Volcano Bay: General Discussion

[WelcomeHome]

Seems to me that the PR beating Uni continues to take on VB's issues is mostly self-inflicted. And Universal seems to be taking it rather quietly. Why not try to counter some of the bad press and reviews with an official acknowledgement that the place isnt quite finished yet but it will be soon? Why wouldnt they try to stop the bleeding just a little and maybe release some new concept art or make an announcement about what specific changes/improvements are on their way?

I think guests/fans/media might cut them some slack if they did. But maybe I am naive and people would freak our even more if Universal came clean about the fact that hey opened this place too soon.

If I had to hazard a guess, it's because they are making money. I went Saturday, Sunday and Monday and, despite the negative reviews and what I'm sure are still several unhappy people at the parks, crowds are still out in force throwing down their credit cards for passes, lockers, drinks, food and merch. There isn't really any bleeding to stop -- they'll continue to push through because this thing is a money maker. It's the same reason I'd assume they stuck with the planned opening: open as planned, take a little heat, and make bank, or open late, exchange some of that critic heat for speculation on the delay, and end up with less said bank at summer's end. I don't mean to paint Universal as callous, but they are out to make money.

I'm sure Universal is still confident they will come out ahead in the end as demonstrated with hotels, attractions and parks prior. Remember how just last summer everyone was hating on SFR? It's up to 4 stars on TA and Yelp. Ah, memories...

 

[Scott W.]

Personally, none of these delays make a single bit of difference to me as I won't be there until next September at the earliest. What I do hope is that lessons are learned here. When Universal decide to announce their 4th park, I'm hoping that when they announce the opening date, they know 101% that the park will be ready.

Call me crazy... but I think the popcorn lights are kinda charming. :look:

It's kinda like the locals have set up a party in their backyard. But of course their backyard just happens to be a volcano.

Good, so it's not just me. Given the back story, I think it kind of fits the bill.

 

[devinp267]

Call me crazy... but I think the popcorn lights are kinda charming. :look:

It's kinda like the locals have set up a party in their backyard. But of course their backyard just happens to be a volcano.

I was thinking the same thing and I am not even being fan boy at all!! It looks more man made, like the Waturi hung lights in the volcano. I actually like it.

 

[Ryan]

So when a brand new picture with crappy looking lights get posted, no one should say a thing?
When a geyser gets posted that looks badass- we are allowed to gush over it?
Or are we to remain emotionless robots who only say news and no opinions.

Every other forum, something gets posted, people bash it or praise it. Why is it different here?

The lights suck. If a dozen posters want to mention it sucks, by all means- let's let them. Just like if a leak to Nintendo comes out we can have 4 pages of straight praise. Let's not have "circle jerk" talk just for the negative. If I wanted cupcakes and rainbows I'd stick to universals official blog. I appreciate all opinions here. Good and bad.

You're confused here: I'm not against negative opinion, but by god every single complaint gets repeated a thousand times, by usually the same people. That's a circle jerk, and discussion refuses to prosper in such an atmosphere. Who wants to read a thread where the people are arguing and moaning about the same thing every single page. It comes across as a group who are almost bathing in VB's operational difficulties in a creepy, obsessive glee. (hi, Latveria who mostly likes every single negative post against VB in this thread without adding much in return)

Once a point has been made, it's not necessary to keep bringing it up just out of what seems like enjoyment towards hating it. That's what I'm saying.

Hey guys, Trip Advisor reviews for VB are terrible! Just wanted to point that out since it's only been mentioned 76 times today and someone might have missed it.....

Or tl;dr this

 

[mimitchi33]

Hey guys, Trip Advisor reviews for VB are terrible! Just wanted to point that out since it's only been mentioned 76 times today and someone might have missed it.....

Am I the only one who actually read them? I was honestly shocked at what some of them said about the park. The virtual queues are nine hours in length sometimes? That's longer than the current queues for Jimmy Fallon, Flight of Passage or Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout! I also got a good laugh at the one where they said they closed the pool because someone lost their jewelry. Poop I can understand, but really? You need to shut down a pool to find a necklace or bracelet? That's why it's a bad idea to wear jewelry in in the water! My friend once lost some keychains on her lanyard when swimming in a lake...

 

[Latveria]

You're confused here: I'm not against negative opinion, but by god every single complaint gets repeated a thousand times, by usually the same people. That's a circle jerk, and discussion refuses to prosper in such an atmosphere. Who wants to read a thread where the people are arguing and moaning about the same thing every single page. It comes across as a group who are almost bathing in VB's operational difficulties in a creepy, obsessive glee. (hi, Latveria who mostly likes every single negative post against VB in this thread without adding much in return)

Once a point has been made, it's not necessary to keep bringing it up just out of what seems like enjoyment towards hating it. That's what I'm saying.



Or tl;dr this

I think you might be confused here. The lights are a new discussion point to my knowledge and you immediately called out people for posting negative comments on the lights as it was 'repeated circle jerk yadda yadda yadda'.

 

[Brian G.]

Am I the only one who actually read them? I was honestly shocked at what some of them said about the park. The virtual queues are nine hours in length sometimes? That's longer than the current queues for Jimmy Fallon, Flight of Passage or Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout! I also got a good laugh at the one where they said they closed the pool because someone lost their jewelry. Poop I can understand, but really? You need to shut down a pool to find a necklace or bracelet? That's why it's a bad idea to wear jewelry in in the water! My friend once lost some keychains on her lanyard when swimming in a lake...

I've read some. Funny to see one review see "Not enough floats!" followed up by the next person's review "too many floats!"

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

Good, so it's not just me. Given the back story, I think it kind of fits the bill.

I was thinking the same thing and I am not even being fan boy at all!! It looks more man made, like the Waturi hung lights in the volcano. I actually like it.

