New Children-Friendly Universal Park Coming to Texas & Year-Round Horror to Las Vegas!
New Children-Friendly Universal Park Coming to Texas & Year-Round Horror to Las Vegas!
In this episode, Craig and Ryno recap their 2022 at Universal Orlando briefly before diving into what’s to come in 2023 including Villain-Con Minion Blast, Halloween Horror Nights, Universal Mardi Gras as well as Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood. Plus, they discuss Universal’s role in bringing a SunRail station to the convention center area which will be perfect for Epic Universe!
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As for size comparison, island of Adventure in Orlando is about 110 acres, so it will be similar in size to that.
I am excited for the year-round horror park here in Las Vegas!!! Perfect for Area 15.
heyyYooo…listener from Dallas! When I first heard the news about this I thought to myself "yeah it does make sense" DFW has been growing like crazy and areas north of Dallas especially Frisco have been growing and growing. TONS of land and each time I happen to drive through that area I notice new homes or apartments being built. A lot of young families (including myself) will for sure benefit from this. So should be fun. Growing up in Dallas, my family was fortunate enough to take me to Walt Disney World/Universal growing up every so often! Im extremely excited to have something close by.
Las Vegas will be an escape room adventure like the back to the future one in Orlando. With
a more haunted house vibe
Another fantastic show. Every week it’s a new discovery behind Craig and Ryno. Last week it was the ET figures, this week its Rolf the Dog.
I’ve been to Area15 in Vegas, and I think the Universal project will fit great next to it. I could see spending just one day at those two places. You guys should definitely give Vegas a try!
It’s like the pandemic never happened to universal. Building a theme park, just finishing a theme park expansion, and now these two projects. Crazy
Whenever they breakground in TX and you need someone to capture content, just call me!😉 I live about 15min from the location in Frisco
Just wanted to say, there’s a lot to do in vegas now, not just gambling! Seeing the hotel themes is cool, it is a serious foodie place now… there’s some neat kitschy places to explore, there’s shows as you mentioned.. you can definitely kill a long weekend in vegas no problem. Plus the grand canyon could be added to the trip ❤
Used to live in The Colony right when Frisco became the fastest growing area in the country. Great area for this. Lived there when "Frisco" consisted of small baptist church and a mexican restaurant LOL. OTOH we sold our house for huge increase when moved out of state 🙂
I see the new kids park as a way for universal to bring in families and kids into their ecosystem from a younger age and build those brand connections. Really smart idea from Universal for both concepts
Crazy all the rumors that disney is or should build in Texas and universal comes and says we are taking Texas and for Vegas I kept saying disney should build a resort and call it espn for Vegas ,
I think this competition will push disney to go build idk about Vegas but for Texas I can see disney going that route next
I live in Allen which is very close to Frisco and I think this is a brilliant move by Universal. Like Florida, Texas is expanding like crazy and a new theme park is a great destination for locals as well as out of town guests. I’m surprised Disney hasn’t tried to expand like this but I guess it isn’t that shocking considering they’ve been pinching pennies and promoting Tron for years now. I love Disney but Universal getting the best of Disney at this point is too easy
They all seem to be based off of Dreamworks properties. Camp Cretaceous, Shrek, Trolls, Madagascar, not sure about middle one though.
We live about 20 minutes away from this location and are super pumped! Going right off 380 and the north Dallas Tollway near where the new PGA headquarters is going to be. Lots of expansion happening on the Frisco side of Dallas. If y’all ever need help covering the area once it opens we would whole hearted volunteer 😃 we love the channel and content!
Craig, please stop pronouncing “Vegas” the way you do lol
I live a city over from Frisco in McKinney. I grew up going to Frisco all the time. Frisco has grown like crazy over the past 10-20 years. It used to be all farmland, but now is growing so fast and getting so many things (the Dallas cowboys practice camp is there now, neighboring cities like Prosper/Celina and very affluent,etc).
