It was the best of water parks, it was the worst of water parks... literally..
So I'm not sure the degree to which my experience can translate to others, as I had some fairly unique factors. We were there for a holiday weekend (July 2nd). We had a pre-booked Cabana for our family and a couple of friends. And we actually had express passes, that we purchased before they stopped selling. With those caveats, my experience:
First, the really good:
The park is GORGEOUS. Here are a few photos, and more will come later:
untitled (469 of 596).jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr
untitled (472 of 596).jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr
untitled (499 of 596).jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr
Really, in terms of aesthetics, the park is a real winner.
Another really good: The food was very impressive. Granted, we were ordering from the cabana menu. We ordered a variety of dishes for our family of 6, and really everything was above average.
I had read poor reviews of the flatbread pizza, and even that was good. While other dishes were very good. I had 1 of the burgers, which was huge, clearly prepared with high quality ingredients, and an interesting combination of toppings. My only objection, they insisted on cooking it well. I understand the fear of E.coli. That said, it was a burger I'd be happy with in any restaurant. Everyone in the party was happy with their dishes.
And finally -- the rides we did were mostly very good. I'm not an extreme thrill seeker. At Disney World, I'm a Big Thunder Mountain-level type of ride person, not Everest.
The Krakatau aqua coaster lived up to the hype. It lasted a solid couple of minutes, with lots of thrilling twists and drops. Nothing to intense for people like me, but intense enough to give most people a good level of thrill.
We did the Ohyea and Ohno slides, and they were really good water slides. Puili raft ride was also intense enough for me. Ika Moana I actually found a bit boring, but more on that below.
Now the mediocre:
The Cabana falls squarely here. Being a holiday weekend, we paid $500 for a second floor Cabana in wave village.
Was it worth it?
The back did face the highway and we heard traffic. They have put up screens on that side of the cabana, so you're not actually looking out at the highway. And the noise wasn't too terrible, it was easy enough to tune it out.
The Cabana was a nice size though it could have used more chairs (we brought up a couple extra). it was very convenient having a large safe, included towels, a refrigerator stocked with bottled water. A fruit platter to start the day. A private shaded area with a ceiling fan. There is a tapu tapu station in the cabana, to reserve rides from there.
The cabana was nice. I'm not sure it was $500 nice. But it was nice.
The cabana food menu was very good.
The biggest downside of the cabana -- 1 of the things you're paying for, is the ability to have food and drinks sent to the cabana. To my surprise, you could NOT order food from the Tapu Tapu station. You could view the menu, which was pointless as there was also a paper menu provided. But you couldn't order.
The Cabana had an attendant (more below), but she only popped her head in every 60-90 minutes. And there was no way to request the attendant's presence.
Finally, we paid for a second floor cabana for the view -- There was NO view. The front was blocked by palm trees.
Now, the really bad:
Maybe it was far worse because it was a holiday weekend, but the park logistics are HORRIBLE. TERRIBLE.
Let me lay out our day:
Left Portofino Bay at 7am for early entry. We were among the early arrivals for early entry at the park. There were only a few people ahead of us at the gate when we arrived there, no later than 7:30.
When they started admitted guests, it was SLOW. It can always be slow to enter a Universal park, due to problems scanning thumb prints. But then slowing it down more, it felt like it took an eternity to activate each Tapu Tapu. It does not work with an instant tap. Every "tap" takes several seconds. 5-10 seconds may not seem like a long time, when you multiply it by hundreds of guests coming through the gates, it really slows things down.
So we entered the park around 8. I heard nightmare stories about service at the concierge desk, so we really ran there. Despite being among the first at the concierge desk, already having our tickets ready and in-hand... took them about 10-15 minutes to activate our expresses passes. Then fairly promptly, someone led us to our cabana. By this time (maybe 8:15-8:20), there was a LONG line at the concierge desk behind us.
So we spent just a few minutes getting settled in the Cabana and then immediately started to wander for rides.
