Volcano Bay

[flynnibus]

The only problem I see with virtual queueing is if there are no waits for most of the slides. Then do you still have to reserve a spot on your band and come back in 0 minutes, or can you just skip that process and walk on?

The sign says "ride now"... scan and go. You can see this in the timtracker video

 

[danpam1024]

Looks great. I'm sure it opened to early and needs 2-3 months of operations to truly fine tune, but I don't visit URO until HHN at the earliest, if not next year, so I'm no particularly concerned or judgemental about social media reports.

Pandora looks great too, but Disney isn't getting a cent from me until Star Wars Land has been open for 6 plus months.

we're going to UOR in a couple of weeks- told the boy there is NO WAY we're going to VB until HHN at least.

 

[andysol]

Some of you seemed to have scoffed at the idea that they wanted to get this open before Pandora... but like, did you forget that the parks very frequently aim to get their new additions open around the same time? Just last year, Kong, Frozen, and Mako opened within weeks of each other.

Heck- not even rides, but entire parks. DHS/USF and IoA/DAK for example. The only reason DHS exists is because of USF- and then DHS beat USF to the opening, and USF was still riddled with massive problems.

I agree- this isn't "brand new into theme parks" Universal. This is the same Universal who has been the industry leader in queues, ride tech, etc since 2010.
Moreso, this is the same Universal who has set lofty goals and hits them or exceeds them every time.
Perfect example: Kong was set to open in summer 2016, which in "Disney terms" means the last day of summer But instead, even though they said "summer" it ends up being the spring when it's up and running. Conversely, Disney said Frozen would be spring of 2016 and in winter of 2015 bumped it back to summer of 2016. And it was just a layover of existing ride tech.
So if I get to praise Universal for their incredible job of hitting their targets, and slam Disney for constantly missing theirs- like I have been - now the latest project, the role is reversed. And all of a sudden Universal missed the scheduled mark completely and Disney exceeded it. So one should get the praise for that.
And to continue that- now Disney has bumped SWL to 2019 when we all thought it was 2020 at the earliest. Meanwhile Fast and Furious (yawn) got bumped from 2017 to 2018.
Universal woke Disney up- and I wish they'd get more credit for it because the dusters believe it's just Disney being great on their own with no regard for Uni. History and actions tells a very different story.
Universal needs to take a deep breath, reassses, and come back stronger than ever after F&F. Nintendo and Potter 3 should be those answers- if they are lackluster, it will be very disconcerting.

we're going to UOR in a couple of weeks- told the boy there is NO WAY we're going to VB until HHN at least.

I'd check back here or the "inside Universal" forums to see what it's like in 10-12 days.
The changes simply from day 1 to day 2 to day 3 have been pretty staggering. Day one waits after returning were 20-30 mins. By day 2 they were only 5. By day three they were 30-40. So they are clearly adjusting it all over the place- what should have been done in softs (had they existed). They might have it managed enough to be bearable in two weeks- or not. Even with all the complaints most people are having a ton of fun there if their expectations are managed.

 

[squidward]

I just got a refund on our VB tickets. Between 5 tickets and the cabana, cost was $800. Are we jumping the gun? Very possibly. However, if they work things out before July, we can always buy tickets and go then. If it's so busy that we can't get in, we wouldn't want to go anyway.

I've been saying it since Day 1. No way was the Virtual Line idea going to work. And that was before I realized that when your ride time comes up, you still may have to wait in another 45 minute line. And that was before I realized you couldn't ride anything else in the interim.

I watched a video of a guy walking around and talking to others who all said the same thing - Epic Failure. Imagine if Disney said you could get a FP for Splash Mountain but could do no other rides in the meantime. Completely ridiculous. We love Universal, go every year for over a week, but this had disaster (no pun intended) written all over it. I'd much rather spend the same money for a nice relaxing day at Discovery Cove and get free Admission to Aquatica (not to mention Sea World).

 

[captainkidd]

What you are stating is your own personal opinion and that's alright. It is a discussion board after all. With that being said, by many accounts Pandora is a smash hit, albeit not for everyone, but what is. Yes, many news outlets, individuals on this board, and even personal acquaintances that I have spoken to are blown away by Pandora as a whole. It is annoying to read some posts by a couple of individuals that Pandora is receiving mixed reviews when that is clearly not the case.

VB is fantastic, but it is not without its major flaws, especially for a park that is being called its third theme park gate.
I would also mention a lot of these flaws are not fixable as you state. For example, being landlocked, the lack of theming in the mountain, the lack of theming throughout the rides, the less than optimal sight lines of hotels and traffic, and the que-less system needs some major rethinking. it will be interesting to see if this is a sustainable system in about 6 months or so.

