Volcano Bay

[rastuso]

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.

All Disney parks stagnated. Until Harry came to town, Disney was riding on 20 year old parks with VERY few new rides. Dwarf a hill is the first big ride at the worlds most popular park since a Splash Mountain. Think about that.

Volcano Bay was put up quick, for sure. I still feel that they very easily could have REALLY knocked it out of the park with a few full on themed grottos and caverns. And that would have added very little to the budget.

 

[Madonna3]

All Disney parks stagnated. Until Harry came to town, Disney was riding on 20 year old parks with VERY few new rides. Dwarf a hill is the first big ride at the worlds most popular park since a Splash Mountain. Think about that.

Volcano Bay was put up quick, for sure. I still feel that they very easily could have REALLY knocked it out of the park with a few full on themed grottos and caverns. And that would have added very little to the budget.

They didn't have to. They just had to beat the competition.

 

[rastuso]

And they no longer do. They survive on nostalgia, and their attendance is struggling.

Even Avatar is still below anything at IOA as far as thrills. Including the 15 year old Spidey.

I know so many people who go to Orlando, and stay at Disney for a week. Even though their. kids are tweens who love Harry Potter. There are so many Diznoids that simply refuse to accept there is anything outside of WDW, and don't care if their kids would love Universal or not.

 

[rteetz]

And they no longer do. They survive on nostalgia, and their attendance is struggling.

Even Avatar is still below anything at IOA as far as thrills. Including the 15 year old Spidey.

I know so many people who go to Orlando, and stay at Disney for a week. Even though their. kids are tweens who love Harry Potter. There are so many Diznoids that simply refuse to accept there is anything outside of WDW, and don't care if their kids would love Universal or not.

Thrills don't make a good attration. General consensus is Flight of Passage is a great attraction.

 

[rastuso]

The same people in a large part that say Universal is all screen rides, while praising Disney's new screen ride.

I know a lot of people love Soarin'. I certainly don't.

Again Avatar wouldn't exist if Harry hadn't came to town.

And to many people, good attractions DO need thrills.

Little Mermaid is good, but it's not a great ride, just like NRJ. And it was a walk on from almost day one. It seems WDW has completely abandoned anyone over 13, or those who aren't afraid of thrills. Yet Disneyland does put in true thrill rides.

I feel sorry for the kids who aren't getting to really see the state of the art rides in Orlando because their parents love anything Joe Rhode says is amazing.

 

[rteetz]

The same people in a large part that say Universal is all screen rides, while praising Disney's new screen ride.

I know a lot of people love Soarin'. I certainly don't.

Again Avatar wouldn't exist if Harry hadn't came to town.

And to many people, good attractions DO need thrills.

Little Mermaid is good, but it's not a great ride, just like NRJ. And it was a walk on from almost day one. It seems WDW has completely abandoned anyone over 13, or those who aren't afraid of thrills. Yet Disneyland does put in true thrill rides.

I feel sorry for the kids who aren't getting to really see the state of the art rides in Orlando because their parents love anything Joe Rhode says is amazing.

It's universal praise. I have yet to hear a genuinely bad review. Look I've never been to universal but for the most part it is all screens. Sure they have great attractions but still.

Haunted mansion and Peter Pan are great attractions do those need thrills?

Little mermaid is also not always a walk on and NRJ certainly won't be.

What rides has DL added that are thrills? Am I missing something?

 

[rastuso]

It's universal praise. I have yet to hear a genuinely bad review. Look I've never been to universal but for the most part it is all screens. Sure they have great attractions but still.

That explains it all, really.

 

[rteetz]

That explains it all, really.

No I don't get how it does.

Just because I've never doesn't mean I can't have opinions. I also said universal does have great attractions because I know they do without ever going there.

I'm curious as to what your motive is here.

 

[BigRed98]

The same people in a large part that say Universal is all screen rides, while praising Disney's new screen ride.

I know a lot of people love Soarin'. I certainly don't.

Again Avatar wouldn't exist if Harry hadn't came to town.

And to many people, good attractions DO need thrills.

Little Mermaid is good, but it's not a great ride, just like NRJ. And it was a walk on from almost day one. It seems WDW has completely abandoned anyone over 13, or those who aren't afraid of thrills. Yet Disneyland does put in true thrill rides.

I feel sorry for the kids who aren't getting to really see the state of the art rides in Orlando because their parents love anything Joe Rhode says is amazing.

