13 replies to this topic

[eastfwther]

FRISCO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — Universal Parks & Resorts announced Wednesday that a new, one-of-a-kind theme park is coming to Frisco.

Officials said the park will be "unlike any other in the world," and is "specifically designed to inspire fun for families with young children."

The landscape will be lush and green, and will feature immersive themed lands that will be more intimate and engaging for younger visitors.

"It will be full of family-friendly attractions, interactive and playful shows, character meet and greets, unique merchandise and fun food and beverage venues. Although smaller in size, it will still carry the same quality as Universal's other larger resort destinations."

Spanning 97 acres, there are also plans for a themed hotel. 

"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."

Officials said Frisco was selected as the area for the new park because of the city's growing population and "ability to attract businesses to the area." It will sit east of the Dallas North Tollway and north of Panther Creek Parkway.

[Doohickie]

Sure they get universal and we get Dreamvision or whatever that bogus one was.

[roverone]

This seems like a big win for Frisco, and for DFW in general, but I'm curious about the underlying meaning of the phrase "ability to attract businesses to the area".  

 

Although it is of course run as a business, I think of Universal Studios as something of a different nature than a typical corporate relocation.

[eastfwther]

Sure they get universal and we get Dreamvision or whatever that bogus one was.

 

I was trying to recall the park that was never really going to happen here too. 

[Stadtplan]

[JBB]

It's a little scant on details, much more so than their simultaneous Vegas announcement, but I have a lot more faith in this happening than a quarter billion dollar Dude Perfect HQ.  Just from the concept art I would say that this has the look of a souped stay and play like Great Wolf Lodge.  And that's not a bad thing.  For size reference, the Florida park is currently over 500 acres and I believe it will double in size when their new park opens in a couple of years.  The California park is 400 acres.

[Austin55]

This was out of nowhere! 
 

I'm pretty excited to have this in DFW. It feels like some publications are running with the like it will be some huge deal, but it's really a pretty mild size by the sound of it. Seems like a perfect fit for Frisco. I thought for a while the future of theme parks are smaller, more upscale and family oriented and located in wealthier areas. I'd bet Universal builds more of these.

[Dylan]

Ugh. I hate the location!

 

Proposed for the far fringes of transitless suburbia...

[Stadtplan]

Ugh. I hate the location!

 

Proposed for the far fringes of transitless suburbia...

 

Even if it was in the middle of the Arlington entertainment district, there's no public transit there either.

[JBB]

My thoughts exactly.  Most of this area is transitless.

[Dylan]

Arlington would suck too due to it's lack of transit, but it would be less bad than far north Frisco.

 

A location in Arlington would be within the existing footprint of suburban sprawl. The proposed location in far north Frisco would expand the footprint of suburban sprawl.

 

That said, a big project like this ought to be central to Dallas or Fort Worth and accessible by transit.

[elpingüino]

I agree with your overall points about accessibility of this location and its inconvenient distance for Tarrant residents. But this is no longer the fringes of the Metroplex. I've seen references to Frisco as an inner suburb, which made me spit out my coffee. Developers see Prosper as the next ring, then Celina (I believe the fastest growing city in the Metroplex) and Melissa a step farther, then Gunter and Van Alstyne as the outer ring. And the way Sherman is getting more manufacturing business, the growth will come southward too.

Once far-flung Dallas-Fort Worth communities are the region's next boomtowns

Edit: fixed typos

[Stadtplan]

I agree with your overall points about accessibility of this location and its inconvenient distance for Tarrant residents. But this is no longer the fringes of the Metroplex. I've seen received to Frisco as an inner suburb, which made me spit out my coffee. Developers see Prosper as the next ring, then Celina (I believe the fastest growing city in the Metroplex) add Melissa a step farther, then Gunter and Van Alstyne as the outer ring. And the way Sherman is getting more manufacturing business, the growth will come southward too.

Once far-flung Dallas-Fort Worth communities are the region's next boomtowns

 

You're correct, Sherman is the next stage of expansion not just industrial / tech / manufacturing but housing and mixed-use commercial.  Every time I've been up that way, I'm always a bit shocked, you catch your breath making it up to McKinney, and then you think Sherman is just up the road and you look at the map, it's another 30 miles!

 

I didn't read all the articles, but I'd imagine these Universal tickets will probably be $100-200 per day per person? not to mention dining, parking and accommodations.  I think the idea is to get you onsite and keep you onsite, not like the state fair where you pop in for a few hours, eat a corn dog and go home.  Granted, they'll probably have some circulating shuttles and such to and from hotels of course.  I think they recognize that there's a lot of momentum in Frisco and wanted to jump at the opportunity while it is available.  That's probably the way people thought about Arlington and Grand Prairie back in the day when all of the entertainment areas were established, like it was way on the outskirts of town, now it couldn't feel more central.

[elpingüino]

More details,
Universal Studios Frisco Concept Map Shows New Details



The Universal development will be 97 acres, with the park itself taking up 30 acres. Additional acres will be used for parking and hotel space.

By comparison,
Waterside is about 30 acres
Grapevine Mills is about 120 acres and the mall itself is 45
Six Flags is about 140 acres and the park itself is 60