Amusement Park News

Currently under construction in Frisco, Texas, Universal Kids Resort has announced the six themed lands that will comprise the park, which is designed for younger children and their families.

Scheduled to open in 2026, the family park will feature lands based around Universal IPs including DreamWorks Animation's Shrek, Puss in Boots, Trolls, Gabby's Dollhouse; Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants; Illumination's Minions, and Jurassic World.

According to Universal Creative vice president and executive producer Sarah Gibbons, the new park will allow Universal “an amazing opportunity to bring these iconic stories to life for kids and families to experience, interact with, and play together.” She stresses that the company has worked to carefully design a child-friendly destination that provides kids with the inclusive space they need to “explore, imagine and adventure along with family members and friends, while being immersed in a variety of their favorites characters' worlds and stories.”



The park has now released new details about the attractions that will provide these adventures for guests. The resort will be the first of its kind, geared to younger children. Along with the park itself, there will be a 300-room hotel on the property, which is located near the Dallas North Tollway. The resort hotel will also serve as an entrance to the park.

Bringing stories to life that provide park guests with “curiosity, laughter, and joy” is the whole point of every aspect of the park, Gibbons says. Each land will offer a different and immersive experience.

In the land devoted to Dreamworks' Shrek, kids can play in Shrek's swamp, or rather a swamp-themed playground that stresses experiences built on friendship and love. The land will be centered around a playground described by the park as “swamp style,” as built by the lovable ogre Shrek himself.



Last year, a new kid's zone opened at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, DreamWorks Land. Shrek has an outpost there, too. At the Orlando location, kids can enjoy a swamp-themed splash pad, an interactive King Harold the Frog swamp symphony, and Shrek's Swamp for Little Ogres, with an outhouse slide and an appearance by Pinocchio. There's no word as yet as to which may play a part in the plans for the Texas iteration of the Shrek franchise.

Watery, or perhaps underwater-y fun will be afoot at Universal Kids Resort in the land of SpongeBob SquarePants, where beloved characters from the Nickelodeon hit animated series lead park guests on adventures such as achieving a boating license as well as offering the chance to simply relax on a beach and enjoy floating bubbles.

The third land in the park is Minions, exuding the opposite playful and energetic vibe to the more mellow sounding SpongeBob land, at least in promotional materials. The storyline for this part of the park features the well-known Yellow Minions trying to control Purple Minions running amok and offers some “water-soaked fun” per the park, which may indicate an attraction involving sprayers. Universal currently has Minion lands at Universal Hollywood, Universal Orlando, and now in Universal Singapore. Each of those parks offer a differing collection of Minion attractions. In Florida, a Villain-Con attraction has guests wielding an “E-Liminator X” blaster to blaze into supervillain stardom and retrieve some fun collectibles along the way. While on the west coast, Universal Hollywood offers the motion simulation ride Minion Mayhem, as well as a family play zone, Super Silly Fun Land.

Meanwhile, in Jurassic World, this uniquely Universal Studios IP is set to offer a kid-centric series of interactive adventures created for the younger set of dinosaur fans. And in the land of Trolls, music is the focus of the adventure, where the characters of Poppy and Branch, among others, will offer a glitter-infused adventure themed around a music festival.

Dreamworks' Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, and Perrito have their land at the park, too, where the adventures focus on a kitten adoption theme with games, rides, and fun eats, as well as allotting space for a described “sensory garden” for some downtime.

The central hub to each of these five lands will be based around another Dreamworks property, Gabby's Dollhouse, where guests can enjoy meet and greets with characters including Gabby, as well as retail shopping described as immersive and interactive. And speaking of interacting, this area of the park is being designed to include shaded grassy space and play areas for guests to interact in. A small taste of Gabby's Dollhouse is currently a part of the Dreamworks' Kids Land at Universal Orlando, where a themed meet and greet is highlighted.

Universal Kids Resort VP and general manager Dan Cuffe says that “At Universal Kids Resort, children will have the opportunity to play, sing, dance and discover with some of their favorite characters.” He adds that along with the attractions and entertainment, the park is being designed to include “ample areas to rest and also [to] enjoy themed food and beverages and shop for fun character souvenirs. Each of these areas elicits wonder with a lush, colorful environment.”

Currently under construction, the park is scheduled to open in time for the 2026 summer season.

As well as Universal Kids Resort, Universal Destinations & Experiences is also expanding its portfolio to offer Epic Universe in Orlando, a year-round horror experience in Las Vegas, and is also looking at the possibility of creating a new theme park in the UK.