Universal Kids Resort - Frisco, Texas

[AustinT]

Universal has one of the best theme park playgrounds created with Camp Jurassic however when it comes to taking lessons from that space they seem to not take anything from it. Its one of my issues as well with DreamWorks land as well. Its like they are trying to apply modern and minimalist design with theme park and you end up with a large amount of negative space which just doesn't work in a theme park environment. It just makes it look barren and empty which also damages the appeal from the hotel rooms.

This is a result of more modern ADA-compliant areas. We'll never get any more narrow, twisting, winding caverns like Camp Jurassic, or tight, enclosed spaces like Tom Sawyer Island's caves. It does stink, but it's to make things more accessible to more people so it's a trade off we just have to accept and look at with a new lens.

Shrek's swamp playground in Dreamworks land and the Viking Training Camp at Epic are probably what everything will be like from now on. Large, wide, flat walkways everywhere, alternate ways to enter each section that don't require rope bridges or narrow walkways, wide open areas at bases of slides for wheelchair transfers, etc. They do look more barren at a glance, but they are more inclusive and allow people with mobility aids to traverse them even with a number of other kids running around so it's ultimately a win for inclusivity. What they can do is throw more unique, custom elements in such areas like the talking Pinocchio, the outhouse slide entry, or the sheep shooting game. This Frisco park is lacking a bit in some unique dry play area elements, but at least they have the dino and bug-shaped plays structures that aren't totally off the shelf.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I was surprised to see what looked like a limited-motion AA at the end of the Jurassic World coaster.

Or maybe it was just a stagnant figure. But it looked like it was moving a bit!

 

[Alicia]

I was surprised to see what looked like a limited-motion AA at the end of the Jurassic World coaster.

Or maybe it was just a stagnant figure. But it looked like it was moving a bit!

Bumpy! She seemed to be moving to me in videos

 

[DOOMBOT]

Truly unbelievable. Yeah yeah the arcade is run by a third party but Universal has ALLOWED this.

I understand that the arcade is likely run by a third-party, but the AI art is such a bad look. It looks visually terrible, and posting it on the wall during media previews just feels like they're asking for controversy.

Quite literally a sheet of Arial font text on laminated white printer paper posted neatly on the Arcade door would be significantly less embarrassing. It would also have cost like .40 cents to make.

 

[belloq87]

A thing can be financially successful, and also not very good.

I think we're eventually going to need some sort of "What level of theme do kids deserve?" dedicated thread, because it's a topic that pops up fairly often, with quite strong opposing viewpoints.

no one will talk about this park except locals in 10 days- it’ll be the same 5 posters that were in here the entirety of the construction that no one cared about either.

I don’t know if you meant for it to come across this way... but this comes across as pretty dismissive of the posters who were regularly keeping us informed while the park was being built.

I certainly appreciated it.

 

[Jake S]

A thing can be financially successful, and also not very good

Yeah. I don’t really care if it’s financially successful or not. It’s an ugly park and I think it’s an embarrassing effort from a company that’s shown what it’s capable of.

 

[Andysol]

I don’t know if you meant for it to come across this way... but this comes across as pretty dismissive of the posters who were regularly keeping us informed while the park was being built.

I certainly appreciated it.

Quite the opposite. You and I were two of those five (honestly more like 8-10).

My point was very few people gave this thread any traction and it will go back to that way in 10 days time. So all this “universal will never live this down” pearl clutching is going to blow over as this park will fall to the bottom of this forum again and will reside until it gets an expansion announcement.

Personally, I’m looking significantly more forward to hearing the opinions from the small handful of folks who have been in this thread and watching/posting/commenting on the updates day by day for the past year vs anybody else; national, influencer or otherwise. Particularly Diservations, Midway and Frog (similar to how I valued Alicia’s opinion on Epic).

 

[UOR92]

Quite the opposite. You and I were two of those five (honestly more like 8-10).

My point was very few people gave this thread any traction and it will go back to that way in 10 days time. So all this “universal will never live this down” pearl clutching is going to blow over as this park will fall to the bottom of this forum where it’s resided until it gets an expansion announcement.

Personally, I’m looking significantly more forward to hearing from the small handful of folks who have been in this thread and watching/posting/commenting on the updates day by day for the past year vs anybody else; national, influencer or otherwise.

And isn’t this human reality summarized in today’s modern age? What grasps for our attention today becomes a flicker in our minds some days from now when the next big thing to discuss, deride, or debate comes along. Often seen in these forums most often when something new (à la Epic) opens, not much time passes before the ever consuming question takes hold “what’s next?”

