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Volcano Bay: General Discussion

Also, why would Whitewater be doing work on Punga Racers? Isn't that a ProSlide attraction?

Forgive my ignorance, but were any of the attractions at Volcano Bay made by WhiteWater? If it turns out they're not modifying Punga, and if all the other rides are also ProSlide, could this be for the expansion?
 
Forgive my ignorance, but were any of the attractions at Volcano Bay made by WhiteWater? If it turns out they're not modifying Punga, and if all the other rides are also ProSlide, could this be for the expansion?
white water.JPG

There is zero mention of Volcano Bay on their website and there is also zero mention in this pdf from IAAPA last year:

If they had worked on Volcano Bay, they would have mentioned it for sure.


My biggest takeaway from this is that Universal have fallen out with Proslide. Proslide made promises that they couldn't deliver and are now having to rectify the problem.
 
My biggest takeaway from this is that Universal have fallen out with Proslide. Proslide made promises that they couldn't deliver and are now having to rectify the problem.

This feels like the right conclusion. People keep forgetting about the Proslide capacity/hourly throughput fiasco that threatened to capsize TapuTapu.
 
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There is zero mention of Volcano Bay on their website and there is also zero mention in this pdf from IAAPA last year:

If they had worked on Volcano Bay, they would have mentioned it for sure.


My biggest takeaway from this is that Universal have fallen out with Proslide. Proslide made promises that they couldn't deliver and are now having to rectify the problem.
That’s a major bummer. While I like many of Whitewater West’s slides, their product is not normally as smooth or refined as that of Proslide...and honestly, Proslide Tornado>Whitewater Tornado...Proslide water coaster>Whitewater water coaster...Proslide body slide>Whitewater body slide.
 
That’s a major bummer. While I like many of Whitewater West’s slides, their product is not normally as smooth or refined as that of Proslide...and honestly, Proslide Tornado>Whitewater Tornado...Proslide water coaster>Whitewater water coaster...Proslide body slide>Whitewater body slide.
After looking through the Slide catalog on their website, there only seemed to be one exception to the "Proslide is superior" thought, and... it seems to be with Mat Slides. Whitewater offers way more variety, including a water-coaster-esque mat ride that goes uphill. While I highly doubt that is what they are doing to Punga racers, it is always a thought.
 
I’m so interested in what happened between Uni and Proslide. Were they rushed? Personally, I’ve never heard of a Proslide having issues, and then all these problems with VB? Just so unexpected and definitely sucks to hear, as they really do make the best slides in the industry.

This feels like the right conclusion. People keep forgetting about the Proslide capacity/hourly throughput fiasco that threatened to capsize TapuTapu.

I hadn’t heard of this! I take it Proslide guaranteed a much higher capacity than the slides were able to provide?
 
Never been to VB before today and honestly it's probably the best water park in Central Florida. Krakatau, Ko'okiri, and Moana(? the blue wall one lol) are the best slides I've ever been on. Love the scenery and hope to see the expansion come soon. Definitely helps fill the void Wet n' Wild left behind in my heart.
 
For @Andysol and anyone else interested in Punga updates, here are a few pictures from today:

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VB did seem a bit busier than the dry parks today, but that is not saying too much. :)
Never been to VB before today and honestly it's probably the best water park in Central Florida. Krakatau, Ko'okiri, and Moana(? the blue wall one lol) are the best slides I've ever been on. Love the scenery and hope to see the expansion come soon. Definitely helps fill the void Wet n' Wild left behind in my heart.
Congrats to you @GA-MBIT for finally experiencing it. It’s basically the only reason I’m headed down there next week (well, the main one). I absolutely love it.

So to the two of you- how was the face mask situation. Even being only TM guests, was no one really wearing them around the park (outside of employees)?

I don’t mind wearing a mask at the dry parks, that’s fine. But I really, really don’t want to have to carry one around at VB to wear occasionally (what would I do with it between slides). It just seems impractical.
 
