Some theme park lands ease you in. This one feels like someone fired a glitter cannon directly into a music festival. Welcome to DreamWorks’ TrollsFest at Universal Kids Resort.
Before we dig in, here’s what you need to know about this area of the theme park:
- DreamWorks’ TrollsFest is a themed land at Universal Kids Resort based on DreamWorks’ “Trolls” franchise. TrollsFest is structured like a music festival, with lots of spaces to dance, sing and play.
- There are multiple attractions in DreamWorks’ TrollsFest, including Rhonda’s TrollsFest Express, Hair In The Clouds, King Trollex Techno Dance Party and more.
- At the Troll-ify Me! Experience, kids can choose from Trolls-inspired face paints and get a 15-minute makeover, which includes themed headwear and costuming.
This is Poppy’s kind of party: colorful, loud, relentlessly cheerful and operating under the assumption that there is always time for one more song. Across the land, kids can ride, climb, dance, meet their favorite Trolls, eat extremely colorful food and, should the spirit move them, emerge with enough face paint to officially join the band.
For parents, the fun of DreamWorks’ TrollsFest is watching how quickly kids understand the assignment. Nobody has to explain that this is a place to move. Within approximately 30 seconds, somebody is dancing.
Here’s everything you need to know about DreamWorks’ TrollsFest at Universal Kids Resort.
What to Know About DreamWorks’ TrollsFest
The setup for this land is delightfully simple: TrollsFest is happening, and you’re invited. For families planning their day, it’s a colorful, high-energy area built around rides, play spaces, character moments and food.
Poppy, Branch and friends have gathered for a massive music festival in the Troll Kingdom, where singing loudly, dancing enthusiastically and dressing like a human highlighter are all highly encouraged. No matter when you walk into the land, the party is already in progress. There are concert stages, festival food, colorful decorations, places to play and, of course, plenty of Trolls ready to dance like bedtime is merely a suggestion.
Given the ongoing party atmosphere, families can experience DreamWorks’ TrollsFest at their own pace. There’s no one correct way to do it, which is useful when your group contains both a kid determined to climb everything and an adult determined to locate ice cream.
First time visiting the theme park? Check out our guide, “Everything to Know Before You Go to Universal Kids Resort.”
What To Do at DreamWorks’ TrollsFest
Rhonda’s TrollsFest Express
First up: Rhonda’s TrollsFest Express, a kid-friendly roller coaster starring the giant Armadillo Bus from the Trolls universe. Rhonda is an armadillo who comes straight from “Trolls Band Together,” where she’s both Pop Troll John Dory’s mode of transport and home on the road. After BroZone breaks up and the brothers go their separate ways, John Dory spends years living off the grid with Rhonda before reuniting with Branch and the rest of the family.
On the ride, guests climb aboard Rhonda for a twisting, turning ride through the festival grounds with Poppy, Branch and friends along for the journey. It’s playful rather than intimidating, making it a great “look, I rode it!” attraction for younger kids still building their theme park confidence.
Guests must be at least 36 inches tall, and children between 36 and 48 inches must ride with a supervising companion.
Parent translation: you’re probably riding the armadillo bus, too. There are worse jobs to have.
Hair in the Clouds
Hair in the Clouds takes the party upward.
Sheila B, the flower-faced balloon from “Trolls World Tour,” is back on transportation duty. This time, she has assembled a fleet of colorful, flower-faced balloons that literally lift guests into the air for views across TrollsFest. It’s breezy, bright and just thrilling enough to give younger riders that delicious “I AM SO HIGH UP!” feeling without turning the experience into a tiny existential crisis.
The minimum height is also 36 inches, with guests under 48 inches requiring a supervising companion.
Dance With King Trollex
Eventually, TrollsFest stops asking whether you want to dance and simply assumes you will. At King Trollex Techno Dance Party, families join King Trollex and his crew for an interactive show where the audience is very much part of the action. The space comes alive with colorful glow effects, high-energy music and enough movement to make standing politely on the sidelines feel almost impossible.
Rather than settling in for a traditional sit-down performance, kids and grown-ups are encouraged to get up, follow along and turn the whole thing into one big Trolls dance party. The emphasis here is participation. Wiggle. Jump. Dance strangely. Nobody cares.
Your child has been training for this exact social environment since birth. Possibly earlier.
Trollstastic: Concert Countdown
At Trollstastic: Concert Countdown, kids aren’t just watching the show. They’re helping make it happen.
This live show takes place in the Trolls AMPitheater and essentially turns the lead-up to a concert into the attraction itself. Young festivalgoers help get things ready for showtime by leading sound check, learning the dance moves and preparing to take the stage. Then, once everything is set, they get to jump into the spotlight alongside colorful Trolls characters and songs from the films.
So rather than sitting through a traditional performance from start to finish, kids get a clear role in moving the show toward its big concert moment.
This is where the kid-first philosophy of Universal Kids Resort really comes through. Children aren’t being asked to quietly sit and observe. They get a job. A very sparkly job.
Play Areas
Sometimes you arrive at a theme park attraction with a plan. Other times, your child sees a climbing structure and your plan is immediately canceled.