There’s a lot of people here who are not too excited about the new park bc they’re worried about traffic. We’re used to Costco’s and malls – hasn’t really been an area that’s really known for theme parks. but I think it’s pretty cool!! Exciting to see so much development 😊
It does snow in Texas lol! Lived in Plano (10min from frisco) for 2yrs… it’s a lot of families who have a lot of disposable income. The tax bracket is pretty high so I’m sure the families will be able to afford and will frequent it. Another thing is it’s a very central location for driving… Houston is 3hr, Austin is 2.5hrs, New Orleans is 6hr, KC is 6.5hr & OKC is 3.5hrs so will pull from all those areas as well. My partners family still lives in Plano so when we go to visit his sister and her kids I’m sure we will check it out! I’m a Disney fan but still can’t wait to see it and happy universal is building outside Orlando & LA! I think this is a very smart, safe bet as the area is booming and nothing there as far as entertainment. The video game museum is tiny and you can spend 3.5 hours there at most lol fun to see once but not something you go back to again and again.
They are taking on Sesame Place.
I was thinking Disney was going to head this direction. But it makes sense to open up outside California and Florida. There is not a large enough workforce in the other areas to expand any more, and Texas and Nevada are growing. I think Georgia would also be another good spot, as weather is decent year around and population is in a boom.
I think a lot of families with young children will absolutely make this a destination, I know you and Ryno don’t think so. But I think if the park is amazing, they will visit.
Frisco is the heart of an area (plano, the Colony, more…) full of family homes and communities. It will be a locals park for sure but of course some tourism will happen. This is a template for what could happen in other such suburban communities (consider the land now taken up by failing malls which might be just the right size) RE. Vegas–the current location is a big empty lot surrounded on three sides by industrial warehouses and businesses to the NORTH of the Area 15 main complex. This is NOT an "on the strip" or well-travelled area, so they’re going to have to attract people with a LOT of effort re. transportation to get there–I’m thinking shuttles from the Strip somewhere.
It snows in Dallas at least twice a year. To me I would think Austin / San Antonio would have been a better location.
Oh, yay, another Sesame Place but in Texas. I’m not impressed. Honestly, if it weren’t for the Harry Potter lands, Universal would hold none of my interest.
Does Pete not want to do Universal commentary? Please have him at least dip his toe in.
DCA didn’t open until 2001. I remember seeing it being built during my high school’s grad night in 2000.
Love ya , Ryno! ❤
Beatty NV is the gateway to Death Vally but also if you like candy, nuts and nostalgia, the hidden jem of Beatty is the Death Valley Nut and Candy Company located at the gas station Eddie World. I lived in Vegas for about 5 years and still have family there that I visit every year and while many of the other entertainment offerings are much the same as here in Orlando, like the Titanitc exhibit there are many others are not; such as the Marvel experience in the Treasure Island. Area15 is a whole afternoon and evening in itslef with all the experiences there. If you like rum and unique experiences try the lost spirits distillery at Area15, its drinks and multiple shows.
Great show, thanks for talking about these 2 very different but equally awesome soon to come Universal experiences.
This new park concept does sound really intriguing for a point that I had not considered before, that Ryno brought up. It would be really good to have more of these for regions where the main park is a Six Flags park or a Cedar Fair park. Six Flags Over Texas is the only park really in the DFW area, so why not have a kid-focused park that has the quality of Universal. I think one could work really well in Ohio too since the have Cedar Point and Kings Island and other more thrill oriented parks in that region. Maybe one in New York could work as well. I know that the main focus is going to be the destination parks – as they should be. However, regional parks with this sort of focus does sound like a really good thing and I hope they try more of them
A Disney park in Texas would cheapen their theme park brand. They won’t ever do it.
There’s a ton of people in the Dallas area– it’s a great location. When do we get a Texas Disney park?
Dallas girl here. People in the Dallas area are loosing their mind about this. So much talk and news about it everywhere.
Craig, I don’t gamble or drink or have any interest in clubs, yet I still love Vegas and go frequently. There are TONS of great shows and some amazing restaurants, as well as a bunch of hidden gems that aren’t on the strip. I just go there and see shows, sometimes more than one a day, and eat great food. I’ve been to Area 15 but still need to check out Omega Mart, which I’ve only heard the highest praise for, and I’ve been told it can be a full day experience. Also as someone who appreciates theming, you’d enjoy just walking around some of the hotels because they’re beautifully designed and immersive (besides the casinos and what not). I think there’s more stuff you’d find appealing in Vegas than you think. I’m very excited for the new horror experience and will probably visit it shortly after it opens.