Probably no later than 8:25, we found ourselves at Ohyea/Ohno. Everything in the park was still "ride now."
First we all did Ohyeah.. which really had absolutely no wait.
Then, my wife and kids did Ohno.... by now (maybe 8:30), "ride now" turned in to a 10-15 minute wait for them.
Universal may claim that Volcano Bay has something like 15 rides -- But they can't be compared to theme park rides in any way. While Pirates of the Caribbean may be able to cycle through 2,000 guests per hour, the water slides probably can't do more than 50 people per hour. As they won't allow a second person down the slide, until the first person is entirely clear from the pool. So if just 10 people are ahead of you in a waterslide line, expect the wait to easily be 10+ minutes.
So after doing these 2 slides, we worked our way to Puili... With rafts that held 3-5 people at a time, the capacity is more than a waterslide, but not a whole lot more. Maybe 100 people per hour?
It was ride now, and the wait was really only a few minutes.
Which brought us to the Aqua coaster. Probably got there close to 9:00.. maybe a few minutes before general park opening. It was listed as "ride now"--- But there was a fairly long line on the stairs. The wait was maybe 10-15 minutes.
Completely manageable. I'm not complaining about a 10-15 minute wait. But let's remember, this was early entry still......
Very quickly after 9:00, lines were building. We finished the Aqua Coaster around 9:20. My son and I decided to relax in the Cabana for a few minutes. Nothing was Ride Now anymore. We figured we could start using our express passes.
My wife and daughter went to use an express pass at the Serpentine slides. They left the Cabana for the slide at 9:30, they didn't come back until about 10:15. Even with the express pass, they had a 30-45 minute wait on line.
10:15 -- Our cabana attendant shows up for the first time. She warns us that any food order could take an hour plus (I know it's a holiday, but why should burgers take an hour plus?!!?!?!?), so we were warned to order well in advance. We order some morning cocktails..... Decide to relax until we get our cocktails..
She doesn't come back with the cocktails until after 11:00. Based on the slow service, we figured we better put in our lunch order at that point. So around 11:00, we order lunch. We then decide to use an express pass for Ika Moana.
We figured we would be back at the Cabana shortly before our lunch arrived.
So we slowly got moving, and got to Ika Moana about 11:20. There was mass confusion there. There was a long line (10 minutes), just to tap in, for people who got the "time to ride" on their devices. There were people who assumed "time to ride" meant they could skip past that step, so they tried to cut in front. They didn't realize that everyone standing in that line had "time to ride."
For those who were just reserving the ride at that point, the wait was 150 minutes. Before noon, most of the attractions in the park had 100+ minute virtual lines.
So our express pass let us skip the virtual line. But then we still had to wait 10-15 minutes, just to tap in to the attraction. The line then stretched far down the stairs. We easily waited another 40-50 minutes on the stairs, before we could actually ride.
Meaning, for us, with express pass -- it was over a 1 hour line, for a 2 minute raft ride.
For those without express pass -- they waited on a virtual line for 2+ hours, then another 1 hour on the real line. For a 2 minute raft ride.
By the time we got back to the Cabana, it was 12:30. Our friends had stayed in the cabana. The food had arrived about 15 minutes earlier.
At this point, we essentially chucked our express passes into the garbage. No 1-2 minute water ride is worth standing in line for 60+ minutes in the 95 degree heat. So we decided we were done with attractions. I think the kids went and did 1 more slide, on their own.
After lunch and relaxing a bit, a couple of us decided to try the lazy river. Supposedly "ride any time" -- But it was wall to wall people. They didn't have enough tubes. The lifeguard was telling people they didn't need a tube, they were free to just walk the lazy river. I started to walk forward to just walk the river, and a guy shoved his arm in front of me, accusing me of cutting him -- He was staying on the side to wait for a tube. It was an unruly mob trying to get tubes!
