Theme park nerds got some good news today.
Universal Studios Orlando revealed its third theme park, Volcano Bay, will have its official grand opening on May 25, 2017. The 30-acre water park is offering a raft full of rides aimed at kids and grownups of varying ages, sizes and levels of courage.
I’m especially excited for the Krakatau Aqua Coaster, which is a four-person canoe ride that’s all twisty and turny, before ending with a plunge through a waterfall. That sounds worth waiting in a really long line for.
Except, you won’t have to! The most exciting part of the Volcano Bay news today is the unveiling of Universal’s new wearable device, TapuTapu. Each guest entering the park will get the wearable device, and you can use it to virtually wait in line for rides. This way, guests can explore other aspects of the park while waiting for their turn to ride Krakatau, or the Ko’okiri Body Plunge (which sounds like 125 feet of pure heart attack fun) or any other ride. Essentially, it’s Universal’s updated version of the fastpass, and sounds great. I’m always in favor of anything that reduces time-sucking long waits on line.
Here’s a quick video on the TapuTapu device and how it works:
I’m a big fan of water parks, but find that most of the ones I’ve been to are rather outdated. Some of the rides at Volcano Bay sound really interesting. I like that there are options for younger kids as well as older ones. Can’t wait to visit!
Dad Encyclopedia 