Universal Parks & Resorts recently announced a new park coming to Fresco, Texas, and we wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the announcement, the concept art, and speculate a bit on what’s coming to the park.

First of all, the announcement from Universal clearly notes that it is “specifically designed to inspire fun for families with young children. The new park concept, set in a lush green landscape and featuring immersive themed lands, celebrates Universal’s iconic brand of entertainment, humor and innovation and brings to life its beloved characters and stories in ways that will wow even the youngest theme park goers.”

The park is designed to appeal to younger audiences, so likely won’t feature some of the more thrilling rides we’ve come to expect from the Florida and California parks, though we’ll talk about some of the rides in the concept here in a second. In addition to family-friendly attractions, there will be interactive shows, character meets and greets, and of course merchandise, food and beverage.

Part of 97 acres of land recently purchased by the company, the proposed park also has plans for an adjacent themed hotel and room for expansion. For comparison, Universal Studios Florida, a theme park located in Orlando, Fl., is 125 acres. Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park, also in Orlando, is 110 acres.

Universal Parks & Resorts selected the city of Frisco, in North Texas, as the area for this new concept given the city’s growing population and ability to attract businesses to the area. The proposed location for the new concept is situated east of the Dallas North Tollway and north of Panther Creek Parkway.

So, while Universal themselves have yet to announce the themed lands in the new park, the concept art does hint at what could potentially be coming. Note that the concept art is obviously very early, and final designs and themes are likely to change, but it’s fun to speculate.

The entry portal in the concept art seems to point to two general things – one, the rooms at the front could either be themed rooms and office space, similar to the entry way at Universal Studios Orlando, or could actually be a hotel, as mentioned in the press release. Also, the signage above the entry way, and the cloud theming do also seem to point to potentially a heavy Dreamworks theme in the park, though one of the lands in the concept art is clearly an exception to that.

To the right of the entryway, we seem to have what our first themed land is. Given the bright colors and flower decor, I’m guessing this land is themed to the Dreamworks Trolls movies. While there aren’t a ton of visible rides in the concept art, there are a few that show here, and some umbrella covering for what’s likely dining.

Moving up from there, we see a forestlike land that is adjacent to a castle – this seems pretty clearly to either be Shrek, or maybe a combination of characters from Far Far Away. With a new Shrek movie on the horizon, I would not be surprised that Universal is investing in making Shrek more prevalent in the new park – besides, people, including myself, still love watching the movies.

Before we get to our next themed land, it does look like, in the center of the park in the lagoon, there is a boat ride that, at least in this concept art, is intended to kind of go around the entire park – you can see it in multiple places. Now, is it a thrilling boat ride with a drop or a more leisurely experience? I’d venture towards the latter.

On the top left of the concept art, we see clearly a land themed to Jurassic Park, with some family rides, more outdoor covered seating and, most interestingly, a hint of a roller coaster in the distance.

Now, the land under Jurassic Park is where I’m unclear. Could this just be more Jurassic Park? It does seem to have a separate portal for entry, so I think it may be something else – either a generic fun area for dining  and kids play, or perhaps, and maybe I’m reading too much into it, but maybe there is some asian inspired decor that could hint at Kung Fu Panda? This land is definitely one that’s hard to say.

Update – current rumors actually have this land being themed to Madagascar.

What do you think is coming to the Universal Park coming to Frisco Texas? What do you think the mysterious land will be? Leave us a comment at the YouTube link above, and while you’re down there, go ahead and give us a thumbs up, because it really helps us out, and hit the subscribe button and notification bell, so you’re notified when we release our next video.