Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

"Universal Parks & Resorts Plans to Bring New Concept for Families with Young Children to Frisco, Texas" - Universal Parks and Resorts, January 11th 2023

Part of 97 acres of land recently purchased by the company, the proposed park also has plans for an adjacent themed hotel and room for expansion. The entire area is intended to have a completely different look, feel, and scale than Universal’s existing parks and will appeal to a new audience for the brand.

Universal Parks & Resorts selected the city of Frisco, in North Texas, as the area for this new concept given the city’s growing population and ability to attract businesses to the area. The proposed location for the new concept is ideally situated east of the Dallas North Tollway and north of Panther Creek Parkway.

https://corporate.universalparks.com/universal-parks-resorts-plans-to-bring-new-concept-for-families-with-young-children-to-frisco-texas/

"Frisco is getting a kids-themed Universal Studios park" - Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2023/01/11/frisco-is-getting-a-universal-studios-theme-park/

"Universal Plans New Family Resort in Texas, Las Vegas Horror Attraction" - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-11/universal-plans-kid-friendly-texas-resort-las-vegas-horror-attraction?srnd=premium&leadSource=uverify%20wall

"Universal Parks & Resorts to open 97-acre theme park in Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex" - Star Telegram
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article271051862.html#storylink=cpy

"Universal theme park concerns shared at Frisco forum" - Community Impact
https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/frisco/development/2023/01/11/universal-theme-park-concerns-shared-at-frisco-forum/

"Frisco traffic study shows Universal Studios will draw less traffic than H-E-B" - Dallas Morning News

Universal Studios in Frisco is expected to draw less weekday traffic than H-E-B, Stonebriar Centre and Collin College, according to a traffic comparison city officials posted online.

The traffic impact analysis shows the current mixed-use zoning would likely draw more than three times the traffic that Universal would on weekdays.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/01/27/frisco-traffic-study-shows-universal-studios-will-draw-less-traffic-than-h-e-b/


"Universal Frisco theme park ‘meet and greet’ draws support, traffic concerns:" - Dallas Morning News

On Tuesday, Frisco City Council will have a joint meeting with the Planning and Zoning Commission. During that meeting, the public will have a chance to speak about the proposal.

No vote is expected on Tuesday because the company has requested additional time to figure out development phasing, according to a city memorandum. City staff has requested the item to be tabled until the Feb. 21 meeting.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/02/04/universal-frisco-theme-park-meet-and-greet-draws-support-traffic-concerns/

Lol. What a weird report "need". I get it though, just kind of low key wtf, oh squirrel! Honestly, my pockets have no F's to give about this project, but, I'll certainly pay attention.

But, please keep the info coming. Not trying to debbie downer the thing!

It at least speaks to the city's and Universal's foresight to have this info ready . And the park layout suggests Universal knew the kind of pushback to expect and planned accordingly.

The annoying part of traffic handwringing--in general, but particularly around DFW--is the majority of Frisco's population only got there in the past 10 years, and the overwhelming majority in only the past 30 years (Population of only 6,500 in 1990 compared to today's 210,000! That's 96% having just moved there). Some folks think they have the right to immediately close the door behind them wherever they move, and they ignore the fact that they themselves are the traffic that everyone who walked through the door a minute sooner complain about.
The forces that brought them to Frisco are not going to suddenly stop on behalf of their individual arrival. More housing, more amenities, more visitors, more everything is going to keep coming and they can either smartly plan their transportation network for that fact or bury their heads in the sand and just let the transportation problem compound itself.

That all being said, I really think most of the negative reactions to this are gut reactions based on perceptions of the full-sized parks on the coasts. It's just a matter of Universal eventually reaching everyone to explain exactly what the plan is here, and I doubt there will be much, if any, pushback after that.

After a month long delay, Frisco city council voted on this and gave it the final greenlight.

"Frisco’s Universal theme park becomes a reality" - Dallas Morning News

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended a special use permit Tuesday night, then it was approved by City Council in a 4-2 vote, paving the way for construction to begin.

Also approved was $12.7 million in economic incentives for the project. One of the requirements of the economic incentives is for the park to be open by June 2026.

-https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/03/07/friscos-universal-theme-park-becomes-a-reality/

Residents opposed to the project gave one last push for their voice to be heard Tuesday, with most voicing concerns about traffic, crime and aesthetics.

