Volcano Bay

[captainkidd]

Not sure if those numbers are correct, but if they are, it's actually on par with Disney's. Each of Disney's water parks hits over 2 million guests per year. Each park is closed for at least 1 month per year. That's about 6,000 guests per day. I've read differing reports on the actual size of VB. Some say 25 acres, while others say 53 acres. I'm guessing it's got to be closer to the latter, or it would get really tight.

 

[lebeau]

Not sure if those numbers are correct, but if they are, it's actually on par with Disney's. Each of Disney's water parks hits over 2 million guests per year. Each park is closed for at least 1 month per year. That's about 6,000 guests per day. I've read differing reports on the actual size of VB. Some say 25 acres, while others say 53 acres. I'm guessing it's got to be closer to the latter, or it would get really tight.

If VB is doing Disney-level business, wow, what a home run that is! Their dry parks don't directly compete with Disney's attendance.

 

[captainkidd]

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't. On the surface, VB looks as interesting, if not more than Disney's parks. Theme parks, with the exception of the Magic Kingdom are actually very close in terms of attendance.

 

[lebeau]

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't. On the surface, VB looks as interesting, if not more than Disney's parks. Theme parks, with the exception of the Magic Kingdom are actually very close in terms of attendance.

That's a big exception. Overall, there are a lot more people staying at Disney World than there are at Universal. I never expected VB to have the same attendance as Disney's water parks. I doubt they did either which is part of why they are caught unprepared.

 

[captainkidd]

That's a big exception. Overall, there are a lot more people staying at Disney World than there are at Universal. I never expected VB to have the same attendance as Disney's water parks. I doubt they did either which is part of why they are caught unprepared.

I always thought VB would be a hit. From all the pre-opening videos (and even after seeing the videos of the park after opening) I thought it looked amazing.

 

[lebeau]

I always thought VB would be a hit. From all the pre-opening videos (and even after seeing the videos of the park after opening) I thought it looked amazing.

I thought it would be successful. But if it's really performing as well as Disney's water parks, that exceeds my expectations.

 

[mergatroid]

That's a big exception. Overall, there are a lot more people staying at Disney World than there are at Universal. I never expected VB to have the same attendance as Disney's water parks. I doubt they did either which is part of why they are caught unprepared.

I really can't accept that as an excuse. When they opened the park they'd already planned on what numbers would constitute capacity as they've had to close it when full. Knowing how many slides they had and working out how many guests would fill capacity meant they'd planned in advance for those numbers, so turning around after and saying we got caught unprepared isn't a reasonable excuse.

If 12,000 people turn up in a day and they can only accommodate 6,000 then it's perhaps not Universal's fault (though in that scenario perhaps they should have done more market research). However if 6,000 turn up and Universal have capped the capacity at that limit, by default they've already said we can handle that number of people.

 

[mergatroid]

Using some made up numbers, let's say the average wait time for attractions at a park that uses virtual queues is 30 minutes. In an hour, guests could expect to experience two attractions. Over the course of six hours, they could experience a dozen attractions. Instead of waiting in line, they can do other things during those 30 minute intervals.

In a FP-like system where guests are able to wait in line while their place is being held for them in another line, we'll say wait times are doubled due to the fact people are in two lines at the same time. So, the average wait is now 60 minutes. But, thanks to FP, as soon as you finish one attraction you can experience another with little to no wait. Under this system, guests could expect to experience two attractions per hour or a dozen in six hours.

In practice, that's not how things currently work. Universal still has a lot of work to do before they will be operating efficiently. Also, not everyone using FP uses it to maximum effect which benefits anyone who waits in line for an attraction while their place is being held in line elsewhere. That's really not the point. The point is, neither system is inherently superior to the other. But everything else being equal, I prefer the one where I do not have to physically queue up.

Not strictly true that though unless you're comparing how VB has made all their slides virtual queuing and then imagined Disney had done the same and made all their rides FP+ (which they haven't). In fact increasing the number of rides in Disney to accommodate FP+ has increased the wait times for certain rides that didn't used to have a FP queue, having a combination of some rides FP+ and some not seems to be the most efficient way.

As you've very briefly alluded to yourself, human behaviour doesn't always follow a mathematical formula which means some flexibility is required in mathematical systems used to manage queues.

Also as an aside, somebody pointed out the tapu, tapu (or virtual queuing) isn't a new system and has been operating for several years in other parks. So really there should be no new issues integrating it into VB. Some blame the customers for not understanding it, however if that's the case then it's up to Universal to educate people how it works better.

