What is the ceiling and the floor for Universal Kids Resort?

I have a kid right in the prime age for this park, and i'm not exaggerating when I say that no kids/parents I know (and I know a lot from school) watch ANY of these IPs. They are all already way outdated. I showed the plans for this park to my wife and asked her "do you know anybody who would take their kids here?" and she said no. Not only that, this park doesn't seem to have anything unique that would make people want to go there. Some basic (what looks like) Zamperla kids rides you can find anywhere, splash pads, and some shows/meet and greets with characters that would be more popular with millennials than kids.

Universal has lost their damn mind. I predict this place will close within 3 years.

If I recall correctly, Universal stated that their estimate is an average of 7k visitors on weekdays and roughly double that on weekends. It also isn't planned to operate daily year-round, so while the full calendar hasn't been released, I'm going to estimate the park will be open between 250 and 300 days per year. Using those estimates, I would say 1.6-2.4 million is probably the the attendance range for this park, with 1.8 million being my guess at present for the first twelve months. In the event the park overperforms and is wildly successful, I'd put an upper bound at about 2.7 million, as I just don't see the park drawing numbers higher than that (though I could maybe see it one day getting up to ~3.5 million if investment is made to increase the offerings to be more on par with that offered by the Legoland parks...I'd say the opening day lineup is more comparable to Sesame Place). On the low end, I'd say anything below 1 million in the first year should be considered a failure, and if they're not able to hit at least 0.7 million by the end of 2026 that should be very concerning for the future of the property.

I can't help but feel this project may wind up diluting the Universal brand. Their parks have been known for the past 15+ years for their immersive lands and attention to detail. A collection of off-the-shelf rides isn't this. Perhaps the theming and immersion will be enough for kids, but I'm skeptical. This looks like an outdoor Nickelodeon Universe rather than a Toontown.

I think this park is destined for failure because of the strict limitations imposed by local officials. My understanding is that Frisco has specifically capped the operational calendar and attendance for this park, and even restricted the types of ride systems and entertainment Universal can have here.

Frankly, I think equaling Sesame Place is the absolute ceiling for this park, and it would take some reworking of the permits and agreements if Universal wanted to get anything approaching the success of even the lowest performing Legoland park (which I believe is the New York park right now). Frankly, I would be shocked if this park could draw over 1 million guests in its first year, and sadly I think Universal has come to that realization as they've gotten closer to the finish line of this project. This is about as niche as theme parks get these days, and without something else to draw families to this part of the Metroplex (Frisco's only draws for out-of-towners is the US Soccer Hall of Fame/FC Dallas and "The Star" - the Dallas Cowboys' training facility and entertainment complex), this is going to be predominantly a locals park, which was clearly the goal of officials when they green-lighted the development.

Also, I tend to agree with the_man26 regarding the IPs utilized here. Universal Kids has always been a cable channel that has relied on older IPs, but I get the feeling that this park is almost being designed for families with small children from a decade ago - most likely the ages/types of families of the designers back in 2015. The problem is those kids are now teenagers, and would have zero interest in this park.

As a side note, the marketing for this park (or lack thereof) makes me think about Universal's other smaller projects around the country and the similar lack of marketing and updates for those - the Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas and announced expansion in Chicago. The general perception of the Vegas attraction is that it is doing decent business (though you can often see discounts for the experience up to 70% off), helped by the overall success of the Area 15 complex, but it's been complete crickets on the Chicago installation. I'm beginning to think that Universal is learning very quickly how difficult it can be to scale down themed entertainment. There's little doubt that they're great at building full sized theme parks and resorts, but at these smaller scales, Universal is grappling with the reality that their brand establishes a bar and expectations that are difficult to attain with a fraction of the budget available for a new theme park like Epic or Universal UK.

Another Huge Hit for Universal.

But it will all depend on price. Give a decent/affordable ticket price and this will do well.

I mean there is not much to do in Texas besides a river walk (Boring) and maybe smell some cow poop....

I have never Once in my lifetime said - Lets go to Texas.... And never will.

My wife went Once to see our nephew graduate from AF boot camp. She was not impressed. And she is usually easily impressed- Heck she married me...

HAHAHAHAHAAHA

Charles Barkley once said that the churros in San Antonio were really good. ;-)

Well, it sounds like it’s already doing better than Matel…. I fear that might be the ceiling.

I cannot see this type of park working at any scale, once any kid on a family ages out of it, it’s going to be hard to justify a visit - even if there are younger kids in the family, the older is still going to resent visiting “a park for babies”.

I hope for universals sake this is just phase 1, with phase 2 increasing the age range.