Universal Announces Texas Resort

[Jrb1979]

Just a short 5 hour drive between the two.

That's nothing. This summer my family is doing a week trip starting in Minneapolis to Kansas City with a final stop in Cincinnati to visit the 3 Cedar Fair parks in those cities.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I've always felt that Disney should consider building a smaller, regional Disneyland-scale, WestCot-style park between Austin and San Antonio.

Who knows? If Universal has a big hit with this park, perhaps Disney will see the potential.

Disney tried to do this in the 90s. That was the point of things like DVC Hilton Head and the Chicago Disney Quest. Even Hong Kong Disneyland started as a "regional attraction" but then got expanded into a [half-built] Disneyland.

The goal was to have Disney experiences throughout the USA and world. Fast food next to Disney Stores, day cares themed to Disney...

It all fizzled out. The closest thing since has been Aulani. And now that planned community thing they've talked about.

Disney just blew $500 million on a roller coaster in a box at EPCOT. With how poorly they invest and design things, any smaller scale venture would be difficult to justify from an investment standpoint.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Put it in Canada near Toronto and watch the dollars roll in.

Marineland in Niagara Falls is 1,000 acres of wasted space, declining revenue and bad press.

It's ripe for a major chain to snatch up and put to good use.

 

[Andrew C]

Moi aussi.

Indoor or seasonal?

 

[Jrb1979]

Marineland in Niagara Falls is 1,000 acres of wasted space, declining revenue and bad press.

It's ripe for a major chain to snatch up and put to good use.

Apparently it has been bought. Rumor is the guy that bought Indiana Beach bought it

 

[Jrb1979]

Put it in Canada near Toronto and watch the dollars roll in.

Don't need another park in Toronto. We already have one the highest attended regional park in North America.

 

[el_super]

Alright, I'm gonna be cheeky - where's all the members on here who told me Disney, who is worth a few billion more than Uni, couldn't afford to build another theme park? What's your excuse now?

Afford is really more a euphemism for saying it doesn't make financial sense. It would be expensive and wouldn't really move the needle on attracting more high-spending guests. So like Disneyland Paris, there would be a risk of overspending on a park that would mostly just attract a low-spending local audience, while also drawing attendance away from the other two resorts in CA and FL.

All of that would be true for Universal as well. That's why they're building something that is different from their other parks/resorts. There will be no direct competition with their existing US properties since this will appeal to small children. By appealing to small children, you are also positioning yourself to significantly limit spending. They need to limit spending in order to reduce the risk here.

And this does seem to be risky. There is no guarantee that there is a market in Texas for this kind of entertainment. It's telling that Legoland hasn't made any progress in Texas... so far. There's also a risk that Universal's brand, as being more "adult" than the competitors, will not translate well into selling children's entertainment.

 

[LittleMerman]

Just a short 5 hour drive between the two.

Yeah I looked that up but I'm on the east coast so I would prob do both in the same trip anyway! Rent a car or take a short plane ride. Too bad they're not closer!

 

[5thGenTexan]

Posted on a local news site after the public meeting yesterday regarding the annoucement.

Universal Studios park in Frisco: How will traffic flow in and out of the proposed new family attraction?

“We’re not used to amusement parks. We’re used to houses and Costcos and H-E-Bs,” said Colin Berry, who lives in a neighborhood bordering the land Universal owns.

www.wfaa.com

Universal said 30 of the 97 acres it purchased will be used for the park and hotel.
Both will be built on the northeast side of the property leaving space for parking, “an easy exit and entrance,” and room for expansion for future development said Page Thompson, president of new ventures for Universal Parks and Resorts.
He also said the park’s hours won’t interfere with high-traffic commute times.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments, a regional planning organization, was not aware of the development until it was revealed to the public.

 

[networkpro]

The demographic they are shooting for (at least now) is children 3-9, so we're looking at the same market as a Legoland/Peppa Pig. looking at the population age demographics for just the DFW area, we're looking at 910,000 as the potiental customer base.

 

[MadderAdder]

Disney tried to do this in the 90s. That was the point of things like DVC Hilton Head and the Chicago Disney Quest. Even Hong Kong Disneyland started as a "regional attraction" but then got expanded into a [half-built] Disneyland.

The goal was to have Disney experiences throughout the USA and world. Fast food next to Disney Stores, day cares themed to Disney...

It all fizzled out. The closest thing since has been Aulani. And now that planned community thing they've talked about.

