UPDATE: 12:17 p.m., Wednesday, January 11: Mark Woodbury, chairman and CEO of Universal Parks and Resorts, said at a press conference on Wednesday, that the Universal Studios theme park coming to Frisco will have four to five themed lands with interactive experiences designed for families. There will also be a hotel that will have about 300 rooms.
Page Thompson, president of new ventures for Universal Studios, said the hotel will have themes with popular Universal Studios characters.
“It’s part of our culture to be an engaged part of the community and we’re excited to be able to have the potential to do that here in Frisco while we bring together something that is truly exceptional,” Woodbury said.
Universal Studios park renderings.
Courtesy of Universal Parks & Resorts
Those characters range from Minions to Kung Fu Panda, and quite recently a cast of Super Mario Bros. characters. Page didn’t give specifics on which characters will be in the park and hotel.
Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney says he is “advocating” for a Nintendo-themed land. No timeline was presented on the project.
UPDATE: 11:38 a.m., Wednesday, January 11: Frisco is going to be the site of a Universal Studios theme park, reports the Dallas Morning News. City officials were gearing up to make the announcement on Wednesday evening, July 11, but Dallas Morning News reports that the Universal Studios bought the land in Frisco for a kids theme park and hotel.
The 100-acre entertainment hub will be built right off the Dallas North Tollway and will be designed with families in mind to create an interactive one- to two-day experience, chairman and CEO of Universal Parks and Resorts, Mark Woodbury, said in a statement to Dallas Morning News.
Original story continues below.
Public records seem to point at a huge development in Frisco, in North Texas, as the site of a possible theme park project that is already barring advertising in the area from rivals like Disney and Six Flags. Frisco officials are set to announce a “major economic and tourism development” on Wednesday, January 11, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Public records are pointing to a portion of a 2,500-acre site called Frisco Fields along the Dallas North Tollway that was recently sold to a Delaware-based shell company called FTNV Corp. There are no details about the owner of the company, the Dallas Morning News reports, but the sale documents call for construction of a theme park.
BEST OF MYSA
The standout detail in the documents is a provision that bars advertising from potential rivals like Walt Disney Co., Arlington-based Six Flags Entertainment Corp., Merlin/Legoland, SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment Inc., and Great Wolf Resorts Inc.
Absent from that list is Universal Studios and Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which purchased Schlitterbahn water parks in Galveston and New Braunfels in 2019. Jody Lurie, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, told the Dallas Morning News that the advertising ban “makes sense” to make sure that the project survives.
The Dallas Morning News says that the size of the land is not feasible for a theme park from Disney or Six Flags. Frisco City Council and the planning and zoning commission will announce more details at a special meeting Wednesday at 6:45 p.m.