As of October 1, 2025, the TapuTapu wearable and virtual line system at Volcano Bay was discontinued. Guests can access attraction queues at their convenience without using the device.
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What was a TapuTapu at Volcano Bay?
On this page in our OI Center, you’ll learn about TapuTapu, the wearable device that was once given to every guest at Universal’s Volcano Bay. TapuTapu was the key behind Universal Orlando’s goal of eliminating traditional lines at the park. The wristband allowed visitors to hold their spot in virtual queues for rides and activate several interactive locations throughout Volcano Bay.
How much did a TapuTapu cost at Volcano Bay? How do I get one?
TapuTapu was included with Volcano Bay admission. As guests entered the gates of the water park, they received the wristband device. However, unlike Disney’s MagicBand, TapuTapu had to be returned when leaving Volcano Bay at the end of the day.
What could I do with TapuTapu at Universal’s Volcano Bay?
TapTu Ride
The most prominently advertised use for TapuTapu was, by far, reserving your place in line for attractions—a function officially called TapTu Ride. All rides at Universal’s Volcano Bay operated with a Virtual Line. Guests would enter the queue for whichever attraction they wanted to ride by tapping their wristband against a totem outside that slide. When it was time to board, the wristband vibrated to notify them.
This feature was the very foundation of the Volcano Bay experience. Guests were allowed to hold a spot in the Virtual Line for only one attraction at a time. If they tapped their TapuTapu at another slide’s totem, it erased the previous reservation and created a new one. However, if a slide displayed “ride now,” guests could hop on immediately without affecting their existing reservation.
If an attraction went down—whether for technical difficulties or weather—the TapuTapu notified guests, and then alerted them again once the ride reopened. Even better, it automatically adjusted return times in real time, either extending or shortening waits depending on conditions. This meant guests were never left in the dark about what was happening with the rides or their next reservation.
Wait times worked like this: although the bulk of the wait was spent enjoying the park instead of standing in a line, there was still a short physical queue once guests arrived at the slide. Universal aimed to keep this portion minimal—ideally five minutes, though often closer to 10. For example, if there were 35 minutes’ worth of people ahead in the Virtual Line, TapuTapu would issue a return time of 45 minutes: 35 minutes spent exploring the park, followed by about 10 minutes actually waiting in line.
Guests renting cabanas also had the convenience of booking and modifying their Virtual Line reservations directly from their cabana.
TapTu Play
Another feature that Universal promoted heavily was the ability for guests to interact with the environment around them using their TapuTapus. Several TapTu Play points could be activated, including setting off water jets, triggering “dazzling lighting effects,” and—most humorously—making one of the 100 Tiki faces stationed throughout the park burp and squirt water from his ears and nose. Today, instead of using TapuTapu, guests can simply press a button at these points to enjoy the same interactive effects.
TapTu Snap
Visitors to Volcano Bay once had access to the standard on-ride photos along with three special interactive photo ops and selfie spots scattered throughout the water theme park. With TapuTapu, photos were automatically uploaded to each guest’s user account (created to activate TapTu Pay), allowing them to view, purchase, and share their memories. This feature tied directly into the existing My Universal Photos service.
TapTu Snap photo spots
- On your right as you’re on the initial path walking into Volcano Bay
- Across from Kohola Reef Restaurant
- Near the entrance of Honu ika Moana, overlooking Kopiko Wai Winding River
Today, guests can still capture their memories at these designated photo op locations by simply pressing the selfie button, making it just as easy to take and save photos without the TapuTapu device.
TapuTapu lockers
Part of Universal’s guiding philosophy in designing Volcano Bay was to eliminate many of the common frustrations guests experienced at traditional water parks. One of the biggest complaints was the long trek back to the front of the park to reach lockers. To solve this, four locker rooms were placed throughout Volcano Bay. Even better, guests didn’t need to worry about carrying a key—by simply swiping their TapuTapu at the area’s sensor, their assigned locker would automatically open. There was no need to memorize a locker number or combination. Up to four TapuTapus could even be linked to a single locker, allowing multiple members of a group to access it independently.
The same principle applied to the lockers in private cabanas and the small locker boxes attached to Premium Seats, though there were some differences: only one TapuTapu could be registered for each, and the wristband had to be physically tapped against a small white latch to open it.
Today, TapuTapu is no longer in use. Instead, one white wristband is issued to a single member of each family for locker access.
(For even more details, you can check out our locker page.)
Weather and other updates
In the event of severe weather, Universal officials sent a message to every TapuTapu, alerting guests that the rides were closing for safety. Another update was sent once the rides had returned to normal operation.
In theory, other updates could also have been sent out. For example, if Universal had chosen to extend park hours, a notification could have been delivered through TapuTapu.
How durable was TapuTapu?
The TapuTapu was extremely durable. Beyond being waterproof (of course), it featured a touch-screen 32mm high-resolution LCD display protected by Gorilla Glass. The band was also hypoallergenic.
In terms of technical specifications, the device included a reinforced housing, a vibration notification motor, and a battery designed to last for over 200 days of park usage.
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