Volcano Bay: General Discussion
- Thread starter Parkscope Joe
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- May 15, 2016
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Anything. The park is not ready for the public. If anything I tried to tone down my disappointment on this forum. And I tried to look past all the faults at the good things in the park. Yeah the slides are great.
- Apr 7, 2010
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Seems odd to be asking for handouts several days after leaving the park, but to each his own.
Two night trip to USO coming this August. I previously called to book my cabana and was considering UExpress when they pulled the ability to buy it. Reading the reports across the web have me nervous. While the cabana was a splurge for my family of five, it was intended to be a respite to eat/relax between riding all the slides...not a place to sit for 4 hours waiting for our next reservation. I decided to hang onto it for now to see how things shaped up...then today I saw a post on Twitter that they are no longer pre-selling cabanas. I went to the "add-ons" page for Volcano Bay on Universal's website and sure enough...cabanas are not listed. The premium seating is still there (heck, UExpress is still listed) but the cabanas are gone. Any ideas why they would pull those?!?!?
More nervous by the day...
More nervous by the day...
- May 15, 2016
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Why? How many times do you have to go until the park is ready? I never asked for a handout.
I don't see how they can. Besides the fact that tapu tapu is used for paying for stuff, opening lockers, activating effects, etc., the tapu tapu "no long lines" marketing pitch is at the cornerstone of the VB Marketing. It's how they have sold this place for months. It's what makes it unique.
To throw in the towel on Tapu Tapu and remove it (even temporarily) after a couple rocky weeks would be a collosal PR nightmare for Uni as guests (many who have booked trips under the promise that there would be little to no standing in line) would be outragaged at the perceived (actual?) "bait and switch" and, perhaps even more importantly, it would be an admission by Universal that the concept is a failure. (You think the press is bad now?) There is no way they are even remotely close to publicly admitting that.
- Feb 15, 2012
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I'm less concerned about whether I'll get one, more interested in why they stopped selling them...
I'm also finding myself doubting the need for one. If the tactic for this park is going to remain "Rush in at opening, cram a few slides in, then after 10am it's crazy-long lines" then I don't see a need for a cabana. My family will want to leave in the late morning and have no need.
Going to be interesting to see how it evolves.
Besides the action river being a bit more forceful, the TapuTapu have 4 prongs that lock in. If they're falling off, either the guest doesn't have them locked in right, or they're messing around with it. Saw one guest with TapuTapu hanging off her top so..
But yes, you do need a pin to buy something. For lockers, they would need to know which locker you're in.
- May 15, 2016
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It still seems very convenient to have a cabana. They have personal ride kiosks where you can tapu for a ride without actually having to walk to it first. If anything I would say keep it, your family will probably be happier. I just say ride the ones you want to ride early because later you might be spending more time hanging in your cabana.
I dont think you guys will want to leave the park that early.
Just drove by the park...everyone was carrying tubes up the Taniwha Tube complex...conveyor broken?
- Feb 11, 2014
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For what it is worth... the cabanas will EVENTUALLY be a great add-on to Volcano Bay, however they are not ready for prime time based on my experience this past weekend.
I would not be surprised if they chose to eliminate pre-booking cabanas at this time until they get the situation under control. I'm sure they will have no problem selling whatever inventory they have on the day of... and it allows them time to reassess daily how many units are fully operational. Good operating strategy!
My cabana experience included spending 1.5 hours being shuffled around the park in search of the what was our assigned cabana only to be settled into one that did not match the description sold at the time of booking. The tapu tapu kiosks are not operating as of yet, the refrigerator (while present) had no electrical connection nor did the in-cabana ceiling fan. Additionally there is no way to contact an attendant, food delivery was haphazard and it required a one hour wait just to close out the tab at the end of the day. This is a premium product that has great potential but like other elements of the park are just not 100% ready.
This is a beautiful park that is definitely experiencing major teething issues. I was part of the opening team of USF, and while this is reminiscent, it is not as bad. It is quality with operating attractions that are truly great (aquacoaster!) ! Just needs some time to work out the kinks and increase attraction capacities. It will happen with time. It took us a good 3-4 months to get my home attraction at USF close to it's designed theoretical operating capacity.
I wish them luck... team members were working their b****'s off to make everyone happy. Very commendable considering the rough start.
I would not be surprised if they chose to eliminate pre-booking cabanas at this time until they get the situation under control. I'm sure they will have no problem selling whatever inventory they have on the day of... and it allows them time to reassess daily how many units are fully operational. Good operating strategy!
My cabana experience included spending 1.5 hours being shuffled around the park in search of the what was our assigned cabana only to be settled into one that did not match the description sold at the time of booking. The tapu tapu kiosks are not operating as of yet, the refrigerator (while present) had no electrical connection nor did the in-cabana ceiling fan. Additionally there is no way to contact an attendant, food delivery was haphazard and it required a one hour wait just to close out the tab at the end of the day. This is a premium product that has great potential but like other elements of the park are just not 100% ready.
This is a beautiful park that is definitely experiencing major teething issues. I was part of the opening team of USF, and while this is reminiscent, it is not as bad. It is quality with operating attractions that are truly great (aquacoaster!) ! Just needs some time to work out the kinks and increase attraction capacities. It will happen with time. It took us a good 3-4 months to get my home attraction at USF close to it's designed theoretical operating capacity.
I wish them luck... team members were working their b****'s off to make everyone happy. Very commendable considering the rough start.
- Jun 22, 2016
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Boy, wouldn't it be nice if Universal put some FAQs on their site, showing what you can do and what you can't do? There's plenty on how to link the device to your credit card $$$.
- May 5, 2012
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The conveyor belt stops on the level right below the platform so everyone already has their tubes ready when they get up there.
- Apr 7, 2010
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See...that's not right. Id immediatey ask for a refund, if I paid extra for a cabana that wasn't complete.
- Feb 11, 2014
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Done... and done. Guest services was working overtime to make things right.
Speaking of cabanas, does anyone have any pictures? The pics I find online show just a single lounger and two chairs. Is that standard?
- Feb 11, 2014
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This would be an accurate depiction of what we saw. Refrigerator and safe inside the cabinet with towels. The future tapu tapu kiosk is on the column in the rear. One note... the safe is activated by one persons tapu tapu... making it quite difficult to retireve items like phone, etc. when the person with access is out and about away from the cabana. Not particularly user friendly. No reserved lounge chairs with sun exposure either.Speaking of cabanas, does anyone have any pictures? The pics I find online show just a single lounger and two chairs. Is that standard?
