NBCUniversal released some new details about the Universal Studios park and hotel on Friday. The park will be called the Universal Kids Resort and will be open to the public in 2026.
The announcement includes a new artist's rendering of what Universal Studios plans to do with the 97 acres of land at the northeast corner of Dallas North Tollway and Panther Creek Parkway, as well as the $12.7 million in "performance-based economic incentives," according to the city's Planning and Zoning Commission.
The Universal Kids Resort has a new website that unveils some more details about the new park for the pint-sized. The media giant says the park is a "smaller-scale theme park to inspire the unbridled creativity of kids through play, discovery and imagination, with a different look and feel from existing destinations" like the Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando and Hollywood and the Universal Horror Unleashed attraction currently under construction in Las Vegas.
The Frisco theme park will include a 300-room, 30-acre hotel that "will give families a place to stay and play," according to the website.
The new artist's rendering doesn't reveal which specific NBCUniversal properties or franchises will be part of the park, but it does show some of the kinds of rides families may be waiting in line for four years from now.
The painting shows a raft river ride that runs through the middle of the park and an adjoining water play area with playground. The rendering also shows two different kinds of roller coasters (no looping ones), a pair of small drop rides, a spinning aerial ball tower thingy and a floating dirigible carousel. None of the rides will be over 100 feet tall, according to city filings.
The top of the rendering includes a replica of a Mexican village, and the right side is covered in pink awnings and sidewalks that could be a special Barbie themed land.
Could this part of the Universal Kids Resort currently in development in Frisco be a Barbie land? We hope so.
Artist's rendering by NBCUniversal
Filings with the city of Frisco show the park plans on 4,300 parking spaces for guests and staff, which means a big influx of people are headed to the city as the opening date nears. Theme park fans may be eager to cross through the turnstiles and jump on the rides, but some Frisco residents have voiced their disapproval of the project since Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney announced the city's new partnership with NBCUniversal at the beginning of the year.
Several residents addressed the city of Frisco's Planning and Zoning Commission in March before it approved the special use permit for the Universal Kids Resort. Those who spoke to the commission raised concerns about rises in crime and congested traffic when the theme park opens to the public.
"The approval of this SUP will undoubtedly alter our way of life and it will leave us with limited means of changing the situation," said resident Donna Black.
"No one ever thought when they bought a house there that the land behind them would be a theme park," said resident Emily Rotenberg.
The backlash prompted Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson to issue an offer to move the Universal Kids Resort to the space formerly occupied by Hensley Field with a brief X post that read, "Two words: Hensley Field." The 738-acre site was once home to a U.S. Naval Air Station that closed in 1998, leaving the site contaminated. The city of Dallas has been trying to renovate and develop the land since '90s. Last year, the city approved a new master plan for the Hensley Field site. The Dallas mayor's offer prompted concerns from citizens on social media about the park living up to its tax revenue promises, the city's community priorities and taking customers away from the neighboring Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington.
The Arlington park seems to be preparing for the new competition for customers eager to get on its thrill rides. Six Flags announced over the summer that it's planning to build a new log flume ride for the 2024 season and in March, the park opened a new aqua-coaster called Aquaman: Power Wave.
