Tag Archives: rides

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Universal's Volcano Bay will be officially opening May 25, 2017. I wanted to check in on construction this week now that scaffolding has started to come down around the 200 foot tall volcano, named Krakatau. The rockwork looks amazing, and has more color in it than I thought when only viewing it from far away. New ancient ruins have been added along the base of the volcano since I was last here. During my visit, I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of the water slides already have water running through them for testing!

I also got a good look at the new park's entrance plaza and new title lettering. They were paving the plaza's walk up while I was there. The I-4 entrance and exit lanes have been shifted temporarily for work that continues on the pedestrian tunnel beneath the road. This will lead guests to and from a tram drop-off area on the other side. Check out the video as well as photo report below and stay tuned for more regular Volcano Bay updates in the future as we inch ever closer to the grand opening date!


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01162-mts-still030Wow, what a difference a few months can make. The volcano, named Krakatau, has reached its incredible 200-feet-high goal and it can be seen for miles around. Around the open backside we can get a good view of many of the main attractions for Volcano Bay, including the highly anticipated water coaster, named Krakatau Aqua Coaster. The water coaster will use 4-person canoes as its ride vehicles taking riders throughout the volcano before plunging through a waterfall at the end. I cannot wait! In addition to the volcano, work is moving on to the park entrance, pedestrian tunnel (that leads to Tram drop-off,) and of course the two Cabana Bay expansion towers that border the new water park. The views from those rooms' windows of a towering volcano are going to be impressive. Check out the update video as well as snapshots and more details below. And stay tuned for a Universal Studios update coming soon!


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P1070482Things have not slowed down over at construction for Universal's Volcano Bay, even after the minor fire last week. The centerpiece of the new park, the large volcano, is now nearly twice as large as it was during my last update. Many new water slides have showed up on property, including some that intertwine with the volcano. The wave pool, lazy river and more features are becoming more recognizable as well. Universal has said that the park will open with 18 different attractions! Hopefully they can keep this mighty pace and get this new water park open within a year, in time for summer 2017. Check out the video as well as complete photo report below. Plus, a new image of Volcano Bay and all its attractions for the new Universal Orlando map is also below. Stay tuned for more theme park updates coming soon!


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00590.MTS.Still026I recently stayed at the delightful Cabana Bay Beach Resort and while I was there I had the opportunity to get some good video and photos of the construction progress over at Volcano Bay. Volcano Bay will be Universal's water theme park that will be opening sometime in 2017. (In preparation for its opening, Wet ‘n Wild will be closing later this year.) The new water park will be located directly south of Cabana Bay and will be visible from the pool area at the resort, as well as from I-4. The giant centerpiece of this new water park will be a massive volcano. The volcano will have multiple slides and rides built-in to it and a wave pool beside it. In addition to the steel structure for the volcano you can also see some of the slides being installed near the south side of the site. Check out the video as well as lots of images of construction below and stay tuned for more theme park updates!


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2548518_DWA_LogosssNBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, today announced the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation. One of the world's most popular family brands, DreamWorks Animation creates animated feature films, television series and specials, live entertainment and related consumer products. The animation studio will become part of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, which includes Universal Pictures, Fandango, and NBCUniversal. “DreamWorks Animation is a great addition to NBCUniversal,” said Steve Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal. “Jeffrey Katzenberg and the DreamWorks organization have created a dynamic film brand and a deep library of intellectual property. DreamWorks will help us grow our film, television, theme parks and consumer products businesses for years to come.”

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The Universal theme parks have had deals to include characters from the Shrek franchise in attractions and in the park, but with Comcast owning the entire back catalog of DreamWorks Animation films a lot more could be added to the parks without negotiations with a third party. Animated film franchises that could be turned into rides or meet and greets include Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon, and others, in addition to the already present Shrek. (There already is a Madagascar ride in Universal Studios Singapore, but due to a licensing agreement with other parks stateside Universal has not been allowed to open attractions here, yet.)

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Besides the recent animated film library, DreamWorks Animation is also the rights holders for classic character including Where’s Waldo, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I for one assume this deal means we should see a good portion of the rumored third Orlando park being devoted to a How to Train Your Dragon themed area, and probably a Kung Fu Panda one as well. With Disney gobbling up all the popular franchises in the world, it's good to see Universal broadening their portfolio, especially in a time when the theme park wars rely so heavily on popular IPs. Read more about this deal from the press release below.

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Universal_Nintendo_LogosThe dust hasn't even settled on yesterday's announcement of Kong returning to Orlando and we have another big announcement today. Nintendo and Universal have partnered up to bring Nintendo’s wildly popular games, characters and worlds into the Orlando and Japan parks in the form of major attractions! Nintendo holds the rights to some of the most profitable properties in the world and with Universal's recent successes in bringing IPs to life, this partnership seems like a perfect fit. This will be the first time attractions and theme park experiences will be based on Nintendo characters and worlds. Read below for more information and my take on possible venues in the Orlando parks for Nintendo-based attractions.

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