Krakatau Aqua Coaster is the signature attraction at Universal Orlando’s Volcano Bay water
park.
This hydromagnetic water coater blasts riders around and through the park’s iconic volcano.
I think this slide is the main reason to visit Volcano Bay, but I’ll go further.
This is the world’s best water slide.
Find out why in this review.
Water coasters are my favorite type of water slide.
When I released my top 15 water coasters video earlier this year, I proclaimed Toothless’
Trickling Torpedo as the world’s best water coaster…of the ones I had ridden.
But there was a very notable one I had yet to ride in Krakatau.
And many people commented that Krakatau was the best of the genre.
I didn’t doubt it.
I just hadn’t been on it yet.
Well, I finally rode Krakatau recently.
I had very high expectations going in, but it blew me away.
Krakatau opened with Volcano Bay in 2017.
This ProSlide creation is one of their hydromagnetic water coasters, using linear induction motors,
or LIMS, to propel rafts uphill quickly and efficiently.
Due to this ride’s popularity, it can be a bit tricky to ride.
If you’re unfamiliar with Volcano Bay, this park uses a virtual queuing system.
Everyone entering the park is given a Tapu Tapu wristband and in order to ride most attractions,
you must walk up to the water slide and tap your Tapu Tapu to get a return time.
If the attraction has a short wait and no one in the virtual queue, it will be listed
as Ride Now.
However, you will likely need to wait a while for Krakatau.
This is easily the park’s best and most popular water slide.
So it’s no surprise it almost always has the longest return time in the park.
On the day I visited, the ride had a 60-90 minute return time most of the day, but I’ve
heard of it having even longer return times other days.
The biggest issue with this is that you can only have one attraction reserved at a time,
so riding Krakatau can really eat into your day.
You can enjoy the wave pool, lazy river, and usually select water slides while waiting
for your return time, but a long return time can significantly impact your ability to ride
the park’s largest slides.
There are three ways to avoid a massive return time for Krakatau.
First is early entry.
This is a perk granted to guests at one of Universal Orlando’s hotels or annual passholders.
These guests get a half hour of early entry into Volcano Bay.
I recently stayed at one of the resorts, so I was able to see first-hand how useful this
perk is.
During early entry, Krakatau was listed as Ride Now the entire time and it was no more
than a 5 minute wait for me.
That allowed me to ride it several times in that half hour.
Second, you can purchase an Express Pass.
This is a pricey upcharge that can cost over $100 on busy summer days, but it allows you
to bypass all virtual queues and immediately enter the slide’s queue line.
Third, you can rope drop Krakatau.
This is your best bet if you don’t have early entry and don’t buy an Express Pass.
Once the park opens to regular guests at 10 am, your number one priority should be to
reserve Krakatau.
If you haven’t already changed into your bathing suit, do that after you get your reservation
for Krakatau.
Every minute counts if you want to avoid a massive return time for this slide.
When you do enter Krakatau’s queue line, you will likely still have a small wait.
On the day I visited, I didn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes after entering the actual
queue, but I’ve heard it can sometimes take 20-30 minutes.
Towards the end of the queue line, the queue splits into two lines.
Both bring you to the load platform, so check if one side is shorter.
Most people seemed to follow the person ahead of them, which led to one side having way
more people in it.
Once at the load platform, your group is weighed.
The slide has a 750 pound or 340 kg weight limit.
Each raft can accommodate up to four riders, with the largest being seated in the back.
And interestingly, single riders can ride Krakatau.
I haven’t seen another ProSlide Hydromagnetic water coaster that permits single riders.
I visited during covid, but I imagine the park does try to pair single riders and groups
up on most days to keep the line moving faster.
Krakatau currently sports a fleet of red and yellow rafts.
I believe this is the third generation of rafts this ride has sported, which is sort
of surprising considering this ride is roughly four years old.
These rafts are similar to the ones found on the other ProSlide Hydromagnetic water
coasters like Wildebeest at Splashin’ Safari.
The only difference is that the ends of the rafts are pointed for theming.
Up to four riders sit inline style, each with their own seat back.
And most importantly, there are zero restraints.
Riders are just instructed to hold on, which is a must considering how much airtime this
ride offers.
Krakatau begins with a fairly steep drop off the load platform that delivers a nice pop
of airtime.
And this is just the appetizer.
This is followed by a quick uphill ascent.
These ascents are fast and keep the ride’s pace up.
Most of the ascents, except for one that I’ll touch on, fail to offer airtime.
What they do offer is a whole lot of water in your face.
The misters will spray whoever is sitting up front.
If you don’t have goggles, I’d recommend closing your eyes or turning to the side if
you want to avoid getting water in your eyes.
The first ascent takes you into the volcano.
And it’s immediately followed by a shallow drop.
Most of the drops on Krakatau are extremely steep.
The second drop is the one exception.
This is the only drop on the ride that fails to offer any airtime.
The second ascent takes you into an enclosed tunnel.
This kicks off a formulaic part of Krakatau where it throws a steep drop, ascent, and
turn over-and-over again, as the ride crosses over itself repeatedly on the backside of
the volcano.
The third drop is another steep one and it delivers some weak floater airtime, but the
airtime only increases with each drop going forwards.
You then rise up another hill, round another enclosed turn, and drop down another steep
drop.
This one offers a stronger pop of airtime than the first three drops and it also features
a scary headchopper with a steel support.
After another uphill segment and enclosed turn, there’s another great drop.
This one is a smaller version of the prior drop.
It’s just as steep, offers just as strong of an airtime moment, and features an even
scarier headchopper.
Krakatau then rises up another hill, rounds yet another enclosed turn, and drops down
another steep drop.
This one offers another great pop of airtime and yet another headchopper, this time with
a staircase.
That’s followed by the fastest ascent of the ride.
This one is pretty big and offers a tiny pop of airtime at the top.
During this section of the ride, Krakatau has continuously been taking riders higher
and higher.
And at this point, you’re actually at Krakatau’s highest point.
So Krakatau finishes like Kennywood’s Thunderbolt saving the largest drop for last.
This plunge is incredibly steep for a water slide and it’s insane.
Off-ride, you can see the rafts momentarily leave the slide.
This drop delvers some frightening sustained airtime.
It’s about as strong as airtime can possibly be on a water slide.
You then rise up one last hill and splashdown.
You then slowly round a corner, returning to the station, ending the slide.
So what would I rate Krakatau?
I would give this water coaster a perfect 10 out of 10.
This water slide is exceptional.
Outside of the second drop, every single plunge delivers airtime.
Compare that to most of the other ProSlide water coaster that alternate between shallow
and steep drops.
Krakatau just keeps throwing one steep drop after another at riders, which means riders
are treated to a bevy of airtime.
This water coaster is the water slide king of airtime.
The only downside with this water slide is how backed up its virtual queue can become
due to its overwhelming popularity, which is understandable once you ride Krakatau.
So those are my thoughts on Krakatau, the world’s best water coaster, at least of
the ones I’ve ridden.
Have you ridden Krakatau?
What are your thoughts on this water slide?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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