Universal Kids Resort - Frisco, Texas

[Andysol]

I’d also bet there is not one dark ride at opening day

No ‘dark’ rides

:grin:

Each ‘land’ will have very ‘lush’ landscaping (taken to ‘next level’)
o Double landscaping, berm will screen neighborhood from theme park
o Universal goal: Put the ‘Park’ back in park

Love it. If sesame place/legoland is sea world quality, this will be Universal/Disney level.

Just a really nice park with characters and some flats.

@Alicia noted them in her podcast and every land has several. Not sure if they’ll be at cost or just a place to hang.
I’m actually curious now if all of those gazebos/cabanas could be changing stations.

Again, for those not in the know- frisco is very “new money” and higher end. They’re always at the forefront of development and walk a fine line of family and development. Example- they have a dozen high schools to keep them all 4A and smaller. While still having things like a mall w/ Kidzania (like Seoul, Dubai, etc) w/ an attached new Hyatt regency, an iFly, cowboys practice facility with an attached (nice) omni, PGA headquarters with enormous golf course, etc.
Most wealthier places typically are subdued, big trees, tucked away homes, etc. Frisco is in your face concrete jungle while still being a suburb.
I don’t know the orlando equivalent, but think of whoever would drive a Ferrari… but with 4 seats and kids in the back. That’s Frisco.

I truly think the location and area is a fantastic fit.

 

[corgimom11]

admittedly, I don't know a lot about theme parks and all of the shows, etc. but as a local - when they call out "no fireworks" / late hours: it personally reads to me that the City of Frisco wants it to work that way on purpose: to drive evening traffic to other venues and to not cannabalize other existing tourist-y type attractions that families visiting the park could frequent, and then spend more $$$ while in Frisco. For example, Frisco has a MiLB team that plays right down the tollway from the park. They are known for having fireworks at weekend home games throughout the season. They also have a lazy river/pool type attraction built into the right field: right now, most of the time they fill that booking groups but I could see them becoming more flexible on that when this park opens to try and get some of the families coming to the park to check out the game, fireworks & lazy river after the park closes. Not even mentioning what may be available to do in the area directly west of the Tollway on the other side of universal once it's developed (and it will probably be there or pretty far along by the time this park opens) -- there will probably be other attractions/etc that are family friendly.

 

[Andysol]

admittedly, I don't know a lot about theme parks and all of the shows, etc. but as a local - when they call out "no fireworks" / late hours: it personally reads to me that the City of Frisco wants it to work that way on purpose: to drive evening traffic to other venues and to not cannabalize other existing tourist-y type attractions that families visiting the park could frequent, and then spend more $$$ while in Frisco. For example, Frisco has a MiLB team that plays right down the tollway from the park. They are known for having fireworks at weekend home games throughout the season. They also have a lazy river/pool type attraction built into the right field: right now, most of the time they fill that booking groups but I could see them becoming more flexible on that when this park opens to try and get some of the families coming to the park to check out the game, fireworks & lazy river after the park closes. Not even mentioning what may be available to do in the area directly west of the Tollway on the other side of universal once it's developed (and it will probably be there or pretty far along by the time this park opens) -- there will probably be other attractions/etc that are family friendly.

Makes me wonder if a mini city walk wouldn’t work great for the area.

A water park expansion near Madagascar seems almost a no brainer and they’ll likely use the pad to north for another small land at some point.

But now I’m curious if they couldn’t make room for a Toothsome, Big Fire and Antojitos, couple of escape rooms, and some shopping for the non-park going locals on the southwest corner there.

 

[corgimom11]

Makes me wonder if a mini city walk wouldn’t work great for the area.

A water park expansion near Madagascar seems almost a no brainer and they’ll likely use the pad to north for another small land at some point.

But now I’m curious if they couldn’t make room for a Toothsome, Big Fire and Antojitos, couple of escape rooms, and some shopping for the non-park going locals on the southwest corner there.

