New water park is revolutionary
Tover teakettle not my best look. But there I was, hurtling down a neon green water slide backward with one leg in the air until – kerplop – into the nippy exit pool I went. When I finally got my head above water and clambered ashore, heart pounding, I had three immediate thoughts. In order:
Please, pretty please, let my swim trunks be arranged properly.
Was it the slide’s twists and turns that left me breathless? Or was I still winded from climbing the many (many) stairs to its top? And were those (sob) my love handles jiggling on the way down? Let’s go again. There is not enough chlorine in existence to make me a water park enthusiast, but Universal Orlando in Florida had lured me to its glistening new “water theme park” with a tantalising marketing assertion: We have reimagined the whole experience. All those things you don’t like about water parks? Our new 30-acre attraction, Volcano Bay, has fixed all of them.
“One part evolution, three parts revolution – distinguished at every level,” Mark Woodbury, vice chairman of Universal Parks & Resorts, told me when I arrived on May 8 for a preopening peek.
So I put on my prescription sunglasses, tossed a beach towel over my shoulder and set forth in flip-flops to give Volcano Bay a whirl.
Upon arrival, you walk through a long dark tunnel that has (fake) rock walls and bamboo on the ceiling. It seems like a passage left behind by a lost civilisation. You emerge in what feels like a jungle and ride twin escalators up a hill, where a thatched-roof pavilion – a bit like a stadium after that cramped tunnel – serves as ticketing plaza.
The volcano comes into view after a sharp bend in the path, and it is one of the most mesmerising theme park centrepieces I have ever seen. The is upper part of the 60-metretall mountain is basalt brown, and the lower rocks are mossy green. Puffs of smoke emerge from the top. At night, lighting effects make the water look like lava.
I was going to dive straight into the wave pool, which stretches from the volcano’s base, encircled by white sand – but it was lunchtime. Since Volcano Bay’s stylish main restaurant, Kohola Reef, was right there, I decided to see if Universal had improved on one of my biggest water park complaints: the food.
Perhaps in an effort to attract a more upscale clientele, Volcano Bay offers a 60-item menu, including basic sushi, coconut-crusted fried chicken, jerk-seasoned mahi-mahi and arugula salad with watermelon and feta.
As I chomped on a pulledpork sandwich ($13) with caramelised pineapple and mango slaw, I considered how Universal had gotten a few things right already. The food, for a start. More important, Volcano Bay did not feel like a water park. It felt more like a resort. But the easy vibe seemed to have more to do with the park’s unusual layout.
The entire front half was free of typical water park commotion – no slides in view, no anarchic locker rooms. That is because Universal put the livelier attractions behind the volcano or disguised them. For instance, Ko’okiri Body Plunge, a clear tube slide attached to the front of the volcano, is almost completely covered by a waterfall. As for the four locker rooms, they are tucked discreetly throughout the park.
Volcano Bay has four themed zones that offer 18 attractions, including slides of every imaginable variety (including totsize ones); a “fearless river” where the current moves 1.2 metres per second through rapids; and a water coaster that takes riders inside the volcano’s grottoes.
I tried five slides, including one promoted as a first-of-itskind “saucer” ride called Maku, which sends multipassenger rafts speeding around wide, open-air corners. That one was a blast: You sit in a five-person circular tube, with seats around the edges and everyone’s feet together in a middle area. Being alone, I was paired with three people I didn’t know, which was weird at first – none of us really wanted to play footsie – but you lose your self-consciousness in a hurry on that first dip.
But they haven’t figured out a way to get rid of the switchback stairs and tow people to the top . . . gasp, wheeze, pant.
As for the biggest water park complaint – lines – Universal has figured out a technology solution it calls TapuTapu. Upon entry to Volcano Bay, everyone is given a waterproof wearable device that looks a little like a rudimentary Apple Watch. Instead of waiting in line, you tap the device on digital totems at slide entrances; that holds your place in a “virtual queue” and you can sunbathe or swim or whatever until the device flashes that it’s your turn to ride. Pretty cool.
TapuTapu also allows guests to pay for food with a tap. There are all sorts of other features. I liked how the device opened my locker – no more need to carry a key or remember a code – and activated surprises (a burping Tiki, erupting geysers) as I explored the park and unwittingly triggered sensors. There are spots where you can tap a totem and pose for an automatic photo; the pictures magically appear on your online account, where they can be downloaded later for various prices.
With my face a bit sunburned, I decided to call it a day.
First, though, I wanted to check out one of Volcano Beach’s beach bars, which have outrigger sails on their roofs and ukulele music on their sound systems. I ordered a fruity concoction called a Guavaruma, one of a dozen specialty drinks that come with little umbrellas. Mine was a nonalcoholic version, but its contents – Sprite, pineapple juice, guava juice – were sugary enough to make me a bit dizzy nonetheless.
Or was it still those stairs?