Volcano Bay: General Discussion

[Brian G.]

Sorry, just catching up to this thread. Those menu changes are awful. It's amazing going from all those great sounding gourmet burgers to "bacon cheeseburger".

It's like a gastropub deciding they will just start reselling McDonalds cheeseburgers.

The tacos were a huge part of their food marketing campaign,I can't believe they droppped those too.

I really think UOR made huge mistakes with opening this park with Tapu Tapu.

Which is what I blame for all the parks troubles, including the long lines for food.

I know people still think that they will "work the bugs out" , but apparently one of the bugs was offering a decent meal.

If a 4th park does open, id be willing to bet Tapu Tapu will not be used. At least not for everything.

I'm not seeing the correlation between Tapu Tapu and cutting back the menu...

 

[Journey_On]

Another thing I noticed at VB: they put in a sidewalk where it used to be just sand. Namely, the area around the River Concierge desk where there are stairs. It makes it easier to walk through that area, but there's still a lot of sand on the sidewalk, but I guess there is no way around it.

 

[Andysol]

I honestly don't get why universal didn't just wait and build VB in the land that will be used for the new parks. They would have had a lot more space

What else would go in VBs place anyway? 2-3 more resorts? It wasn't big enough for an actual theme park.

Once they use the VB expansion it will be bigger than TL, BB or aquatica. And it already has more slides/attractions than any of them, so it will only expand on that lead.
If they're still hitting capacity daily with the opening of the 4th park, then I fully expect to see a 2nd water park on the new property.

 

[Disneyhead]

The Tacos got bad reviews, the Hawaiian Pizza and Ribs no one ordered. The Poke Bowls are just high maintenance all the way around. And the "specialty" burgers were really slowing down prep time.

I expect tacos and a few specialty burgers to return. Along with some new items.

 

[yankees13]

Haven't been keeping up with this thread, but I'm heading down in 2 weeks. Have lines subsided a little bit? Earlier on in July, I was seeing Universal tweet that VB was at capacity at like 1pm, but I haven't seen it in a while.

 

[Journey_On]

Haven't been keeping up with this thread, but I'm heading down in 2 weeks. Have lines subsided a little bit? Earlier on in July, I was seeing Universal tweet that VB was at capacity at like 1pm, but I haven't seen it in a while.

The last few days, VB has been at capacity around 10:00-ish (maybe earlier). Yesterday they seemed to go a little back and forth between Phase 2 and 3 - the former being open to on-site resort guests only, and the latter being no further admission. I'm guessing things will start to get better in mid-August, based on past water park hours and experience. Then again, it might be quite popular with passholders once August rolls around. And then team members after the 20th.

 

[shiekra38]

The Tacos got bad reviews, the Hawaiian Pizza and Ribs no one ordered. The Poke Bowls are just high maintenance all the way around. And the "specialty" burgers were really slowing down prep time.

I expect tacos and a few specialty burgers to return. Along with some new items.

If it dosen't sell, it has to go...basic economics...I've never seen such a mass exodus of food items though, or rather, publicly

 

[GAcoaster]

My understanding is staffing turnover has been a big issue. The food has had long lines. Keeping it simple means less training needed for specialty items, faster prep and delivery time. They've been pulling people to work in VB from other food locations in IoA and USF so it makes sense to just take it down to some of the more common items that all the parks have for now until they can get everything stabilized.

This summer Disney, SeaWorld and Universal have all had problems hiring enough staff for all the positions the had let alone the new positions they created. Expect the minimum starting wage to go up from the current $10 at all parks. With the unemployment rate so low it's really hard to get ANYONE to work let alone really good, loyal employees.

 

[Mad Dog]

My understanding is staffing turnover has been a big issue. The food has had long lines. Keeping it simple means less training needed for specialty items, faster prep and delivery time. They've been pulling people to work in VB from other food locations in IoA and USF so it makes sense to just take it down to some of the more common items that all the parks have for now until they can get everything stabilized.

This summer Disney, SeaWorld and Universal have all had problems hiring enough staff for all the positions the had let alone the new positions they created. Expect the minimum starting wage to go up from the current $10 at all parks. With the unemployment rate so low it's really hard to get ANYONE to work let alone really good, loyal employees.

I wonder how much the clamp down on immigration has to do with the size of the Orlando job market.

 

[MattA]

My understanding is staffing turnover has been a big issue. The food has had long lines. Keeping it simple means less training needed for specialty items, faster prep and delivery time. They've been pulling people to work in VB from other food locations in IoA and USF so it makes sense to just take it down to some of the more common items that all the parks have for now until they can get everything stabilized.

