One more concept park is finding lined up to enter Dallas-Fort Well worth as the location will become a magnet for operators looking for to broaden their horizons.
Merlin Entertainments, the world’s second-major visitor attraction operator, strategies to grow its North American presence with a Peppa Pig Concept Park in Dallas-Fort Worth. The park — Merlin’s 2nd standalone park themed after Peppa Pig — is predicted to open up in 2024. Merlin operates additional than 140 sights, with resorts and vacation villages, in 25 nations spanning four continents.
The Peppa Pig standalone topic park, with numerous rides, interactive points of interest, themed playscapes and displays, is planned for the former Mountasia Spouse and children Entertaining Centre, an amusement park after housed at 8851 26 Boulevard in North Richland Hills. Family members with small young children will be able to meet Peppa and her pals at the concept park, which is adjacent to the city’s family members water park.
Merlin CEO Scott O’Neil stated the firm’s platform and get to proceeds to increase in the United States, developing on the accomplishment of the to start with standalone Peppa Pig Theme Park in Florida. O’Neil reported designs for the Peppa Pig park in the Dallas location are section of the company’s purely natural following move in its expansion and roll out. Merlin has two other theme parks in the area: Legoland Discovery Heart and Sea Existence Aquarium in Grapevine, Texas, which is about 19 miles absent from the planned Peppa Pig park.
Designs for the Peppa Pig Topic Park get there as Universal Parks & Resorts, which not long ago rebranded to Universal Destinations & Encounters, received the green mild from city officers to establish its proposed regional theme park in Frisco, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas. In producing a concession to worried citizens of Frisco, Universal instructed the city it would create a going for walks path around the proposed park, which would be its initial U.S. topic park outside of California and Florida.
Universal plans to release a development timeline in the potential.
With plans shifting ahead for the Peppa Pig and Universal topic parks, there is certainly a rising density of concept parks in Dallas-Fort Well worth, the nation’s fourth-largest metropolitan space with additional than 7.7 million inhabitants. Dallas-Fort Well worth also takes place to be the company backyard of 6 Flags Enjoyment, a regional concept park firm trying to find to woo again tens of millions of park-goers.
And it truly is likely not a coincidence, stated Dennis Speigel, founder and CEO of Global Concept Park Products and services in Cincinnati, who has tracked the amusement park market for a long time.
“There are 10 to 15 marketplaces in the United States that could assist this variety of task and North Texas is just one of them,” Speigel informed CoStar Information about strategies for the Peppa Pig park. “Topic park proprietors are on the lookout to develop an amusement vital mass in the area to capitalize on the bodies coming into and about that region.”
With two other Merlin-branded sights in Dallas-Fort Worthy of and rivals also searching at the location, it can make sense for Merlin to grow its presence in the escalating market, Speigel mentioned. It also will not harm to come to a condition where readers don’t head driving.
“We usually snicker, Texans can get in a motor vehicle and generate 3 hrs for lunch,” Speigel said.
Like a fast-food items cafe, topic parks appear to feed off each and every other and want to be found next to just one a further, he mentioned. And you can find a ongoing need for theme parks.
“Parks are exploding all about the world,” Speigel included. “We are having two to three inquires for destinations each week from all above the environment. All people would like to be entertained.”
Merlin has a licensing settlement with Hasbro, the owner of the Peppa Pig brand name to create and run Peppa Pig attractions targeted to pre-college young children. This new Peppa Pig Theme Park will give extra “meaningful techniques for people to have interaction with our makes,” mentioned Matt Proulx, vice president of spot-dependent amusement at Hasbro.
