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Volcano Bay: General Discussion

Not sure if he's been linked here but this YouTuber orlandave is doing update videos about every week on volcano Bay progress and changes. He's not the greatest at videos and editing but does a good job pointing out minor changes that happen.


He does have an interesting video style ;). I am open to any and all pictures, videos, etc. More the better for me
 
Not sure if he's been linked here but this YouTuber orlandave is doing update videos about every week on volcano Bay progress and changes. He's not the greatest at videos and editing but does a good job pointing out minor changes that happen.



Ya, he's a little quirky, but what blogger isn't.
I really appreciate his updates- hearing about the single rider and the lifeguard going down with him was an awesome story. Hah

I also find it interesting some of the things he points out- such as the Tapu touch points and their effects and where some Tapu stuff is still coming back. I think the difference between May 25th and July 25th are going to be night and day in terms of detail and immersion. I'm impressed with every new thing they do, from the fog to the new touch points etc.


I'm hoping either Orlando informer or Inside Universal will do a full video of all the interactive Tapu items and their effects once they are all up and running. I feel like I'm most excited to see those as they add that "HP charm" to the park.

Final note: looks like the frog lights are back? That's good news.
 
Nobody asked me:), but this is what I think Universal should do to reverse any PR damage from opening the park before it was ready.:)........When all construction is finished, systems are all tested & ready to go, Tapu straightened out, etc.....Issue a public apology for opening the park before it's time....Stage,publicize, & invite the local media & public to a "New, Grand Re-opening of Volcano Bay". Have one week of special activities and special entertainment for The Grand Reopening. Give all customers during the Grand Re-opening a commemorative 2017 VB Medallion, a token for a Free Coke & Free Fries. Do this Grand Re-Opening in late August or early September, after the summer crowds have thinned....Do this, and it will help alleviate & soothe any ill feelings from the public, especially locals. People love free stuff. And, most important, it will give Universal a marketing boost during the time when attendance may slow..... Turn a negative into a positive. :)


It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood...(Fred Rogers)
 
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That was nearly 30 years ago. Has Universal management not learned anything since then?

The Universal Management from USF's opening learned to sell the park to Comcast. This is Comcast's first park opening. And even then, pretty much all of the rides were open when the park opened, so that's what they would have learned from a poor park opening from 30 years ago
 
Curious- if I go first thing in the morning, and everything is "ride now"- could I scan, for example, both oh ya and oh no one after the other and be able to ride them within one hour? Or if you do a "ride now", you have to "ride now".
Because if it's the hour thing- that'd make touring a little more interesting.

What I meant by one hour is that when tapu tells you that your wait is up, you have a one hour window to get into the actual queue to ride.

When a slide itself says ride now, you can ride while still keeping your place in one virtual queue.

Any other time, you can have one place in a virtual queue, if you have an hour left in a virtual queue and you see a slide w/ a posted 20 minute wait, you can tap the 20 minute wait, a screen will ask you if you want to switch from waiting the hour on slide A with the 20 minute wait for slide B, if you say yes, you lose your place in line for slide A, you get to do slide B in 20 minutes...once you've ridding slide B, you can grab a new place in line at slide A....I did see some slides that had no more capacity for the day...meaning that by 2 PM, there were no places in the virtual line left for the drop box slides on one of my visits.
 
Nobody asked me:), but this is what I think Universal should do to reverse any PR damage from opening the park before it was ready.:)........When all construction is finished, systems are all tested & ready to go, Tapu straightened out, etc.....Issue a public apology for opening the park before it's time....Stage,publicize, & invite the local media & public to a "New, Grand Re-opening of Volcano Bay". Have one week of special activities and special entertainment for The Grand Reopening. Give all customers during the Grand Re-opening a commemorative 2017 VB Medallion, a token for a Free Coke & Free Fries. Do this Grand Re-Opening in late August or early September, after the summer crowds have thinned....Do this, and it will help alleviate & soothe any ill feelings from the public, especially locals. People love free stuff. And, most important, it will give Universal a marketing boost during the time when attendance may slow..... Turn a negative into a positive. :)


It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood...(Fred Rogers)

I agree they should own up to it, especially if they fix everything and meet/exceed all expectations set by them prior to opening.
 
I've just arrived back from my two week trip in Orlando, and unfortunately decided to miss out on Volcano Bay for Typhoon Lagoon instead. Really disappointing as I've been following the construction and this thread for months, but reports seemed too negative to take the chance from everyone I spoke to at the other parks, in uber's and taxis etc. Volcano bay seems to be getting really horrific WOM, we were only told to avoid it. Obviously, this is only temporary since they opened too early, but is still a massive shame.

However, I can't wait for when they've worked out the kinks and I visit again, as I believe this park truly will be amazing once everything has been sorted.
 
I disagree, I think they just need way more stuff to keep them entertained. A lazy river, wave pool, lounging, and eating is only so fun. They need to boost their things to do while you wait than kill tapu tapu.

THIS. It's not the one-ride at the time, it's that everything outside the pool and lazy rivers has it. We have a perfect example of this with recent history...

