Tucker Paving has a big role to play in new Volcano Bay Water Theme Park

Team Tucker is back at Universal Orlando Resort — not for fun and games but to make things more fun and exciting for Universal’s guests.

Tucker Paving Inc. is heavily involved with the construction of the Volcano Bay Water Theme Park, which will open to the public by June 1, 2017. (You can watch a park teaser video on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/tuckerpaving/.)

The water park — Universal’s third in the United States — will feature 18 attractions “ranging from the daring to the serene” in four themed areas, Universal Orlando Executive Vice President Alice Norsworthy told the media recently.

The park centerpiece will be a 200-foot-tall faux volcano called Krakatau. Guests will be able to venture through its cascading waterfalls and hidden caverns.

Volcano Bay also will feature a multidirectional wave pool, a leisure pool, a lazy river, a toddler play area, a three-story water playground, and several slides. One of the slides, called Maku, is being dubbed as North America’s first “saucer ride.” It will send big rafts full of passengers around three saucer-shaped curves. Another slide, the 125-foot-tall Ko’okiri Plunge, will drop riders at a 70-degree angle into a huge guest-filled pool.

Universal Orlando officials also are promising that waiting in line will fun at Volcano Bay. According to a news release, the water park will “redefine the queue (line) experience so guests can focus entirely on having fun.”

Volcano Bay will be a replacement for the famous Wet ’n Wild Orlando water park on International Drive. Owned by Universal, Wet ’n Wild Orlando is operational now but will close permanently on Dec. 31, 2016.

Volcano Bay isn’t Tucker Paving’s first rodeo at Universal Orlando Resort. We also were involved in the construction of the Universal Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction, before that, Transformers: The Ride-3D.

The management and employees of Tucker Paving get a lot of satisfaction in knowing that our theme park work will be enjoyed by thousands and thousands of people from all over the world for many years to come.