like Peppa. There are almost always sounds and other sensory information happening to keep the mild energy up. The IP is simply well-picked, as cheaper flat theming works fine for an IP as 2D and geometric as Peppa.



Comparing it to Shrek and Fiona's, it's kind of no contest who pulled it off better.

I'm unsure how many posters here have been to the park, especially with kids - but for all the dumping we do on Peppa Pig Park, it actually is pretty competent at what it's trying to do!

 

[AustinT]

It's in the art on the Visit Frisco website:
View attachment 30023

See, that's a shame that it appears the colored walkways were indeed part of the plan at one point. Each area having different colors would have really helped everything look much less soulless.

These pics are getting shared all over social media, beyond jus theme park spaces, and they're getting torn apart, rightfully so. But this park is also going to be many people's introduction to 'Universal' parks. I can't imagine how this doesn't ding the brand's reputation in the eyes of the general public. This park may actually push more people to trying a Disney park trip over a Universal one when traveling to either coast.