 

[flynnibus]

Then there is something extremely wrong with TapuTapu. Volcano Bay has more slides than Typhoon Lagoon, yet its wait times are anywhere from 5-10x as long at VB and people are not getting to ride all the slides. I mean, it is what it is.

Because the waits aren't like that.. but because you've got yourself all worked up you will mash things up, take them to the extreme, and apply edge cases as if they are the norm to help justify yourself.

Waits of 30+mins are not uncommon at Disney water parks.. heck, even my local water parks can have that for attractions. Only certain slides (not all) are experiencing the multi-hour waits.. and not even all slides have waits. You can find 'Ride now' activities even that are on the TT system in addition to the attractions that aren't on the TT. So this isn't 'do nothing and have multi-hour waits for everything' as you keep making yourself believe.

 

[mergatroid]

Because the waits aren't like that.. but because you've got yourself all worked up you will mash things up, take them to the extreme, and apply edge cases as if they are the norm to help justify yourself.

Waits of 30+mins are not uncommon at Disney water parks.. heck, even my local water parks can have that for attractions. Only certain slides (not all) are experiencing the multi-hour waits.. and not even all slides have waits. You can find 'Ride now' activities even that are on the TT system in addition to the attractions that aren't on the TT. So this isn't 'do nothing and have multi-hour waits for everything' as you keep making yourself believe.

Are you saying there's slides not on the TT or referring to the lazy rivers and wave pool?

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Are you saying there's slides not on the TT or referring to the lazy rivers and wave pool?

Slides on the TT system. They have gotten up to capacity on the The Taniwha Tubes and they are almost always "Ride Now". And The Maku Pui slides are also "Ride Now" for much of the day even on capacity days. And Ika Moana usually has little to no line. Although Honu is quite popular and builds a wait early.

There are 2 design issues that ProSlide are working on that are sort of crippling the park. I'll cover the bigger one first. The 2 serpentine drop slides are the tallest that ProSlide has ever built, and to conform to the layout around the volcano, the ride path, in places, is quite far from the center support structure. They have found that with riders upwards towards 300 lbs. the lateral g's are flexing the supports more than ProSlide is comfortable with. They have reduced the weight limit on these 2 slides to 200 lbs. until they can get beefier supports in the couple of places that are an issue. This is seriously effecting capacity at the drop slides, because everyone over 200 lbs. is queuing for the red straight drop slide causing huge wait times, or just heading to other attractions over loading them. This will be fixed, but it is going to take a little while. Until it's fixed, those under 200 lbs. will find almost no wait on the 2 serpentine slides. So there is that plus.

The second design issue that is hurting capacity is on the Punga Racers mat slides. It seems the angle of entry into landing pool is off, resulting in people being sent tail over teacup if they don't pull back on the mat as they head into the landing pool. It is pretty bad on 2 of the 4 slides, so they are only operating 2 slides until the fix can be made. This is an issue because the mat slides are designed to be one of the parks high capacity attractions and right now they are sort of limping along with 2 slides.

All that said, significant improvements have been made. Even on capacity days (which they all have been since it opened), there usually is at least one set of slides that are "ride now". And yes, you can ride the "ride now" slides while you are waiting in the virtual queue for another attraction.

They are also bringing a lot more of the interactive elements around the park online giving people more things to do and explore while waiting for their Tapu Tapu times.

And concerning capacity, the parks caps at 6000. Typhoon is 6000, BB is 5000.

 

[mergatroid]

Slides on the TT system. They have gotten up to capacity on the The Taniwha Tubes and they are almost always "Ride Now". And The Maku Pui slides are also "Ride Now" for much of the day even on capacity days. And Ika Moana usually has little to no line. Although Honu is quite popular and builds a wait early.

There are 2 design issues that ProSlide are working on that are sort of crippling the park. I'll cover the bigger one first. The 2 serpentine drop slides are the tallest that ProSlide has ever built, and to conform to the layout around the volcano, the ride path, in places, is quite far from the center support structure. They have found that with riders upwards towards 300 lbs. the lateral g's are flexing the supports more than ProSlide is comfortable with. They have reduced the weight limit on these 2 slides to 200 lbs. until they can get beefier supports in the couple of places that are an issue. This is seriously effecting capacity at the drop slides, because everyone over 200 lbs. is queuing for the red straight drop slide causing huge wait times, or just heading to other attractions over loading them. This will be fixed, but it is going to take a little while. Until it's fixed, those under 200 lbs. will find almost no wait on the 2 serpentine slides. So there is that plus.

