One writer’s complaint about taking a preschooler to a big theme park will sound familiar to plenty of parents. You wait in line, the child gets excited, and then a height marker says no.
She went to Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, Texas, with her 4-year-old daughter, and wrote in a Scary Mommy review that the new park fixed exactly that problem. The girl, she said, spent the day riding instead of watching bigger kids ride. Asked at closing time for her favorite part, the child answered, “Everything.”
A regional park, not Orlando
The reviewer was clear that this is no Universal Orlando. It bills itself as a regional theme park, about 30 minutes from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. One hotel with 300 rooms is connected to the park. Universal says the resort is meant for ages 3 to 8.
Six lands carry the franchises: Shrek, Trolls, Jurassic World, Minions, Puss in Boots and SpongeBob SquarePants. Among the attractions she listed were a Shrek-and-Fiona track ride, a Minions family raft ride, a Trolls kiddie coaster called Rhonda’s TrollFest Express, and a SpongeBob spinning ride with a Dumbo-style design. Playgrounds and splash pads are spread through the park.
The Jurassic World: Cretaceous Coaster is the most intense ride on offer, in her telling. Teenagers will probably feel they have outgrown the place. Toddlers and early grade-schoolers hunting for a first big coaster are the target.
Details built for small bodies
Some of what she noticed was small. Restroom toilets have smaller seats that drop down, which she said she wished Disney World would copy.
The park is also a Certified Autism Center. Sensory gardens offer nature sounds and plants that are safe to touch, every ride carries a detailed sensory rating, and more than 80 percent of team members have finished training to help guests.
Her daughter was able to go on nearly everything. The one miss was Swings Over Del Mar, which has the tallest height requirement, 42 inches.
The writer, a self-described theme park fan who would visit Disney World or Universal Orlando several times a year on a bigger budget, never took her daughter to Orlando when the family lived in Florida. The rides were too big then, and the girl did not know the characters. She described Universal Kids Resort as a way into the larger parks, with the characters packaged in a smaller form.
The park also gives families in Texas and neighboring states a theme park within driving distance. Florida was farther and costlier, particularly with young children.
By the end of the day her daughter was exhausted and happy, and asking when they could come back.
