- Jan 24, 2015
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They changed the hours from 5pm to 8pm starting Mar 17th. for.the Spring Break season. This benefits me as I'm at Cabana Bay the 17th thru 20th.
Other priorities first. Think expecting that within 6 months is a little crazy. I wouldn’t expect an announcement until closer to the year anniversary.
Then, after hitting capacity by 9:30am- Every. Single. Morning. One would assume it was a no brainer.Giving a preview to a reporter from CNN, Dale Mason, vice-president and executive art director with Universal Creative, let slip that an expansion is in the works. “We have a pretty darn good idea of what we’ll do,” said Mason. “It could happen quicker than we think: it could start in three weeks.”
VB was only open for 7 months so there's no way it will be in the top three.On a random note, are we expecting this to appear in the TEA Attendance report for 2017 in the top water parks section?
I wouldn’t have expected it had they not come out and said they were about to start the expansion just after opening.
Then, after hitting capacity by 9:30am- Every. Single. Morning. One would assume it was a no brainer.
They set the expectation, not me.
Regardless, what priorities? This winter, they had F&F finishing up, Dragon Challenge/FF plot, T2 show replacement, Adventura and the new lagoon performance at USF.
Which of those, outside of DC/FF, would counter the VB construction? And it’s not like a VB expansion would take significant construction time- they could’ve completed it this winter during the slow months alone.
Budget? Again- capacity at 9:30am and that’d increase capacity. They’d make their money back year one or two.
Truthfully, there’s not a time they would be less busy than they are now. Will they be less busy with MoM, Shrek, Nintendo, W&W hotels and more being under construction? Or when Park 4 happens?
Sorry, but I see no legitimate excuse here outside of waiting for some technology that doesn’t exist yet, which I doubt.
Furthermore, I don’t recall Universal saying anything in any casual capacity saying an expansion was happening right after opening. I think that was forum speculation.
I quoted Dale Mason in my post you responded to saying “it could happen quicker than we think: it can start in three weeks”
So, yes, could and can are the key words- meaning he’s not wrong.
But it was certainly more concrete than our normal forum speculation.
I wouldn’t have expected it had they not come out and said they were about to start the expansion just after opening.
Then, after hitting capacity by 9:30am- Every. Single. Morning. One would assume it was a no brainer.
They set the expectation, not me.
Regardless, what priorities? This winter, they had F&F finishing up, Dragon Challenge/FF plot, T2 show replacement, Adventura and the new lagoon performance at USF.
Which of those, outside of DC/FF, would counter the VB construction? And it’s not like a VB expansion would take significant construction time- they could’ve completed it this winter during the slow months alone.
Budget? Again- capacity at 9:30am and that’d increase capacity. They’d make their money back year one or two.
Truthfully, there’s not a time they would be less busy than they are now. Will they be less busy with MoM, Shrek, Nintendo, W&W hotels and more being under construction? Or when Park 4 happens?
Sorry, but I see no legitimate excuse here outside of waiting for some technology that doesn’t exist yet, which I doubt.
I do wonder if Universal will use ProSlide in the inevitable expansion. It seemed like they had a lot of problems post launch.I do want to add that money means nothing if the resources are not there. I'm talking steel, ProSlide parts, construction workers, concrete, and more. Money makes things go quicker to an extent.
I'm not sure a lot of the problems early on were ProSlide's fault.I do wonder if Universal will use ProSlide in the inevitable expansion. It seemed like they had a lot of problems post launch.
But there's a chance it might be in the top 10/20?VB was only open for 7 months so there's no way it will be in the top three.
I’ve always thought the park needed more to do outside of slide times, but I can’t think of what that could be in the water park context...a bubbling volcano spa area could possibly help the park on colder evenings?
They could do a warm pool, sort of like the Bubbly Wubbly Pool was at Alton Towers Waterpark. Or they could build something similar to Wild Water Rapids at Center Parcs.
Another play/chill area is very much needed, great pointIt felt like a lot of the critiques this summer were that guests had to wait to do anything exciting. Families at water parks can only relax for so long. They go for the slides and the excitement. I think the caves in the volcano were the right idea, but there's not too much to really explore in those, right? I think if they added a little more interactive/explorative caves and maybe a small cliff jumping/zipline pool, it would really help satisfy those that don't want to lounge by the pool or (wait in line to) float in the lazy river all day. And throw up an open air theatre with a high-energy show that can run pretty continuously throughout the day. One of VB's largest flaw was their concept that waiting for slides didn't really feel like waiting, but guests still felt like they were waiting.
And then obviously add at least one more high capacity tower to help with the wait, but the flaws with Tapu need to be attacked from both directions, imo: Shorter waits and more enjoyable waits