I actually think Universal dropped the ball with this park. I think with some additional capital and creative investment added to this project could have put them in a position to outshine Disney in regards to a quality theme park product. Once again it could of placed Disney in an awkward position. People would be talking about the three amazing theme parks that Universal has, but instead people will talk about the two theme parks and a fun water park.

If I could compare this project to a Disney project, I would say the "Seven Dwarfs Mine Train". This is an excellent ride; however with an addition of another show scene and some additional time this ride would be a game changer but instead opted for a double instead of the HR!

Anyway, just my thoughts.

I agree. It's personal opinion. I just can't get overly excited about something (Avatar) that I care so little about. VB, I was totally stoked about, but the problems they are having with the virtual lines will only be fixed if they add standby options. It's a ridiculous idea as it is right now.

 

[trr1]

we're going to UOR in a couple of weeks- told the boy there is NO WAY we're going to VB until HHN at least.

we will be arriving at RPR on the 25 and leaving on the 2nd were going to try one day to see what it looks like

 

[Tom Morrow]

I have to wonder why they would even consider Express Pass to this virtual queue system. If you promise a virtual queue, then I expect to wait no more than 10 minutes when it's my time to ride. This however can be thrown off by the variable of Express Pass, since there is nothing controlling how many Express Pass holders show up to an attraction at any given time.

 

[trr1]

I have to wonder why they would even consider Express Pass to this virtual queue system. If you promise a virtual queue, then I expect to wait no more than 10 minutes when it's my time to ride. This however can be thrown off by the variable of Express Pass, since there is nothing controlling how many Express Pass holders show up to an attraction at any given time.

the Universal Orlando site says express pass is used at
10 Participating Locations

• Ko’okiri Body Plunge™
• Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides™
• Honu ika Moana™
• Taniwha Tubes
• Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides™
• Punga Racers™
• Ohyah and Ohno Drop Slides™
• Universal Express Pass is not valid at Krakatau™ Aqua Coaster

 

[captainkidd]

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...-Universal_s_Volcano_Bay-Orlando_Florida.html

Yikes!

 

[JoeCamel]

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...-Universal_s_Volcano_Bay-Orlando_Florida.html

Yikes!

Let's see:
AP holder went on opening weekend? Why?
Was surprised at the crowds? Why?
Thought $7 Beer and $15 pizza and drink were high? Why?
Thought Tapu Tapu meant no lines? Why?

Can't say I feel sorry for her, she really didn't research this at all. You might expect that from a day guest but an AP from Ocala??

The other reviews I would expect, these people really had no clue and thought they could waltz into a new park on opening day and everything would be peaches and cream. I am an AP holder and knew better than to go anywhere near VB for the first week or more.
I did both Potter land openings, I learned, you don't! You just don't. If you do this is what you get.

For an AP that does not have to be there opening day it is unfathomable they would put themselves through it. They are not under pressure, their AP is still good other times.

 

[squidward]

Let's see:
AP holder went on opening weekend? Why?
Was surprised at the crowds? Why?
Thought $7 Beer and $15 pizza and drink were high? Why
Thought Tapu Tapu meant no lines? Why?

Can't say I feel sorry for her, she really didn't research this at all. You might expect that from a day guest but an AP from Ocala??

There are 16 reviews as of today. 14 of them are negative. Sorry, I don't buy the "It's opening weekend" excuse. Not in this case. Tapu Tapu was a bad idea from the get go. It was always simple math. That's where all the negativity is coming from.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

The problem is that Krakatau can't accommodate that amount of arriving guests without giving them a return time 6, 7 or even 10 hours away. It's a throughput issue that isn't going to be easily solved. I'm still at a loss for words as to why Universal went with the smallest, cheapest model in terms of the water coaster. For what the whole project cost, having two slides side by side or even going with the mammoth model probably wouldn't have significantly affected the budget. There's a reason Disney saw fit to have 3 slides for their water coaster. Different manufacturers and clearly a lot shorter ride time wise, but you just can't get enough guests through one flume on rides like those at the top visited water parks. Heck, there's a park in Australia that has 4 master blaster lanes just to keep capacity up! Krakatau was excellent, but totally unthemed as far as the ride itself is concerned. In fact, much if it was downright ugly- especially compared to Disney's water coaster down the street. Between the capacity and the lack of theming on the ride itself I'm pretty "meh" about it all, Fun ride no doubt, but wow it's got issues.