That said, the lazy river was nice. Then did the wave pool -- which was also really nice. The waves get HUGE as you get close to the volcano. It's quite a workout just to walk up against the waves.
The horrible logistics didn't end with the lines for the rides.
So when we ordered food, we tried to give the attendant our credit card for payment at that time. But she insisted she would take it when we were ready to cash out for the day. So around 2:30 or 3:00, we decided to call it a day. The heat was too intense, even with the cabana. But we had to settle our bill -- Took about 20 minutes to track down our attendant.
Now, every restaurant I know, for several years -- the waitstaff takes orders on a tablet... checks can be instantly printed. And you would think this would be true in a brand new technologically advanced park! But no.... she still had our order just scribbled on a white pad. So when it was time to cash out, she went over her scribble with us. She said she would then "be right back" with the actual bill. Which took her another 15 minutes. She then took our credit card. The cabana next door was also checking out, so she took their credit card too. She came back 15 minutes later -- and said both cabana credit cards weren't working. Did we have other cards or cash. Umm, what a coincidence that 2 separate parties -- their cards aren't working. Didn't dawn on her that maybe something was wrong with the credit card machine. So she suggested we go with her, across the park, so she could try another credit card machine -- which of course, then worked. So just cashing out our bill at the end of the day, was a 40-60 minute process.
So the great:
-The park is beautiful
-The food is much better than typical theme park/water park food
-The attractions are excellent
The mediocre: The cabana is nice, but should be better. Disappointed in the lack of view from our cabana, the inability to order food through the tapu tapu station, the ordeal of paying at the end of the day, the mediocre service from the attendant.
The really bad: You can't promise guests "no lines".. then have 30-60 minute lines AFTER the virtual lines.
Anyway, I had fun the first hour at Volcano Bay. And overall, I had fun. But I wouldn't go back unless they really made major changes to the logistics of the park. The park might be wonderful if there were only 500-1000 guests in it. But when the "rides" only have capacity of 50-100 people per hour, once you have a couple thousand people in the park, it simply is a nightmare.
So I'm not sure the degree to which my experience can translate to others, as I had some fairly unique factors. We were there for a holiday weekend (July 2nd). We had a pre-booked Cabana for our family and a couple of friends. And we actually had express passes, that we purchased before they stopped selling. With those caveats, my experience:
First, the really good:
The park is GORGEOUS. Here are a few photos, and more will come later:
untitled (469 of 596).jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickruntitled (472 of 596).jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickruntitled (499 of 596).jpg by Adam Brown, on FlickrReally, in terms of aesthetics, the park is a real winner.
Another really good: The food was very impressive. Granted, we were ordering from the cabana menu. We ordered a variety of dishes for our family of 6, and really everything was above average.
I had read poor reviews of the flatbread pizza, and even that was good. While other dishes were very good. I had 1 of the burgers, which was huge, clearly prepared with high quality ingredients, and an interesting combination of toppings. My only objection, they insisted on cooking it well. I understand the fear of E.coli. That said, it was a burger I'd be happy with in any restaurant. Everyone in the party was happy with their dishes.
And finally -- the rides we did were mostly very good. I'm not an extreme thrill seeker. At Disney World, I'm a Big Thunder Mountain-level type of ride person, not Everest.
The Krakatau aqua coaster lived up to the hype. It lasted a solid couple of minutes, with lots of thrilling twists and drops. Nothing to intense for people like me, but intense enough to give most people a good level of thrill.
We did the Ohyea and Ohno slides, and they were really good water slides. Puili raft ride was also intense enough for me. Ika Moana I actually found a bit boring, but more on that below.
Now the mediocre:
The Cabana falls squarely here. Being a holiday weekend, we paid $500 for a second floor Cabana in wave village.
Was it worth it?
The back did face the highway and we heard traffic. They have put up screens on that side of the cabana, so you're not actually looking out at the highway. And the noise wasn't too terrible, it was easy enough to tune it out.
