Another theme park is getting lined up to enter Dallas-Fort Worth as the region becomes a magnet for operators seeking to broaden their horizons.
Merlin Entertainments, the world's second-largest visitor attraction operator, plans to expand its North American presence with a Peppa Pig Theme Park in Dallas-Fort Worth. The park — Merlin's second standalone park themed after Peppa Pig — is expected to open in 2024. Merlin operates more than 140 attractions, with hotels and holiday villages, in 25 countries spanning four continents.
The Peppa Pig standalone theme park, with multiple rides, interactive attractions, themed playscapes and shows, is planned for the former Mountasia Family Fun Center, an amusement park once housed at 8851 26 Boulevard in North Richland Hills. Families with little children will be able to meet Peppa and her friends at the theme park, which is adjacent to the city's family water park.
Merlin CEO Scott O'Neil said the company's platform and reach continues to grow in the United States, building on the success of the first standalone Peppa Pig Theme Park in Florida. O'Neil said plans for the Peppa Pig park in the Dallas area are part of the company's natural next step in its expansion and roll out. Merlin has two other theme parks in the region: Legoland Discovery Center and Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine, Texas, which is about 19 miles away from the planned Peppa Pig park.
Plans for the Peppa Pig Theme Park arrive as Universal Parks & Resorts, which recently rebranded to Universal Destinations & Experiences, received the green light from city officials to build its proposed regional theme park in Frisco, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas. In making a concession to concerned residents of Frisco, Universal told the city it would build a walking path around the proposed park, which would be its first U.S. theme park outside of California and Florida.
Universal plans to release a construction timeline in the future.
With plans moving forward for the Peppa Pig and Universal theme parks, there's a growing density of theme parks in Dallas-Fort Worth, the nation's fourth-largest metropolitan area with more than 7.7 million residents. Dallas-Fort Worth also happens to be the corporate backyard of Six Flags Entertainment, a regional theme park company seeking to woo back millions of park-goers.
And it's likely not a coincidence, said Dennis Speigel, founder and CEO of International Theme Park Services in Cincinnati, who has tracked the amusement park industry for decades.
"There are 10 to 15 markets in the United States that could support this kind of project and North Texas is one of them," Speigel told CoStar News about plans for the Peppa Pig park. "Theme park owners are looking to create an entertainment critical mass in the area to capitalize on the bodies coming into and around that area."
With two other Merlin-branded attractions in Dallas-Fort Worth and rivals also looking at the region, it makes sense for Merlin to expand its presence in the growing market, Speigel said. It also doesn't hurt to come to a state where visitors don't mind driving.
"We always laugh, Texans can get in a car and drive three hours for lunch," Speigel said.
Like a fast-food restaurant, theme parks seem to feed off each other and want to be located next to one another, he said. And there's a continued demand for theme parks.
"Parks are exploding all over the world," Speigel added. "We are getting two to three inquires for locations every week from all over the world. Everybody wants to be entertained."
Merlin has a licensing agreement with Hasbro, the owner of the Peppa Pig brand to build and operate Peppa Pig attractions targeted to pre-school children. This new Peppa Pig Theme Park will offer more "meaningful ways for families to engage with our brands," said Matt Proulx, vice president of location-based entertainment at Hasbro.