Universal Kids Resort - Frisco, Texas

[Parkscope Joe]

I'm intrigued to see how much this costs to construct (The minimum requirement is $550m) and what Universal's pricing target is. With them mentioning the possibility of additional US locations, I'm wondering how much revenue they are actually expecting to achieve. The last thing I want for them to do is pull resources away from UOR/USH and find out a decade later this wasn't worth the investment.

Do they go bold and price it around $80-100? Or do they price it at a lower level similar to nearby Six Flags at around $50-60?

Well, they have to prep the land, build the whole park, build the hotel, pave the parking lot, etc. $550 feels like a lot till you realize SNW was around $575m itself.

I'm guessing it's similar to Sesame Place-- a "regular ticket" is priced at $99 but hardly anyone pays that price with online pricing and coupons at the park.

I can see them pushing two day tickets and annual passes like Sesame. Peppa Pig advertises a low price ($34) but a casual glance online shows that park is usually around $50. $79 for one day, $99 for two days, annual passes at $199 makes a lot of sense.

 

[Jerroddragon]

It will be interesting to see the prices because while I know land in Texas is up. Most costs there should be down compared to Florida but especially CA. So hopefully tickets dont get above 80 bucks

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Well, they have to prep the land, build the whole park, build the hotel, pave the parking lot, etc. $550 feels like a lot till you realize SNW was around $575m itself.

Well aware this thing is cheaper than a typical theme park project. But they seem very excited about the prospect of getting this thing into other cities and the sooner this provides positive cash flow, the faster they can prop more of these with this project financing the other developments partially without restraining USH/UOR.

I ran a pretty simple model and assumed an average ticket price of $89 with 260 operating days and the hotel rate at $189 w/ 85% occupancy, this thing will take about 10 years to go positive assuming they reach 1mil annual visitors in just 3 years.

(I'm not against this project at all - I just want to know the business case behind this lol)

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Well aware this thing is cheaper than a typical theme park project. But they seem very excited about the prospect of getting this thing into other cities and the sooner this provides positive cash flow, the faster they can prop more of these with this project financing the other developments partially without restraining USH/UOR.

I ran a pretty simple model and assumed an average ticket price of $89 with 260 operating days and the hotel rate at $189 w/ 85% occupancy, this thing will take about 10 years to go positive assuming they reach 1mil annual visitors in just 3 years.

(I'm not against this project at all - I just want to know the business case behind this lol)

Don’t forget food and beverage, parking, express upgrades, cabanas (I bet they have them), character dining, merchandise, etc. Butterbeer alone is rumored to have paid for the original Wizarding World very quickly.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Don’t forget food and beverage, parking, express upgrades, cabanas (I bet they have them), character dining, merchandise, etc. Butterbeer alone is rumored to have paid for the original Wizarding World very quickly.

I am taking all of that into account as well, my models are very detailed lol

 

[GAcoaster]

That $22 per cap is WAY too low. The SeaWorld parks see in park per cap of ~$38 with total per cap around $79.

Parking is nearly pure profit and $20 is low since the competition is already over $25.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

That $22 per cap is WAY too low. The SeaWorld parks see in park per cap of ~$38 with total per cap around $79.

Parking is nearly pure profit and $20 is low since the competition is already over $25.

Even with those changes, we're still looking at a 9-year window for profitability.

And I made very low operating expense assumptions.

 

[tielo]

I am taking all of that into account as well, my models are very detailed lol

View attachment 18630

I miss food, drinks and merch.

 

[Jerroddragon]

100 bucks for this park? I hope not

Parking will be 25ish bucks so I really hope this park is priced fairly or I think it will slump in attendance pretty hard.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

100 bucks for this park? I hope not

Parking will be 25ish bucks so I really hope this park is priced fairly or I think it will slump in attendance pretty hard.

