Universal Kids Resort Review: Our First Visits Inside Frisco’s New Theme Park

This review is based on my first two visits to Universal Kids Resort. I’ll be sharing more detailed looks at its lands, attractions, and food soon.

I finally crossed the line earlier this week. For more than 30 months, I’ve been covering a new theme park as it grew up in Frisco, Texas. During that time, I never stepped on property, always keeping my feet on the sidewalk. Or, before the sidewalk was poured, in the dirt, mud, and gravel.

That changed on Tuesday when I finally turned into Universal Kids Resort. Universal offered me complimentary tickets for a friends-and-family preview. I also visited on Wednesday on my own dime.

We arrived about an hour before the park opened, first in line. A security Team Member scanned our tickets and told us to wait. The parking team wasn’t ready for us yet.

We eventually parked and made our way to the entrance, in the shadow of a color-blocked hotel that reminds me of my LEGO creations from long ago — before those playsets came with instructions. A Team Member photographer waved us over to the Universal Kids Resort sign. Its recessed letters make it the perfect Instagram photo spot, inviting families to climb in for playful shots.

The gates opened at 10 AM. We quickly moved through security, thanks to multiple metal detectors and X-ray machines. Team Members then scanned our tickets. The park doesn’t have an app yet, so I had to search Gmail for my QR code.

My first moments inside were a little surreal. I’d spent years walking the resort’s perimeter, taking thousands of photos of ride vehicles, roller coaster track, drop towers, and hotel murals. I always shared those pics with Aahs n Oohs, who would tell me exactly what I was looking at.

Aahs was on the phone with me as I walked under the hotel’s breezeway, making that cool moment even better.

A theme park built for a specific audience

First up was Isle of Curiosity, themed to Gabby’s Dollhouse, the only land without an attraction. In fact, it doesn’t feel like a land at all. It’s more of an entrance plaza with a food truck selling Gabby-themed cupcakes, a shop connected to the larger Universal Kids Resort Store, and statues of Gabby’s cats in the gardens.

It has nice, light theming but is nowhere near a full-fledged land. Still, when Gabby herself comes out to dance, nobody in the target demographic is complaining about the lack of rides.

Just past Gabby and her cats is Minions vs. Minions: Bello Bay Club, where the park’s theme-park energy really begins. The land is packed with theming, most notably its dozens of Yellow and Purple Minion statues. Several stand on the diving platform towering over the land’s headliner, the Bello Bay Cruise. Others appear in the splash pad and outside Bello Bay Boutique and Bites.

The Minions boat ride has become a lightning rod on social media. Manufactured by Hafema, it combines whitewater action with a whirlpool scene that makes riders appear to circle the drain before descending a waterfall. It’s a great effect.

The whirlpool is where the ride has drawn criticism, mainly because its unfinished concrete walls give the area an industrial look. Elsewhere, crews have painted the ride walls blue and tan, better matching Bello Bay Club’s mid-century resort aesthetic. Team Members told us more paint is coming, though I wouldn’t expect that to happen before opening day.

Paint or no paint, Bello Bay Cruise is a blast. In fact, it may be a little too much blast for some guests. I have never done so much spinning on a water ride. I loved it, but some trips down that river were rougher than others. Aahs expects Universal and Hafema teams to keep tweaking the ride to smooth those edges.

The good news is that, with all the spinning, you’ll hardly notice the unfinished concrete.

The park’s best idea: letting kids play

Universal Kids Resort has 13 attractions, but its free-play spaces may be the real stars.

DreamWorks’ TrollsFest has Poppy’s Playland and the Trolls Critter Crawl. Jurassic World has the massive Lookout Towers and Paddock Play. Shrek’s Swamp, Bello Bay Club, and SpongeBob SquarePants Bikini Bottom all have wet-play options. More adventurous kids will appreciate the massive water bucket dump in Shrek’s land.

Those spaces give children something many theme parks forget to offer: room to be kids. They also provide a break from standing in ride lines.

