Volcano Bay: General Discussion

[wreck]

Disney didn't mind charging people full price for EPCOT when it opened. It was in such an unreliable state the press wasn't even invited until 22 days later.

What the heck does Disney's Epcot got to do with this ? You cant justify the conditions and what's happening by saying the other guys did it too? two wrongs don't make it right . This is a USF - VB thread, they screwed up and people are paying full price for a substandard and unfinished product the sole responsibility for that falls on USF, leave Disney out of it !!!

Yes I did go to the park on the 31st of May and had a great time even though things kept breaking down and things look and are unfinished all over the park but I have a UOAP and will go back later on. If I could only have gone the once and would have paid full price I'd be ticked off as well ...

 

[sparky]

The earliest this park should have opened is October, with Wet 'N Wild running a shortened season through the weekend after Labor Day, and then transitioning into some soft openings immediately after that. Given that Universal won't even have approval for the new hotels until next week at the earliest, it couldn't have really put them that far behind on the new hotels. The Volcano Bay expansion plot probably could have been built out this summer as well.

An October opening still catches the Fall Break/Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving crowds, and then any kinks can be worked out prior to Thanksgiving.

It really doesn't seem that bad to hold off the entire summer. I was also under the impression that new hotel work had already started? and, or they were using the wet and wild park space to hold supplies right now?

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

Um yeah, I drove by Volcano Bay twice today and almost barfed when I saw the lights. Wtf are they thinking? Seriously.

 

[MattA]

Seeing all those carnival lights has me like...

 

[Miketheboss]

This guy says he won't be returning to VB. The lines were too long but what really pissed him off were the long lines for the food. Is that still happening?

 

[UK-Trigg]

That doesn't matter. It's there now for who knows how long.

Oh dear god, life is such a drag isn't it? Poor you having to look at those lights

 

[misterID]

The earliest this park should have opened is October, with Wet 'N Wild running a shortened season through the weekend after Labor Day, and then transitioning into some soft openings immediately after that. Given that Universal won't even have approval for the new hotels until next week at the earliest, it couldn't have really put them that far behind on the new hotels. The Volcano Bay expansion plot probably could have been built out this summer as well.

An October opening still catches the Fall Break/Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving crowds, and then any kinks can be worked out prior to Thanksgiving.

But you'd be opening with a very slim window for good water park weather. A water park's business revolves around the seasons and you'd be kicking yourself in the nuts opening that late. You'd want to have your grand opening for a water park in May and get the summer crowds and hot weather. Not opening in fall with winter right around the corner. That wouldn't make much sense. Even opening in July is pushing it close, so I understand the rush. If anything, they should have started construction earlier. Nothing you can do now. Just enjoy it for what it is or wait until they work the bugs out.

 

[Frank Drackman]

This guy says he won't be returning to VB. The lines were too long but what really pissed him off were the long lines for the food. Is that still happening?

I guess that is a tough one to answer. I went on a Mon and Tues, the restaurants had lines, sometimes longer than other times.

When we had lunch the first day, the line was at the end of the switchbacks, but it moved pretty fast, the queue was feeding something like 5 or 6 order stations.

The 2nd day, well the afternoon rains came, I think the restaurants were slammed...but even as the rain dropped to a drizzle, I was sitting at a bar staring at an empty taco stand...someone would stop and get something every now and again, but I never saw a line greater than 2 people while I chilled at the bar.

 

[wreck]

Seth said it best @ the UUOP Universal should have said it is a PREVIEW opening and everyone that paid for a full price ticket will or should have gotten a free ticket for entry to use at a much later date... it would have solved every customer relations issue because you would have known in advance what you were buying as a test dummy for the opening and you would be getting rewarded for that service with a free ticket.

 

[Alex23]

Oh dear god, life is such a drag isn't it? Poor you having to look at those lights

I get it's not finished and all of that but appreciate it for what it is currently and what it should be in the future. Mark and I have to deal with Splash Landings at Alton Towers as our "water theme park"

 

[Andysol]

Those aren't permanent people. It was added lighting until the stairs get finished. Those lights will be gone once things are finished.

Are you sure? Will they end up covering those white posts with bamboo and then putting lights on top? I'd be fine with that.

Regarding the string lights- Notice the same string lights in the first and third of these pictures as well. Are those also temporary?

Just the tip:

 

[Joel]

The earliest this park should have opened is October, with Wet 'N Wild running a shortened season through the weekend after Labor Day, and then transitioning into some soft openings immediately after that. Given that Universal won't even have approval for the new hotels until next week at the earliest, it couldn't have really put them that far behind on the new hotels. The Volcano Bay expansion plot probably could have been built out this summer as well.

An October opening still catches the Fall Break/Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving crowds, and then any kinks can be worked out prior to Thanksgiving.

What the heck does Disney's Epcot got to do with this ? You cant justify the conditions and what's happening by saying the other guys did it too? two wrongs don't make it right . This is a USF - VB thread, they screwed up and people are paying full price for a substandard and unfinished product the sole responsibility for that falls on USF, leave Disney out of it !!!

Yes I did go to the park on the 31st of May and had a great time even though things kept breaking down and things look and are unfinished all over the park but I have a UOAP and will go back later on. If I could only have gone the once and would have paid full price I'd be ticked off as well ...

Seth said it best @ the UUOP Universal should have said it is a PREVIEW opening and everyone that paid for a full price ticket will or should have gotten a free ticket for entry to use at a much later date... it would have solved every customer relations issue because you would have known in advance what you were buying as a test dummy for the opening and you would be getting rewarded for that service with a free ticket.