Not to get too terribly off topic, but the Fields developer is already doing something very similar to city walk, but would be more upscale. It's called "Fields West" if you wanted to search for it, about 425k sq ft of restaurant, retail & entertainment planned to develop there on the other side of the Tollway from the park. There have been a couple of posts out there by the Mayor and a couple of city council members that have suggested that Universal may be open to putting an NBC Sports Bar / sports oriented concepts in there - it would work really well with the heavy sports oriented nature of Frisco.

No offense to City Walk, but when I search for the Orlando one and look at dining options - I see drink options like Fat Tuesday and a Burger King Whopper Bar. I think to do well in Frisco it has to be much more upscale, Probably some sweet-spot of convenience/practicality for families coming in for a couple of days to go to the park but also more upscale to attract locals & the PGA crowd for long-term sustainability - especially with the 4/5 star hotel options that will be there like the Omni at PGA, and there are already 7 planned Marriott hotels in this development, including Ritz Carlton, Autograph Collection, JW Marriott, Westin - their more upscale brands.

The developer of Fields developed a very popular similar development down the tollway in Plano called Legacy West - it is fantastic, but for the most part: the dining is pretty upscale along with the retail (think Tiffany & Co, Gucci and Louis Vuitton type luxury shopping). Lot of Frisco locals will make the drive down there for outings, so the idea of putting that right in the city would be really appealing so that people would not have to leave Frisco for that type of experience.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Put the park back in park.
Places to "get out of the heat"

Stares in Disney.

 

[Andysol]

Not to get too terribly off topic, but the Fields developer is already doing something very similar to city walk, but would be more upscale. It's called "Fields West" if you wanted to search for it, about 425k sq ft of restaurant, retail & entertainment planned to develop there on the other side of the Tollway from the park. There have been a couple of posts out there by the Mayor and a couple of city council members that have suggested that Universal may be open to putting an NBC Sports Bar / sports oriented concepts in there - it would work really well with the heavy sports oriented nature of Frisco.

No offense to City Walk, but when I search for the Orlando one and look at dining options - I see drink options like Fat Tuesday and a Burger King Whopper Bar. I think to do well in Frisco it has to be much more upscale, Probably some sweet-spot of convenience/practicality for families coming in for a couple of days to go to the park but also more upscale to attract locals & the PGA crowd for long-term sustainability - especially with the 4/5 star hotel options that will be there like the Omni at PGA, and there are already 7 planned Marriott hotels in this development, including Ritz Carlton, Autograph Collection, JW Marriott, Westin - their more upscale brands.

The developer of Fields developed a very popular similar development down the tollway in Plano called Legacy West - it is fantastic, but for the most part: the dining is pretty upscale along with the retail (think Tiffany & Co, Gucci and Louis Vuitton type luxury shopping). Lot of Frisco locals will make the drive down there for outings, so the idea of putting that right in the city would be really appealing so that people would not have to leave Frisco for that type of experience.

Didn’t realize fields developer was same as legacy west.
Yeah- that’s a huge deal then. Absolutely no need (or desire) for a city walk.

And considering they’re the ones who sold Universal the land, maybe they look into a Toothsome, NBC Sports bar/grill and potential universal store there. Would kind of work perfectly together.

 

[OrlLover]

Not to get too terribly off topic, but the Fields developer is already doing something very similar to city walk, but would be more upscale. It's called "Fields West" if you wanted to search for it, about 425k sq ft of restaurant, retail & entertainment planned to develop there on the other side of the Tollway from the park. There have been a couple of posts out there by the Mayor and a couple of city council members that have suggested that Universal may be open to putting an NBC Sports Bar / sports oriented concepts in there - it would work really well with the heavy sports oriented nature of Frisco.

No offense to City Walk, but when I search for the Orlando one and look at dining options - I see drink options like Fat Tuesday and a Burger King Whopper Bar. I think to do well in Frisco it has to be much more upscale, Probably some sweet-spot of convenience/practicality for families coming in for a couple of days to go to the park but also more upscale to attract locals & the PGA crowd for long-term sustainability - especially with the 4/5 star hotel options that will be there like the Omni at PGA, and there are already 7 planned Marriott hotels in this development, including Ritz Carlton, Autograph Collection, JW Marriott, Westin - their more upscale brands.

