Volcano Bay: General Discussion

[Eckert]

There is one tower at the park that has four tube slides. It was ride now every time I went by on FRI. It really is set up well. You have four slides to chose from when you get to the top. They are able to stage two rafts in the water entering the slide so that a tube is always ready to go when the sensors say to release the next tube. So, to me, one should be able to do a minimum of four slides at some point 'in between' waiting in another queue.

I have been told that the darker colored slides are the more intense ones.

That's Taniwha Tubes! It's almost always at a 'Ride Now' status, so you''ll be able to ride that while waiting for your other slide.

 

[Brian G.]

Woof, that Vol vid was awkward.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Some observations:

• As noted - the new tables added.
• Vol was interactive and pretty fun. A lot of the area still closed off though.
• Some walkway "shortcuts" are now blocked to prevent guests from ruining plant life.
• Maku Puihi raft tubes have changed. They are now bulkier and taller, but the seat holes are a bit uncomfortable as you're sitting higher and not as set in. Apparently these don't go up the sides of Puihi as much - but we told TM's they weren't comfortable.
• More non-slip carpets added on bridges.
• Wooden shutters added to back of cabanas near roadways to help with privacy and sound.
• More frog lamps removed. People can't respect things. Sad!

So we went on Puihi. While walking up the stairs, my family noticed one of the old rafts on the ground between the tower and the expansion plot. That made them a bit nervous as the 1st time we went to the park we were told that the one (blue turtle) slide had launched the first sandbags out to the parking lot.

Once we got in the new rafts, we all stated how bad the new rafts felt.

On shortcuts, all the wait staff use some of the shortcuts to get to some seating areas.

My daughter had wonderful story time interactions with the female Vol. it was cool how they used the lighting under the squirt up fountains.

 

[Frank Drackman]

oh, I do not know if it was staging, but it looked like they were going to start putting in the landscaping on the perimeter of the expansion area.

 

[jrn14]

What do you think the plans would be for the expansion? something to eat up crowds I hope? Have the food lines gotten better at handling the crowds?

 

[Absimilliard]

Lucky for proslide- hah. Considering their pretty large F-ups on the two serpentine drop slides and honu, as well as several of the conveyors eating rafts, I wouldn't want to put my name on it either for a while...

They don't manufacture the conveyors by the way. As for the "screw ups" on the serpentine drop slides and Honu, might I point you toward Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ and their Hurricane Harbor water park? Six Flags bought from Polin, a Turkish waterslide company a slide called "King Cobra". It is a nice slide where two person tubes race with each others and then drop at the same time in a large Cobra shaped half pipe. After installation, the state of NJ came to inspect it and guess what? They randomly decided to slap a 200 lbs maximum weight restriction and allow single tubes only on it.

My point is that water slides are like roller coasters: the same ride will be run differently by two operators. A nearby waterpark has both the Proslide Tornado 60 (the full sized Tornado slide) and Behemoth Bowl 60 (like Disco H20 at Wet n Wild). Remember how those slides at Wet n Wild had strict weight limits with the scale at the entrance? Over at the nearby waterpark, its the opposite: they run it for capacity and will only allow groups of 4, no scale involved, to ride. End result is that a full line won't take an hour while if you go to Holiday World and other parks where they only allow 2 adults per raft, the line will be quite slow.

 

[Teebin]

So, do they allow people to wear water shoes on the slides?

 

[AlexanderMBush]

So, do they allow people to wear water shoes on the slides?

I'd assume no.

 

[Andysol]

They don't manufacture the conveyors by the way. As for the "screw ups" on the serpentine drop slides and Honu, might I point you toward Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ and their Hurricane Harbor water park? Six Flags bought from Polin, a Turkish waterslide company a slide called "King Cobra". It is a nice slide where two person tubes race with each others and then drop at the same time in a large Cobra shaped half pipe. After installation, the state of NJ came to inspect it and guess what? They randomly decided to slap a 200 lbs maximum weight restriction and allow single tubes only on it.