And thus we never slow down long enough to appreciate the grander scope of life outside of each moment. And I believe, in some small way, this leads us to quickly pass judgment (right or wrong, opinion or not) without much discernment beyond what’s before our own eyes at that moment. Hence, how an 8 year old can be lambasted for liking a park that was specifically built for them. I like having opinions, and the beauty of it is they’ll always be there. But will our humanity? What happens when the erosion of our decency catches up to the pace at which clickbaits, views, and hot takes demand? Perhaps we’re already there.

And so the ticking clock of the predictable human course continues to churn. On to the “next!”

 

[rhino4evr]

If I lived 30mins from this park I wouldn’t take my kids there.

 

[RFRees]

I've watched a couple of walkthrough videos of the park and it didn't look that bad to me. It didn't amaze me, but I'm also not expecting very much from something like this. I could imagine visiting if I was local and had small kids.

 

[AvoidTIMtation]

If I lived 30mins from this park I wouldn’t take my kids there.

LOL oh come on now

 

[Amity6]

Blessed that my universal kids resort was USF in the 90s

 

[HandsomePete]

Sherwin Williams: “So what colors do you need for the hotel?”

Universal: “Yes.”

 

[Jake S]

LOL oh come on now

I mean, I definitely wouldn’t pay $60 a pop to take my kid here.

 

[Brian G.]

I mean, I definitely wouldn’t pay $60 a pop to take my kid here.

Just outta curiousity, what changes would need to happen for that to change?

 

[Jake S]

Just outta curiousity, what changes would need to happen for that to change?

If they came in and really heavily plussed the theming in conjunction with getting more shade and greenery into the park… that would go a long way. I don’t think the nature of the park is problematic at all, but I have such a hard time envisioning them coming in and spending the money to fix those kinds of problems.

Would be happy to be wrong though!

 

[Brian G.]

If they came in and really heavily plussed the theming in conjunction with getting more shade and greenery into the park… that would go a long way. I don’t think the nature of the park is problematic at all, but I have such a hard time envisioning them coming in and spending the money to fix those kinds of problems.

Would be happy to be wrong though!

I think that's the thing. There is a lot of good at Kids, but the park's biggest flaw is going to be the first thing people notice, so it ends up dominating the convo.

Of course making personal insults towards the opinion of a child is terrible, unnecessary and no one should be doing it or condoning it.

To be honest, here, Brian, to me, you're coming close to engaging in ad hominem attacks that sounds like you're suggesting anyone without kids isn't allowed to be critical of this. That isn't cool either:

I explained my position, but you haven't really engaged with that response since. If you're going to make that accusation, I'd hope you'd at least address the clarification.

Especially since I think it's a little odd that you felt the need to tack it onto a discussion about people attacking a child's opinion, as if what I was doing belonged in the same conversation.

 

[OLSinFLA]

The laziest excuse for building this cheap, ugly park is "well, it's for kids". So basically you want people to come to your park, but think kids aren't worth the investment. I can't imagine this being replicated anywhere else looking like this.

 

[rabbitsmoon]

We’ve had the families vs childless adults conversation many times in the theme park community, on this board and elsewhere, and I think it’s always going to be emotionally loaded territory.

I sense, from all my friends and family with kids, that they feel quite unsupported by society at large, which leads to frustration and isolation. You may have seen cranks on social media say only families should be given fast passes at parks, or that childless adults should be banned altogether. It sounds harsh, but I think parents are just upset about how complicated and expensive theme park trips have become. They’re trying to figure out how they can provide the same types of wonderful experiences for their kids their parents gave them. So I can fully understand why this group would be defensive of a place that finally seems designed to cater to their young family.

On the other hand, adults who love theme parks are used to dismissal and derision from the world at large, and places like this board are refuges where we can feel validation and form community. I think this group is understandably sensitive to being told it’s inappropriate for them to express their interest in or opinion on a theme park. You also never know why a person is childless, and I think there’s a tendency to assume those folks live frivolous, easy lives compared to beleaguered parents, which can be wrong/hurtful.

I’m not saying anyone here expressed any of these sentiments directly. But all of our fears/anxieties about these bigger things are influencing the discourse. Ultimately, I think the main problem is a capitalist system keeping us all isolated and making our economic conditions increasingly perilous.

If only there was a nice, shaded place we could all go to cool down…

 

[Freak]

Man I feel like I just walked into a Waffle House at 1AM with how much fighting is going on in here.

But seriously I don’t plan on visiting this park as it’s not for me. I think any points I will have made have already been exhausted at this point.