Volcano Bay

Quinnmac000

Well-Known Member


Discover The Story Behind Universal’s Volcano Bay


Whenever we create a new ride or land, an incredible story is always our starting point. And while creating an immersive, one-of-a-kind water theme park seemed like a challenge in itself, we knew amazing storytelling would be at the core of our creation.

Today, I’m sharing with you the inspiration behind this tropical paradise and introducing you to the Waturi, the islanders who call Volcano Bay home.


The Creation Myth



It all began with the fiery god, Krakatau (kra-kuh-TAU). Though his wrath and fury dominated the land, he couldn’t contain the adventurous spirit of his daughter, Tai Nui (tie-NOO-ee). She fell in love with a native youth named Kala (KAH-lah). And when her fiercely protective father learned of the romance, he flew into a rage. He banished Kala forever to the sky, where he became the Moon.

Overcome with grief, Tai Nui’s tears became the Sea. Krakatau then realized he had only succeeded in destroying what mattered most to him: his daughter’s happiness. Determined to reunite the young lovers, he reached into the earth and pulled it to the sky – creating the volcano of Volcano Bay. Krakatau trapped the remains of his anger and jealousy in the form of the fire spirit, Vol, whom he imprisoned deep within the volcano.

This is how the Sky, Sea and Earth united to form the paradise of Volcano Bay.

The Waturi Legend



Before they came to Volcano Bay, the Waturi (wah-TOO-ree) traversed the ocean in outrigger canoes in search of a new home. According to the legend, a mystical fish named Kunuku (koo-NOO-koo) was destined to guide them.

Their voyages took them to the far corners of the South Pacific. And wherever they went, the Waturi embraced the customs, music and art of the many people they encountered. But alas, nowhere did they find Kunuku.

On and on they searched, until they came to the very edge of the world. And it was there that they found Kunuku playing in the waves. Within a day, Kunuku and the winds of fortune lead the travelers to the shores of Volcano Bay. The Waturi knew that, at long last, they had found home.

Your Arrival Story



When you come to Volcano Bay, you’ll be welcomed as one of the Waturi family. The islanders have never forgotten the kindness and generosity their ancestors encountered in their journeys across the Pacific. It is that same spirit of friendship that they extend to every guest who visits Volcano Bay.

Upon your arrival, you will be provided with your own waterproof TapuTapu wearable– designed specifically and exclusively for use in Volcano Bay. With its Virtual Lineand TapTu Play capabilities, TapuTapu allows you to live on Waturi time and feel as one with the island’s carefree way of life.

Throughout Volcano Bay, you’ll discover a vibrant blend of Polynesian cultures and architecture from across the South Pacific – all inspired by the travels of the Waturi. You’ll also find surprises throughout the park, including Vol – the ancient fiery spirit trapped inside the Krakatau volcano.

Insider tip: You’ll have the opportunity to speak with Vol inside the volcano. But first, you have to find him…

The Waturi believe in living life to its fullest and creating stories through adventures. I can’t wait for you to create your own stories and embrace your inner Waturi when Volcano Bay grand opens on May 25.
 

BubbaQuest

Well-Known Member
It does make me wonder if the rumors are true that it's not going to be fully operational in time. Might be easier to sell it as a "preview" to Park Hoppers, rather than try to deal with a bunch of full price guests? Do that many people really buy 3+ day tickets?
 

Katie G

Well-Known Member
It does make me wonder if the rumors are true that it's not going to be fully operational in time. Might be easier to sell it as a "preview" to Park Hoppers, rather than try to deal with a bunch of full price guests? Do that many people really buy 3+ day tickets?[/QUOTE}

But Universal tickets are priced not only for hopping parks, but number of parks. So people are paying extra for 3-park hopper tickets over what someone is paying for a 2-park hopper ticket. And I think they even have an option for a 3-park 1 park per day option. So its not really a "preview" or surprise perk for those Guests who have paid for this option.

I'm sure the end of project surge will really start taking place soon and it will all come together at the very latest the day prior to opening. I'm always amazed at how much I can get done in the 2 hours before Guests show up to my house vs. the week prior of preparation.
 

raven

Well-Known Member
When you have no other tall structures adjacent to your giant icon, they appear bigger, taller, and more grand than they really are, again like Expedition Everest and Tower of Terror, Cinderella Castle, Tree of Life, etc.