:horse::horse::horse::horse:

Guys, I was really proud of us for how long we made it before circling back to this same old shiitake mushrooms. We get it, they opened too early... how do you say, "and we're moving on"

Disney didn't mind charging people full price for EPCOT when it opened. It was in such an unreliable state the press wasn't even invited until 22 days later.

big cojones move on Disney's part calling grand opening day 3 years in advance lol

picture taken October 1st, 1979

 

[Blue]

This guy says he won't be returning to VB. The lines were too long but what really pissed him off were the long lines for the food. Is that still happening?

He recorded that video on May 28. I'm guessing the lines (for food and the slides) have gone down since then.

 

[rhino4evr]

More of the same. I don't care for it a bit... not even one iota.

maybe they will change them out to Holiday Christmas Lights from Nov-Jan. ..

 

[rhino4evr]

Both sides of the argument on this forum are way overboard in my opinion. Not everything has to be GOAT or WOAT..although that seems to be how things work on the internet these days.

The park is not a "disaster". 90% of the park and it's slides are fully functional. the majority of issues are cosmetic at best.
Do you guys ask for refunds with the Magic Kingdom Castle has a giant crane behind it too?

It's also apparent the park was rushed open without proper crowd testing, something they will be paying for in negative press for quite sometime. The folks on here defending UOR and acting like "everything is fine!" are also being foolish. It's completely on UOR for opening to make the summer rush. No one to blame but themselves, you shouldn't really be defending their obvious mistakes.

In the end, all this nonsense will eventually be forgotten, and the park will stand on it's own. Will it ever reach it's full potential as the "best" water park in Orlando? We shall see. Right now, I'd buy a ticket to Typhoon Lagoon without a second thought over Volcano Bay, but that may not be the case a year from now.

/rant

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

Hey, maybe if they made some good decisions there wouldn't be a need to complain. Tired of all the apologists on here. The string lights look like total ass. They're so concerned about their team members being "show ready" and will send someone home whose beard is a tad too long but then go and add Walmart party lights to their volcano and nobody says hey maybe we should try something different that doesn't devalue our product. They completely distort any forced perspective the volcano had left. And btw, they aren't just on the back side, you can see them running up the side of the mountain near the kids play zone/pool area as well.

Was Brian Morrow from SeaWorld secretly hired to work on this project too? He's the only guy in the Orlando theme park design that I'd think would be blind enough to do something like this. For shame.

 

[JoeCamel]

maybe they will change them out to Holiday Christmas Lights from Nov-Jan. ..

There is lighting in the posts on the stairs, probably not wired yet due to the stairs not being finished but it looks like they are anticipating having later hours (after dark) soon so someone said we can't have guests climbing stairs in the dark so if we want to be open later we need lights. This is what they came up with.

Could be the whole reason hours were not extended before and that they will be soon. Can you see the different departments fighting here?

 

[SeventyOne]

But you'd be opening with a very slim window for good water park weather. A water park's business revolves around the seasons and you'd be kicking yourself in the nuts opening that late. You'd want to have your grand opening for a water park in May and get the summer crowds and hot weather. Not opening in fall with winter right around the corner. That wouldn't make much sense. Even opening in July is pushing it close, so I understand the rush. If anything, they should have started construction earlier. Nothing you can do now. Just enjoy it for what it is or wait until they work the bugs out.

In Orlando, "tourist Summer" ends the beginning of August. Virtually all of the state's schools goes back that early. However Summer weather lasts easily through September, often through October. Per the original schedule--finishing up the park in late June--do 5 - 6 weeks of softs. Start with TMs, then offer a lottery for free/discounted tix to APs. Open second week of August. First real stress test won't be until Labor Day weekend almost a month later.

While it wouldn't have been quite the cluster we've seen, Tapu Tapu still wouldn't have worked, aesthetic issues would still be a concern, but at least backlash would've been more tepid.

 

[Alicia]

I didn't mean to add fuel to the fire. For the most part I've stayed out of this thread because it's become a bit too heated for me... But, when I drove by yesterday I felt the need to take my phone out and snap a pic of the new garden lights hanging inside the volcano. (I do not condone photographing while driving, I did bad I know.) Because it looked a bit hokey to me.

I'm sure it's temporary. They were probably only on because it was getting dark outside, and safety is important. I love Universal. I mean nothing in a grander sense by pointing this out in a post. I think the lights look bad -- End of statement. It does not speak to my overall opinions on the park. I think VB looks incredible and cannot wait to go after the summer. (I don't usually go to water parks till kids go back to school normally.)

For some of us, a single post about a specific detail is not an indictment on the entire project I promise. Just as an observer, driving down I-4, I thought the lights looked out of place, snapped a pic, posted it here. That's all.

Just wanted to make that clear.

Personally, like Diagon Alley, this entire project may very well be worth it to me for the new ice cream. I cannot wait to try that multi color Waturi Fusion! It looks so good.

 

[gbird]

Personally, like Diagon Alley, this entire project may very well be worth it to me for the new ice cream. I cannot wait to try that multi color Waturi Fusion! It looks so good.[/QUOTE]

We went back just to have the Waturi Fusion (stayed at CBBR so not really that far), was one of the best Ice cream ive had (I have type 1 diabetes so ice cream has to look good to tempt me). Wife was dissapointed with her choice when seen my Fusion the first time