The splash pads should be especially popular during North Texas summers. Be sure to bring swimsuits and water shoes. Changing areas are available near each of the water-play areas. If you forget, several shops sell swimsuits, rash guards, flip flops, and water shoes.

Universal also made these play areas accessible. Children in wheelchairs can participate in many activities, and the park’s sensory gardens provide quiet places to recharge with benches and calming music.

Family centers with nursing rooms are also available in Puss in Boots Del Mar and near the park entrance.

Rides for kids ready to level up

Universal Kids Resort has 13 tried-and-true attractions. Universal Creative didn’t design new rides for the park, but they made sure to theme each one to fit the park’s playful vibe. We particularly love Rhonda’s face leading the Trolls coaster, SpongeBob sitting atop a school of jellyfish, and Shrek’s onion-carriage hood ornaments.

More importantly, many of the attractions are accessible. We’ll cover those details in a future article.

And as expected, the ride lineup is built around light-to-moderate thrills.

Bello Bay Cruise and Swings Over Del Mar sit near the top of that spectrum. The oscillating swing ride has the park’s tallest height requirement, and for good reason. Fortunately, younger guests can ride with a parent or older sibling, and both single and double seats are available.

Rhonda’s TrollsFest Express and Jurassic World Cretaceous Coaster are solid introductions to roller coasters. Rhonda’s is the tamer of the two, but neither should intimidate kids ready to graduate from smaller rides.

Jurassic World Adventure Camp has the park’s two vertical attractions. Pteranodrop features moderate drops that you’ll feel in your stomach. Mr. DNA’s Double Helix Spin offers several kinds of spinning while providing great views of the park. Most rides here are short. That one keeps guests in the air for several minutes.

Bikini Bottom leans into spinning rides. Bobbing Barrels is our favorite, but despite the name, nothing bobs. The flower-covered barrels only spin.

What makes it special are the water cannons, mounted both inside the barrels and outside the perimeter fence. A passerby made me her personal target on Wednesday. Unfortunately, my cannon’s limited range of motion prevented me from returning the favor.

Hair in the Clouds was less successful for me. It’s an aerial spinner that lets riders also manually spin their gondola, but that takes some effort. A friend had to put some muscle into getting ours moving. I couldn’t help. I was too busy taking pictures.

It’s a decent starter ride, but one I will probably avoid thanks to the tight fit. The gondolas are designed for up to four guests, but ours was only marginally comfortable with just two riders.

Let’s talk about that Shrek ride

And then there is Shrek & Fiona’s Happily Ogre After. For many, this is the park’s least successful attraction. That doesn’t make it terrible, and it certainly doesn’t make it the disaster many are suggesting. Most kids love it. But it has issues.

Guests board cars to learn about Shrek and Fiona’s love story through a series of stylized scenes. The front-left passenger gets a steering wheel that does nothing, but don’t tell your kids that. I saw a few fully invested in driving those cars. Happily Ogre After isn’t Autopia or Tomorrowland Speedway, and thank goodness for that. I couldn’t take the fumes.

The sets have a simple, school-play quality. They’re bold, colorful, and easy for young kids to spot as their vehicles roll by. But a few more scenes and some action would help. As it is, the ride lacks the storytelling that theme park fans expect from book-report attractions.

It also has operational issues. Four cars fit in the station, but only the first can be loaded or unloaded. One family must exit the vehicle and walk through the gate before the next family can board. It’s cumbersome. I waited 20 minutes to board on Wednesday, even though only a few dozen people were ahead of me.

Air gates and a separate unload area would work wonders for this attraction, but I doubt either is possible.

Heat and shade

A lack of shade is another legitimate concern. Most queues are covered, but nearly every attraction sits in the sun. The good news is that the rides are short, so guests are exposed for only a minute or two. Afterward, they can get in another covered line, duck into the AC, or grab a cold drink.

The ride vehicles don’t get that option as they bake in the sun all day. Even so, I only encountered one overly warm seat during my two days in the park. That was at Mrs. Puff’s Driving School. Team Members were aware. One was using a pump sprayer to cool the boats between rides.