When Disneyland first installed FastPass they went too far. They installed it on way too many attractions. Just taking the West Side of the park, it was on Indy, Pirates, Mansion, Splash, and Thunder. That left Jungle Cruise, Tarzan's Treehouse, TSI, Riverboats, and Pooh without it. Even with those few rides the walkways were crowded, and while people COULD do those attractions all they wanted (like VB's wave pool and rivers) they didn't want to ("Hey kids, let's go spend ANOTHER hour on Tom Sawyer's Island while we wait for Pirates"). And this doesn't even factor in that at least at Disneyland you have the option of waiting stand-by! The result?

First of all Disneyland disconnected Mansion and Pirates (and Roger Rabbit and Star Tours) so you could now hold two at once. Then they fully removed FastPass from Mansion (except for Holiday) and Pirates completely. This was a much better situation for the guests as they could hold FastPasses for the big attractions while riding others.

This, in my mind, is the fundamental flaw with TapuTapu. I see slides everywhere, and can't ride any while waiting. Arguably the best approach would be to keep TapuTapu on the big headliner attractions and then have a bunch of slides with normal waiting in line.

Today (totally made up):
- Krakatau: 200min...play in rivers/wave pools while waiting
- Hanu: 150min...play in rivers/wavepools
- Slide X: 30min...play in rivers/wavepools

Potential Future:
- Krakatau: 200min...play in rivers/wave pools
- Hanu: 150min...wait in "regular" line and ride Slide X three times.

Yes, those wait times would change if we changed up which rides had TapuTapu but the point remains that just like at Disneyland, people want more options of what to do while waiting. Instead of playing in the lazy river for the third hour I'd be more than happy to wait an hour on the steps for a slide!
 
THIS. It's not the one-ride at the time, it's that everything outside the pool and lazy rivers has it. We have a perfect example of this with recent history...

When Disneyland first installed FastPass they went too far. They installed it on way too many attractions. Just taking the West Side of the park, it was on Indy, Pirates, Mansion, Splash, and Thunder. That left Jungle Cruise, Tarzan's Treehouse, TSI, Riverboats, and Pooh without it. Even with those few rides the walkways were crowded, and while people COULD do those attractions all they wanted (like VB's wave pool and rivers) they didn't want to ("Hey kids, let's go spend ANOTHER hour on Tom Sawyer's Island while we wait for Pirates"). And this doesn't even factor in that at least at Disneyland you have the option of waiting stand-by! The result?

First of all Disneyland disconnected Mansion and Pirates (and Roger Rabbit and Star Tours) so you could now hold two at once. Then they fully removed FastPass from Mansion (except for Holiday) and Pirates completely. This was a much better situation for the guests as they could hold FastPasses for the big attractions while riding others.

This, in my mind, is the fundamental flaw with TapuTapu. I see slides everywhere, and can't ride any while waiting. Arguably the best approach would be to keep TapuTapu on the big headliner attractions and then have a bunch of slides with normal waiting in line.

Today (totally made up):
- Krakatau: 200min...play in rivers/wave pools while waiting
- Hanu: 150min...play in rivers/wavepools
- Slide X: 30min...play in rivers/wavepools

Potential Future:
- Krakatau: 200min...play in rivers/wave pools
- Hanu: 150min...wait in "regular" line and ride Slide X three times.

Yes, those wait times would change if we changed up which rides had TapuTapu but the point remains that just like at Disneyland, people want more options of what to do while waiting. Instead of playing in the lazy river for the third hour I'd be more than happy to wait an hour on the steps for a slide!
This logic is flawed. By taking away slide X the lines will become larger for honu, krakatau and slide x. The wait would be more like this;
-Krakatua - 215 Minutes
- Honu - 165 Minutes
- Slide X - around 150-300 minutes
 
Today (totally made up):
- Krakatau: 200min...play in rivers/wave pools while waiting
- Hanu: 150min...play in rivers/wavepools
- Slide X: 30min...play in rivers/wavepools

Potential Future:
- Krakatau: 200min...play in rivers/wave pools
- Hanu: 150min...wait in "regular" line and ride Slide X three times.

Yes, those wait times would change if we changed up which rides had TapuTapu but the point remains that just like at Disneyland, people want more options of what to do while waiting. Instead of playing in the lazy river for the third hour I'd be more than happy to wait an hour on the steps for a slide!
Loved all that you said- but sadly, you didn't change the capacity at all.

In your scenario, the capacity doesn't change- and the virtual lines would be significantly higher.

Heres just a random example:
10 single person slides- each can do 100 rides in an hour. 1,000 Rides, yes?

All 10 rides are virtual with Tapu Tapu- 1,000 rides an hour.
Say there are 2,000 guests. Everyone wants to slide all the slides equally- thats 2 hrs wait for everyone on average.

Now- lets take your scenario where only 5 rides are virtual- 500 in an hour.
5 rides are traditional- 500 in an hour.
The same 2,000 guests are now waiting 4 hours on average for the virtual slides.
The same 2,000 guests are now waiting 4 hours on average for the traditional slides.

They get to ride 2 slides in 4 hours. Or one every 2 hours. Exactly the same as if they were all virtual.


