New Water Park coming to Universal Orlando?

[Kevin38]

I got a short survey from Universal two days ago concerning whether we were planning a spring Universal vacation, and if not, why and when we were coming back. Anyone else get that?

Yes i got it too .I said yes we were coming and they asked what week is our spring break.

 

[Mad Dog]

You're actually coming here this year and skipping Universal to go to Disney??? Why? What reason could they have possibly given you to go visit them instead? They haven't built anything of real substance in a few years, and unless you have t visited since before 2012, I don't see why you'd spend more to go to a place that currently offers you less than it did back then.

I was at Universal three times for a total of 5 weeks between Oct. 2013 to Sept. 2014. So it's time to take a breather from Universal & do Disney for a couple of weeks. I haven't been to Disney since NFL & the redo on Test Track.Plus I can see DHS without the ugly hat (LOL).That keeps Universal fresh & arranges my vacation schedule so I can hit the Kong opening in 2016. Probably will do Universal twice in 2016 for 4 weeks, at least that's my tentative plan.

 

[Cheezbat]

Don't underestimate the power of Kong. I'm skipping Universal for Disney this year because I'm greatly anticipating Kong for 2016.

I was at Universal three times for a total of 5 weeks between Oct. 2013 to Sept. 2014. So it's time to take a breather from Universal & do Disney for a couple of weeks. I haven't been to Disney since NFL & the redo on Test Track.Plus I can see DHS without the ugly hat (LOL).That keeps Universal fresh & arranges my vacation schedule so I can hit the Kong opening in 2016. Probably will do Universal twice in 2016 for 4 weeks, at least that's my tentative plan.

Ahh...yeah, if you haven't been since before New Fantasyland then it's understandable.

How other people could go back year after year and think WDW is better than ever is beyond me though. (I too am happy to see that awful hat going at DHS!)

So looking at acreage last night, it appears that this new Waterpark should easily be as big as Blizzard Beach, and slightly larger than Aquatica and Typhoon Lagoon.

I hope they pack it full of awesome attractions!

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Apple is going to release a new Iphone in September/October. I know it, you know it, they know it. When will they announce it? about 2-3 weeks before you can buy it. Why don't they announce it months ahead of time? Cause the ones who know will wait to see what the new ones will do. The ones who don't know will just go buy a new phone the day before they announce it cause they don't know there is a new one coming out. But if they knew they could wait a few weeks and get a new model, they might hold off. It seems to be working for them. I can't fault Universal for doing the same.

I think this is an interesting comparison and I want to expand why this applies to SOME things Disney/Universal does, but not all, and coincidentally, not Kong.

I think there's two types of announcements when it comes to Dis/Uni and Apple: yearly and watershed. The iPhone, ticket prices, package deals, new iPads are yearly announcements that is best kept to a secret until the last minute. People will buy these all year long since they're already a staple of marketing/knowledge base. This is why the new MacBook Pro I'm typing on was announced Monday and I picked it up on Wednesday. My iPhone 6 I got 11 days after the announcement. And frankly I think Apple would announce these things even CLOSER to the time of roll out if logistics of getting the products into people's hands worked in their favor.

Then there is the watershed announcements. The original iPhone was announced in January for a June release. The iPad was announced in January for a March release. The new MacBook was announced Monday for an April 10th release. The Apple Watch was announced in SEPTEMBER 2014 for an APRIL release! Kong, Transformers, Despicable Me, SDMT, and more fall in this line. The watershed announcements are ones that complement what is already offered and improve the offerings. These announcements are to disrupt competitors and future plans for them. This is where Kong falls into place. Will there be people who delay trips? Yes. Will there be a ton? No.

Obviously the exception to this was the original Wizarding World of Harry Potter- Hogsmeade, where Universal saw a huge slide in attendance the year before opening. I have a theory about this. 1.) This was the FIRST Harry Potter experience in a theme park 2.) Universal was an after thought in the Orlando area, so it was easier to put off a visit. With Diagon Alley people could come for Potter and still be happy with the experience. With Kong I have no doubt people will put off trips to visit the parks, but will it be enough to have them NOT announce this earlier to build up hype? I do not think so.

