There's a reason so many people refer to a theme park trip as a "once-in-a-lifetime vacation."
Unless you live in Florida or Southern California, you are likely hundreds of miles away from a major theme park. On top of the distance, there's also budgeting, extensive planning and time away from work or school to consider. And if you're looking for the first time at how much it really costs to go to a major park like Disney World, well, be sure and sit down first. While there's no denying theme park vacations are magical and memorable, these real-world factors make them something most families can only undertake a handful of times, if ever.
But the newest trend in theme parks is poised to challenge the notion that theme park vacations are only for families who have the time and money to travel across the country and spend a week in the happiest place on earth.
Welcome to the "small world" of micro theme parks.
Related: How to start traveling for less with points and miles
A micro theme park is a small-scale themed amusement park that offers the same high-caliber attractions and entertainment as a major theme park but with a much smaller footprint. For example, Peppa Pig Theme Park in Winter Haven, Florida, covers only 4 1/2 acres. When I visited with my family last year, we were able to enjoy the entire park in a single day, with time to spare.
To put it in perspective, Walt Disney World's four theme parks span approximately 1,000 acres. You could fit about 220 Peppa Pig Theme Parks into that space. While micro theme parks are designed for one-day visits by locals or as a stop-off for visitors during a longer visit to a destination, major theme parks like Disney and Universal are destinations in and of themselves.
And while it was becoming increasingly common to find these micro parks close to major parks, such as Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World, they are now beginning to blaze a trail all their own.
Even though it is geographically in the middle of the country and has a population second only to that of California, Texas lacks a major theme park that draws significant crowds across state lines.
But micro parks may fill some of that void in the coming years. A Peppa Pig Theme Park is being built in the Dallas area with a planned 2024 opening. The park will be located in North Richland Hills, a suburb northeast of Fort Worth, with a similar size, layout and attractions as its Florida counterpart.
Related: 8 quirky US theme parks you have to see to believe
Less than an hour away in Frisco, Texas, Universal is in the planning stages of a 100-acre kid-friendly theme park designed for families with young children.
Ground has not yet been broken, nor have any attractions or an opening date
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