Poppy’s Playland and Trolls Critter Crawl are dry play areas that give kids room to climb, explore and burn through whatever mysterious reserve of energy remains after the dance party. At Universal Kids Resort, play areas aren’t filler between attractions. For plenty of kids, they are the attraction.
Poppy’s Playland is the smaller of the two. It has a more compact setup that works well for younger kids who want to climb and explore without vanishing into a giant play structure. Expect lots of bright colors, oversized Trolls-inspired details and enough sparkle to make the word “playground” feel wildly understated.
Trolls Critter Crawl is built for kids who want a little more adventure. Located near the Universal Kids Resort Theater, it features shaded areas and colorful, enclosed spaces kids can crawl and climb through, with plenty of little “what’s in there?” moments along the way.
Parent advice: build time for play into your day.
For more information on play areas throughout Universal Kids Resort read our complete guide here.
Who To Meet at DreamWorks’ TrollsFest
TrollsFest is a music festival where every guest gets backstage access. So naturally, you cannot attend TrollsFest without meeting the headliners. At Meet Poppy & Friends, families can meet Poppy, Branch and other members of the DreamWorks Trolls crew in a character experience that feels right at home in the festival.
Characters appear at scheduled times throughout the day rather than continuously, and the lineup can vary. Don’t assume Poppy, Branch and the whole crew will be waiting there together whenever you arrive. Check the daily schedule posted near the meet-and-greet for appearance times before promising anyone a hug with their favorite Troll.
The setting is packed with colorful felt, stitching and handmade details that look exactly like something Poppy spent six hours crafting before deciding it needed more glitter.
Bring your camera. Actually, make somebody else bring the camera. You may be too busy dancing to take pictures.
What To Eat and Drink at DreamWorks’ TrollsFest
Dancing is exhausting. It requires ample energy to burn. Luckily, TrollsFest has carbs.
Trolls Eatz! is the land’s main dining location, serving family-friendly dishes including pizza, pasta, salads and desserts. It’s an outdoor, quick-service spot with a large, fully covered seating area. That means families can take a proper break from the sun here without leaving the TrollsFest atmosphere behind. There’s plenty of room to sit, regroup and refuel before jumping back into the music festival chaos. In addition to the seating, the biggest win here is variety on the menu. Kids can find recognizable favorites, while grown-ups are not sentenced to eating the abandoned crust from somebody else’s pizza and calling it lunch.
For dessert, head to BroZone Cones, named for the Troll Kingdom’s most important contribution to boy-band culture. This is more of a grab-a-treat-and-keep-moving stop, with frozen desserts themed to BroZone and the aggressively colorful world around you. And yes, if you grab dessert from BroZone Cones, you can absolutely bring it over to Trolls Eatz! and claim a seat there too. Options include Poppy-Licious Pink, a pink lemonade soft serve topped with flower sprinkles, and BroZone Berry, a huckleberry soft serve with green leaf sprinkles. Chocolate, vanilla and swirl are also available for anyone whose child suddenly decides colorful food is suspicious.
That child exists, and I respect their boundaries.
Get a behind-the-scenes look into the food and beverage programming at Universal Kids Resort.
Where to Shop at DreamWorks’ TrollsFest
There are two approaches to TrollsFest fashion:
- You can buy a souvenir.
- You can become the souvenir.
At Sparkle Shine Glitter Glow, families can shop Trolls-inspired apparel and accessories, including colorful wigs, headwear, makeup and other pieces designed to help fans channel the Trolls crew. But the real headliner of Sparkle Shine Glitter Glow is the Troll-ify Me! Experience. Because of it, the shop feels less like a standard souvenir stop and more like the place to get fully concert-ready before heading back into TrollsFest. The Troll-ify Me! Experience is an approximately 15-minute makeover that lets guests choose character-inspired face paint, with optional packages that add kid-size headwear and cosplay clothing. The experience is recommended for guests ages 5 and older, and grown-ups can participate in the face-paint option. Because adulthood has taken enough from us already.
The Troll-ify Me! Experience is popular, so if this is a must-do for your child, treat it like something to plan ahead for rather than a walk-up extra. The makeover is a separately purchased park upgrade and booking it does not include admission to Universal Kids Resort. You’ll need a valid park ticket in addition to your Troll-ify Me! reservation.
For a more traditional souvenir stop, Mr. Dinkles’ Market offers TrollsFest shirts, character-themed gifts, accessories and other easy-to-grab keepsakes for kids who want to take a little bit of the festival home with them.
The Best Way to Experience TrollsFest With Kids
The best way to experience DreamWorks’ TrollsFest may be to resist the grown-up instinct to turn it into a checklist. Yes, ride Rhonda. Yes, fly above the festival. Absolutely get the ice cream.
But leave room for the moment your kid hears music and starts dancing for no apparent reason. Or decides Poppy’s Playland is the greatest thing anyone has ever constructed. Or meets Branch and suddenly forgets every sentence they rehearsed in line. TrollsFest is built around that kind of joy.
So sing loud.
Shine bright.
And maybe accept that you’ll be finding glitter in the car for the foreseeable future.
What are your kids heading for first at DreamWorks’ TrollsFest: the rides, the dance floor, the ice cream or a full Troll-ification? Tell us in the comments.
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