My family is planning a trip to Orlando for Easter 2019. I was wondering if the virtual queue times had leveled out and if the bugs had been worked out of the system. We were going to be there for 10 days and had planned 2 days for water parks, one being Typhoon Lagoon if not closed for maintenance, but we hadn't decided between Volcano Bay or Aquatica.
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We went to Volcano Bay for the first time last week. We were watching lines in the days leading up to our visit, and it does seem that they have gone down pretty dramatically from its first year of operation. However, during Spring Break, when crowds can rival summer and holiday crowds, you would be wise to stay at one of the on-site hotels to ensure that hour of early entry. Even last weekend, we noticed that the park closed for capacity on Saturday, June 16 just before noon - that's why we had always planned to visit on Monday to avoid the weekend crowds unless the weather forced our hand.
As far as lines, when we were there on a Monday (park seemed a little more than half full), the top slides were "Ride Now" until later in the afternoon with TapuTapu return times running between 20-45 minutes. Krakatau didn't open until after 10 AM the day we were there, and we got lucky to be walking by shortly after it opened and did a "Ride Now", but it quickly swelled to 90 minutes, and stayed between 90-120 minutes for the rest of the day. They did change the TapuTapu rules, forcing you to choose between Krakatau and the rest of the attractions in the park, so again getting in the park early and trying to ride during the on-site guest Early Entry period can save you from having to be locked out from other attraction while waiting to ride Krakatau (you used to be able to hold a reservation for Krakatau and any other slide, but now the aquacoaster is treated the same as any other ride).
I'm kind of torn between Aquatica and Volcano Bay. Volcano Bay overall is a prettier setting, and I felt the TapuTapu system worked well. I did find it annoying with minimal lines that you would walk all the way up to the top of the slide and then immediately be next in line to ride without any time to catch your breath (especially the trap door slides at the top of the 200-foot volcano). There's something to be said for walking up those last few flights of steps in a line so you don't feel rushed at the top and can allow for a slight buildup of anticipation. I also really liked the "Action River" at Volcano Bay, which was one of the more unique attractions I've ever experienced, along with the Oh'No and Oh'Yeah plunge slides that fling guests off 6 feet above an extra deep pool (they recommend those slides for strong swimmers only). However, the dolphin slide and lazy river aquariums at Aquatica are really cool, and while there's some decent theming around Volcano Bay, I like the on-ride theming better at Aquatica. We have Sea World Platinum Passes, so it's a no-brainer for us to choose Aquatica over Volcano Bay since we get in for free, but I'd say you can't go wrong either way.
Easter is only 2nd to Christmas/New Year for crazy crowd days in Orlando. If you can possible avoid that time of year, I would recommend it, but if not be prepared for very busy parks.
I go past Volcano Bay at least once a week (via Turkey Lake), and the lines on the stairs leading up to the rides on the road side are usually from about 1/2 way up, but I have no idea what it's like at ground level. Like all the water parks, if it's decent weather it will be packed. I can't believe how busy Aquatica has been of late .... I-Drive, 528, Sea Harbor and Central Florida have been parking lots at the weekends, with the park shutting early due to capacity.
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No problems on my visit in April. Everything was walk-on for the first hour and then reasonable waits after that, save for the water coaster being down for a bit.