Volcano Bay: General Discussion

[Mr. EPCOT]

Will Vol be A.I. or will someone be controlling him? Or is he just not interactive at all?

Why couldn't it just be a real volcano god?

 

[Journey_On]

From OrlParkPass;

These digital boards were displaying wait times today, as well as the current time and when the park closed for the day.

 

[hishedale]

Why couldn't it just be a real volcano god?

Because of atheism.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Something I still wonder, and I truly wish I could have been a fly on the wall for the executives that decided "hey I know, let's open a brand new park with zero previews"...

I mean, so much could have been avoided if they did a month of public previews, limited capacity, hard-ticketed previews, say at $45 a pop. Go in knowing it's not finished, things may not work... etc. It really could have helped out the ops teams, the TM's, and management in how to run this park effectively and efficiently.

Pandora did so many previews, and that's just a land... and in all honesty, the opening day was a complete success for Pandora.

Epcot had previews for 6 days. The only parks I can think of that opened at 100% were Animal Kingdom and IOA. Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Studios, and USF all opened with rides malfunctioning, construction areas and lots of unexpected issues, even with previews.

 

[Brian G.]

Some observations from today:

• Puihi has dropped weight limit from 850 to 715. Kala and Ta Nui (Serpintine Slides) have changed entrance sign to reflect 200 weight limit. Was "Ride Now" for most of day.
• As @Andy said on Twitter, wait times aren't a Tapu issue it seems, but a capacity/load issue. Still was manageable today for a Summer Friday. Got way better after storm.
• Many of the premium seating chairs have moved away from Hammerhead Beach/TeAwa entrance. Probably due to heavy foot traffic.
• Entrance to TeAwa now has geyser/mist effects on.
• Ko'Okiri Geyser effect at end of slide should be on soon.
• Digital wait board now active. Lists time of day, didn't see anything weather related pop-up when storm rolled through.
• Volcano Bridge was closed, hopefully meaning we see Vol soon.
• Many of the walkway spritzers have been capped off with appropriate nozzle.
• There was a planter near Waturi Beach that people would walk over - Universal about to prevent that with adding net.
• Stargazer Cavern may not look like concept, but it really is better in person. Had all lighting and "stars" on. Mist was on for part of morning. It looks like they may not be done though, as I think we'll be seeing those tendrils added soon.

 

[Alicia]

For any of you unsure what Augmented Reality is, click to 4:29 (if it doesn't start there automatically) of this video:



scratch to the beginning to see other applications of AR.

That looks really cool! But did you mean to post that in the Nintendo thread?

 

[Skold]

Will Vol be A.I. or will someone be controlling him? Or is he just not interactive at all?

Paging Cosmo, The Mystic Fountain.

ray:

 

[wizwit]

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/files/Documents/volcano-bay-riders-guide.pdf

 

[adjjb]

Is this something they couldn't have seen coming though? When they announced their opening date, were they completely sure they wouldn't be cutting it close?

I think based on some of the posts here during the construction thread, they knew they were cutting it close and weren't going to finish things. The opening date though was obviously made based on Pandora opening that same weekend.

 

[rhino4evr]

So it seems like 200 pound weight limit is here to stay. That's too bad. Talk about poor planning. Obviously safety comes first, but that's really disappointing that their flagship attractions will see a lot less riders than intended.

 

[Scott W.]

I think based on some of the posts here during the construction thread, they knew they were cutting it close and weren't going to finish things. The opening date though was obviously made based on Pandora opening that same weekend.

VB opening date was announced on 25th January. Avatar opening date was announced on 7th February so it wasn't that.

I could understand if the opening date was announced last year or before that fire but not when they're 5 months out. Plenty of people had concerns that it wouldn't be ready, some insiders shared more concerns.

The complete lack of soft openings only confirmed how close they were cutting it.

 

[Legacy]

A few days before opening, I was told the park was still five weeks behind schedule. They knew, but by that point it's really too late to change anything.

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

VB opening date was announced on 25th January. Avatar opening date was announced on 7th February so it wasn't that.

Even though the Avatar opening wasn't announced until later, I'm sure Universal leadership knew well enough ahead of time when the opening date would be. I think Universal and Disney executive management generally have an idea of what's going on inside the other company well beyond the rumors and stuff that the fan community hears.

 

[Teebin]

But did you mean to post that in the Nintendo thread?

:saywhat: no. no I did not.

 

[Andysol]

• There was a planter near Waturi Beach that people would walk over - Universal about to prevent that with adding net.

All good info except this. Instead of a net, I'd rather them plant a nice sharp yucca.

 

[Teebin]

I wonder how they are determining that certain slides are bending too much under higher weights? Some of you might say, "Sensors" but I want to know what kind of sensors, and if not sensors, then what?

 

[pat_naughty05]

I can't wait to visit this park, but I'm really surprised that the two drop slides dropped the weight limit so much. It won't prevent me from riding personally, but I wonder why they can't go with 230 or 250. I'll be very curious to see if this sticks or not, but I would have to imagine that they're going to try to get that limit up, though it may not be their top priority right now.

 

[Andysol]

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/files/Documents/volcano-bay-riders-guide.pdf

This is pulled from the "virtual queue" section:

Guests can obtain a wait time for KrakatauTM Aqua Coaster, plus one additional attraction


So clearly that's the long- term plan. I actually prefer only allowing one at a time.

 

[Kwame]

Any news on when the Maku geysers will be working?

 

[adjjb]

VB opening date was announced on 25th January. Avatar opening date was announced on 7th February so it wasn't that.
.

That was when it was announced to the public.

Internally within the corporate theme park world? There's absolutely no way UO didn't know Avatar's opening date before making their announcement just days prior. They probably knew the date a long time.

Heck, people here figured out Disney's date just based on them liking Memorial weekend. So UO knew when Pandora would open.