Volcano Bay

[jade1]

I need to go to all of this at least once. I renewed our passes this year against my better judgment. I wanted to purchase Universal passes this year. Wanna know why I didn't? I don't want to pay to park at their hotels. If I am staying there, I expect free parking.

Done it to death over there. But its still a great day trip-usually one of our best days since it's coupled with a Disney park that night with FP+ and shows. No interest in staying there anymore. But if you've never been, heck yea.

Maybe just think the hotel price would be higher if it included parking-kinda mind over matter type thing.

 

[Madonna3]

Done it to death over there. But its still a great day trip-usually one of our best days since it's coupled with a Disney park that night with FP+ and shows. No interest in staying there anymore. But if you've never been, heck yea.

Maybe just think the hotel price would be higher if it included parking-kinda mind over matter type thing.

Yeah, I'm trying to find a way to get over it. I was hoping I could get a sale ticket or something in the off season.

 

[Madonna3]

They must be doing something right is they can keep high attendance numbers for this long. I never said there product was the best but in order to keep high attendance some quality must be there. I have only been to one of Disney's water parks that being typhoon lagoon but I thought it was great. It's also just not Disney that makes you carry tubes. Many water parks do. I live in WI, we have the Wisconsin Dells which is considered the Water Park capital of the US. It is also home to one of the largest water parks in the US. I still find the theming and overall quality better at a Disney water park however Disney could innovate/update a bit more at their water parks.

I like Disney water parks very much. Again, attendance does not dictate quality. I go to Disney water parks all the time, but Universal has conquered my two biggest complaints with water parks. Just because it's done elsewhere doesn't mean it's the way it should be done. Hauling those heavy tubes up the steps is dangerous imo.

Convenience and inclusivity are the reasons the numbers are up imo

 

[BigRed98]

Volcano Bay looks cool but I hate how I see all the slides and the supports. I think the idea of Volcano Bay is very cool but from pictures it looks like its lacking a little bit of theming compared to Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach.

 

[Spacepest]

I'm really interested to see how the Tapu Tapu wristband works out. One of my biggest problems with going to a water park nowadays is that I cannot stand in a long line for a ride without my leg cramping up (cold and dampness do this), making it difficult, sometimes almost even impossible to walk afterwards. Most of my day at waterparks now consists of me sitting in a warm body of water or lazy river and maybe doing a ride if the line is really short, trying to get on and off the ride and back to someplace warmer before my leg cramps up. Being able to reserve a spot in line with a wristband would be great for me...and I'm sure there are other people out there with similar physical problems who would feel the same.

 

[JaxDad]

I had some recent photos in there too. I still don't think everything will be finished by opening.

Just out of curiosity, is there some particular feature(s) you don't think will be finished? I'm a PE and PMP with some construction experience (nothing near this large-scale), and I'm hesitant to predict success or failure based on just these videos and images. If I could see their in-house schedule, daily reports, testing results, on-the-ground time-definite photos, etc., I MIGHT be willing to do so...

 

[rteetz]

Just out of curiosity, is there some particular feature(s) you don't think will be finished? I'm a PE and PMP with some construction experience (nothing near this large-scale), and I'm hesitant to predict success or failure based on just these videos and images. If I could see their in-house schedule, daily reports, testing results, on-the-ground time-definite photos, etc., I MIGHT be willing to do so...

I am just going based off what I have seen. They are 9 days out. Usually you have soft openings and several tests prior to openings. Look at Pandora for example where that has been open for about a month before its official opening date.

 

[JaxDad]

Thanks!

 

[DLgal]

Do you know when the video you saw was actually filmed?

It was from today. It was a live video of the construction from a news helicopter. It was 10 minutes long.

Here:

http://www.wftv.com/news/local/crew...ay-at-universal-studios-for-opening/523185496

This is a 40 second highlight reel. To see the whole 11 minute video, go to the Facebook page for WFTV Channel 9. It was posted approximately at 8:00 A.M. ET.

 

[JaxDad]

Thank you!

 

[Lee Matthews]

Doesn't look like it's ready to open next week

 

[Lilylogan]

The Volcano with the slides going through it looks neat. I can't wait to see more videos.

 

[Lightsoutx12]

It will probably open on time but it really doesn't look ready. I just drove past it about a day ago and it looks like they may be working on it until the day it opens! I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Delano Fiedler]

I'm pretty sure it wont be fully ready on opening day and the Volcano looks really weird but one thing I have to admit: the rides look fun.

 

[brelyt]

How are they training life guards and other staff with it like this? Would make me worry about going there.

 

[rteetz]

How are they training life guards and other staff with it like this? Would make me worry about going there.

They've been testing the slides as much as they can. Several people have been brought in for these tests.

 

[rastuso]

I'd LOVE to know if the back of the Volcano was always open, ruining all the theming, or if it was budget cut. Such a horrible waste of potential. There should have been at least one huge inside cavern with lava and projections. I could have easily designed a better waterpark than this with the cash they had. Looks like the lazy river goes into a large undergound area, maybe even joining in one spot, and that's about it. It even looks like the 180s of the water coaster were meant to be going in and out of the volcano, not exposed like they are.

J

 

[soniam]

I'd LOVE to know if the back of the Volcano was always open, ruining all the theming, or if it was budget cut. Such a horrible waste of potential. There should have been at least one huge inside cavern with lava and projections. I could have easily designed a better waterpark than this with the cash they had. Looks like the lazy river goes into a large undergound area, maybe even joining in one spot, and that's about it. It even looks like the 180s of the water coaster were meant to be going in and out of the volcano, not exposed like they are.

J

There are supposed to be lighting effects of some sort inside the cave under the volcano, where the lazy river goes. I think they were in a hurry. I must say though, for doing something so quickly, they have done a whole water park and done it better and faster than Disney did the Frozen ride in Norway I guess I had been reading enough about the park and following along on the internet that I am not really surprised or disappointed by what I am seeing. It looks pretty much like what I expected from their press materials, even the early on stuff. Plus, it's a water park. If this were a real third theme park, it would be disappointing. It still looks like one of the coolest water parks I have seen, but the structure is not hidden as well in the theming as the WDW water parks. Universal actually said it would be like this.

 

[Killer Fish]

Planning to check this out sometime this year.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Seriously? This place isn't even finished being built and Disney has had two successful water parks for the past decade. Does this change things? Probably not much more than a new slide, but is anyone really expecting them to change when we don't even know what this place is going to look like when it's finished?

Disney's water parks still are my favorite...

But the dates on them are 1989 and 1995...

I may have mentioned this before...but has anyone ever heard of park stagnation?

Disney doesn't seem to really value the water parks...to be fair...they don't drive spending and that's where the profits are made.