The Cabana was a nice size though it could have used more chairs (we brought up a couple extra). it was very convenient having a large safe, included towels, a refrigerator stocked with bottled water. A fruit platter to start the day. A private shaded area with a ceiling fan. There is a tapu tapu station in the cabana, to reserve rides from there.
The cabana was nice. I'm not sure it was $500 nice. But it was nice.
The cabana food menu was very good.
The biggest downside of the cabana -- 1 of the things you're paying for, is the ability to have food and drinks sent to the cabana. To my surprise, you could NOT order food from the Tapu Tapu station. You could view the menu, which was pointless as there was also a paper menu provided. But you couldn't order.
The Cabana had an attendant (more below), but she only popped her head in every 60-90 minutes. And there was no way to request the attendant's presence.
Finally, we paid for a second floor cabana for the view -- There was NO view. The front was blocked by palm trees.
Now, the really bad:
Maybe it was far worse because it was a holiday weekend, but the park logistics are HORRIBLE. TERRIBLE.
Let me lay out our day:
Left Portofino Bay at 7am for early entry. We were among the early arrivals for early entry at the park. There were only a few people ahead of us at the gate when we arrived there, no later than 7:30.
When they started admitted guests, it was SLOW. It can always be slow to enter a Universal park, due to problems scanning thumb prints. But then slowing it down more, it felt like it took an eternity to activate each Tapu Tapu. It does not work with an instant tap. Every "tap" takes several seconds. 5-10 seconds may not seem like a long time, when you multiply it by hundreds of guests coming through the gates, it really slows things down.
So we entered the park around 8. I heard nightmare stories about service at the concierge desk, so we really ran there. Despite being among the first at the concierge desk, already having our tickets ready and in-hand... took them about 10-15 minutes to activate our expresses passes. Then fairly promptly, someone led us to our cabana. By this time (maybe 8:15-8:20), there was a LONG line at the concierge desk behind us.
So we spent just a few minutes getting settled in the Cabana and then immediately started to wander for rides.
Probably no later than 8:25, we found ourselves at Ohyea/Ohno. Everything in the park was still "ride now."
First we all did Ohyeah.. which really had absolutely no wait.
Then, my wife and kids did Ohno.... by now (maybe 8:30), "ride now" turned in to a 10-15 minute wait for them.
Universal may claim that Volcano Bay has something like 15 rides -- But they can't be compared to theme park rides in any way. While Pirates of the Caribbean may be able to cycle through 2,000 guests per hour, the water slides probably can't do more than 50 people per hour. As they won't allow a second person down the slide, until the first person is entirely clear from the pool. So if just 10 people are ahead of you in a waterslide line, expect the wait to easily be 10+ minutes.
So after doing these 2 slides, we worked our way to Puili... With rafts that held 3-5 people at a time, the capacity is more than a waterslide, but not a whole lot more. Maybe 100 people per hour?
It was ride now, and the wait was really only a few minutes.
Which brought us to the Aqua coaster. Probably got there close to 9:00.. maybe a few minutes before general park opening. It was listed as "ride now"--- But there was a fairly long line on the stairs. The wait was maybe 10-15 minutes.
Completely manageable. I'm not complaining about a 10-15 minute wait. But let's remember, this was early entry still......
Very quickly after 9:00, lines were building. We finished the Aqua Coaster around 9:20. My son and I decided to relax in the Cabana for a few minutes. Nothing was Ride Now anymore. We figured we could start using our express passes.
My wife and daughter went to use an express pass at the Serpentine slides. They left the Cabana for the slide at 9:30, they didn't come back until about 10:15. Even with the express pass, they had a 30-45 minute wait on line.
10:15 -- Our cabana attendant shows up for the first time. She warns us that any food order could take an hour plus (I know it's a holiday, but why should burgers take an hour plus?!!?!?!?), so we were warned to order well in advance. We order some morning cocktails..... Decide to relax until we get our cocktails..
