Written by Hot on the heels of recent report (found HERE) that the Mattel themed amusement park currently under construction in Glendale, Arizona called “Mattel Adventure Park” might not have its grand opening until 2025… comes the announcement that a second park will be coming to the state of Kansas!
That’s right! It has just been announced that a second Mattel Adventure Park will be constructed in Bonner Springs, Kansas and will reportedly feature all the same rides as the park being built in Glendale, Arizona.
This means the guests who attend the Kansas theme park location will also be able to experience the “He-Man Versus Skeletor Laser Tag” in a giant 4,500 square foot Castle Grayskull.
The “Mattel Adventure Park” in Bonner Springs, Kansas is expected to open sometime in 2026.
We’ll see you next time.
I wonder if they plan to build these parks in other countries and not just the United States.
I do not see these being very successful. I do not think the appeal of Mattel properties is strong enough to entice people to travel to places like Arizona and Kansas. Americans get very little vacation time, and these are not exactly travel destinations. Unlike theme parks in California and Florida, there is not much to do outside of these attractions. So if vacationers are going to these parks, the park is likely going to be the entirety of their vacation. And these do not seem grand enough for that.
I donno about that. I live right outside of Cleveland OH. About 60 miles west we have Cedar point Amusement park in a small town and people come from all over the world to come to it. They just have to make it good and a reason that people want to come to it. If it is cheesy then yeah it has a few years tops.
So the middle of nowhere. Why don’t they build this you know, in a place that actually has a lot of people? Or at least somewhere that isn’t dull as dishwater? 🤣
Mattel is actually being very smart about these, and clearly is pretty confident as they are already developing more of them before the first one opens.
Basically, when it comes to their properties in theme parks, Mattel has two options – license their IP (which it’s unlikely Disney or Universal level parks would really do, so they would end up at Six Flags, etc. at best) where they just get a flat fee with little to no involvement, or go out on their own making these smaller parks for themselves.
These are not meant to be week-long vacation destinations for 10’s of millions of people a year like Florida or California parks, but regional day parks where people who live within a reasonable driving distance come to spend the day, or if they are within a day’s drive maybe come for a night or two or a weekend trip. You can bet Mattel very carefully picked these locations to maximize that accessibility. Glendale, AZ is a regional hub for sports and concerts, for example – so people plan a short trip there to go to an event, and stay the night to do the park the next day before they head home.
The biggest cost of theme parks besides actual construction is R&D, and once they have done that for the one park, it’s just a matter of cloning them in various areas around the country. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they are envisioning having a dozen of these in various areas in the next 5-10 years. If they are successful, I have no doubt that there are Phase II plans already in the development stages of having a hotel at each one, as well.
What’s smart about them going this route is that if they just plunked one of these down in Orlando or Los Angeles, there is just so much competition. They face little direct competition where they are putting these, but are also in areas with complementary things to do/reasons to be there that this would be an attractive add-on on top of the folks who will travel a reasonable distance to make it their main destination.
NBCUniversal holds the entertainment rights to MotU and PoP. It would actually be smarter to get MotU and PoP attractions in Universal Studios theme parks. That immediate places their IPs on the same level as Disney Parks. Instead, they are trying to build something they can own from the ground up. It is a bigger risk, especially in a time when theme parks are struggling.
This is about 3 hours away from me, so I can definitely see myself going especially if they add more MOTU stuff besides the Lazer tag. They do already have a Worlds of Fun amusement park in nearby Kansas City that has been there for decades, so it it a bit of a risk.