Our advice: test those seats before your little ones sit down.

Universal did plant plenty of trees. 1,500 of them, in fact. They’re everywhere, but aside from seven massive oaks, most are young and provide minimal shade. That should change over time, although they will also never cover the rides themselves.

For now, more umbrellas would make a big difference. Large shade structures cover the playgrounds and other outdoor areas, but several tables and benches are getting blasted by UV rays. I never saw anyone using these tables in Mussel Beach.

Texas families know how to manage the heat. And Universal is doing plenty to help out. Misting stations are available throughout the park. The stores and restaurants have aggressively cold air-conditioning. Ice water is available at the park’s Coke Freestyle machines. Many families brought tumblers from home, while others bought Universal’s refillable mugs and kept Powerade in business.

So yes, it does get hot at Universal Kids Resort. Bring cooling towels. Wear big hats. Take breaks.

And just be happy you don’t have to wear a costume during Frisco’s brutal summers. I felt for the Team Members dressed as Shrek, Squidward, the Minions, and others. I’m sure they were baking inside those costumes, but you couldn’t tell. The park’s character interactions are top-notch.

The real standout for me was the Purple Minion and his knuckle-dragging arms. Kudos to the Team Member inside. They had all of us laughing.

Beyond the character meets, guests can watch shows featuring Mama Luna, Puss in Boots, and the entire Trolls gang at the Trollstastic: Concert Countdown. These are smaller-scale productions than what you will find in Orlando’s theme parks, but the kids around us were eating them up.

The food is way better than you’d expect

Universal has really stepped up its food game in recent years. That was made abundantly clear when we visited Epic Universe last September. But I still wasn’t expecting to sit down at a place called Trollz Eats and leave totally satisfied. Yet I did.

Because I was in a kids’ park, I ordered accordingly: a cheese pizza. It was simple food done well.

I also sampled the Lonesome Flats Cavatappi Alfredo, which was just okay. Thankfully, Queen Barb’s Rock ’n’ Roll Red Velvet Cookie more than made up for it.

The Tex-Mex food at Comidas y Leche also hit the spot. Again, I ordered a kid’s favorite: the Humpty Dumpty’s Chicken Quesadilla, served with guacamole, beans, and rice. The Churritos and Chocolate were also exactly what you want during a Universal visit: perfectly fried churros.

The park’s viral food sensation is the $19.99 Triple Gooberberry Sunrise, available at Goofy Goober’s in Bikini Bottom. It comes in a large novelty cup, though the ice cream portion itself is fairly standard. The sundae pictured here is actually the Double Chocolate Molar Blowout.

Team Members make the difference

Universal Kids Resort is not perfect. No park is. But where it shines is its people.

Universal had a monumental task staffing this park. When Epic Universe opened, they could draw from experienced Team Members at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. Frisco did not have that luxury. Yet Universal was able to hire energetic, capable people, most of whom have never worked in a theme park before.

I asked several Team Members what it was like working at Universal Kids. They all seemed eager to talk about their gig. One even offered to take me through the Universal Kids Resort Store to show off every toy that lights up. Several recognized me on my second visit and stopped to chat.

A park with a purpose

I love having Universal Kids Resort in my backyard. Would I love it even more if it had VelociCoaster and Monsters Unchained? Absolutely. But that’s not the choice Universal made here.

For years, they’ve catered to thrill seekers. And they do that extremely well. Universal Kids Resort is the polar opposite: a park where young kids can get soaked, climb, dance with characters, and ride their first coaster before deciding they’re ready for something bigger.

It needs more shade. Some areas need more paint. Happily Ogre After needs better ride ops. But Universal Kids Resort already has a clear identity. It knows who it’s for. And based on what we’ve seen, those kids are loving it.

Want to learn more about Universal Kids Resort and its seven themed lands? We’ve got you covered. Visit our Universal Kids Resort hub for everything coming to the new Frisco theme park.