The developer of Fields developed a very popular similar development down the tollway in Plano called Legacy West - it is fantastic, but for the most part: the dining is pretty upscale along with the retail (think Tiffany & Co, Gucci and Louis Vuitton type luxury shopping). Lot of Frisco locals will make the drive down there for outings, so the idea of putting that right in the city would be really appealing so that people would not have to leave Frisco for that type of experience.

I was about to say the same thing regarding the City Walk suggestion. Having a Toothsome might be a good idea but the other places seem like a no go.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Maybe its just for now...things change and if it drives people to that area more will be easier for universal to expand things later

 

[ReelJustice]

Do 3-9 year olds like night time shows?

But the hours don't suggest night time show at all.

They like to go to sleep

 

[Nick]

@corgimom11 thank you very much! (also plz post pictures of said corgis)
Why would this have a nighttime show? It's a kids park, the fireworks launch sight would be bigger than the park!

At most I could see them having a small little character sendoff (like costumed characters waving goodbye), but tbh that'd probably just be a waste of money.

 

[Nick]

I don’t know the orlando equivalent, but think of whoever would drive a Ferrari… but with 4 seats and kids in the back. That’s Frisco.

Windermere/Horizon West is pretty much the Orlando equivalent you are looking for if we are just talking about money. Horizon West butts up to Reedy Creek property too and is right behind Magic Kingdom.

 

[Jerroddragon]

They like to go to sleep

I mean for the target audience your kinda right but my cousins (more then one cousin) kids that go to Disneyland stay up for fireworks and WOC and those are at 9ish at night

So hope if the park is successful they can have a fun water show with all the animated characters that universal owns

 

[tielo]

I can see them doing a little fountain show, projections on the clouds, characters and twinkling lights in the trees as a goodnight hug. No fireworks or loud bangs. I'd watch that.

 

[GAcoaster]

Sesame Place (PA) just does one or two small fireworks shows (4th of July), and it's generally smaller (and quieter) fireworks. Young kids often don't like the loud ones and a smaller park just needs smaller fireworks for special occasions.

 

[jarmor]

I am a single man with no kids and I plan on going to this park when it opens. Just like I visited Sesame place alone a few years ago. I do, however, sometimes travel with my 9 year old niece and 7 year old god son and recently we went to Legoland and Peppa Pig park. Guess which one they had the most fun in lol. Even though they are technically out of the demographics of Peppa Pig, they spent the most time there and enjoyed it the most. It just seemed easier of a park to do and I literally found a bench near the entrance and watched them in the entire park from there. Legoland was kinda overwhelming to them. It is a big park! Even as an adult, I would say go to legoland as they have about 12-13 rides that adults would enjoy too. I feel this park would be the same, have some thrill family rides like the disko in legoland and other flat rides for all to enjoy. Besides, if you're a park junkie, why miss it on your visit to Six Flags over Texas??

 

[tielo]

After some research I'm of the opinion flat rides are difficult and probably expensive to maintain and Universal should rethink the use of them because some parks have a hard time to keep them up.
Proof in video below.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I didn't have "talking about 2 completely separate Universal parks being built it in the US" on my 2023 bingo card - it's still wild to think about.

I'm curious what they mean by "put the park back in theme park"

 

[Alicia]

I'm curious what they mean by "put the park back in theme park"

green plants

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

green plants

Botanicus the landscaping consultant.

 

[corgimom11]

I am not sure if I am allowed to direct link here (so mods if I'm not, if you want to just take this down or edit it to show images)

City of Frisco new consolidation of park information for citizens: Theme Park | Frisco, TX - Official Website
Universal's official renderings and popular Q&A: Frisco News - Universal Parks & Resorts
Article related to first special P&Z/City council meeting last week: Frisco City Council tables decision on Universal Kids Frisco
Looks like they may try to come to a decision next on the 21st.