Universal Kids Resort - Frisco, Texas

[theblueblurr]

If you planted some more trees and "elevated" the Shrek "show scenes" to the same style of three dimensional fiberglass figures (that they use to litter the park with Minions), you'd already be lightyears above what is currently offered on that attraction.

 

[Andysol]

If you planted some more trees and "elevated" the Shrek "show scenes" to the same style of three dimensional fiberglass figures (that they use to litter the park with Minions), you'd already be lightyears above what is currently offered on that attraction.

The cutouts are ok enough for me. Especially the ones with motion. It makes the storyline of the kids making the story fun and cute “ah look, little one- shreks kids made this ride. Isn’t it cool?”

They just need at least one more scene and way more landscaping. It should feel more like a swamp. The scenes should have been “revealed” at each little turn behind some forest instead of barren nothing in between.

But the real travesty on that ride is the onboard audio. It’s SO cheap. Just a rehash of old clips from movies- and terrible editing at that. They couldn’t have done anything unique? Just a little? You were literally recording the voice actors for Shrek 5 during construction.

 

[rhino4evr]

The cutouts are ok enough for me. Especially the ones with motion. It makes the storyline of the kids making the story fun and cute “ah look, little one- shreks kids made this ride. Isn’t it cool?”

They just need at least one more scene and way more landscaping. It should feel more like a swamp. The scenes should have been “revealed” at each little turn behind some forest instead of barren nothing in between.

But the real travesty on that ride is the onboard audio. It’s SO cheap. Just a rehash of old clips from movies- and terrible editing at that. They couldn’t have done anything unique? Just a little? You were literally recording the voice actors for Shrek 5 during construction.

I’m sure they would need to pay those actors, which wasn’t in the cards for this extremely low budget attraction.

I’d prefer static 3D figures over cut outs any day of the week.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I think it's a little much to assume kids like the park specifically because they prefer less-themed areas. Totally fair to say there are things about the park design and amenities that make kids/families enjoy it in spite of other issues. But do we really think if this thing looked like Isle of Berk, kids would like it less? Were there a bunch of children who never wanted to go into Fantasyland again after the 1983 redo?

Also, I've seen a bit of conflation between the sensory relief areas and the general lack of decoration. One is a very cool attempt by Universal to target an underserved audience. The other is... more complicated. Maybe I'm wrong, but I truly don't believe they held back set pieces from the Shrek ride out of respect for neurodivergent guests.

All that said, I think they've got the right idea with the stuff they've been adding to the Minions. Doesn't need to be "immersive" theming. Stylized decoration will do just fine. Excited to see what else they add, and I'm glad it's pulling crowds.

So I read this and it stuck in my craw since yesterday and I figured out why. I think a lot of folks are conflating three separate things here.

1) Sensory gardens & certified austism center - These are spots around the park to rest. I don't think anyone is really complaining here.
2) Intentional Kids Design - This is the one that really confuses people. This is the "see the rides while off it", the smaller design, less towering things, etc come into play.
3) Unacceptable Design - While mixing in those prior two decisions Universal also made bad deicisons, either at the start of design or in the rust to get the park open.

I'm very frustrated with the folks conflating #2 and #3 because it doesn't actually impact imporving the park and instead just trying to appeal to a childless group.