I'm 18 and Disney hasn't abandoned me yet. Plus Disney World has many thrill attractions like Everest, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror and many more.

 

[DLgal]

It's universal praise. I have yet to hear a genuinely bad review.

I've heard two negative reviews of Flight of Passage just today as well as Pandora as a whole, FWIW. On podcasts.

The jist was "Sure, it looks cool, but what am I looking at (on the FoP ride screen, in the boat ride, and in general) and why do I care? I don't care; there is no emotional attachment to the IP."

Pretty legitimate criticism, IMO. I feel the same way.

 

[rteetz]

I've heard two negative reviews of Flight of Passage just today as well as Pandora as a whole, FWIW. On podcasts.

The jist was "Sure, it looks cool, but what am I looking at (on the FoP ride screen, in the boat ride, and in general) and why do I care? I don't care; there is no emotional attachment to the IP."

Pretty legitimate criticism, IMO. I feel the same way.

That's why they didn't tie the land to the movie. The land is in no way based on the movie but it based on the setting of the movie. I think that's brilliant on their part since they know people don't have that emotional attachment to the characters.

 

[peabody58]

As I understand it, you have to park at the US Garage ($$) and take a shuttle bus to/from VB. That does not sound very appealing (especially the wet soggy ride back) and certainly adds to the overall cost. DW & I (60 yo) have 10 WP days each on our NE+ tickets and are more than happy to do lazy rivers, family raft rides and wave pools while chilling in the shade, with free parking.

I appreciate that US is challenging WDW is various areas and this competition is a WIN/WIN for everyone. For the record, DW and I will be going to US/IOA this year and staying at CB. This is our first trip and we are looking forward to fun and pleasant experience. We will not be doing VB though.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I've heard two negative reviews of Flight of Passage just today as well as Pandora as a whole, FWIW. On podcasts.

The jist was "Sure, it looks cool, but what am I looking at (on the FoP ride screen, in the boat ride, and in general) and why do I care? I don't care; there is no emotional attachment to the IP."

Pretty legitimate criticism, IMO. I feel the same way.

Except for HP (only if you are a fan), are there many attractions at US/IoA that you have an "emotional" attachment with? An honest question. I have only been to IoA (before HP) and while I enjoyed Hulk, Spiderman, and the dueling dragons (that ride was repurposed for HP, right) I have no emotional attachment to any of the IP there. You can enjoy a ride without a emotional attachment if it's a good ride. I guess time will tell if FoP and NRJ both do that. But on the other hand, emotional attachment can make a ride even better, and I feel that way about the majority of MK.

 

[JaxDad]

From themeparx.com...

@bioreconstruct got some great aerial photos of Universal employees previewing Volcano Bay ahead of its grand opening in five days:

 

[tarheelmjfan]

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.

JMO, but after we considered how much cheaper we could stay at Portofino Bay or Hard Rock Hotel than a Disney Deluxe, the parking fee was negligible. For example, I just priced Hard Rock Hotel, Portofino, Grand Floridian & Contemporary for the same dates & could stay 5 nights at either UO resort for the price of 3 nights at the WDW resorts . The same is true for Swan & Dolphin. They may have a resort fee, but the price will still be much lower than the other Epcot Resorts. To us, it's all about the final cost. That's the true rate. If you only stay at value & mod resorts, the result would differ. I'm comparing similar quality hotels & haven't priced those compared to UO's cheaper hotels.

 

[rteetz]

From themeparx.com...

@bioreconstruct got some great aerial photos of Universal employees previewing Volcano Bay ahead of its grand opening in five days:

View attachment 238232

View attachment 238233

Yeah Bioreconstruct has more on twitter. I've heard for sure that not everything will be finished for opening day.

 

[beer dave]

From themeparx.com...

@bioreconstruct got some great aerial photos of Universal employees previewing Volcano Bay ahead of its grand opening in five days:

View attachment 238232

View attachment 238233

I think they should change the name to "Big Tree Stump Swamp".........

 

[JaxDad]

I'll be at Cabana Bay with the kids in June. We won't visit Volcano Bay this trip, but we hope to get a good look at it, and we're really looking forward to going after Labor Day when the Orlando crowds tail off!

 

[JaxDad]

Yeah Bioreconstruct has more on twitter. I've heard for sure that not everything will be finished for opening day.

Did you hear about specific features?

 

[rteetz]

Did you hear about specific features?

No I haven't heard specifics. I'd guess anything in operation today will for sure be open. The lazy River and water coaster are still no operating tho.