Vegas local here. Definitely gotta give Vegas a chance. Gambling isn’t actually our number 1 industry anymore, it’s entertainment. So tons of great options. And we’re definitely a food capital. And tons of other things to do if you’re willing to go away from The Strip area, multiple mountain ranges for hiking, and a thriving local arts scene. Excited to have a piece of universal coming to add to the mix 🎉
Hello Dis, I’ve lived in Frisco for 19 years so I know it well. I live 7 miles from new park. I think it’s a brilliant move. DFW has 7+ million people and 2 major airports, DFW & Love Field. If you want to know about the culture, business environment and tuff to do hit me up.
I think the Texas park is a test. If the family park is successful enough, I can see the expansion being a full blown theme park, if it’s not as successful, they can keep it as is without losing money. The hotel makes it seem like they have something bigger planned for that area.
Frisco is a perfect place for something for this certain demographic. Millions of people in that general area and tons of middle class young families in that area. — it’s also where the Dallas MLS team plays, and I believe Toyota just moved their entire corporate HQ there alone
Wouldn’t the ET Adventure be a no Brainer addition to the Texas park?
I hope so
Interesting choice. This is in line with what Eisner was hoping to do with the division that contained the gone-but-never-forgotten DisneyQuest. There were supposed to be regional Disney attractions that were compact half/day visits sprinkled in metros around the US, but it never came to pass beyond the Chicago location of DisneyQuest that didn’t last long.
Nice to see Universal rip a page out of that book. And it’ll also be great for Texas to see how many miles Universal is beyond Six Flags in the realm of customer service and team members (from a training perspective).
Looks like a little smaller than Universal Studios Florida at 125 acres and Islands is 110. So jazzed for families who get an great experience for years to come. It’s a way to get kids excited for Universal’s brand and properties, which we know is the main way Disney has hooked kids unto lifelong Disney fans. Cedar Fair runs like 17 regional parks which usually have changing IP based on contracts and there is room to apply Universal’s touch to those kind of parks. I hope it puts pressure on Cedar Fair to step up their game to make improvements in treating staff better and adding investment to their properties. That Area 15 concept will be all over whatever social media is around in a few years and will get booked out like crazy.
Ryno will never be the same once he’s seen Meow Wolf.
If you look at the plans and rendering it gives us clues of what could be coming to Orlando replacing Woody Woodpeckers Kidzone. Trolls, Madagascar and Shrek attractions, food and shows like in the rendering will be awesome.
Frisco is basically a major suburb of Dallas about 30 minutes north of downtown.
Im pretty sure that the land they bought in Texas is allot cheaper than here in Orlando . thats probably one of the reasons.
My mom lives 10 minutes from this!!! It’s insane. I can’t believe they are building a park so close even if it’s built for young families. Amazing!! I think this is going to be like a Dorny Park which is in PA.
Very exciting! Finally see a theme park come to Frisco after Disneyland-to-Frisco rumor widely spread for more than 20 years!
Those are the world cities had either Disneyland or Universal Studio:
Paris, Los Angeles, Orlando, Paris, Tokyo, Singapore, Honkong, Shanghai, China and Beijing, China
You can see that most of them are world top 20 cities with high "culture" and high "image".
Some of them are the soul of everything of their country.
I don’t gamble and I enjoy Vegas. It’s a 3-4 day trip. I like to add it on to a California trip but long weekends are nice too
Guess we’re gonna have to go to Vegas!
The actual size of Studios Florida is 108 acres, while Islands of Adventure is 110 acres, so the new Frisco Texas Park will be almost as big at 97 acres with room for future expansion. I have a feeling it will end up growing larger quite fast!!!!
I think the creature next to Chance could be a zombie from the walking dead 🤔
Maybe Disney will start building small regional parks now. Maybe they’ll finally bulldoze DCA and turn it back into a parking lot. One can only hope…