Haunted Attraction Network

Universal has priced its new Universal Kids Resort 50% above local family-market alternatives, but does it justify the markup? The early evidence is not flattering.

The 20-acre Frisco park opened for press previews this week ahead of its July 1 launch, priced from $54.99 on weekdays to $79.99 over Labor Day weekend, and aimed at children aged 5 to 9. The response so far has been less than favorable, with attendees describing the park as under-themed and lacking shade.

A family of four runs about $220 to $320 before parking and food, against $50 to $130 at local zoos, museums, indoor water parks, and family entertainment centers, most of which are climate-controlled or shaded. Universal spent the last decade positioning Epic as the premium ceiling of the brand, and selling a cheaper, simpler product under the same flag undermines that positioning.

Proponents argue that "kids that age like anything," but if that’s the case, why not visit any of the local alternatives?

Meanwhile, Epic Universe announced Universal Celestial Goodnight, its first nighttime spectacular debuting July 7, with 600 synchronized light fixtures, 350 large-scale fountains, 7 million LED lights, and a fireworks finale across Celestial Park.

This week is a rapid fire news catch-up.

Oogie Boogie Bash. Disneyland is replacing the Frightfully Fun parade with a Madame Leota's Swinging Wake cavalcade for 2026. For a limited-ticket event, swapping wait-and-watch for come-and-go gives guests more of their evening back, as long as it's well executed.

Magic of Disney Animation. Disney detailed the new Hollywood Studios building, designed as a set of small interactive rooms. This is the micro-visit logic: one room is satisfying, three are satisfying, all of it is satisfying.

Universal United Kingdom Resort. Universal's UK park is now officially named. How it positions itself relative to the existing European market remains an open question, and the company has not addressed it.

Universal Kids Resort. Opens July 1 in Frisco, Texas, at $54 a day, about half the price of a regular Universal ticket, with marketing that leans into appealing to both the child and the caregiver in the same line.

Hagrid's and Tokyo Disney. Universal Orlando pulled Express Pass from Hagrid's, and Tokyo Disney ended free Priority Pass on August 31. Both moves aim to simplify queue systems to restore overall capacity.

Carousel of Progress. Walt Disney World closes the attraction on July 6 to time-shift its scenes from 1900, 1920, and 1940 to 1969, 1985, and 2000, with Walt himself returning as an audio-animatronic. Nostalgia needs a frame of reference, and the original scenes had passed out of living memory, which is the whole point of moving them forward.

Disney and Six Flags both shared details about new projects, and this week, we’ll compare them.

Disney announced the story behind Monstropolis, the new Monsters, Inc. land coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios. The experience is built around H.U.M.A.N. Day, short for “Humans Understand Monsters Are Nice”, a citywide celebration that brings humans into the monster world for the first time. Set after the events of the original film, the story builds on James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski's discovery that human laughter is significantly more powerful than screams.

Cast members work as human relations representatives, and the conflict arises from monsters who are not sold on the idea, including those from a Child Detection Agency. Beyond the suspended Monsters, Inc. coaster, Disney detailed a theater show built around H.U.M.A.N. Day that it says uses technology it has never attempted.

Theme park lands struggle from a lack of exposition time, and this framing solves that cleanly, while giving guests a solid role in the story. Moreover, it helps cast members answer one question about the guest in front of them: "Who is this parkgoer to me?"

Meanwhile, Six Flags Fiesta Texas announced Werewolf Gorge for its 35th anniversary season, a Vekoma family launch coaster opening in 2027 and the longest in park history at 4,120 feet, with four launches and speeds up to 45 mph. Guests are on a tour of an abandoned 19th-century Texas silver mine led by Jasper Bunyan, a roadside showman who has turned the haunted quarry into a tourist trap. Bunyan loads visitors onto a mining train for what he sells as a sightseeing run through the gorge, but the tour turns into a high-speed escape when a centuries-old werewolf curse comes back to life around them. The queue runs through two themed rooms, a Museum of Cryptids and a Werewolf Museum, that set up Bunyan's character and the local legend before riders board. For Six Flags, this is a real step up in storytelling. However, the story lives almost entirely in the queue, with no surrounding land to reinforce it and no role for the guest beyond a tourist on a tour.

nited Parks Q1 was rough across the board: attendance & revenue were down, and the net loss widened to $34.1 million. CEO Marc Swanson blamed unfavorable weather (again) and a decline in international visitation. Despite the misses, United Parks repurchased approximately 2.6 million shares for nearly $93 million, reiterating its belief, as in last QTR, that the stock is materially undervalued.

Meanwhile, the next Sphere installation was announced for Miral's Yas Island in Abu Dhabi — a $1.7 billion, 20,000-seat venue going up right next to SeaWorld Abu Dhabi and the Yas Mall, with construction set to finish by 2029. The Sphere business model has proven out in Vegas through concerts and immersive entertainment; the open question is whether Yas Island has the population density to fill 20,000 seats at the cadence Vegas does (and whether that even matters).

Also: Tokyo Disney's second-year Summer Cool-off event is a textbook example of mitigating heat and leaning local.

Six Flags posted a strong Q1: 2.9 million guests (+4%), net revenues up 12% to $225.6 million, and per-cap spending up 6% to $69.26. More interesting, though, is that the new regional pass is driving cross-park visitation, and CEO John Reilly named SoCal and Texas as the markets where the pass is already working. Six Flags is leaning into this by announcing expanded summer programming and teasing new holiday programming at select parks. As some budget-conscious guests look to trim spending, Six Flags is positioned well geographically to capture that ‘trade-down’ demand.

Disney beat on the top and bottom: $25.17 billion in revenue (+7%) and adjusted EPS of $1.57. The stock popped about 7% on the day. Experiences revenue hit a Q2 record at $9.49 billion, with operating income of $2.6 billion, even as domestic parks attendance fell 1% on softer international visitation. Per-capita spending at domestic parks was up 5%. Hugh Johnston said the company has not seen any change in consumer behavior due to elevated gas prices, and Disney World forward bookings are pacing strongly, even with a 40% increase in cruise capacity. The most striking move on the call was Josh D'Amaro's reframing of Disney+ as the centerpiece of the company calling it "the single most significant opportunity" the company has.

Six Flags St. Louis ended opening day early after fights involving as many as 100 juveniles, then reinstated what may be the strictest chaperone policy the industry has seen: guests 16 and under must be accompanied by a 21-plus chaperone, with a max of 6 guests per chaperone, daily, all operating hours. ICON Park introduced a similar policy the same week. Philip and Scott break down the "takeover trend," Scott's case that this is the first step toward the end of the family theme park, and the upstream question nobody is solving — why these kids are bored enough to organize fights at parks in the first place.
Then: Walt Disney World set the earliest start date ever for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party — August 7, 2026 — with a 38-night run, MNSSHP tickets ranging $119 to $229, and almost no new content beyond a Stitch-hosted dance party in Tomorrowland. We argue the calendar extension is the actual product, with Merlin's disclosure that October now drives roughly a fifth of its annual profit as the supporting case for why everyone is leaning harder into the Halloween shoulder.