She doesn't come back with the cocktails until after 11:00. Based on the slow service, we figured we better put in our lunch order at that point. So around 11:00, we order lunch. We then decide to use an express pass for Ika Moana.
We figured we would be back at the Cabana shortly before our lunch arrived.
So we slowly got moving, and got to Ika Moana about 11:20. There was mass confusion there. There was a long line (10 minutes), just to tap in, for people who got the "time to ride" on their devices. There were people who assumed "time to ride" meant they could skip past that step, so they tried to cut in front. They didn't realize that everyone standing in that line had "time to ride."
For those who were just reserving the ride at that point, the wait was 150 minutes. Before noon, most of the attractions in the park had 100+ minute virtual lines.
So our express pass let us skip the virtual line. But then we still had to wait 10-15 minutes, just to tap in to the attraction. The line then stretched far down the stairs. We easily waited another 40-50 minutes on the stairs, before we could actually ride.
Meaning, for us, with express pass -- it was over a 1 hour line, for a 2 minute raft ride.
For those without express pass -- they waited on a virtual line for 2+ hours, then another 1 hour on the real line. For a 2 minute raft ride.
By the time we got back to the Cabana, it was 12:30. Our friends had stayed in the cabana. The food had arrived about 15 minutes earlier.
At this point, we essentially chucked our express passes into the garbage. No 1-2 minute water ride is worth standing in line for 60+ minutes in the 95 degree heat. So we decided we were done with attractions. I think the kids went and did 1 more slide, on their own.
After lunch and relaxing a bit, a couple of us decided to try the lazy river. Supposedly "ride any time" -- But it was wall to wall people. They didn't have enough tubes. The lifeguard was telling people they didn't need a tube, they were free to just walk the lazy river. I started to walk forward to just walk the river, and a guy shoved his arm in front of me, accusing me of cutting him -- He was staying on the side to wait for a tube. It was an unruly mob trying to get tubes!
That said, the lazy river was nice. Then did the wave pool -- which was also really nice. The waves get HUGE as you get close to the volcano. It's quite a workout just to walk up against the waves.
The horrible logistics didn't end with the lines for the rides.
So when we ordered food, we tried to give the attendant our credit card for payment at that time. But she insisted she would take it when we were ready to cash out for the day. So around 2:30 or 3:00, we decided to call it a day. The heat was too intense, even with the cabana. But we had to settle our bill -- Took about 20 minutes to track down our attendant.
Now, every restaurant I know, for several years -- the waitstaff takes orders on a tablet... checks can be instantly printed. And you would think this would be true in a brand new technologically advanced park! But no.... she still had our order just scribbled on a white pad. So when it was time to cash out, she went over her scribble with us. She said she would then "be right back" with the actual bill. Which took her another 15 minutes. She then took our credit card. The cabana next door was also checking out, so she took their credit card too. She came back 15 minutes later -- and said both cabana credit cards weren't working. Did we have other cards or cash. Umm, what a coincidence that 2 separate parties -- their cards aren't working. Didn't dawn on her that maybe something was wrong with the credit card machine. So she suggested we go with her, across the park, so she could try another credit card machine -- which of course, then worked. So just cashing out our bill at the end of the day, was a 40-60 minute process.
So the great:
-The park is beautiful
-The food is much better than typical theme park/water park food
-The attractions are excellent
The mediocre: The cabana is nice, but should be better. Disappointed in the lack of view from our cabana, the inability to order food through the tapu tapu station, the ordeal of paying at the end of the day, the mediocre service from the attendant.
The really bad: You can't promise guests "no lines".. then have 30-60 minute lines AFTER the virtual lines.
Anyway, I had fun the first hour at Volcano Bay. And overall, I had fun. But I wouldn't go back unless they really made major changes to the logistics of the park. The park might be wonderful if there were only 500-1000 guests in it. But when the "rides" only have capacity of 50-100 people per hour, once you have a couple thousand people in the park, it simply is a nightmare.
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