Except when there's a large wand or even a construction crane standing next to it for a couple months each year bringing the forced perspective into reality. ;)
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Except when there's a large wand or even a construction crane standing next to it for a couple months each year bringing the forced perspective into reality. ;)
The wand didn't throw off the perspective of SSE because there is no forced perspective to be ruined. SSE isn't representing a larger sphere. The crane is a temporary and necessary evil.
 

Quinnmac000

Well-Known Member
People who have previously visited Central Florida already know that it can sometimes get a trifle warm in this section of the Sunshine State.

Well, come May 25th, Orlando’s about to get a whole lot hotter. That’s when Volcano BayUniversal Orlando’s water theme park – officially opens for business. More to the point, that’s when Vol – the trickster fire spirit – begins interacting with visitors to Krakatua. Which is the 200 foot-tall water and fire volcano that stands at the very center of this 30-acre immersive environment.

“And who exactly is Vol?,” you ask. Well, according to Dale Mason (i.e., vice president and executive art director for Universal Creative, that division of NBCUniversal which rides herd on Universal Parks & Resorts), he’s a key component of the backstory that then drove & informed the distinctive look of Universal Orlando’s third theme park.

According to a creation myth that the Waturi people have – they’re the adventurous souls who journeyed across the entire South Pacific before they then finally found a home at the foot of this water & fire volcano – there was once this fiery god called Krakatau,” Mason explained during a recent phone call. “He existed long before the world was even formed. And Krakatua had this beautiful, intelligent, headstrong daughter called Tai Nui who was the apple of his eyes.”

Anyway, one day while Tai Nui was out walking, she came across Kala, a young native youth. And these two quickly fell in love. But Tai Nui was afraid to tell her father about their relationship, out of fear what Krakatua might do to Kala.

“And Tai Nui was right to be frightened. For once Krakatua learned about her love for Kala, this fire god became so angry that he hurled this native youth into the sky. Where Kala was then transformed into the moon,” Dale continued. “And Tai Nui was so upset by the loss of her love that her tears then became the sea.”

So picture this: Krakatau is sitting on the beach, very satisfied with what he has just done. But then – as the waves (i.e., the tears of his daughter) begin to lap at this fiery god’s feet – he begins to have pangs of remorse.

“Seeing the error of his ways, Krakatua reaches deep into the ground, grabbing the earth and then pulling it into the sky. By doing so, this fiery god not only reconnects the two lovers but he also connects sea and sky. Not to mention creating the water and fire volcano that now towers over Volcano Bay,” Mason said.
“And where does the trickster fire spirit Vol enter into this tale?,” you query. Well, you have to understand that Krakatua still felt much remorse for destroying his daughter’s happiness. Which is why – to prevent something like this from ever happening again – this fiery god then decided to take all of the anger, jealousy & frustration that he felt and pull it out of his body.

“And Krakatua used all of that to form Vol, a fire spirit. Who he then imprisoned inside of this water and fire volcano,” Dale stated.

Now it’s one thing to hear a creation myth like that. To understand the elaborate backstory that powers the design & development of a highly detailed water theme park like Volcano Bay. But the folks at Universal Creative wanted to take things even further. They wanted to give visitors to Universal Orlando’s third park the chance to actually meet & interact with this myth.

“Which is why – as you explore that series of caves that cut through Krakatau – you’ll eventually come face-to-face with this trickster fire spirit. Here, you can actually have a conversation with Vol. Play games with him,” Mason enthused.

And how exactly is this supposed to work? Understandably, given that Volcano Bay’s grand opening is still more than two months away, Dale didn’t want to give away too much about the elaborate interior chamber where this fire spirit has been imprisoned.

“All I can say is that he’ll have control over a great many things. But you always need to keep in mind that this guy is a trickster. So be careful when it comes to what questions you ask of Vol. For you may not always like his answers,” Mason said.

Mind you, getting the chance to interact with Vol isn’t the only aspect of Universal’s Volcano Bay that harkens back to / touches on Krakatua’s creation myth. Take – for example – the Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides.

“These are two trap door drop slides that face one another. They’re positioned high up on the side of Krakatua where the sea meets the sky. And given that the trap doors on this attraction open simultaneously, guests can then experience what Kala & Tai Nui felt. That fear when her father tore them apart,” Dale said.