Congrats to you @GA-MBIT for finally experiencing it. It’s basically the only reason I’m headed down there next week (well, the main one). I absolutely love it.

So to the two of you- how was the face mask situation. Even being only TM guests, was no one really wearing them around the park (outside of employees)?

I don’t mind wearing a mask at the dry parks, that’s fine. But I really, really don’t want to have to carry one around at VB to wear occasionally (what would I do with it between slides). It just seems impractical.
For the most part, no one was wearing face masks. You are not at all expected to keep them on while walking around the park and honestly the few times I saw masks on slidetowers I was more confused about how they are going to keep it dry than anything. The only time you would ever need to wear a mask is going to shops and restaurants. I didn't do either today, VB food is wayyy expensive and with it closing at 5pm I had no issue waiting to eat a big fast food meal after close. Lockers were blocked off today, and bathrooms were very lax with mask rules. If you can keep trucking through the day without theme park food and keep jumping from slide to slide, you could probably go the entire day without wearing one. You need it to enter and exit however, and I would recommend bringing it with you into the changing rooms at the end of the day.

Distancing in queues wasn't a big issue at all for us, but walking around pathways is a bit different. A lot of people/groups walking fairly close to each other, all of them maskless. If I end up getting sick from these 3 reopening days I am attending, I'm going to assume its from VB.

Honestly though, it didn't psyche me out all too much. For the most part VB seems like the one place right now where things feel the most normal. With the heavily chlorinated water and hot summer heat I didn't put much mind into the risk of contact infection. If you're willing to take the risk and put the effort into distancing where others fail to, I think you'll have a great time.
 
For the most part, no one was wearing face masks. You are not at all expected to keep them on while walking around the park and honestly the few times I saw masks on slidetowers I was more confused about how they are going to keep it dry than anything. The only time you would ever need to wear a mask is going to shops and restaurants. I didn't do either today, VB food is wayyy expensive and with it closing at 5pm I had no issue waiting to eat a big fast food meal after close. Lockers were blocked off today, and bathrooms were very lax with mask rules. If you can keep trucking through the day without theme park food and keep jumping from slide to slide, you could probably go the entire day without wearing one. You need it to enter and exit however, and I would recommend bringing it with you into the changing rooms at the end of the day.

Distancing in queues wasn't a big issue at all for us, but walking around pathways is a bit different. A lot of people/groups walking fairly close to each other, all of them maskless. If I end up getting sick from these 3 reopening days I am attending, I'm going to assume its from VB.

Honestly though, it didn't psyche me out all too much. For the most part VB seems like the one place right now where things feel the most normal. With the heavily chlorinated water and hot summer heat I didn't put much mind into the risk of contact infection. If you're willing to take the risk and put the effort into distancing where others fail to, I think you'll have a great time.
Might very well become the most popular of the three parks while the present mask policy 'enforcement' is in place.
 
Congrats to you @GA-MBIT for finally experiencing it. It’s basically the only reason I’m headed down there next week (well, the main one). I absolutely love it.

So to the two of you- how was the face mask situation. Even being only TM guests, was no one really wearing them around the park (outside of employees)?

I don’t mind wearing a mask at the dry parks, that’s fine. But I really, really don’t want to have to carry one around at VB to wear occasionally (what would I do with it between slides). It just seems impractical.

@GA-MBIT summed it up very well (good job!). I didn't see a lot of guests wearing masks, maybe not at all. Once I even saw a group of about 6 guests talking in a circle near the exit of a ride, no masks. I don't know how they're handling the wave pool and TeAwa (other than cleaning the life vests). There was *one* physical distancing marker at the edge of each side of the wave pool - maybe as a last-minute reminder when going into the wave pool?

Before the park opened, the A-frame signs used to say "Face covering required." Now if you look closely, the text has been replaced with a sticker that says "Face covering encouraged."
 
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