Now- I get what you're saying regarding perception- so take the guests looking up at a traditional line- and they see it's 4 hours worth of waiting- then they don't get in line. Maybe those wait drops to 1 hour because only 500 of the 2000 are willing to wait that long for a 20 second slide. But that still does nothing but increase the wait times of the headliners- as there are less virtual slides to queue for.
It's an all or none thing for Tapu Tapu- splitting it up or allowing reservations would only make it worse in every scenario.

Faster ops, less technical downtime (maintenance), more rides, or less attendance are the only fixes. Nothing else.


Where Tapu Tapu is a problem- is that people are still "in line" when they normally wouldn't have been in line traditionally. Such as lazy river, eating, pooping, playing in kids area, etc etc. So Tapu Tapu in and of itself creates slightly larger lines- so they need more Tapu Tapu rides without increasing their attendence, and that would, in turn, reduce times amongst all the other Tapu Tapu rides.
 
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This logic is flawed. By taking away slide X the lines will become larger for honu, krakatau and slide x. The wait would be more like this;
-Krakatua - 215 Minutes
- Honu - 165 Minutes
- Slide X - around 150-300 minutes

All of our logic is flawed. No one really knows. To poke at your logic you're forgetting capacity and demand for a specific attraction. If Slide X normally has a 20 min TapuTapu line, it is considered higher capacity and/or lower demanded than the other slides in the park. That does not mean that suddenly it would have a 150+ min standby line. People will wait what they perceive is worth it. If I've done Slide X already, I may not wait again. Going back to my real world example...

By taking Pirates and Mansion off FastPass, those attractions did NOT see wait times suddenly rocket up to 2 hours. They are both high capacity and they are the often of the "ride once per trip" variety as opposed to Thunder Mountain which little Timmy wants to ride 3 times. By giving people options, they can make their own decisions on what's worth it or not and things will regulate. Could the 20 min Slide X go from 20 to 40 min? Sure. Would it jump to 300min? Highly unlikely. No one perceives 300min of value from that slide.

Loved all that you said- but sadly, you didn't change the capacity at all.

In your scenario, the capacity doesn't change- and the virtual lines would be significantly higher.

Heres just a random example:
10 single person slides- each can do 100 rides in an hour. 1,000 Rides, yes?

All 10 rides are virtual with Tapu Tapu- 1,000 rides an hour.
Say there are 2,000 guests. Everyone wants to slide all the slides equally- thats 2 hrs wait for everyone on average.

Now- lets take your scenario where only 5 rides are virtual- 500 in an hour.
5 rides are traditional- 500 in an hour.
The same 2,000 guests are now waiting 4 hours on average for the virtual slides.
The same 2,000 guests are now waiting 4 hours on average for the traditional slides.

They get to ride 2 slides in 4 hours. Or one every 2 hours. Exactly the same as if they were all virtual.


Now- I get what you're saying regarding perception- so take the guests looking up at a traditional line- and they see it's 4 hours worth of waiting- then they don't get in line. Maybe those wait drops to 1 hour because only 500 of the 2000 are willing to wait that long for a 20 second slide. But that still does nothing but increase the wait times of the headliners- as there are less virtual slides to queue for.
It's an all or none thing for Tapu Tapu- splitting it up or allowing reservations would only make it worse in every scenario.

Faster ops, less technical downtime (maintenance), more rides, or less attendance are the only fixes. Nothing else.

Where Tapu Tapu is a problem- is that people are still "in line" when they normally wouldn't have been in line traditionally. Such as lazy river, eating, pooping, playing in kids area, etc etc. So Tapu Tapu in and of itself creates slightly larger lines- so they need more Tapu Tapu rides without increasing their attendence, and that would, in turn, reduce times amongst all the other Tapu Tapu rides.

I agree I did not change the mathematical capacity. But theme parks are about Guest perception and choice. I agree that your last item is the biggest issue (EVERYONE is in line at once) but as I said above the straight math doesn't take into account a guest's irrational behavior. Due to irrational behavior, the trend line is not a straight 1:1. Plus, you begin to chip away at the issue you say above...where everyone is still "in-line." If 5 of those slides are traditional, yes my virtual queue may increase, but while I'm not in line for the traditional slides I'm not taking up the space in-line...I'm eating, pooping, etc as you mentioned. That artificially lowers the demand for those traditional slides. But the perceived experience is a better one for the guest because they feel like they have choice.

I don't believe it's all or nothing. The extremes are to rip TapuTapu out (most other water parks) or to keep it the way it is (all slides). The truth should lie somewhere in the middle.
 
In my opinion from how I value/see time at VB as a passholder who visits the area four to six times a year for 2 to 4 nights on a visit, tapu is great.

See, if they have slides that 'wouldn't need a fastpass', well tapu can adjust. From what I saw, if the 'virtual wait' ever got below 15 minutes, the slide. Instantly became 'ride now' meaning anyone who knew, had a chance to get a slide in until to 'wait' hit 15 minutes again.

But the stuff about too many people in the....just like UNI's other FL parks, I found areas that made me feel like my family could chill away from feeling like I was in a crowded park stuffed with people looking for something to do.

This park was built with tapu in mind!
 
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