VOLCANO BAY.....INFO AND QUESTION THREAD........

[GoldmanTrust]

Hi yes my cabana was a lower one in the wave village. Honestly I don't think it is a necessity. It was nice to have a place to spread out, the food service was just okay. We had to wait quite awhile for our food. I did like having the water in the fridge and the towels. We are going again in June and I just priced out a cabana and I was shocked myself. Last year for almost the same time it was a lot cheaper. We will not do one this year. I think with having EE you should be good. If you go back a few pages on some of the maps I put up and the first page has the full map you can get a layout of seats. We love the front of the volcano in the wave village. We found great seats by the Dragon Boat Bar and we will look to get those each day we go. We go EE all the time and you will not find a problem getting a seat where you want. Also if you are worried about personal stuff look into the aqua vaults there are plenty of styles. The regular seats have umbrellas of different sizes and EE you can get one.

I think the cabana is great if you have someone in your party who doesn't do the water rides or little ones. It is a great place for them to hang for the day. I didn't think it was worth it because we were on the rides all the day. I actually felt like I had to stay in there to get the full value of it.

Good luck!

Agree with this. Staying at any of the hotels the give you EE (preferably Cabana Bay) gives you plenty of options to find good seats. We stayed at similar places as you, by the wave village lockers and also by the river village lockers. We loved both but I THINK we liked our spot by the river village better, Whakawaiwai eats had great food. But we loved everything about the park so its kind of unnecessary to pick and choose.

I would only rent a cabana if i were staying off site.

 

[wilma-bride]

Thanks for your input @GoldmanTrust, I really think we are going to go without a Cabana - we are currently planning one full day and one half day at the park so hopefully we will be able to get plenty done.

Any tips you can offer to first timers will be very much appreciated, in terms of ride order or a plan of attack. Thanks x

 

[bobbie68]

Hi I once you find your seats I would head over to either the aqua coaster or the volcano body slides if you are going to do them. These two attractions get the busiest followed by Honu for the family raft ride. When we went we did the aqua coaster then Honu and then Puihi ( the yellow family raft ride). Last summer the aqua coaster was having a lot of technical difficulties in the morning and it actually ate up time from the EE. I wouldn't wait to long if it is down and move on to one ride then go back.

Since you will be there one full day I would suggest lunch on off times. We would be in line for lunch by 11:30 and beat the crowds. We did the same for dinner in line about 4:30. For food we found the pizza at Whakawaiwai eats very good. I would save the fearless river, lazy river and wave pool till later on when it is busy.

Make sure when you go up to the entrance to the ride that you are tapping for the correct slide you want. Last summer we saw so much confusion with people getting in the wrong lines because some of the entrances aren't marked clearly.

The Taniwha tubes are almost a ride now all day. You would just have to get in the line and wait the time it takes. We never went on Punga racers. We are not fans of mat slides and riding on your stomach.

I will post my trip report when I get back in the beginning of July!

 

[bobbie68]

Thanks for your input @GoldmanTrust, I really think we are going to go without a Cabana - we are currently planning one full day and one half day at the park so hopefully we will be able to get plenty done.

Any tips you can offer to first timers will be very much appreciated, in terms of ride order or a plan of attack. Thanks x

I posted some tips above this post. I forgot to hit reply.

 

[wilma-bride]

I posted some tips above this post. I forgot to hit reply.

Thank you so much, I look forward to your trip report also

 

[GoldmanTrust]

I also recommend buying drinks from those plastic glasses you can keep. We still have Volcano bay glasses at home. I love them.

Maybe thats smart as your last purchase of the day, if you dont want to be carrying them around all day.

Anyways @bobbie68 covered the park perfectly. I just cant believe I have to wait for 5 months now until our next trip.

 

[bobbie68]

Thank you so much, I look forward to your trip report also

https://www.disboards.com/threads/summer-trip-report-finally-yay.3642765/ To make it easier for you!

