Volcano Bay is the stunning water park at the Universal Orlando Resort.
This revolutionary water park opened in May 2017 and it is an absolute marvel.
The park has a stunning 200 foot or 61 meter tall volcano smack dab in the middle of the
park, a beautiful tropical atmosphere, and a top notch collection of water slides.
But the park also has a controversial and mandatory virtual queuing system known as
TapuTapu.
This system is designed to improve overall guest satisfaction, but it may just lead to
guest frustration.
What did I think?
Find out in this review of Volcano Bay!
While Volcano Bay is currently the only water park at the Universal Orlando Resort, it wasn’t
the first.
Before Universal Orlando even opened, there was a water park known as Wet ‘n Wild.
One of the nation’s earliest water parks, Orlando’s Wet ‘n Wild opened in 1977.
In 1998, Universal Orlando purchased the water park and continued to add slides over the
next 2 decades.
But by the mid-2010s, Wet ‘n Wild’s attendance was lagging behind that of the two Walt Disney
World water parks and SeaWorld Orlando’s recently opened Aquatica.
Wet ‘n Wild was a trailblazer.
Until 1999, it was the highest attended water park in the United States.
And the park featured a lot of revolutionary water slides, but it just didn’t have the
theming or atmosphere of the other parks to stand out in the dense Orlando market.
In mid-2015, Universal dropped a bombshell.
They would be opening a brand new, $600 million water park called Volcano Bay.
But a month after this announcement, Universal confirmed Wet n’ Wild would be closing at
the end of 2016.
Volcano Bay promised a water park experience unlike any other.
And that would certainly be the case with TapuTapu.
This system was designed to keep guests out of long queues, which in theory would create
a more relaxing and enjoyable visit.
But when Volcano Bay first opened in May 2017, early reviews were largely negative.
And TapuTapu was to blame.
But over time, Universal has refined the system and my visit occurred in May 2021 roughly
4 years after the park originally opened.
Let’s begin with the entry experience.
Volcano Bay’s iconic volcano is extremely visible driving down the highway, but you
can’t park anywhere near it.
Unlike Universal Orlando’s other two parks that are a short walk from each other, Volcano
Bay is quite a bit further away.
If you arrive by car, you park in the same garage you do for Universal Studios or Islands
of Adventure- paying the same $20-25 rate- and then you take a shuttle bus to Volcano
Bay.
If you stay at one of the Universal on-site hotels, you get a designated shuttle bus that
takes you directly to Volcano Bay.
If you stay at Sapphire Falls, Aventura, or Cabana Bay, you can easily walk to Volcano
Bay.
This is what I did when I visited.
Everyone visiting Volcano Bay is given a TapuTapu wristband.
It fits securely on your wrist and this is the key to your visit.
This band reserves the water slides you intend to ride.
One of the biggest surprises for me is that you had to physically walk up to each slide
to reserve them.
I expected the system to work like the Flash Pass watches at Six Flags where you can reserve
any slide as long as you’re in the park, but that wasn’t the case.
I think the only way to get around this is to book a cabana where you can reserve slides
from there.
The band also allows you to interact with several features around the park.
Most were a variety of water sprayers.
Last but not least, you can also upload your credit card onto your band so you can make
purchases without needing to carry around your wallet or phone.
While I never linked my credit card, I can see how it would be extremely helpful.
I’ve done something similar with the Magic Bands at Disney World.
The biggest issue with Volcano Bay are the wait times, specifically the virtual queue
times.
All of the major slides operate with virtual queues.
In order to ride them, you must tap your band on the kiosks outside the attraction, which
gets you a return time.
And the signature slides can have return times exceeding an hour, even on off-peak weekdays.
And those times are even worse on weekends or hot summer days.
You can only reserve one attraction at a time, so a super long return time can cripple your
ability to ride anything.
Once your reservation is ready, you often have to wait in a short 15-20 minute line
before riding.
