Universal Orlando announces Volcano Bay water park

A vision with only one picture does not qualify as incredible IMO.

If the level of detail is close to that of the parks, though, the place will be a must-see.

It's kind of neat to see a new themed project from Universal that isn't tied to any specific intellectual property (near as I can tell). Of course they can do great stuff with Harry Potter and other IP but it will interesting to see how they go about creating environments with such a classic theme.

Does Universal still hold Wet n Wild? And if so, I wonder what's to become of it?

"Orlando's Most Exciting Waterpark!" is on Universal Orlando's website, so it's still a member of the Uni family.

My guess for what's to become of it? One day's admission to Wet n Wild is about half the cost of one day's admission to Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure, and based on the (brief) description of Volcano Bay, it will be priced closer to the Universal parks. I'd guess they'll keep Wet n Wild as a lower cost option for resort guests and as a popular option for locals and frequent visitors.

Interestingly, you can't buy a single day ticket to Wet n Wild through the Universal Orlando site (based on my minutes of research....), only add it on to tickets for Studios or Islands of Adventure or both.

They do, and I think the popular theory is that it goes away when this opens, and they use the space for more rooms. It would make a whole lot of sense.

Oh. That's a little disappointing, as WnW is one of my favorite water parks.

Jeff said:

They do, and I think the popular theory is that it goes away when this opens, and they use the space for more rooms. It would make a whole lot of sense.

I've heard this "numor" (as my Grammie says) as well. I heard may of the more popular slides will be moved to Volcano Bay.

Hadn't considered that. Makes sense.

I don't know anything about the geography or Wet n Wild, but what prevented them from doing a massive facelift/expansion on WnW?

^International Drive.

And that's the truth. A lot of people walk there, and the gate is right on the sidewalk. Hardly what you'd call resort-ish.

But I liked it there, it was one of the first major water parks anywhere and it's one that doesn't have a tropical theme, or pirates, or Aussies, or whatever. Everything looks like the pool, maybe from the sixties.
There's decent slides there, and the unusual knee ski. If it all goes to the new park I won't be mad.

RCMAC said:

But I liked it there, it was one of the first major water parks anywhere

mmm it was the first.

and yes, the WnW site goes away (how much moves to be incorporated into VB not sure). Not sure if there will be overlap (slightly reduced WnW until VB opens), or if WnW shuts down at the end of 2015 or 2016 season, etc.

The I-Drive location makes more sense for other usage.

Obviously Uni isn't tipping their hand re: WnW, but it's suspicious that the ONE (and only one) piece of concept art is amazingly lacking in details as to slides. Consider the last few Uni announcements have all had multiple images, with varying levels of detail. There might be a very good reason that the majority of slides were omitted as they might be a too close match with the current inventory at WnW.

Then again, if you're spending this much money to build a dream water resort from the ground up, how many of the slides at WnW are worth moving, as opposed to getting brand new? I have no idea, I haven't been to or even looked at WnW's lineup in years. Are those slides "that" expensive, in the context of building a brand new resort from the ground up versus their useful life span? (again, I know nothing about waterparks).

Maybe it's just me, but the Cabana Bay property seems rather out of place - almost too cheap and cheesy to place where it was placed. Part of that is the retro theming which just doesn't do much for me. Curious why they didn't use that plot of land for the waterpark and maybe a more "premium" hotel offering right on the property and then maybe use the WnW land for their "value" accommodations - if indeed the plan is to turn WnW into rooms.

They've marketed pretty hard to locals, so I've known a few people who have stayed there and they said it was fantastic. One liked it better than Royal Pacific. RPR has one of my favorite pool areas ever, but I admit I'd like to try Cabana Bay.

The wife and I stayed at Cabana Bay this past October and we loved it. We are very picky and you can say snobbish sometimes with places we stay at but we both loved that place.

Of course everything depends on what you are looking for. Its a great place for adults with no kids (like my wife and I).

Cabana Bay is really great, especially for the price. The main pool with the lazy river is really nice. The only disadvantage it has is slightly less accessibility and no Express Pass. The wife and I have two weekends booked for HHN25. Highly recommended.

Universal Orlando announced today that Wet N Wild will close in December 2016.