The throughput issue at Volcano Bay seems to be affecting slides outside the Krakatau water coaster, and not just because of the large crowds of a holiday weekend. Looking at videos of the various attractions, it's becoming clearer that Universal may have shot itself in the foot with the design of some of them, specifically the load areas.

For example, here is the load area for the Puihi Raft Slide.

Note that there is only enough space for one raft in the load pool. What this means is that the loading process for the next raft can only begin after the previous raft has been sent down the tube. It's an incredibly shortsighted design that severely limits throughput, as you can see on the video:



At 1:34, the green eyes of the tiki signal the next raft can be launched, yet it's not until about 2:14 when the raft is finally pushed down the slide, a roughly 40 second delay. That's at least 1, maybe even 2, rafts worth of capacity that was lost in that timeframe. Repeat that over 10 hours of operations and it's thousands of rides of lost capacity just on this one slide!

But it's a similar story with Maku, Honu, and Ika Moana; the loading area looks to be only big enough for 1 raft. These should be the park's (relatively) high capacity slides, with rafts of 4-6 people being dispatched every 20-30 seconds. But right now, it looks like the best ops can manage is every 50-60 seconds. That's not going to work even on lightly attended days.

I'm just baffled at Universal's decision making on the design of these slides. Efficient loading is something other water parks figured out years ago. Aquatica's HooRoo and Walhalla Wave both have 2 load stations, so you can be loading a raft at one position while launching the other. Colossal Curl at the Busch Gardens water parks can hold up to 3 rafts in its load pool. Disney uses a conveyor belt system for Teamboat Springs at Blizzard Beach.

Only having the ability to load 1 raft at a time is the kind of design mistake that's inexcusable for a new park in 2017. And it's far from an easy fix.

 

[flynnibus]

. And that was before I realized you couldn't ride anything else in the interim.

Thats not really accurate. You can ride things that dont require a reservation and there are two tiers for those that do. So you can make a reservation for the coaster, and still do other slides, and while waiting for a slide, you can do the wave pool or rivers

 

[Tom Morrow]

Even if the park is at capacity, 3, 4, 5+ hour waits for the slides tells me that the system is indeed broken and it isn't just something to attribute to opening weekend and holiday weekend crowds like some of you are insinuating.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Thats not really accurate. You can ride things that dont require a reservation and there are two tiers for those that do. So you can make a reservation for the coaster, and still do other slides, and while waiting for a slide, you can do the wave pool or rivers

That's fine and all but I'd be pretty upset to have to kill 5 hours in the wave pool or lazy river when I dropped $70 to hopefully ride some water slides.

 

[captainkidd]

Who wants to spend 2 plus hours in a wave pool?

 

[flynnibus]

At 1:34, the green eyes of the tiki signal the next raft can be launched, yet it's not until about 2:14 when the raft is finally pushed down the slide, a roughly 40 second delay. That's at least 1, maybe even 2, rafts worth of capacity that was lost in that timeframe. Repeat that over 10 hours of operations and it's thousands of rides of lost capacity just on this one slide!

They cant send rafts down thst close anymore. The time you label as lost is actually cycle time they have to wait anyways for spacing.

The days of catching your friend in front if you in the slide are long long gone.

 

[mergatroid]

Pandora stole a lot of crowds initially because, as I've said before, it's something new in a park that hasn't seen something new in over a decade. That being said, despite the operational and logistical issues at Volcano Bay, all reviews have been excellent. Reviews for Pandora have been mixed. I would fully expect the crowds at Pandora to thin out quite a bit.

I'd be interested to see where these reviews came from. As you see below 'Trip Advisor' reviews don't really mirror your claim?

There are 16 reviews as of today. 14 of them are negative. Sorry, I don't buy the "It's opening weekend" excuse. Not in this case. Tapu Tapu was a bad idea from the get go. It was always simple math. That's where all the negativity is coming from.

I'm not knocking VB but for a debate to be worthwhile it's better to be fair.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

They cant send rafts down thst close anymore. The time you label as lost is actually cycle time they have to wait anyways for spacing.

The days of catching your friend in front if you in the slide are long long gone.

True, 2 rafts within 40 seconds is too optimistic. Still, that 40 second delay between green eyes and actual launch is a real problem.

 

[mergatroid]

Who wants to spend 2 plus hours in a wave pool?

To be honest I've done that regularly at Typhoon Lagoon. Nothing like treading water near the ropes in the deep part and riding those waves before they break. I've actually had a life guard shout to see if I was ok due to the length of time I was just floating there, though I take your point that it's not everyone's cup of tea.