So even if you may not wait a long time in a long physical queue line, you’ll spend
a lot of your day waiting for slides still.
The slide that gets the worst line by far is the Krakatau Aqua Coaster, the park’s
ProSlide master blaster.
I think this is the world’s best water slide, so I completely understand why it gets so
much demand.
If you want to ride this water slide, you have three options.
The first is to rope drop the attraction if you don’t have early entry.
Get to Volcano Bay for opening and head here first.
Don’t stop to buy a locker like most people do.
Go straight to Krakatau and get your return time.
Being ahead of the rush by just a few minutes can save you an hour.
Speaking of lockers, there are several stations throughout the park.
Almost everyone floods the ones up front.
I would recommend buying one of the ones further back from the main entrance where it’s much
less busy.
But back to Krakatau, the second option is to use Early Entry.
You get this by being a Universal Orlando annual passholder or staying at one of the
official Universal hotels.
You get a half hour in the morning where every attraction in the park is so quiet that the
virtual queues are unnecessary.
I was able to ride Krakatau 4-5 times in that half hour, so I could focus on the other attractions
once the park officially opened.
This allowed me to stay ahead of the crowds since everyone else was stuck in the virtual
line for Krakatau while I was riding the other body and tube slides.
The third option is to purchase an Express Pass.
If you don’t arrive at opening and you want to ride Krakatau, I think this is a must.
The Express Pass allows you to bypass all virtual queues, so you only have to wait in
that short standby line for each attraction.
While the signature slides will be on virtual queues all day, some of the smaller slides
will be listed as Ride Nows.
These are the attractions that will be your friend while you wait virtually for the big
ones.
You also have the option to enjoy the lazy river, relax in a pool, grab a bite to eat,
or soak up the atmosphere.
And that atmosphere is arguably the biggest strength of Volcano Bay.
The park is absolutely gorgeous.
The reveal of the volcano is breathtaking.
The park’s main entrance and landscaping are positioned such that the volcano is hidden
from sight until you enter the park.
So it’s a real wow moment when you see it right in front of you.
It’s one of the coolest reveals of any theme park.
The volcano itself looks incredible from the front between the size and water flowing down
it.
It is a bit disappointing that it’s open on the backside, but usually you’ll be looking
at the front of the volcano so it’s a rather minor nitpick.
And the volcano looks cool from the inside too.
There are a series of caves you can navigate with some neat effects ranging from dancing
fountains to the spirit of the volcano actually talking to you.
The latter was a big hit amongst kids.
The park as a whole feels like a tropical resort with the abundance of palm trees, detailed
landscaping, rockwork, and atmospheric music.
These combine to give the park a super relaxing vibe.
This is definitely the prettiest water park I have visited in the United States and the
only ones I’ve visited that can compete with Volcano Bay from an appearance standpoint
are the ones in the UAE.
But don’t be lured into a false sense of security by the laid back atmosphere, Volcano
Bay has some pulse-pounding water slides.
The signature attraction is the aforementioned Krakatau Aqua Coaster.
I have a separate review that goes into more detail, but this hydromagnetic water coaster
features several steep drops that give some shocking airtime for a water coaster.
The final drop in particular is quite large and steep, so you really get popped out of
your seat.
Unlike most water coasters that just feature a small handful of steep drops, every single
drop on this one is steep and produces airtime.
I know the ones at Holiday World often win the award for the world’s best water coaster,
but Krakatau crushes that one both in the intensity and visual department.
This is the world’s best water slide in my opinion and I’d take it over a large
chunk of the rides at the Universal amusement parks as well.
It’s that good.
Moving onto the rest of the slides, one minor annoyance is that all of the slide names blend
together and it’s tricky to remember which slide is which.
Further, the names are tricky to pronounce, so I am going to apologize now if I butcher
the names of any attraction in this review.
The most extreme attractions in the park are the three drop pod slides atop the volcano.
This means you’re loaded into a capsule and the floor drops out from beneath you.