Of course, if you’re looking to recreate a more peaceful portion this creation myth, you may want to seek out the Kopiko Wai Winding River. Which – as it slowly winds its way through Volcano Bay’s lush landscape – this “Lazy River” -like attraction eventually takes Universal Orlando visitors through Stargazer’s Cavern.

“For this portion of the Kopiko Wai Winding River, we took our inspiration from the glow worm caves of New Zealand. Which are these spectacular places that you can float through while visiting that country,” Mason explained. “So as Volcano Bay visitors enter Stargazer’s Cavern, we’re basically showing them how the story of Krakatau ended after that fiery god connected sky and sea. Now that these two places have been linked, Kala & Tai Nui are finally reunited. So they now spend their nights together on the moon. And then – when morning comes – Kala & Tai Nui fall back into the ocean. So in Stargazer’s Cavern, what with all those glow worms above being reflected in the water below, it’s like you’re now floating through the nighttime sky surrounded by starlight.”

And just so you know: New Zealand isn’t the only part of Polynesian that heavily influenced the look & design of Universal’s Volcano Bay.

“As you wander through the three villages that make up our third theme park – the Wave Village, the River Village and the Rainforest Village – you’re going to see samples & tributes to many of the cultures that the Waturi people supposedly encountered as they were traveling across the South Pacific searching for their new home,” Dale enthused. “Which is why many of the buildings in Volcano Bay are these sort of lantern-like structures that are made up of Thai stilt houses on the bottom but the thatch details are all from Bali. And the roofs are from Japan or from Thailand.”

“It’s this collision of cultures that allowed us to create a fantasy environment. When you get right down to it, what we were really trying to do with Volcano Bay was create an immersive resort experience. This place is far more than just slides. That’s why we did things like give our guests the chance to interact with Vol. Engage this imprisoned fire spirit in conversation, have this trickster tell you stories?,” Mason concluded. “But the only way that you can encounter Vol is if you explore this environment, wander through those villages. If people do that, I think they’re really going to be surprised by the spectacular amount of detail that we’ve designed into this place.”


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...iery-spirits-play_us_58c20797e4b070e55af9ed4d
 

rushtest4echo

Well-Known Member
Water parks and rides are usually built 90% faster than any theme park attractions. They go up in a matter of days and only need a few weeks of prep before and after construction. The park infrastructure is another thing. If anything's delaying VB, it's 99% likely that it's something other than the attractions themselves.
 

Quinnmac000

Well-Known Member
Without derailing the other thread, you all do know that the Ohno and Ohyah slides are also fully themed with intersting ways to make it to the slide and enclosed in rock work when done but of course people will continue to scream unthemed slides outside the volcano.
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Without derailing the other thread, you all do know that the Ohno and Ohyah slides are also fully themed with intersting ways to make it to the slide and enclosed in rock work when done but of course people will continue to scream unthemed slides outside the volcano.
I saw the photos in the other thread about the new slide at TL. The themed slides indeed do look impressive... but why theme some so heavily and others basically not at all?
The bottom line is if I'm at a water park- I'd much rather have the 18 attractions at VB all over the place- even if some are "unthemed"- than the 11 attractions at TL- of which only 6 are integrated (while the other 5 are standalone- yet we conveniently forget that aspect)
Yeah but they're still themed though. To be fair, Blizzard Beach has some unthemed slides.
 
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Horizons '83

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
I'm not really a Water Park guy (had a ton of bad experiences through the years) but this park makes me what to at the very least spend a few hours and explore.
 

Quinnmac000

Well-Known Member
I saw the photos in the other thread about the new slide at TL. The themed slides indeed do look impressive... but why theme some so heavily and others basically not at all?

Yeah but they're still themed though. To be fair, Blizzard Beach has some unthemed slides.

