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Volcano Bay: Photos & Reviews

From the UO Facebook page.

"A review of Volcano Bay if anyone cares or wants info if deciding to go.

The Good: The park is beautiful in places. There was obviously a lot of care put into selecting the background music and the volcano is well done. The alcoholic drinks are spectacular, which I expect from Universal. The Krakatau aqua coaster is a really thrilling and enjoyable ride. The TapuTapu band design is cool and it was nice to be able to pay with it and do other things. The merchandise is probably the best I've seen from Uni so far. All of the employees were extremely pleasant and remained positive given some of the circumstances of the park.

The Bad: They're working out some operational growing pains. Universal says that Volcano Bay is "queue-less" but that couldn't be father from the truth. Even after waiting 200 minutes for our time to ride, we would be put into a 30 minute line to board. Universal also totes Volcano Bay as their third "theme park" but I didn't find enough substance to call it a theme park. I was excited for the bioluminescence in the caverns of the volcano but that didn't happen. I also thought there would be elements within the park linking it to the incredible backstory imagined by the creative team, but I didn't find that either. There seemed to be a lot of missed opportunities to include interactive features or even just tikis/things to look at in certain places along the lazy river, which made sitting in it for 3 hours waiting for a 30-second ride not as enjoyable as the executives had probably hoped. There weren't any physical park maps to look at other than big ones placed along the pathways but they were sort of difficult to read. Many of the trash cans were overflowing and the bathrooms ran out of soap even though there seemed to be an abundance of team members walking around or just talking to each other.

The Ugly: The park is not finished. There was caution tape all over, the landscaping looked really bad in certain areas with plants still sitting in plastic pots and mounds of dirt sitting around. There was also active construction happening during operating hours, complete with big machines beeping and moving around, which was kind of shocking. A lot of pathways were blocked off and most of the slides were closed all day or for big chunks of the day due to maintenance concerns. Another complaint I had was the ability to see and hear I-4 basically everywhere in the park. I know that the proximity of the park makes it difficult to hide I-4, especially on the steps going up to a slide, but there were a lot of opportunities where a bamboo fence maybe 8 feet tall would've been effective at shielding my view of cars zooming down the highway while inside the park.

TL;DR - I would wait until they work the kinks out to visit. It's a nice park but there are definitely some operational issues and it's not finished."
 
Another complaint I had was the ability to see and hear I-4 basically everywhere in the park. I know that the proximity of the park makes it difficult to hide I-4, especially on the steps going up to a slide, but there were a lot of opportunities where a bamboo fence maybe 8 feet tall would've been effective at shielding my view of cars zooming down the highway while inside the park.

Ehhhhh.... outside of being on higher ground (some 2nd story cabanas and the slide stairs) - they did a good job hiding it. I'm going to have vehemently disagree with that statement.
 
Hate to disagree w someone who has been there, but a whole row of cabanas can hear it and Turkey Lake Keller Williams is not only visible but is most of your view on Maono.
 
Someone said by the one restaurant it's pretty obvious.

Whakawaiwai (or however you spell it), you can see Turkey Lake and a Realty Building pretty obviously - which I think hasn't been hidden yet due to unfinished construction; but not I4.

Hate to disagree w someone who has been there, but a whole row of cabanas can hear it and Turkey Lake Keller Williams is not only visible but is most of your view on Maono.

He wasn't talking about Turkey Lake however.... and again - outside of being on higher ground (some 2nd story cabanas and the slide stairs)
 
I'm really surprised that Universal didn't at least attempt to block out the outside world from those slide towers. If they can put the wind sail on Rockit they could of done something similar for Volcano Bay.

But then again, the park is still under construction, so maybe that's something they haven't gotten around to yet.
 
I'm really surprised that Universal didn't at least attempt to block out the outside world from those slide towers. If they can put the wind sail on Rockit they could of done something similar for Volcano Bay.

But then again, the park is still under construction, so maybe that's something they haven't gotten around to yet.

While waiting in line for Maku Puihi, we were able to see the expansion plot. In that plot is a lot of materials and foliage left to add. Some you just can't help, others I think are in the pipeline to fix.
 
