Known for wild, in-your-face theme park thrills, Universal has built a water park filled with intense water-based experiences. If you don’t share my fanaticism for thrill rides, there are plenty of less challenging slides and attractions at Volcano Bay. There are even opportunities to relax amid its lovely South Sea Islands setting.
The resort is billing its new property as a “first-of-its-kind water theme park.” That may be a tad hyperbolic, but Volcano Bay does raise the bar. Let’s call it a new wave water park.
The genre traces its roots to Disney World’s River Country and Wet ‘n Wild Orlando, both of which opened in the mid-1970s. Disney has since closed its original water park, but opened two more. The Mouse’s Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach could justifiably lay claim to the “water theme park” descriptor. For the past few years, Universal quietly owned and operated the aging Wet ‘n Wild. It closed the park in December to prepare for Volcano Bay’s opening (located a couple of miles away from its resort, Universal Orlando reportedly has plans to convert the Wet ‘n Wild property into additional hotels and a second shopping and restaurant district).
Go with the park’s flow
Like Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, a mountain sits at the center of Volcano Bay. At 200 feet, however, Universal’s Krakatau Volcano towers over its competitors and is an imposing sight. Waterfalls cascade down the mountain and feed the Waturi Beach wave pool at the base of the volcano (by the way, according to Universal’s elaborate backstory, the Waturi are fictional South Pacific islanders who have settled on the idyllic Volcano Bay, and by visiting the park, guests become honorary islanders). At night, lighting effects help transform the waterfalls into what appears to be a lava flow.
