Our one day VB review

[soniam]

The rubbery ones create a lot of traction (which is why a lot of people wear them) which kind of goes against the concept of a slide? The idea is that you don't have traction.
Imagine if your foot caught a part of the slide and gripped and what repercussions that could have.
I understand the hot pavement thing, but the slide safety would be dictated by the manufacturer, like most theme park attractions.
I'd rather a chickpea blister over the potentially horrendous outcomes of my shoes gripping on a 125 foot drop slide and throwing me around in an enclosed tube

The water shoes are made to be slip-resistant...on a body slide, if the shoe caught the slide, if could "grip" the slide...even for a split-second and that could be disastrous.

I know what you are saying about burns being a health issue...but if the shoe rule is implemented by the slide makers...they are NOT liable for you getting injured anywhere but on their slides....it stinks, but that's the way it works.

It's up to Universal to have guidelines/sprayers/whatever in place when you are off the slide. It sounds like they had a great idea, with sidewalk misters, but they aren't functioning quite well yet.

I guess I am thinking of the raft rides more at VB. I can see on the body, plunge, and mat rides why they wouldn't let you, but we don't do those. On the raft rides, your feet are inside the raft in the center or the seat next to you. I guess your leg could still go flying out of the raft and rub the slide, but I never felt like anything would come out of the rafts.

They actually are a little excessive about a lot of stuff on the slides. For instance, on the raft slides, my son and I were required to remove our prescription glasses and hold them, even though we had tight straps. It was really disconcerting for me, since I am blind as a bat. I kept accidentally kicking the poor team member at the bottom when I was trying to get out of the raft, because I couldn't judge the distance between us. I know they are worried about stuff coming loose, but not being able to see is pretty bad too. I even said they were prescription, and they said it didn't matter. It has made it so that I don't really enjoy doing their slides.

 

[KristinU]

Thanks for the reviews! Very helpful to manage expectations!

So, is the consensus to not even bother with water shoes at VB? We are pretty much a barefoot family, but the hot pavement had me thinking we should buy water shoes for our upcoming trip...but it sounds like I should just save my money, huh?

 

[eyehartdisney]

Thanks for the reviews! Very helpful to manage expectations!

So, is the consensus to not even bother with water shoes at VB? We are pretty much a barefoot family, but the hot pavement had me thinking we should buy water shoes for our upcoming trip...but it sounds like I should just save my money, huh?

I wouldn't bother. The pavement is sprayed with water constantly, it's pretty few and far between that you have to walk on any hot spots at all.

 

[soniam]

I wouldn't bother. The pavement is sprayed with water constantly, it's pretty few and far between that you have to walk on any hot spots at all.

Were the misters working when you were there? I specifically remember having to walk on hot pavement between the exit and entrance to Maku/Puihi and the Fearless River to get my shoes. The pavement back behind and to the left of the volcano, if you are facing it, didn't have misters working the 2 days we went.

I would suggest taking a pair of cheap flips flops that you don't mind losing/getting stolen.

 

[atricks]

Were the misters working when you were there? I specifically remember having to walk on hot pavement between the exit and entrance to Maku/Puihi and the Fearless River to get my shoes. The pavement back behind and to the left of the volcano, if you are facing it, didn't have misters working the 2 days we went.

I would suggest taking a pair of cheap flips flops that you don't mind losing/getting stolen.

There were a lot more misters there last week when I went than the first week, including on the bridges (constant water flowing on those wooden bridges doesn't sound like a good long term plan though). They even had people out spraying other areas with a water hose.

 

[eyehartdisney]

There were a lot more misters there last week when I went than the first week, including on the bridges (constant water flowing on those wooden bridges doesn't sound like a good long term plan though). They even had people out spraying other areas with a water hose.

I'm not sure they're real wood. They feel almost like the plastic faux wood stuff my parents had their deck built out of.

 

[soniam]

I'm not sure they're real wood. They feel almost like the plastic faux wood stuff my parents had their deck built out of.

Whatever they were, they were dark and got really hot without misters or hoses.