Is anyone else looking at YouTuber previews and seriously disappointed. I was expecting while it was kid friendly rides, it would have universal level theming/immersion and it looks like concrete with some colorful statues here and there. It reminds me of six flags theming.
I mean it’s Texas so a dark ride like cat in the hat quality would be nice. Like that whole seussland in IOA is so well themed even tho it’s all kid rides. This is so far removed from that. It’s not even Legoland quality.
I saw a video. I agree with your assessment. Given how quickly the park went up, I’m not surprised. Despite the lack of immersion, my kids would have loved a park like this when they were 2.5-6ish. At ages 11 and 8 now, neither would have any interest.
I haven’t seen it for real, but it was clear from the concept art that there wasn’t going to be much to this park. Is this a case where people were expecting more than what was promised? It never promised much.
I probably expected a bit more. However, tbh, it’s truly a “kids” park. I would spend hours doing Ops in Looney Tunes Village at MovieWorld. The overwhleming majoroty of kids were delighted to just run through the splash pad more than anything. If they keep the park clean, affordable and with characters, like Spongbob it’ll be profitible.
IMHO - The age cap for this park is 10- 12 years old. The annual pass rate, $130, is a bargin if you are a local with small kids. My local zoo is about as much for an AP.
Unfortunately, without kids in this age range and no grandkids in site for a bit and only an estranged nephew (cuz of his mother) I have zero reason to go after watching the videos even though I have a huge amount of family in the Dallas area. Le Sigh, I wanted to have something new to do. Looks like if we wanna theme park in Dallas it’ll be Six Flags!
The Tormenta ride being built at SFOT looks amazing. Should be opening late this summer. Maybe that could be something to look forward to?
I don’t know what about it has me so excited. I’ve lived in the area for forever and seen a great many new rides being built and I’ve always maxed out at mildly intrigued. This one, though. It seems to have everything. It is super-duper tall, it has loops, it has several twirls. First drop is > 90. I go back and forth between wanting to ride it ASAP and waiting a few months for other people to test out its safety.
I see so many criticisms that Universal has nothing for kids–guess they addressed that here! I had no idea they were even building a new park.
I hadn’t heard about Tormenta, so I checked it out. I would ride it, but I’m admittedly not a fan of dive coasters. The train design requires that the motions are big and sweeping, which makes them feel much slower and kind of lumbering compared to more typical coaster trains. Still…a giga dive? That adds an interesting element.
It isn’t likely I’ll be in Dallas anytime soon, but I’ll be curious what riders think of this.
I actually think that’s a nuts statement. I took my kids for the first time when they were 2 and 5 and they had a blast in the kids areas. I think the Universal Kids playgrounds are better than Disney’s. This was of course when they had Fievel’s playland and the Curious George area with the ball room and the water area and the Barney show with play area after. I preferred all of this as far as playing goes to the new Shrek, Trolls and Kung Fu Panda areas. The Fievel’s waterslide was actually fun for adults and the new Kung Fu Panda show isn’t as much for a kid as a room with foam balls everywhere to shoot at and dodge. My kids spent like an hour in there. Then in IoA: Suess land, Popeye’s boat and Jurassic Park are amazing playgrounds all.
If they had just recreated this in the new park in Dallas (Frisco) it would have been awesome.
And comparitively a few months earlier we took the kids to WDW and though they enjoyed the play areas there at the time (Pooh’s Corner, Splash Mountain play area were both pretty small compared to Universal’s but the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Boneyard were on par). I just felt there were far more play areas and far bigger with more interactive things to do in Universal. Plus those two parks being so close to each other is better for toting kids in a double stroller. Now when you get to the tween age 8-12 Disney wins cuz of all the stuff in Epcot I think and the kids are ready for the bigger rides like Big Thunder but maybe not ready for Hulk.
It’s not mine! Just something I’ve read.
We loved Curious George and miss it–I have great photos of all three of my girls playing there over the years.
Oh I know, I wasn’t attacking you! 
Sorry if that’s how it came across.
And I do agree for your younger tweens Disney is far greater than Universal. As they approach the height and fearlessness of a teenager Univeral comes back first again. And then as you age into an old person Disney wins again cuz the Universal coasters and simulators make you sick! LOL
I got an AP to Universal Kids - I live about 30 min from it and have two toddler grandkids in the area so I expect to take advantage. I’m doing a TA preview trip in a couple of weeks (after opening day, I just mean going with other TAs rather than with the grands) and I’ll do a post here on in-person impressions.
TP had a blog about their visit.
looking forward to your review. I have a trip to Dallas end of August and considering doing the park but it would just be two adults and a teenager. The teenager and I are not big thrill ride people but from what I’ve seen on Instagram I’m a little worried about going at all. (We are going to Dallas for a concert and if we don’t do this, we’ll do some other stuff in Dallas)
I’d honestly do something else like do they still have the balloon art exhibit in south Dallas or go to the Perot museum or six flags. Much more bang for your buck even if you don’t ride thrill rides still have the same carnival rides this place does but more of them
Six Flags has 21 family rides to Universal Kids 13. Plus that doesn’t count the two water rides one of which is a raft ride with better theming than the minions one. The other a log ride. Not sure if you consider that a thrill ride. Some of the coasters don’t go upside down so if you can do like big thunder you can do the mine train and mini mine train and they have kiddie coaster and Judge Roy Scream isn’t too bad. No upside down and not as tall as the giant. So lots more and one of those family rides is a shooting ride like buzz. And it’s cheaper than Universal Kids:
This park seems fantastic – in theory. Legoland is consistently cited as my kids’ favorite theme park, which makes me very sad as a Disney / Universal lover, but on the other hand, they are young and the target audience.
Legoland rides are cheap and not very thrilling, but they are cute and fun for young children. More companies should be copying that blueprint.
Universal Kids has some problems – lack of foliage, lack of shade, lack of decor … but these can all be fixed. They are a LOT of attractions and experiences to keep kids busy for a day! Much better than the local park or mall. I’m sure it will be very popular.
I agree with this. I drive past Universal Kids everyday. It is definitely a park built to entertain and to scale for kids under 8. Honestly, my opinion would be kids under 6, but my kids were on RnRC at age 8, so we are kind of daredevils.
ditto for the DD who did the swing cable and pulled the cord when she was maybe not much older than 8, maybe 9 or 10, DS was scared till late middle school. I would have loved to have visited Universal Kids, I am a mere 3 hours away with family in Dallas, and I watched tim and jen’s youtube which was a better viewing of the park, but I just don’t think there is really anything at all for an adult trip. If I could borrow someone’s kids then maybe! Ha!
This is the thing DD did at a very early age and by 11/12 she was paragliding off cliffs and walking on the outside of 88 story building in Shanghai