While waiting in line for Maku Puihi, we were able to see the expansion plot. In that plot is a lot of materials and foliage left to add. Some you just can't help, others I think are in the pipeline to fix.
Plus I will add that blocking the breeze flowing through the tower by a wall or vinyl banner would be killer for lifeguards working up there or guests waiting their turn. I appreciate open air flow on water park stairs and it doesn't matter that I can see I-Drive at Aquatica when waiting for a slide.
 
From the UO Facebook page.

"A review of Volcano Bay if anyone cares or wants info if deciding to go.

The Good: The park is beautiful in places. There was obviously a lot of care put into selecting the background music and the volcano is well done. The alcoholic drinks are spectacular, which I expect from Universal. The Krakatau aqua coaster is a really thrilling and enjoyable ride. The TapuTapu band design is cool and it was nice to be able to pay with it and do other things. The merchandise is probably the best I've seen from Uni so far. All of the employees were extremely pleasant and remained positive given some of the circumstances of the park.

The Bad: They're working out some operational growing pains. Universal says that Volcano Bay is "queue-less" but that couldn't be father from the truth. Even after waiting 200 minutes for our time to ride, we would be put into a 30 minute line to board. Universal also totes Volcano Bay as their third "theme park" but I didn't find enough substance to call it a theme park. I was excited for the bioluminescence in the caverns of the volcano but that didn't happen. I also thought there would be elements within the park linking it to the incredible backstory imagined by the creative team, but I didn't find that either. There seemed to be a lot of missed opportunities to include interactive features or even just tikis/things to look at in certain places along the lazy river, which made sitting in it for 3 hours waiting for a 30-second ride not as enjoyable as the executives had probably hoped. There weren't any physical park maps to look at other than big ones placed along the pathways but they were sort of difficult to read. Many of the trash cans were overflowing and the bathrooms ran out of soap even though there seemed to be an abundance of team members walking around or just talking to each other.

The Ugly: The park is not finished. There was caution tape all over, the landscaping looked really bad in certain areas with plants still sitting in plastic pots and mounds of dirt sitting around. There was also active construction happening during operating hours, complete with big machines beeping and moving around, which was kind of shocking. A lot of pathways were blocked off and most of the slides were closed all day or for big chunks of the day due to maintenance concerns. Another complaint I had was the ability to see and hear I-4 basically everywhere in the park. I know that the proximity of the park makes it difficult to hide I-4, especially on the steps going up to a slide, but there were a lot of opportunities where a bamboo fence maybe 8 feet tall would've been effective at shielding my view of cars zooming down the highway while inside the park.

TL;DR - I would wait until they work the kinks out to visit. It's a nice park but there are definitely some operational issues and it's not finished."

I agree 100% with everything said in this review. And I'm pretty sure if you piece my reviews together from both days its almost verbatim. Haha .. urghhhhh so much WANT to love this place. On opening day they had "the guy responsible for the park" i bet if he stood up there now there would be tomatoes being thrown at him haha

One of my biggest problems with the park is that theyre literally testing stuff right in front of our eyes. I had a really frustrating experience with a full teawa river rapids where they decided to shut off all the waves and rapids mid ride.. and then the life guards were saying sorry we turned the waves off. And I could hear people saying then what is the point in this river if theyre both running on "lazy".

And holy crap.. the sand. Day one the sand was where it was supposed to be in all the beach areas. Day 5.. omg.. there is sand in places where you wouldnt even expect it to be. One of the sandiest spots in the park I noticed was coming off the Krakatau coaster. On the top of the loading bay.. I dont even know how it got up there. (and im practically a sand expert ;) )
 
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yeah, I would imagine the sand would get really, really, messy if not cleaned properly on a regular basis.
 
yeah, I would imagine the sand would get really, really, messy if not cleaned properly on a regular basis.

It's their first week of their jobs you would think they would be trying to impress their bosses and get stuff done. They have staff just walking around saying Kai ora or whatever and they dont look like theyre doing anything but talking to each-other and hanging out. The sand seems fairly uncontrollable.
 
Went again today and it was great. Basically, get there early and have a plan and it works. I'd be surprised if anyone here, reading a theme park forum, wouldn't do that already though.

