Volcano Bay Construction & Preview Discussion

[Miketheboss]

I keep forgetting "judge it when it's complete" and "you have to see it from eye level" only applies to Disney projects.

This will be open in less than two months. What we see is pretty much what we are getting at this point. Add some trees and finishing touches.

 

[Porkchop]

I keep forgetting "judge it when it's complete" and "you have to see it from eye level" only applies to Disney projects.

Exactly. If that's the case the big bare building attached to Everest that can be seen from the AK parking lot is soooooo universal /s

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

I keep forgetting "judge it when it's complete" and "you have to see it from eye level" only applies to Disney projects.

Well, right now, at eye-level, looking north, it looks like a Play-doh mold. I don't think all of the bamboo in the world could fix that at this point. It lacks any depth.

Exactly. If that's the case the big bare building attached to Everest that can be seen from the AK parking lot is soooooo universal /s

You're right - but the key difference is that the big bare building isn't guest accessible from inside the park, the play-doh volcano is.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Well, right now, at eye-level, looking north, it looks like a Play-doh mold. I don't think all of the bamboo in the world could fix that at this point. It lacks any depth.

It's not a secret the volcano is behind schedule, I'll eat my words if more rock work isn't added to hide the volcano's supports, some of the slide supports, and fix the sight lines from the ground.

 

[Porkchop]

Gotta wait till it's open and we see the in park sight lines. What's seen from I-4 is not UO concern.

 

[Bobharlem]

This will be open in less than two months. What we see is pretty much what we are getting at this point. Add some trees and finishing touches.

For that portion of the volcano, there's still a bit of work left. You forget the other (north) side is being tweaked a bit more to be ready for the Fallon Tapings to showcase it.

 

[adjjb]

No, that's been the plan all along. The back will be open so you can see the slides. Of course from ground level you wont see much of it because everything else is in the way.

Didn't the rendering show the back enclosed to a certain point? It looked more whole in the rendering, not half a volcano.

It will look pretty bad if they leave the volcano like it's a fake movie set that only has the front facade.

 

[Scott W.]

Didn't the rendering show the back enclosed to a certain point? It looked more whole in the rendering, not half a volcano.

It will look pretty bad if they leave the volcano like it's a fake movie set that only has the front facade.

I was watching the videos earlier and I don't think at any point they show the gap at the rear. It could be very selective views or something is still happening.

 

[darkridelover]

I love that we talked about this months ago and all of a sudden it's new information to people.

 

[darkridelover]

And I'm sick of the argument that DISNEY themes everything from all sides and you would never see a show building. That's completely untrue. I can show you tons of unthemed show buildings in every Disney Park. That argument is tired and wrong.

 

[Scott W.]

And I'm sick of the argument that DISNEY themes everything from all sides and you would never see a show building. That's completely untrue. I can show you tons of unthemed show buildings in every Disney Park. That argument is tired and wrong.

I think the main difference is that Disney has a ton of space to play with. They can a building to a corner of a park and have it hidden from all angles whereas Universal do it, you're going to see these buildings from the roads nearby.

It's a small thing but I'd rather see a few show buildings from outside the parks and have the luxury of easy travel between the parks through CityWalk than have to wait on buses and spend a chunky of my day travelling and waiting.

Then you get to what Disney has done recently by letting buses directly into the back of the parks and charging you for the luxury and ruining the 'hidden' show buildings.

 

[epcyclopedia]

This will be open in less than two months. What we see is pretty much what we are getting at this point. Add some trees and finishing touches.

To an extent. Much of Diagon was repainted within the first few months after it opened. FJ had all kinds of work done to its queue routing.

 

[Teebin]

It's a blown out volcano and the slides are supposed to be defunct lava tubes the waturi people use as water slides.

Aaaaah.... so that is where Frodo nearly fell to his death... Gollum's crematory. There, a tiny bit of background story for everyone.

The closing show:

 

[Parkscope Joe]

 

[Scott W.]

Car crashes are coming.

 

[UAN17]

Car crashes are coming.

Yeah I can't see a way in which this isn't going to cause issues

 

[Scott W.]

Yeah I can't see a way in which this isn't going to cause issues

It's awful to say but could this actually be good PR for Universal?

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Car crashes are coming.

And I'm sick of the argument that DISNEY themes everything from all sides and you would never see a show building. That's completely untrue. I can show you tons of unthemed show buildings in every Disney Park. That argument is tired and wrong.

That is a fair point. For example, Cars Land at DCA doesn't hide it's backstage, even in the park. It can be clearly seen for those who go on Mickey's Fun Wheel, and dare I say at certain angles of California Screamin.

Tower of Terror also exposes a lot of Disneyland's Backstage, and that while covered a bit, you can see the Indy building from right outside the park.

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

I think we can all admit that Disney is far more conscientious about sight lines from the guest's perspective. Universal takes the "deal with it" approach, which may be fine now but will show in comparative value down the line when their new shiny toys aren't so new anymore. My point remains the same. If you want to play with the competition, you should actually try and compete with them from a qualitative standpoint. UO cuts corners in pretty much everything they build, and the volcano may just be the most glaring example of this.

 

[Miketheboss]

I think we can all admit that Disney is far more conscientious about sight lines from the guest's perspective. Universal takes the "deal with it" approach, which may be fine now but will show in comparative value down the line when their new shiny toys aren't so new anymore. My point remains the same. If you want to play with the competition, you should actually try and compete with them from a qualitative standpoint. UO cuts corners in pretty much everything they build, and the volcano may just be the most glaring example of this.

I think Uni is getting better at it. I mean look at Diagon....but then just look at Fast and Furious. Star Wars Land and Pandora will propel WDW to the top again in themeing. There can only be one. Lol. Universal has the ability to take back the crown with Nintendo