Universal Plans New Theme Parks In Texas And Las Vegas

Topline

Universal Parks & Resorts announced plans on Wednesday to construct two new theme parks, including a “one-of-a-kind” family-friendly park outside Dallas and a horror-themed park in Las Vegas, adding to Universal’s portfolio of massive parks as it competes with Disney.

Key Facts

Universal’s planned park in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas, is tailored for “younger audiences,” with attractions on nearly 100 acres of land, Universal Parks—a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast—said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company did not say when construction would begin in Frisco’s $10 billion Fields development, where several other projects are planned, including a $500 million Omni hotel and the PGA headquarters, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

The company is also planning to open a significantly smaller 110,000-square-foot horror park on the Las Vegas Strip based on a Halloween-themed series of events at its flagship park in Orlando, Florida, Universal announced.

The company did not specify how much the projects would cost or how much they would charge for admission, though by comparison, Universal Studios’ 300-acre Beijing resort, which opened in September 2021, reportedly cost $6.5 billion to construct—double its original budget and $1 billion more than Disney’s Shanghai park ($5.5 billion).

Tangent

The news comes one month before Universal Studios plans to open a Nintendo-themed park at its Hollywood resort in Los Angeles, and as it constructs a massive expansion of its Orlando resort, called Epic Universe, which is set to open in 2025. In addition to its parks in California and Florida, Universal’s parent company NBC Universal also runs major resorts in Beijing, Singapore and Osaka, Japan.

Big Number

$5.1 billion. That’s how much NBCUniversal made in revenue off its theme parks in 2021—a 141.2% increase from 2020, when it suffered from temporary Covid-era closures and capacity limits, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In 2021, the theme park division still hadn’t caught up with pre-pandemic 2019, which logged $6.2 billion in revenue.

Further Reading

Universal Plans New Family Resort in Texas, Las Vegas Horror Attraction (Bloomberg)

Frisco is getting a kids-themed Universal Studios park (Dallas Morning News)

‘One-of-a-kind’ Universal Studios theme park is coming to Frisco (CBS News)