Universal Destinations and Experiences will open Universal Kids Resort in Frisco on July 1, 2026, the company announced May 28, ending more than three years of construction at the northeast corner of the Dallas Parkway and Panther Creek Parkway. The 97-acre site is the sixth Universal resort worldwide and the company's first park built specifically for families with children ages 3 to 11.
Tickets and the park
Single-day general admission begins at $54.99 on lower-demand weekdays and runs up to $79.99 over Labor Day Weekend (Rosenbaum and Candido, 2026). Two-day tickets start at $73.99, and the new Silver Annual Pass is priced at $129.99, or $164.99 with parking included (The Disney Food Blog, 2026). Children age 2 and under enter free.
The resort includes a 300-room hotel at the park entrance and seven themed lands built around DreamWorks, Illumination, Nickelodeon, and Universal properties, including Shrek's Swamp, Jurassic World Adventure Camp, SpongeBob SquarePants' Bikini Bottom, and a land themed to Gabby's Dollhouse (Universal Destinations and Experiences, 2026).
The economic case
The opening activates a development agreement Frisco approved in March 2023. Universal committed to a minimum $550 million capital investment in exchange for $12.7 million in performance-based incentives, all drawn from sales tax the project generates (City of Frisco, 2023). City staff projected the park would deliver $3 million annually in direct property and sales tax to the General Fund, or $30 million over ten years, with an indirect economic impact estimated at $1.5 billion over the same period.
Universal projects 175 full-time and 1,400 seasonal or part-time positions at the resort, a workforce of roughly 1,575 jobs concentrated in attractions, hospitality, and food service. Mayor Jeff Cheney framed the deal as a tax-base diversification strategy. "The tourism revenue and increase to our tax base help us maintain a low tax rate which, ultimately, improves quality of life for our residents," Cheney said when the council approved the agreement (City of Frisco, 2023).
Residents remain divided
The agreement passed despite organized opposition from nearby neighborhoods. At a January 2023 public meeting reported by Fox 4 News, residents raised concerns about traffic, property values, and the city's suburban identity. "We feel it is precisely that quality of life that's in danger if we start bringing in theme parks to encroach on what is essentially a bedroom community," one resident said (Battah, 2023). Homeowners in Cobb Hill, located about 1,000 feet from the park boundary, expressed concern about traffic and home values. Cheney compared the projected traffic load to other recent retail developments, saying the site was "anticipated to have less of a traffic impact than the new H-E-B grocery store." Universal subsequently agreed to scale down portions of the original design.