Universal Kids Resort - Frisco, Texas

[themeparktribune]

I think it's wrong to assume any influencer, blogger, or theme park pundit is, in essence, in the tank for any particular company based off one or even a few reviews. That's not at all enough to even guess what their motivation is. Don't accuse someone of being a "shill" just because you disagree with one opinion.

However, if some content creator in this space never reviews anything unfavorably -- why wouldn't the audience reasonably question their perspective and what their motivation may be? There's no way I could trust a person that can never seem to say that something in a theme park isn't worth the money or just straight up sucks. We all could name some experiences in Disney and Universal that fit those descriptions. I also wouldn't trust anyone who reviews everything negatively either.

It sort of comes down to who you're serving through your content. To me, it should be about informing your reader, listener, or viewer and maintaining their trust above all else.

Now let's be very clear who is to blame for this environment in the theme park space: it's the fault of Disney and Universal and other theme parks.

We know, and all content creators know, that bad reviews and criticism do indeed get punished by PR reps. If that wasn't the case, and perhaps if media event access was only contingent on following and reach and nothing else, the audience could trust that each reviewer was being honest. But as long as someone is willing to play ball and say everything's great no matter what, this is our reality.

I think it would help if theme park content creators injected a level of journalism-style ethics into how they gather and present information, but I think that's enough time on my soapbox for now.

 

[Andysol]

UKR's biggest strength is its people. Universal had to staff this park without being able to pull experienced Team Members from Islands of Adventure or USF, as they did for Epic Universe. The kids they hired are pretty awesome.

Yes, they really did a great job with staffing. Everyone we encountered was super nice, helpful and felt like they actually wanted to be there.

The area certainly lends to that type of employee. It’s an affluent family-focused burb in Texas.

Even if they don’t like you they’ll still hold the door for you with a smile and give you a “bless your heart”

But, yes. I knew the TMs would be exemplary here. Universal does a great job with hiring and training and it’s noticeable the difference between them and say a six flags.

Curious- how are the ride operation/turnover times on something like the coaster?

 

[Jake S]

I think it would help if theme park content creators injected a level of journalism-style ethics into how they gather and present information, but I think that's enough time on my soapbox for now.

I agree with this, but what complicates matters here is that even if you pay your own way you can be trespassed from these parks if you piss off the wrong people. It’s an especially toxic form of access journalism, which is of course quite toxic in and of itself.

 

[themeparktribune]

I agree with this, but what complicates matters here is that even if you pay your own way you can be trespassed from these parks if you piss off the wrong people. It’s an especially toxic form of access journalism, which is of course quite toxic in and of itself.

That’s possible, but would take an especially vindictive PR staff and they’d be risking attracting more negative attention — and these are usually very risk-averse people. I’ve reported some unflattering stories and I only got some testy phone calls…and never being invited to media previews at certain parks.

 

[AustinT]

'The Flight Crew' on Youtube has about the best on the ground look under the lens of a local young mom with a child, who is also familiar with Disney/Universal parks. She gave a very fair look at everything, explained her biggest critiques (lack of shade/AC, lack of indoor rides, things needing more paint/color, etc), and ultimately concluded that she'd go back but not in the heat of the summer.



She also mentioned that the surface of a ride vehicle or two were so hot to the point they were painful and TMs were spraying water on them to cool them down. That's shocking to me. Universal never though this through or tested out how hot the seats could get being out in the sun all day? We're not even at the hottest part of the year yet. She also commented on the over-reliance of spinning rides and how it limited what she'd do with her kid but I guess when you think of cheap flat rides, most are spinners of some type.

I also noticed an indoor theater that wasn't open yet (said "coming soon" on the marquee) and I don't recall seeing that pointed out much anywhere else. If they got any kind of short movie in there, that would be a nice indoor attraction for people to escape the heat too.

 

[Brian G.]

I don't think we're supposed to post video links here, but 'The Flight Crew' on Youtube has about the best on the ground look under the lens of a local young mom with a child, who is also familiar with Disney/Universal parks. She gave a very fair look at everything, explained her biggest critiques (lack of shade/AC, lack of indoor rides, things needing more paint/color, etc), and ultimately concluded that she'd go back but not in the heat of the summer.

She also mentioned that the surface of a ride vehicle or two were so hot to the point they were painful and TMs were spraying water on them to cool them down. That's shocking to me. Universal never though this through or tested out how hot the seats could get being out in the sun all day? We're not even at the hottest part of the year yet. She also commented on the over-reliance of spinning rides and how it limited what she'd do with her kid but I guess when you think of cheap flat rides, most are spinners of some type.

I also noticed an indoor theater that wasn't open yet (said "coming soon" on the marquee) and I don't recall seeing that pointed out much anywhere else. If they got any kind of short movie in there, that would be a nice indoor attraction for people to escape the heat too.

Video links are allowed to be shared.