Most of these slides have countdowns, but these ones just had atmospheric music, which
built the anticipation and made it impossible for first-timers to tell when they’d be
dropped.
Ko’okiri Body Plunge is a 125 foot or 38 meter tall speed slide.
It opened as the tallest drop pod slide in the world and it features a near-vertical,
70 degree plunge.
The view atop the slide is incredible and you feel every bit of that height, but the
drop itself was a bit disappointing compared to other speed slides.
The tube was really foggy and dark, so you couldn’t appreciate the visuals on the way
down.
It’s still an absolute rush though!
Unfortunately, Kala and Tai Nui Serpentine Slides were closed during my visit, but those
who have ridden them say they’re comparable to Ihu’s Breakaway Falls at Aquatica, which
I think are some of the most extreme water slides in the industry.
The two other extreme body slides are Ohyah and Ohno Drop Slides.
These are twisted slides with a shockingly high drop into the splash pool.
I found the slides themselves really slow, but it’s always cool being launched directly
off a slide into a pool.
It’s quite the shock!
This one is for strong swimmers only for obvious reasons.
These slides were Ride Nows for the duration of my visit, but I believe they use the virtual
queue on busier days.
The final body slide is Punga Racers.
This slide originally opened as a mat racer, but the short runoff caused a lot of issues.
This caused the slide to have a super low 150 pound weight maximum.
So Universal converted the slide into a more accommodating body slide enjoyable for all.
Two of the more popular raft slids are Honu and Ika Moana, which are on the same tower.
Honu has a few steep drops for a water slide and two giant waves you slide up.
The first drop and wave offered some minor weightlessness, but you’re slowed down a
bit too much before the second one to get similar sensations.
Meanwhile, Ika Moana is a long family raft slide that winds you about.
Rainforest Village has a few addition tube and raft slides that are usually listed as
Ride Nows.
Taniwha Tubes is a rather tall tower containing 4 different tube slides consisting of tight
turns and quick, small drops.
These aren’t super intense, but it’s hard to argue with something that isn’t on the
virtual queue.
Maku and Puihi are family raft slides with mini funnels and saucer turns, which give
them more variety over the aforementioned Ika Moana.
One final note for all the water slides is that there are shoe and shirt racks at the
entrance to each slide.
I love this feature since it allows you to wear sandals traversing the park to prevent
baking your feet on the hot pavement.
For kids, they will want to spend a lot of their time at the Tot Tiki Reef and Runamukka
Reef, which has gentler slides and interactive water features galore.
If water slides aren’t your thing or you want a reprieve from them, you have several
options.
You have the obligatory wave pool in front of the iconic volcano or you have some calmer
pools nearby as well.
And you also have two river rides.
Kopiko Wai Winding River is your traditional lazy river where you leisurely float down
a river and through the volcano.
Alternatively, TeAwa the Fearless River is a more intense river ride.
All guests don a life jacket and enter these turbulent waters without a tube and are quickly
propelled through the ride.
I had never done one of these action river rides and it was pretty cool helplessly being
pulled through the water.
So do I recommend Volcano Bay?
It depends.
I would prioritize the two Universal theme parks over Volcano Bay.
And I would also prioritize the other major parks in the Orlando area as well.
However, if you have a long vacation at Universal or are an annual passholder, I think Volcano
Bay is well worth experiencing, especially since you’ll have early entry to beat the
crowds.
If you want to experience a water park while in the Orlando area, I think Volcano Bay is
easily the best in terms of atmosphere and water slides.
The only thing you have to watch out for are the TapuTapu virtual queue lines backing up
for the popular slides.
This can make or break your visit.
For this reason, it’s hard for me to recommend this park without Express or Early Entry.
But if you have a plan to avoid these queues, I think this is a top tier water park.
So those are my thoughts on Volcano Bay, the really cool water park at Universal Orlando
Resort.
What are your thoughts on Volcano Bay- whether it be the slide lineup or TapuTapu system?
I would love to hear what you think down in the comments.
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