Yeah! It's kinda festive. The theme parks should be all about stuff you're likely not going to come across in the real world. I'd say a volcano with a big cavern in the side that the local islanders are having some fun in fits that bill. One could even argue that it's a lot more interesting to look at, that it makes a better visual impact than if there were just a bunch of uber-themed light poles erected in precise order up the stairs.

 

[Alicia]

I've read some. Funny to see one review see "Not enough floats!" followed up by the next person's review "too many floats!"

Made me think of this, but with floats:

 

[UAN17]

The whole project to me is a complete and utter let down and it goes beyond popcorn lights (I wonder if the people defending them will be the same ones that will call Toy Story Land cheap).

For me Disney set the bar 30 years back with Typhoon Lagoon and with Diagon just open, and the announcement of Universals game changing waterpark came, my mind raced. Disney had set the standard, and Universal were now matching/exceeding them in their parks, so what on earth could they possibly do to a waterpark? Exciting. Would there be effects in the slides? Glowing sand was mentioned. Genuine, themed areas. A nighttime show. Stunning entertainment.

What we got is a nice park, with the most exciting slides in Orlando, but one that lacks the details of a park that's 30 years it's senior. The wave pool issue highlighted previously is a good one & shows these small but vital touches are lacking in cruicial places. The back of the Volcano is shocking, I don't know how they authorised that through planning... they surely did research on the competition.

This park is closer to Aquatica than it is to Typhoon Lagoon. I happen to enjoy Aquatica, but this is a major miss for the standards Universal appeared to be reaching, but I now question if the 2 Harry Potter areas were the exception & not a new rule they were forging for themselves.

 

[GadgetGuru]

Yeah! It's kinda festive. The theme parks should be all about stuff you're likely not going to come across in the real world. I'd say a volcano with a big cavern in the side that the local islanders are having some fun in fits that bill. One could even argue that it's a lot more interesting to look at, that it makes a better visual impact than if there were just a bunch of uber-themed light poles erected in precise order up the stairs.

I couldn't agree with this more!! That's why IPs work so well. If I want to see Paris, I'm going to France, not EPCOT or Vegas.

It's becoming very clear that, for better or worse, VB is in soft opening. No use judging it for another couple months.

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

That's why IPs work so well. If I want to see Paris, I'm going to France, not EPCOT or Vegas.

Well, to be fair, EPCOT is a different beast. That is more about getting a taste of a bunch of different cultures all at once, and experiencing somewhat fantastical representations of those countries. Many of the pavilions represent different eras rather than the present, for example. They should complement a trip to the real countries, rather than supplant it. As Tony Baxter says, the Magic Kingdom is there to make magical worlds real, and EPCOT is there to make the real world magical. IPs only dilute that experience, especially used the way Frozen was.

 

[Teebin]

Dear Universal Creative,

The hanging carnival lights on some of the shops is ok.., but having it on the volcano stairs just ain't cutting it with me. Please replace said lighting with low aisle style lights on the posts with perhaps a some subdued area lighting at the landings.

Thanks,

Teebin

 

[Ryan]

I think you might be confused here. The lights are a new discussion point to my knowledge and you immediately called out people for posting negative comments on the lights as it was 'repeated circle jerk yadda yadda yadda'.

Separate issues. You can go back to enjoying the negativity now.

 

[Brian G.]

The whole project to me is a complete and utter let down and it goes beyond popcorn lights (I wonder if the people defending them will be the same ones that will call Toy Story Land cheap).

For me Disney set the bar 30 years back with Typhoon Lagoon and with Diagon just open, and the announcement of Universals game changing waterpark came, my mind raced. Disney had set the standard, and Universal were now matching/exceeding them in their parks, so what on earth could they possibly do to a waterpark? Exciting. Would there be effects in the slides? Glowing sand was mentioned. Genuine, themed areas. A nighttime show. Stunning entertainment.

What we got is a nice park, with the most exciting slides in Orlando, but one that lacks the details of a park that's 30 years it's senior. The wave pool issue highlighted previously is a good one & shows these small but vital touches are lacking in cruicial places. The back of the Volcano is shocking, I don't know how they authorised that through planning... they surely did research on the competition.

This park is closer to Aquatica than it is to Typhoon Lagoon. I happen to enjoy Aquatica, but this is a major miss for the standards Universal appeared to be reaching, but I now question if the 2 Harry Potter areas were the exception & not a new rule they were forging for themselves.

To be fair - the glowing sand, effects on slides, nighttime show; those were things that were never said by Universal but speculation on the boards.

 

[LJGonz]

Anybody know if the krakatau red slide still has a 200lb weight limit? If it still does when will that change?

 

[Andysol]

I couldn't agree with this more!! That's why IPs work so well. If I want to see Paris, I'm going to France, not EPCOT or Vegas.

Look... if you've seen Paris and you've seen France, then it only gets better from there... :tongue: :bolt:

 

[Alicia]

Anybody know if the krakatau red slide still has a 200lb weight limit? If it still does when will that change?

It's not the red one, it's the other two, the serpentine slides Kala & Tai Nui. And yes, last I've heard still 200 lb limit. Anyone else hearing anything different last couple days?

 

[Brian G.]

Anybody know if the krakatau red slide still has a 200lb weight limit? If it still does when will that change?

The red slide is Ko'okiri, and no that never had the limit reduced. It's the blue and green slides, Kala and Tai Nui, and yes - they are still there.

 

[UAN17]

To be fair - the glowing sand, effects on slides, nighttime show; those were things that were never said by Universal but speculation on the boards.

That's probably an issue.

If I visited as a normal tourist and not an enthusiast maybe I wouldn't have had any expectations...maybe the public aren't noticing these things and that's why Universal haven't put the resources into these particular areas...but it's still disappointing through my eyes.