I've been a theme park fan all these years but never cared to look into Legoland/Sesame Place ticket prices... and I was shocked to find that they are actually in the $70-100 range. Universal themselves mentioned they are expecting to target an average 7Kish guests per day... so 1.5m annual guests is their expectation. Very bullish

 

[Jake S]

worth noting that six flags over texas is charging $40 for parking.

source: https://www.sixflags.com/overtexas/store/one-day-add-ons

what a time to be alive.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I guess we will see what the Market allows, for me its something I'd want to do with family when I'm out there but if its going to cost what USH does which is 40 mins from me, then I might only go like once every 5 Plus years. If its a primimun park cool but paying as much if not more then USH, no thanks.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

worth noting that six flags over texas is charging $40 for parking.

source: https://www.sixflags.com/overtexas/store/one-day-add-ons

what a time to be alive.

It's amazing how shortsighted theme park companies can be and then blame attendance reductions on "external influences."

I guess we will see what the Market allows, for me its something I'd want to do with family when I'm out there but if its going to cost what USH does which is 40 mins from me, then I might only go like once every 5 Plus years. If its a primimun park cool but paying as much if not more then USH, no thanks.

The goal of this project is to convince locals to visit for a short 1-2 day trip, not people planning a vacation.

 

[Jake S]

It's amazing how shortsighted theme park companies can be and then blame attendance reductions on "external influences."

I believe this is six flags' latest attempt to sell you a season pass. all season passes now include parking. so, when you get sticker shock by seeing how expensive parking is, you rationalize buying a $70 season pass.

they're basically negging you into coming to their theme parks more often. it's a good company.

 

[GAcoaster]

The reason why Universal and SeaWorld and Merlin are all building these parks is they are cheap to build and profitable. I can't believe it would be a 10 year timeframe to recoup investment. I have a feeling the percap must be ridiculously high with food and merch for kids.

I know from running a movie theater the concessions on kids movies blew away the "adult" movies with each kid needing their own soda, their own popcorn, their own candy, and most adults not wanting to deal with the hassles of sharing things which would have been far cheaper. The same kind of thing applies with all these parks-- high markups on food and merch and kids NEEDING that stuff. Disney knows it which is why they have been targeting 8 year old girls above all other guests.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

The reason why Universal and SeaWorld and Merlin are all building these parks is they are cheap to build and profitable. I can't believe it would be a 10 year timeframe to recoup investment. I have a feeling the percap must be ridiculously high with food and merch for kids.

I know from running a movie theater the concessions on kids movies blew away the "adult" movies with each kid needing their own soda, their own popcorn, their own candy, and most adults not wanting to deal with the hassles of sharing things which would have been far cheaper. The same kind of thing applies with all these parks-- high markups on food and merch and kids NEEDING that stuff. Disney knows it which is why they have been targeting 8 year old girls above all other guests.

I agree that it will be very profitable and there will always be money in childrens' entertainment. But I don't think we should be expecting similar per capita spending here as the other Universal parks.

If they somehow manage to get to the "best-case" scenario of reaching their desired 7,500 average visitors per day in 3 years (that's a wild 2 million guests a year - achievable, but not so sure in 3 years), we're looking at a quick 8-year return.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

The major costs will probably be theming and water features, the rides will probably cost like $5 mil at most, and maybe a couple of hundred-thousand dollars for the flat rides?

Somebody could probably take the graphic of all the Zamperla flat rides and do a cost breakdown of how much a new installation would cost for each specific ride system.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

worth noting that six flags over texas is charging $40 for parking.

source: https://www.sixflags.com/overtexas/store/one-day-add-ons

what a time to be alive.

FWIW the land around SFOT is insanely expensive, to the point people have talked about the park shutting down and sold (That's another story for another time).

 

[TheUniC6]

The major costs will probably be theming and water features, the rides will probably cost like $5 mil at most, and maybe a couple of hundred-thousand dollars for the flat rides?

Somebody could probably take the graphic of all the Zamperla flat rides and do a cost breakdown of how much a new installation would cost for each specific ride system.

Another common ride systems I see being used at these kid friendly Universal parks is the moving walkway from Villain Con. But I would hope they would also create a real dark ride or an interactive attraction like Web Slingers or Midway Mania

 

[Cygnus]

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