The Krakatau Aqua Coaster will occupy the park's iconic central volcano. The first of its kind in Florida, the coaster will use LIM technology to launch riders upward into the volcano's interior. Visitors will ride in four-person "canoes" through a variety of themed scenes, including tunnels, caves, and past waterfalls.
Universal also has announced that all Volcano Bay visitors will get "TapuTapu" wearables that they will use to reserve their places in the park's virtual queues. The wearable will alert visitors when it is their turn to ride. Visitors also will be able tap the TapuTapu to activate experiences through the park, including water cannons and special effects inside the volcano.
Volcano Bay effectively replaces (and Universal hopes, surpasses) the Wet 'n' Wild water park, which closed on Dec. 31. The industry's first water park, Wet 'n' Wild stood across Interstate 4 from the Universal Orlando Resort, where the new Volcano Bay will stand next to the Cabana Bay hotel.
Universal has sent invitations for a multi-day press event leading up to the grand opening on May 25. Theme Park Insider will be there for the event, showing you Volcano Bay here on the website, as well as on our YouTube channel and Twitter account.
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Corporate parent, Comcast, continues the capital expenditures, but it's interesting to note they only highlight "theme parks cash flow" vs net income. Will be interesting to see if 'net income' is listed in the 4Q16/Fiscal Year earnings release.
Sadly, the are still in the replace vs expand/add new rides and attractions phase.
Case in point, Volcano Bay is another upgage replacement.
For all the DIS haters, the same could be said of DIS, but when you're #1 you can take your time. Did you see the FY2016 'Net Income' Parks & Resorts reported!
Wet 'n Wild was more of a blue-collar, locals waterpark with an outstanding collection of water slides and attractions. Volcano Bay is more of a VIP waterpark and the price point is going to reflect that. I'm excited about the new waterpark, but this is not a replacement.
From my perspective I think they could have survived side-by-side, but that's a tough sell to the Universal execs.
Disney has its "bubble" so now Universal wants its very own "bubble"
They want the Wet N Wild space for another hotel or two.
Universal could always put another waterpark on Site B in the future.
Plus they may want to avoid the cannibalisation that happen to Wdw when AK first opened
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