 

[UNIrd]

My family just cancelled their visit this year. people in their upper 20's and beyond have a nostalgic feeling for Uni for Kong, Jaws, Back to the future, etc. They would want to taste a bit of Kong since he's coming back. My dad is one of them. he found out (sadly through me) that Kong was coming back and now they are going somewhere else this Fall because he wants to see Kong again.

We're an exception because we are literally on a Universal/Orlando Theme Park forum. The majority of the general public, I believe, wouldn't.

If people didn't visit Disney until after their projects were announced vs completion date, they would probably have to wait half a decade in between visits.

 

[darkridelover]

Waterpark WaterPARK WATERPARK!!! This thread is for water park!!!

 

[shiekra38]

Waterpark WaterPARK WATERPARK!!! This thread is for water park!!!

 

[Cheezbat]

And back on topic...this plot of land appears to be about 30 acres, but I've heard numbers dropped from 34 acres to 53 acres. Could they be including parts of the parcel that Cabana sits on? Or maybe the land the building on the far end of the parcel sits on?

 

[Teebin]

And back on topic...this plot of land appears to be about 30 acres, but I've heard numbers dropped from 34 acres to 53 acres. Could they be including parts of the parcel that Cabana sits on? Or maybe the land the building on the far end of the parcel sits on?

The grey line/road is the end of Cabana. Everything south of that road is the waterpark. The X remains completely true... that entrance will cease to exist as a major attraction is going there.

Ignore the green line as that was me guessing a time back and has since proven untrue.

 

[Cheezbat]

That mound of dirt just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Is that Sapphire Falls' dumping ground...or is it from digging on site for the plumbing of the Waterpark?

 

[Teebin]

That mound of dirt just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Is that Sapphire Falls' dumping ground...or is it from digging on site for the plumbing of the Waterpark?

If I recall, a similar mound of sand went up on the Kong site too... I believe it is trucked in from elsewhere to raise the entire site a bit and then give the graders something to work with for berms and other raised areas within the park.

In earlier plans, the entire entrance area appeared a good 3-5' higher than the rest of the park; guests would walk downhill into the fun of it all.

 

[Cheezbat]

Good to know. That makes sense.

 

[GAcoaster]

I thought the pile of dirt was from the excavation for the expansion of the waterway to the hotel.

 

[Teebin]

I thought the pile of dirt was from the excavation for the expansion of the waterway to the hotel.

As I said, it came from elsewhere, perhaps the waterway, perhaps not. Perhaps all of it will be used on the waterpark site, and perhaps not all of it.

Too underline this, take a look at the entrance to Cabana. It may look like one just drives right in level from the highway, but you actually raise up about 30" to parking and then another 36"-48" to the hotel doors beyond. That takes a MOUNTAIN of sand to pull off that elevation over acres.

 

[Manx27]

There are very large pipe sections onsite now. Maybe 5 ft wide, about a dozen of them. Tough to see while you're speeding along the ramp.

 

[Cole]

Very very cool, that's a giant entrance for a water park attraction, can't wait to see them go all the way

 

[KFCbowlcombo]

I'm fairly certain they'll include this somewhere at some point. This is amazing stuff with so many different applications and possibilities.

https://youtu.be/tHgcA5cwjlg

 

[NashvilleTrio]

Wow. Thanks for sharing. I'm less interested in the Gamification, but having even small segments with those 360 LEDs would be so cool.

 

[Cheezbat]

I'm fairly certain they'll include this somewhere at some point. This is amazing stuff with so many different applications and possibilities.

https://youtu.be/tHgcA5cwjlg

While that is pretty cool, I would expect Universal to use Proslide as their major waterslide manufacturer. Personally, I really only like Whitewater West's AquaLoop better than Proslide's SuperLoop...but aside from that I'd take Proslide's version of similar rides over everything else Whitewater offers.

Seeing as how all of Wet N Wild's recent attractions came from Proslide, I see their relationship continuing.

Man I hope we get a Tornado, Tornadowave, DarkMammoth, and Hydromagnetic Mammoth in the new park! (I love those rides!)

 

[Shadow Carelli]

^^ That technology is really awesome! That would be cool for a TMNT sewer slide ride!