_caleb
Well-Known Member
I think you may be over-estimating what this is going to be.
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Universal Announces Texas Resort
- Thread starter Disneyhead'71
- Start date
Andrew C
You know what's funny?
I know this is a new concept for Universal. Is this their first regional park as well? If so, it’s a pretty big deal.
andysol
Well-Known Member
South of Austin yields you Austin, Houston, San Antonio, DFW. Maybe, just maybe some Louisiana.
DFW yields you all those same places + Oklahoma and Louisiana.
And this is going to be a regional park- not a national destination. While summer and holidays will get massive inflow from those other locations mentioned, the weekdays are going to be made up almost entirely on passholders and locals.
When you exclude summer, weekends and holidays- weekdays are half the year. So that’s crucial.
And DFW metro is 3x larger and growing at a faster (raw number) clip.
So bigger pool for weekdays and a bigger pool for weekend/summer/holidays kind of makes DFW a no brainer compared to basically anywhere in the US. Philly/Virginia area being arguably the best viable alternatives.
Austin? Maybe if a national destination. But regional? Not for this park.
Everything Frisco is doing is higher end. The new PGA course/hotel, The Star (cowboys practice facility), the mall w/ a Kidzania and attached Hyatt regency, and now this.
This isn’t your Arlington or fiesta Texas areas with Fairfield inns and holiday inn expresses.
The aim is solely on more affluent younger families. The ones who will be able to spend 4 nights at the new epic universe hotel or hard rock.
This area checks all the boxes. And those young more affluent families 3-5 hours away have a perfect getaway.
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Texas area they chose makes total sense when you see how dense the population is and is projected to continue to be for a good while. Also the surrounding areas in the same thing.
It was only a matter of time before one of the two biggiest theme park resort dogs went for Texas. Besides Cali and FL, it makes the most sense. It will be a better theme park than anything drivable distance there currently has and good enough for many to have it as their home and revisit as well as curious people to check out while they are there.
It was only a matter of time before one of the two biggiest theme park resort dogs went for Texas. Besides Cali and FL, it makes the most sense. It will be a better theme park than anything drivable distance there currently has and good enough for many to have it as their home and revisit as well as curious people to check out while they are there.
AnotherDayAnotherDollar
Well-Known Member
I didn't say South Austin. I said a bit South (of DFW) in the Austin area. I was actually thinking in the Jarrell/Saledo area before you get to Waco. 2 hours from DFW, 2 hours from San Antonio, 2 1/2 hours from Houston, 1 hour from Austin, 5 hours from OK and LA + you don't get as cold a weather as DFW. Also not sure you're saying DFW gets San Antonio and Austin doesn't get OK. South San Antonio to Frisco is 300+ miles and 5+ hours. Not that different from OK City to Austin. If you are going to give San Antonio to DFW then Austin gets OK.
Austin is growing at a faster rate than DFW. Using raw numbers is disingenuous when comparing growth. Heck San Antonio is bigger than Dallas and Austin is bigger than FW and they are within 90 miles of each other.
However you are probably right in that I was thinking of this more of a Universal Studios TX akin to Hollywood or Orlando. And this doesn't seem to be it. I very strongly believe if they were to open that in TX it would make sense to be in the surrounding Austin area.
5thGenTexan
Well-Known Member
Report from Kimley-Horn regarding the project... https://www.friscotexas.gov/Documen...isco---Preliminary-TIA-and-Circulation?bidId=
Frankenstein79
Well-Known Member
I would have liked a resort more like the one in Orlando. But it's nice to see them get their feet wet in the family department. Perhaps they can learn for it and it could help them with doing more for them in their Orlando parks.
Haymarket
Well-Known Member
They're naming it "Universal Kids Resort." Opens 2026.