You know, I thought Universal could have done a better job with the initial reveal at emphasizing the scale and type of project this is going to be in order to get even further ahead of the typical complaints, but anyone still talking about crime after having a month to process what this is (and even attending meetings about it!) is obviously being completely disingenuous.
And aesthetics? Yeah, we wouldn't want to tamper with the delicate aesthetics of Frisco, Texas.

But anyways, can't wait to bring my kiddo to this.

IcedCowboyCoffee wrote:After a month long delay, Frisco city council voted on this and gave it the final greenlight.

"Frisco’s Universal theme park becomes a reality" - Dallas Morning News

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended a special use permit Tuesday night, then it was approved by City Council in a 4-2 vote, paving the way for construction to begin.

Also approved was $12.7 million in economic incentives for the project. One of the requirements of the economic incentives is for the park to be open by June 2026.

-https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/03/07/friscos-universal-theme-park-becomes-a-reality/

Residents opposed to the project gave one last push for their voice to be heard Tuesday, with most voicing concerns about traffic, crime and aesthetics.

You know, I thought Universal could have done a better job with the initial reveal at emphasizing the scale and type of project this is going to be in order to get even further ahead of the typical complaints, but anyone still talking about crime after having a month to process what this is (and even attending meetings about it!) is obviously being completely disingenuous.
And aesthetics? Yeah, we wouldn't want to tamper with the delicate aesthetics of Frisco, Texas.

But anyways, can't wait to bring my kiddo to this.

They didn't have to. The fix was already in from the get go. The City of Frisco wouldn't had made such a big splashy announcement about the project if it wasn't.

The whole charade with the public comments and delaying the vote was all performative / procedural.

Addison wrote:They didn't have to. The fix was already in from the get go. The City of Frisco wouldn't had made such a big splashy announcement about the project if it wasn't.

The whole charade with the public comments and delaying the vote was all performative / procedural.

It's such a goofy procedure for cities. Either the comment sessions have no influence, in which case the few people who attend them only wind up more frustrated than when they entered. Or the comment sessions do have influence, which means cities can be easily manipulated by a tiny, unrepresentative group of people with the time and income independence to attend the meetings.

I appreciate the utility of informational meetings, but the open mic vent sessions are either fruitless or undemocratic. If cities and companies really want to know how people feel about a project this is just about the worst way to go about it, so yeah I agree that it's performative.

IcedCowboyCoffee wrote:

Addison wrote:They didn't have to. The fix was already in from the get go. The City of Frisco wouldn't had made such a big splashy announcement about the project if it wasn't.

The whole charade with the public comments and delaying the vote was all performative / procedural.

It's such a goofy procedure for cities. Either the comment sessions have no influence, in which case the few people who attend them only wind up more frustrated than when they entered. Or the comment sessions do have influence, which means cities can be easily manipulated by a tiny, unrepresentative group of people with the time and income independence to attend the meetings.

I appreciate the utility of informational meetings, but the open mic vent sessions are either fruitless or undemocratic. If cities and companies really want to know how people feel about a project this is just about the worst way to go about it, so yeah I agree that it's performative.

We were discussing this on the discord as well.

It is a waste of time from a practical standpoint, but ultimately, the objective is to minimize the city's risk of getting sued. If the NIMBYs have enough time on their hands to complain about projects such as this, they likely have the money and/or connections to file lawsuit(s) as well.

At least now, Frisco can say they crossed their Ts and dotted their Is

The whole charade with the public comments and delaying the vote was all performative / procedural.

Delaying the vote often has to do with the lawyering of incentives or with engineering concerns, so that part is not necessarily performative, but it is very procedural.

The_Overdog wrote:

The whole charade with the public comments and delaying the vote was all performative / procedural.

Delaying the vote often has to do with the lawyering of incentives or with engineering concerns, so that part is not necessarily performative, but it is very procedural.

True. My follow-up reply before yours kind of hit that point home.

"Construction of $550M Universal Kids Resort in Frisco advances with utility contractor"

Dallas-based Moss Utilities LLC has been hired as a utilities contractor for the project site, according to a Feb. 7 LinkedIn post shared by President Garrett Moss.

- Dallas Business Journal
https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2024/02/08/universal-kids-resort-frisco-utilities-moss.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_7&cx_artPos=1#cxrecs_s

Dirt has been moving on this site for a few weeks now:
https://twitter.com/diservations/status/1745927277676798071

And in December we got a new rendering when they announced the name to be Universal Kids Resort.


Old:

Maybe this is just the first phase.... Would be great if this place gets popular and expands and expands again.

Is there more land adjacent for that?