11 Slides are heavily themed, 2 river attractions are highly themed, three kids area heavily themed and the volcano which houses 9 slides. So if 14 of the 18 advertised attractions are heavily story focused that already puts it over those at other parks and the slides that aren't as well themed are all attention grabbers by the road as all of them are also the higher thrill slides. Thrillseekers will want to come and go down thrillings slides, theming people will be shocked by the 14 story based attractions and enjoying that once that get inside. Its a win for everyone.
 

sedati

Well-Known Member
The bottom line is if I'm at a water park- I'd much rather have the 18 attractions at VB all over the place- even if some are "unthemed"- than the 11 attractions at TL- of which only 6 are integrated (while the other 5 are standalone- yet we conveniently forget that aspect)
I agree that as a collection of new slides, this park looks great. Theme is fine, though from the outset I never understood why they would do a volcano theme as there is another one down the way. And the volcano is what I'm most critical of. The detail looks fairly low as far as the rock-work craftsmanship goes. As more and more scaffolding comes down I keep thinking this looks like a giant rotted out tree trunk. The volcano look really only works from one side. Still think this will be a world class waterpark and if it causes the others to up there game, then it's more than a good thing.
 

rushtest4echo

Well-Known Member
11 Slides are heavily themed, 2 river attractions are highly themed, three kids area heavily themed and the volcano which houses 9 slides. So if 14 of the 18 advertised attractions are heavily story focused that already puts it over those at other parks and the slides that aren't as well themed are all attention grabbers by the road as all of them are also the higher thrill slides. Thrillseekers will want to come and go down thrillings slides, theming people will be shocked by the 14 story based attractions and enjoying that once that get inside. Its a win for everyone.

14 of the 18 attractions are not highly themed. That's just an outright lie. In fact, the opposite is a much closer number. I get that you work there or something, but the majority of Volcano Bay's slides will compare with Aquatica. Aquatica's slides have cute names tooand some generic island theme but they're not "heavily story focused" and neither are the majority at VB. And much like Aquatica's headliner body slides, the two drop slides at VB will probably send you through anything special so quickly that it's rendered useless. Still holding out hope that the hydromagnetic will be a world beater though, and I hope I'm wrong about the body slides in the volcano. The lazy river looks fab too, but again I'm not sure it'll be any more impressive that Aquatica's lazy river, or the one at Atlantis, or a few in the Middle East. It'll be great though, just not "industry changing". Everything else is something I've ridden elsewhere. Same light theming, same basic story, same slide, same lack of any theming throughout the ride itself. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's the industry standard. But that's the thing, some people are convinced that this is creating a new standard in the industry, they feel VB is going to be the Wizarding World of Water Parks, and it's just not going to be.

Then again, if perception trumps reality- then Universal's done a great job at creating the perception that this park is worthy of being considered above any class of water parks before it. That's complete hogwash, but again they've seemed to done a bang up PR job to convince people that it's going to be a world beater. Either way, it'll still be a great park that I intend to visit as a guest ASAP (though I've already seen enough of the park not as a guest to know that it's not some mindblowingly amazing water park in comparison to others around the world or even down the street). Anyone who's walked the place (myself included) and has seen what the water park industry offers elsewhere will not conclude that this park is head and shoulders above the industry's other offerings.

This is sort of like a Six Flags/Cedar Fair vs Universal/Disney argument in the theme park realm. Sure, VB will totally outclass a Six Flags type waterpark, but it's not going to outclass a Disney type waterpark and it's certainly not going to one up everyone in the way that Potter did.
 
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rushtest4echo

Well-Known Member


Wish they'd build one of these in the US! Universal would actually "upend" stuff if they had one of these. ;)

Not really, I mean that's insane, but still......
 

rushtest4echo

Well-Known Member
Man, you could take a queue from Socrates.
"I know one thing; I know nothing"
That's not a quote of his...

Visit Yas Waterworld, Atlantis and Wild Wadi- they're all within a two hour drive of each other (yes, on the other side of the globe, but still) and two or all three of them are easily more impressive than Volcano Bay. It's not even a debate.

Each of those parks has a package of slides similar to VB (atlantis is a bit light on slides, but the ones they have are spectacular) but they're all much better integrated into the theme and landscape of the park. No towers sticking up with slides attached...

Plenty of waterparks under construction in China will completely blow away any US water park in terms of theming and slide collection as well. There are almost too many to count!
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
It will absolutely have to rival DAK in lushness of the vegetation and landscaping for it to feel immersive on a world-class level.

Why compare to dak? Jus compare to the other two water parks in town that are tropical settings. Discovery cove...and TL.

Discovery cove is awesome for what they accomplish given their location.
 

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