This summer Disney, SeaWorld and Universal have all had problems hiring enough staff for all the positions the had let alone the new positions they created. Expect the minimum starting wage to go up from the current $10 at all parks. With the unemployment rate so low it's really hard to get ANYONE to work let alone really good, loyal employees.

Let me just say I've applied to UO multiple times now and haven't gotten it. So I find it funny when I hear about them having staffing problems XD

 

[GadgetGuru]

I really don't understand how Orlando can support so many theme park jobs. The cast members don't make a ton of money and Orlando, being a major city, is just getting more and more expensive.

I wonder how long it'll be before Universal builds out their internship program to be a powerhouse like the Disney College Program. It seems like DCP is Disney's secret weapon for hiring theme park employees.

 

[WAJAS]

I really don't understand how Orlando can support so many theme park jobs. The cast members don't make a ton of money and Orlando, being a major city, is just getting more and more expensive.

I wonder how long it'll be before Universal builds out their internship program to be a powerhouse like the Disney College Program. It seems like DCP is Disney's secret weapon for hiring theme park employees.

Please no!! DCP seems like a nightmare from all the stories I here.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Another thing I noticed at VB: they put in a sidewalk where it used to be just sand. Namely, the area around the River Concierge desk where there are stairs. It makes it easier to walk through that area, but there's still a lot of sand on the sidewalk, but I guess there is no way around it.

To me, the worst thing we experienced was trying to get to the wave pool. You walk in in the morning and there are all these paths to the water. By the time we wanted to use the wave pool (I was lucky enough to have booked a reserved seat before my trip), there was no way to get to the water, JQpubilic built a barrier of chairs (I am use to a beach, I do not know if other water parks are like this)...so you snake/climb/crawl to try and get to the dang pool...just to find out that trees mean crazy sharp hard electrical boxes covered by sand....

Stuff I didn't quote, my server had just been moved over from somewhere and she is part time as she has her 'real' job that happens to include summers off.

 

[Eckert]

I wonder how long it'll be before Universal builds out their internship program to be a powerhouse like the Disney College Program. It seems like DCP is Disney's secret weapon for hiring theme park employees.

I would honestly lose a lot of respect for Universal if they did that...80% of the stories I hear from the DCP are horror stories. I could only imagine how low work pride and morale is when the people you've established connections with just get switched out every few months.

 

[quinnmac000]

I really don't understand how Orlando can support so many theme park jobs. The cast members don't make a ton of money and Orlando, being a major city, is just getting more and more expensive.

I wonder how long it'll be before Universal builds out their internship program to be a powerhouse like the Disney College Program. It seems like DCP is Disney's secret weapon for hiring theme park employees.

Universal already has an internship program. Difference is they get paid normal wages.

 

[mbreen603]

I'm thinking once that huge 4,000 hotel expansion opens up near Wet N Wild, they will have to remove early entry for hotel guests at Volcano Bay because to have the park to be at capacity within an hour after opening is already an issue. Now add 4,000 rooms to the already 5,000+, and Aventura...it would be a resort only water park.

 

[Eckert]

I'm thinking once that huge 4,000 hotel expansion opens up near Wet N Wild, they will have to remove early entry for hotel guests at Volcano Bay because to have the park to be at capacity within an hour after opening is already an issue. Now add 4,000 rooms to the already 5,000+, and Aventura...it would be a resort only water park.

FWIW, early entry for Volcano Bay has been updated. The park opens for hotel guests at 7:30 now and 8:30 for regular guests, which means it'll just hit capacity even earlier I think!

 

[tidecat]

I'm thinking once that huge 4,000 hotel expansion opens up near Wet N Wild, they will have to remove early entry for hotel guests at Volcano Bay because to have the park to be at capacity within an hour after opening is already an issue. Now add 4,000 rooms to the already 5,000+, and Aventura...it would be a resort only water park.

As they say in the tech world, it's not a bug, it's a feature.

Then again, if Volcano Bay is still having capacity issues circa 2019-2021, then the odds of a second water theme park being built will increase dramatically.

 

[Mad Dog]

They just might end all of those partnership deals with non Universal parks. They won't really need them after the hotel expansions.

 

[shiekra38]

To me, the worst thing we experienced was trying to get to the wave pool. You walk in in the morning and there are all these paths to the water. By the time we wanted to use the wave pool (I was lucky enough to have booked a reserved seat before my trip), there was no way to get to the water, JQpubilic built a barrier of chairs (I am use to a beach, I do not know if other water parks are like this)...so you snake/climb/crawl to try and get to the dang pool...just to find out that trees mean crazy sharp hard electrical boxes covered by sand....

Stuff I didn't quote, my server had just been moved over from somewhere and she is part time as she has her 'real' job that happens to include summers off.

I stepped on one of those...very painful...You know with Universal's extremely strict safety protocol you'd think something like this would have raised a red flag or two..