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Volcano Bay Lost Its Best Water Park Golden Ticket After One Year, While Monsters Unchained Won Best Dark Ride Again
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Volcano Bay Lost Its Best Water Park Golden Ticket After One Year, While Monsters Unchained Won Best Dark Ride Again

Michael Travels
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Volcano Bay held the Golden Ticket for Best Water Park for just one year. At the 2026 Golden Ticket Awards on Saturday, September 12, Amusement Today gave Best Water Park to Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana. Volcano Bay finished second.

Universal still won an award this year. Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment at Epic Universe won Best Dark Ride for a second consecutive year.

Volcano Bay's volcano at night under a starry purple and pink sky, with waterfalls pouring down its face into a glowing pool, framed by palm trees and strings of lights

Volcano Bay's volcano at night, in Universal's promotional image for Volcano Bay Nights. Image: Universal Orlando Resort

Volcano Bay finishes second

WDW News Today reported last year that Volcano Bay "unseated 26-year winner Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort," after finishing third in 2023 and second in 2024.

"A surprise came when a new winner took Best Water Park for the first time," Amusement Today wrote, adding that Splashin' Safari, the water park at Holiday World, "had always been a top finalist and finally took home the gold." Holiday World & Splashin' Safari also won Best Water Park Ride for Mammoth and Best Wooden Roller Coaster for The Voyage.

Volcano Bay finished second in this year's Best Water Park voting, according to the full results charts in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards issue. Schlitterbahn, which held the title for 26 years before Volcano Bay's win, was third.

Monsters Unchained repeats

"Best Dark Ride went to Universal Epic Universe for Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment," Amusement Today wrote. Coaster101 and Blog Mickey both report it is the ride's second straight win in the category.

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry came second, which Blog Mickey noted is the same top-two order as last year, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disney's Hollywood Studios came third for the second straight year. Danse Macabre at Efteling was fourth, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure at Shanghai Disneyland was fifth.

Close up of the Dracula animatronic figure from Monsters Unchained, with white skin, slicked black hair, pale eyes and his mouth open wide showing fangs, against a dark background

Dracula, one of the monsters in Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, in Universal's first look at the ride's figures. Image: Universal Orlando Resort

Universal's coasters on the Top 25 list

The awards also rank the world's best steel roller coasters. On the 2026 Top 25 steel coaster list published by Coaster101, Universal Orlando has three entries:

Fury 325 won Best Steel Roller Coaster for the tenth time, according to Amusement Today.

More Universal finishes

Amusement Today's full results charts, published in its Golden Ticket Awards issue, put several other Universal Orlando names among the top five:

  • Epic Universe placed third for Best Park, behind Europa-Park and Dollywood
  • Hiccup's Wing Gliders at Epic Universe was second for Best Family Coaster, behind Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood, the same spot it held last year
  • Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls at Islands of Adventure was third for Best Water Ride. Amusement Today notes it has won that category 12 times.
  • Krakatau Aqua Coaster at Volcano Bay was fourth for Best Water Park Ride
  • Epic Universe was third for Best Kids' Area, behind Dollywood and Kings Island

Last year, Epic Universe took several of the awards for new attractions, including Best New Theme Concept for Dark Universe. This year that category went to Galacticoaster at LEGOLAND Florida and LEGOLAND California, and Level99 at Disney Springs won Standout Family Entertainment Center.

Sources

Image credits: All images Universal Orlando Resort.

Mentioned in this story

Check out our guides for more on each place in this story:

Volcano Bay Epic Universe Islands of Adventure Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment Jurassic World VelociCoaster Stardust Racers Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure Hiccup's Wing Gliders Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls Krakatau Aqua Coaster Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry

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