Thanks for the info on the conveyors- didn't know that.
However, the fact you have to bring up Polin and Six Flags as a comparison to Proslide and Universal just shows how big and unlikely of a screw up it really was.
Keep in mind pro-slides biggest marketing tool is saying they know perfect angles, etc before It gets built.
They certainly have a little egg on their face after this project. They're still the best, but it was certainly a stumble on their part.

 

[Frank Drackman]

So, do they allow people to wear water shoes on the slides?

They do not allow the shoes on the slides, but they have a place for you to leave them at the entrance to the slides. The mat racers did not allow lanyards, but you are going down those head first.

 

[JoeCamel]

I did want to mention that folks without early entry were still allowed past the turn styles, they just had to queue up inside the park and wait until early entry was over, but if someone were patient or maybe if you decided to have breakfast at the park....one could get through the turnstiles before 9:10 if you fear it may reach capacity at opening....I do not know what time that was on FRI, but I certainly noticed that no one seemed to be coming into the park fairly early in the AM.

(edited for I put SAT, but I was there on FRI)

All the days running together @Frank? What a wonderful feeling!

 

[Scott W.]

After everything I have seen so far from construction to opening to today I still wouldn't make a trip to VB yet even if I lived in the US. There is plenty more to be done, but also plenty of potential in certain areas as has been discussed. Will be interesting to see how this park progresses with updates for the foreseeable future and really can't wait to see the foliage fill out.

Really? I'd be in there in a heartbeat. As much as I moan about the lack of detailing, I still think it would be a great day out.

If you were there on holiday tomorrow, would you visit?

 

[Miketheboss]

At the 1 min mark you can see an employee using a shortcut. lol

 

[Cheezbat]

99% of the time Proslides products are top of the line with next to no issues...really sucks that one of the times they have a major project with multiple issues, it happens to be on the biggest water park project in the USA in the last decade....and of course the project got seriously rushed to completion without a proper test/adjust soft opening period.

I've been to waterparks all over America and have seen issues here and there with rides built by every manufacturer, but Proslides was normally the most reliable. I hope they get everything ironed out and a solid expansion plotted and built in time to correct the negative press and issues before both Universal's and Proslide's reps become too damaged.

 

[shiekra38]

99% of the time Proslides products are top of the line with next to no issues...really sucks that one of the times they have a major project with multiple issues, it happens to be on the biggest water park project in the USA in the last decade....and of course the project got seriously rushed to completion without a proper test/adjust soft opening period.

I've been to waterparks all over America and have seen issues here and there with rides built by every manufacturer, but Proslides was normally the most reliable. I hope they get everything ironed out and a solid expansion plotted and built in time to correct the negative press and issues before both Universal's and Proslide's reps become too damaged.

Honestly, people are enjoying themselves..I think the first couple of weekends were horrific, but it has begun to stabalize..

Also - I find it strange that they blacked out July for passholders, very strange, but whatever

 

[JoeCamel]

Honestly, people are enjoying themselves..I think the first couple of weekends were horrific, but it has begun to stabalize..

Also - I find it strange that they blacked out July for passholders, very strange, but whatever

I think the pass blackout was decided long before this opened. Will be interesting if they hit capacity every day at 9:18 with the onsites. If they do I think you can see day tickets go away.

 

[MattA]

At the 1 min mark you can see an employee using a shortcut. lol

Also at 15:20 you can see why they required a life jacket in Te awa. You can see a lifeguard jumping in, which is quite a jump, after a wave flipped someone's tube over.

 

[Cheezbat]

I think the pass blackout was decided long before this opened. Will be interesting if they hit capacity every day at 9:18 with the onsites. If they do I think you can see day tickets go away.

If that happens they'll get far more complaints then they've already gotten. I know MANY locals who want to visit, but would only do day tickets.

 

[Skold]

Also at 15:20 you can see why they required a life jacket in Te awa. You can see a lifeguard jumping in, which is quite a jump, after a wave flipped someone's tube over.

i got flipped once - it was quite startling! :shock:

Is the life jacket requirement new?

 

[Teebin]

Also at 15:20 you can see why they required a life jacket in Te awa. You can see a lifeguard jumping in, which is quite a jump, after a wave flipped someone's tube over.

At 15:20 of what? There are no videos on this page...