Disney just blew $500 million on a roller coaster in a box at EPCOT. With how poorly they invest and design things, any smaller scale venture would be difficult to justify from an investment standpoint.

$500 million on a roller coaster in a box. YEEEESH!

 

[flynnibus]

Posted on a local news site after the public meeting yesterday regarding the annoucement.

View attachment 691485

Universal Studios park in Frisco: How will traffic flow in and out of the proposed new family attraction?

“We’re not used to amusement parks. We’re used to houses and Costcos and H-E-Bs,” said Colin Berry, who lives in a neighborhood bordering the land Universal owns.

www.wfaa.com

Still trying to figure out that map… as 99% of that doesn’t exist today. So whose development is that diagram showing and is it future proposed projects or something further along?

Its not in the middle of a big neighborhood today as the map suggests

 

[flynnibus]

The demographic they are shooting for (at least now) is children 3-9, so we're looking at the same market as a Legoland/Peppa Pig. looking at the population age demographics for just the DFW area, we're looking at 910,000 as the potiental customer base.

View attachment 691497

Yeah but the target is going to be way bigger than dfw…. Hence a hotel

Even a normal regional amusement park would look at 1-3hrs as their normal day tripper range. That basically puts austin and almost OKC in the day dodge bubble

 

[5thGenTexan]

Still trying to figure out that map… as 99% of that doesn’t exist today. So whose development is that diagram showing and is it future proposed projects or something further along?

Its not in the middle of a big neighborhood today as the map suggests

There is nothing out there north of Panther Creek presently. The PGA / Omni resort is supposed to open this Spring I think.

Development company "Fields" owns all the land and apparently is the primary developer.

 

[hopemax]

Yeah but the target is going to be way bigger than dfw…. Hence a hotel

Even a normal regional amusement park would look at 1-3hrs as their normal day tripper range. That basically puts austin and almost OKC in the day dodge bubble

Just checked from here... Denver Metro is 13 hrs. Albuquerque, Kansas City, St Louis, Nashville are all 10ish hrs or less. That's all school break Dallas Road Trip potential.

 

[Coaster Lover]

30 acres for the actual park (and hotel)? For comparison of a couple other smaller (family focused) parks:

• Sesame Place (Philly) is ~18 acres (for the park) + ~22 acres (for parking): ~40 acres total
• Dutch Wonderland (Lancaster) is ~17 acres (for the park) + ~2 acres (for the waterpark) + ~11 acres (for parking): ~30 acres total

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Disney tried to do this in the 90s. That was the point of things like DVC Hilton Head and the Chicago Disney Quest. Even Hong Kong Disneyland started as a "regional attraction" but then got expanded into a [half-built] Disneyland.

The goal was to have Disney experiences throughout the USA and world. Fast food next to Disney Stores, day cares themed to Disney...

It all fizzled out. The closest thing since has been Aulani. And now that planned community thing they've talked about.

Disney just blew $500 million on a roller coaster in a box at EPCOT. With how poorly they invest and design things, any smaller scale venture would be difficult to justify from an investment standpoint.

Yes, I'm kind of curious about this more in terms of whether Universal has more success with regional entertainment venues than Disney ever managed. If I were Disney, I don't think I would be that keen to jump back into that market and instead just watch with interest how Universal manages.

Whether it's Disney or Universal, I'm never going to a regional children's park in Texas, so hard to feel passionate about either of them opening something like this on a personal level. Still, all very interesting!

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Yes, I'm kind of curious about this more in terms of whether Universal has more success with regional entertainment venues than Disney ever managed. If I were Disney, I don't think I would be that keen to jump back into that market and instead just watch with interest how Universal manages.

Whether it's Disney or Universal, I'm never going to a regional children's park in Texas, so hard to feel passionate about either of them opening something like this on a personal level. Still, all very interesting!

I have more confidence in the Vegas venture.

Fright Dome was a popular Halloween overlay of Adventuredome than ran for 15 years and only stopped because the then owners of the park and the 3rd party that did Fright had a falling out.

A year-round HHN-type experience (with food, merch and booze) sounds like the right balance between investment amount and revenue potential. Also easier to refresh and keep up to date.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

A year-round HHN-type experience (with food, merch and booze) sounds like the right balance between investment amount and revenue potential. Also easier to refresh and keep up to date.

It's also a great place to test out new things for HHN, plus recycle props/stories from HHN to this new fright experience and back. I feel like the experience will also have to be different from HHN as to not draw people away from it.

 

[Rich Brownn]

Disney decided to build high tech arcades when arcades were already in decline, much different than a full park.