Universal Parks Planning Family Theme Park and Resort in Frisco

[ChannelTwoNews]

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article271051862.html

[BEES?!]

Mad jealous. It’d be cool to get another theme park in the Houston area, but my hunch is the demographic data ($$$$$) doesn’t really support it.

Good for them, though.

[Reefmonkey]

I'm tempering my excitement, based on some things I've read in multiple outlets:

• "will cater to families with young children"
• "wow even the youngest theme park goers"
• "specifically designed to inspire fun for families with young children"
• "'The them park will be sized for a regional audience,' the company said, adding that the park's look and feel will also be noticeably different from Universal's other offerings."
• "Although scaled down from traditional theme parks, Universal ensures that it will 'still carry the same quality as Universal’s other larger resort destinations.'”

I also read something somewhere last night that it will be more affordable, and designed for people to spend a shorter amount of time there, like even less than a full day. When I first heard the announcement I started imagining Islands of Adventure, but between all the emphasis on the smaller size and young children, now I'm imagining Hanna-Barbara Land*.

*For younger Haifers who might not know, very briefly in the 80s (like a little over a year), Houston had a theme park called Hanna-Barbera Land based on the characters of Hanna-Barbera cartoons - like the Flintstones, Yogi Bear, the Smurfs. It was very little-kid oriented, I was like 8 when it opened and I already thought it was rinky-dink compared to Astroworld. If you want to get an idea of how small the park was, imagine Splashtown (or Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown or whatever they call it now) up in Spring, because that is the exact piece of land Hanna-Barbera Land was on.

Oh, and this was way before my time, but in the early 70s, Houston also had a Busch Gardens, that lasted all of two years. Except this one was no where near the size of the Busch Gardens in Williamsburg or Tampa. You could say it was "sized for a regional audience." 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Reefmonkey

[Houston19514]

3 hours ago, BEES?! said:

Mad jealous. It’d be cool to get another theme park in the Houston area, but my hunch is the demographic data ($$$$$) doesn’t really support it.

Good for them, though.

Good for Frisco, indeed.  But unless you are a family with young children, nothing really to be jealous about.  This is not going to be a full-fledged amusement park targeted at adults.  

Edited January 12, 2023 by Houston19514