The second design issue that is hurting capacity is on the Punga Racers mat slides. It seems the angle of entry into landing pool is off, resulting in people being sent tail over teacup if they don't pull back on the mat as they head into the landing pool. It is pretty bad on 2 of the 4 slides, so they are only operating 2 slides until the fix can be made. This is an issue because the mat slides are designed to be one of the parks high capacity attractions and right now they are sort of limping along with 2 slides.

All that said, significant improvements have been made. Even on capacity days (which they all have been since it opened), there usually is at least one set of slides that are "ride now". And yes, you can ride the "ride now" slides while you are waiting in the virtual queue for another attraction.

They are also bringing a lot more of the interactive elements around the park online giving people more things to do and explore while waiting for their Tapu Tapu times.

And concerning capacity, the parks caps at 6000. Typhoon is 6000, BB is 5000.

Thanks, some really great information there. I'm wondering, are all slides using TT as somebody mentioned the rumour they'd changed that recently?

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Good information. Thanks for sharing!
Being an outsider and not someone that works in the theme park industry, my question is are the above "issues" status quo for a new park or are these concerns and needed modification related to bigger issues? If so, can you share. Also, are these issues related to meeting park opening timelines?

Both are just new park issues and had nothing to do with rushing.

The issue with the drop slides is the kind of thing that can happen when breaking records on size and such.

There is an argument over who caused the mat slide issue. ProSlide thinks the contractor miscalculated. The contractor thinks they built it exactly like ProSlide designed. The problem is interesting in that the problem is progressive across the 4 slides. The slide on one end is the least effected and the problem gets progressively worse until the slide at the other end is a doozy. So that leads me to believe the contractor messed up. Or maybe the new "land" under the landing pool "settled" unevenly? Who knows? I believe ProSlide is building slightly longer end pieces and slightly taller last supports to fix the problem on the 2 slides that are closed.

Thanks, some really great information there. I'm wondering, are all slides using TT as somebody mentioned the rumour they'd changed that recently?

All the slides are still on Tapu Tapu. The reporting of taking 2 towers off Tapu Tapu was simply confusion caused by those 2 sets of slides (Taniwha Tubes and the Maku Pui Slides) staying at "Ride Now" all day because they are finally getting things up to speed. Occasionally, they will still get a 20-30 min. wait, but not often.

 

[flynnibus]

Are you saying there's slides not on the TT or referring to the lazy rivers and wave pool?

"You can find 'Ride now' activities even that are on the TT system in addition to the attractions that aren't on the TT."

What is not clear about this statement? There are multiple forms of entertainment in the park. The park isn't just some slides with TT terminals and nothing else.

 

[captainkidd]

"You can find 'Ride now' activities even that are on the TT system in addition to the attractions that aren't on the TT."

What is not clear about this statement? There are multiple forms of entertainment in the park. The park isn't just some slides with TT terminals and nothing else.

I'm truly curious - Do you not realize how you come off sounding on this board, or do you simply not care about being rude to others?

 

[flynnibus]

I'm truly curious - Do you not realize how you come off sounding on this board, or do you simply not care about being rude to others?

I don't care when people pick a path, head down it for months, and then cry if treated as such.

If someone wants to try to bait people with stupid lead-ins.. you shouldn't be surprised if you get busted for it.

 

[trr1]

wait times today when we left park, park closed due to capacity

 

[captainkidd]

I don't care when people pick a path, head down it for months, and then cry if treated as such.

If someone wants to try to bait people with stupid lead-ins.. you shouldn't be surprised if you get busted for it.

Or a month since the park opened, but hey, month(s) makes your story sound better, so go with it.

Why in the blue hell would anyone try to "bait" anyone here in regards to a water park that none of us has any vested interest in? I, and others, are simply going off of the reviews we have read and trying to have a discussion about it. Come on man.

 

[opshannon]

"You can find 'Ride now' activities even that are on the TT system in addition to the attractions that aren't on the TT."

What is not clear about this statement? There are multiple forms of entertainment in the park. The park isn't just some slides with TT terminals and nothing else.

So you mean the rivers, wave pool, and eateries. Got it. Those are fun to do most of the day!

 

[Tom Morrow]

Why would anyone pay money for those ridiculous wait times when there are three other water parks in Orlando where you can go and wait no more than 20-30 minutes tops per slide? It's been open a month now... they need to let less people in until this can be fixed.