New concept art:
New website:
www.universalkidsresort.com
The rumored lands clockwise from left to right are “Trolls” (pink), “Shrek” (green), “Puss in Boots” (orange), “Camp Cretaceous” (blue-purple), and “SpongeBob SquarePants” (blue-green), with a Minions land in the center and “Gabby’s Dollhouse” near the entrance. https://w d w n t.com/2023/12/breaking-universal-announces-name-of-frisco-texas-park/
Universal Kids Resort: What we know about Universal's first theme park for young kids
Universal Kids Resort will be Universal's first theme park for young children, coming soon to Frisco, Texas.
www.usatoday.com
New website:
Universal Parks & Resorts | Let Yourself Woah
Ride the movies, live the adventure, experience epic thrills and more with Universal Parks and Resorts. Get ready for endless awesome with two amazing destinations – Universal Studios Hollywood™ and Universal Orlando Resort™
www.universalkidsresort.com
The rumored lands clockwise from left to right are “Trolls” (pink), “Shrek” (green), “Puss in Boots” (orange), “Camp Cretaceous” (blue-purple), and “SpongeBob SquarePants” (blue-green), with a Minions land in the center and “Gabby’s Dollhouse” near the entrance. https://w d w n t.com/2023/12/breaking-universal-announces-name-of-frisco-texas-park/
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UniversalIsMid98
Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Looks like Nickelodeon and Universal might still be teaming up, mostly with SpongeBob, because they do realize that he's still selling like hot cakes(and his show still airs every day).They're naming it "Universal Kids Resort." Opens 2026.
New concept art:
View attachment 757002
Universal Kids Resort: What we know about Universal's first theme park for young kids
Universal Kids Resort will be Universal's first theme park for young children, coming soon to Frisco, Texas.www.usatoday.com
New website:
Universal Parks & Resorts | Let Yourself Woah
Ride the movies, live the adventure, experience epic thrills and more with Universal Parks and Resorts. Get ready for endless awesome with two amazing destinations – Universal Studios Hollywood™ and Universal Orlando Resort™
https://w d w n t.com/2023/12/breaking-universal-announces-name-of-frisco-texas-park/
I'm wouldn't be shocked if the Florida would have plans to take the Dora characters out of its Nick licensing deal(but continue to use Squarepants) due to the fact that "despite the reboot coming soon", I doubt Universal would want to have these characters continue to appear(as they're not as popular as they were in the 2000's, with TV reruns being very limited) and they already have Gabby from Gabby's Dollhouse(A character that they own thanks to DreamWorks) appearing, and the Superstar Parade wrapped up nearly two yrs ago
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
How many focus groups were required to arrive at that extremely clever, original name?
It was a lengthy and arduous process with interminable debates whether to spell "Kids" as "Kidz."
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Should we start taking bets on whether this name lasts longer than Universal Studios Escape?
Andrew25
Well-Known Member
More than necessary... but honestly it's the right choice. Considering the public sometimes has difficulty grasping things (like Starcruiser being labeled as a hotel and not an experience, partially the media's fault), Universal seems to be going with the "safe" option of keeping it simple and straight to the point.
The name will be fine, as long as it serves the purpose of "it's the universal park for kids", which it does plainly, it'll be fine. Universal Studios Escape was too complicated of a name with no real meaning of what it entails.
They want to avoid the media confusing it as an all-new Universal Studios park in Texas... and have people complain there are not enough thrill rides.
But do they actually want people thinking, "it's the Universal park for kids?" Because that sends the message that they shouldn't take their kids to the other Universal parks. I don't see this name lasting.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
I do. It's not meant to be a destination park like the other Universal parks. It's a regional park like a Six Flags park is.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
To some degree, absolutely, because it is the tiny little park for kids.
The problem is that it is so generic. This is Universal’s challenge as they seek to expand. They just sort of do the same thing everywhere so there’s not really a good way to highlight uniqueness.
What are they doing to get the point across that it's not meant to be a destination park for people with kids? This name makes it sound *less* regional than the resorts that have cities in their names.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
It's not marketed as a destination park. Outside of places like this it's not talked about much.