  • Rope dropped at 8. Got there @ 7:50, we were let in 5 minutes later. No line was more than 15 people deep; maybe the overcast morning kept some people away.
  • Instead of getting a locker by the Waturi Marketplace, we hit the lockers down by Maku Puihi. Much better location and, oddly enough, these were $12 rather than the $15 I spent on Marketplace lockers on Weds.
  • Apple spellcheck loves the names of these rides! :saywhat:
  • KAC was a walk on, and we did it 2x in a row. This coaster is an absolute blast.
  • Maku was a walk on. Tame, and the geysers were not working.
  • Puihi another walk on. First time we had to ride with another family (3 of us, 2 of them) on one of these rides. Lotta touching feet on these raft rides.
  • Punga Racers walk on. Noticing a pattern? Neat idea having the mats have handles and going down head first. I am 6 foot and had to scrunch up to keep my knees on.
  • Ohya has was a walk on. Ohno was but we had to wait about 10 mins and the Tapu stand said 20 when we were done.
  • About 9:30 now and that was the first ride we saw that needs a tap.
  • Fearless river, almost no one on. I got flipped by a wave! Fell off and the TMs did not like me walking it the rest of the way. :p
  • Kala and Tai Nui body slides (KTN) have a 10 minute tap wait but the bars are not open yet and there is no way in hell im doing those sober. :D
  • So it's not quite 10, we have our snack, and Taniwha tubes and one Serpentine slide are all that are left on my plan. We're skipping Honu and Moana after doing those on Weds.
  • 2 Taniwha tube rides, both walk ons. Light blue has you travel on the wall for a bit, pretty neat.
  • A get a beer @ the blue Boat Bar while wife and son wave pool it. The wave bell is working, which was not on Weds. This is the clock-like tower that shows which wave profile is going. Loud bells ring when it changes, very cool.
  • We Tapu in for KTN w 105 min wait (@ 10, GP gets on, and weather was starting to look good). Stand says " see you in 85" and that is what displays on our devices.
  • For the first time ever, we drop the kid off. He does Runamukka reef while we go to locker to get me a dose of insulin, and to Bluebar for drinks. There is an eating area over looking the kids area, so that was a nice touch.
  • More wave pool, walking the path way thru the volcano, and it is time.
  • Maybe the disrepency w the wait time is it take 20 mins to climb that damn thing! ;)
  • It is an absolute cluster F on the platform! All 3 slides are there; KTN is one line and you choose at the top (only Punga and Taniwha are like this, everything else has separate lines).
  • Only 5 or so people in front of us.
  • Most rides have nice " batter's box" scale to weigh everyone. Up here is a regular bathroom scale, painted black.
  • 10 yr oled decides to walk back down. We congratulate him for this decision later.:thumbsup:
  • Wife goes on green tube, but is in the coffin like enclosure for about 20 seconds before they hit the button. :jaw:
  • My turn. I hit between 200 - 205 on the old timeydial scale and the girl says "wait a minute please" and hurries to the drop slide operator. She eventually comes back, asks me which slide I want and I'm wishing I had joined my son at this point. "Green!" After a few seconds, she says "Um" while mashing some buttons. "Blue then".
  • I get in and HOLY #%&$ CRAP WHY DID THEY EVEN BUILD THIS THING.
  • The free fall was great except for all the water up my nose and mouth. Once I could breathe again, it was like a faster version of a tube slide such as Ohno. Then you crash into a wall of water that is the bottom pool and relive all of the water into all of your face holes.
  • I said "never again" in that instant but I cannot stop thinking about it.
  • Guy on the way up said the drop slide is actually tamer.
  • Wave pool, beer, and out by 2.
Still can't stop thinking about that drop, tho...
 
Great review. Hope those wait times stay like that. I have a quick question, how deep is the fearless river? Should someone who can NOT swim even try to get in it?
 
Great review. Hope those wait times stay like that. I have a quick question, how deep is the fearless river? Should someone who can NOT swim even try to get in it?

I had to walk about a quarter of it, and it went from 3 feet at the beginning/ending area, to 4, to over my head in a couple places.

I'd be careful. Be even more so on Ohno and Ohya where the end pool is 10 feet until the stairs, and you get plunged in a few feet under.
 
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