 

[hotmamac]

I have a question...where do I get tickets for just Volcano Bay and how much is it? We plan on staying at CBBR for two nights in September and on the second day we want to go to Volcano Bay. We won't be doing the other Universal Parks.
Thanks!

 

[macraven]

You can buy tickets online at uo site

 

[bobbie68]

I have a question...where do I get tickets for just Volcano Bay and how much is it? We plan on staying at CBBR for two nights in September and on the second day we want to go to Volcano Bay. We won't be doing the other Universal Parks.
Thanks!

Hi last year's price was $67.00 adult $62.00 Junior. You could also buy them right at the ticket window for VB outside of the turnstiles. We love both CBBR and VB.

 

[bobbie68]

I have a question...where do I get tickets for just Volcano Bay and how much is it? We plan on staying at CBBR for two nights in September and on the second day we want to go to Volcano Bay. We won't be doing the other Universal Parks.
Thanks!

Hi I also just wanted to mention since you are going for one day and staying at CBBR I would probably just buy the tickets at the window. What happened last year into the early fall was that VB was maxing capacity every day. There were people who bought tickets ahead of time on line and were not let in that day. Now I don't know if VB will be that busy again this summer and early fall but in case it is this could happen again.

Since you are staying at CBBR I would get to VB ticket counter outside the turnstiles at least 30 minutes before EE to get your tickets and go in. This park is really an EE park to get the most out of it. Enjoy!

 

[Luisfba]

We are likely only doing a half day. I'm thinking the morning (less crowds?), break at lunch, then to one of the parks. If I'm doing this.. do I need seats? We could just put our stuff in a locker (there are lockers right? where are they?), then head to the more popular slides (coaster, family raft rides?, any others recommended?), then do a few more things before taking the break?

 

[bobbie68]

We are likely only doing a half day. I'm thinking the morning (less crowds?), break at lunch, then to one of the parks. If I'm doing this.. do I need seats? We could just put our stuff in a locker (there are lockers right? where are they?), then head to the more popular slides (coaster, family raft rides?, any others recommended?), then do a few more things before taking the break?

Hi yes going as early as you can will be your best bet to hit everything you want in a reasonable amount of time. You do not have to get seats and yes there are lockers to the left and right down a bit on the path once you are at the beginning of the beach part. Also there are lockers in the back side to back of the park by the aqua coaster. The lockers are with the restrooms. We personally get seats and leave our stuff and towels then we use an aqua vault to hold our phones/money. I like to be able to sit if we want to take a break. Yes you want to hit the aqua coaster first if it is running. If anybody is interested in the body slides in the volcano do those next then the two family raft rides.

When we went last summer we were on property and did early entry at 8:00 am. By 10:00 the lines were long but we had been able to do quite a bit. We stayed all day last year but this year we will do the morning one day then had to a different park in the afternoon. Then another day we will go around 5:00 and do an evening there. The park is really cool at night.

Enjoy!

 

[Luisfba]

If we wanted a chair, what do we do to 'claim' one? Just put a towel on it?

 

[bobbie68]

If we wanted a chair, what do we do to 'claim' one? Just put a towel on it?

Hi we put a towel on the chair and then put our shoes in front of the chairs and if we have any shirts or cover ups we put those on too. In the summer when I had the free-style cup I put it under the towels.

 

[BBL1]

Hello, does anyone know if you’re allowed to wear a waterproof cell phone lanyard around your neck on the rides? (Excluding the body slides)

 

[Erica_Haley]

Hello, does anyone know if you’re allowed to wear a waterproof cell phone lanyard around your neck on the rides? (Excluding the body slides)

I've only done it on the Krakatau Aqua Coaster, Honu, Maku, and of course the lazy river and the fearless river. Krakatau was the first ride I did and they made me put the lanyard under a strap of my top so I did that for the rest of the rides. Not sure how they handle males, but I just kept hoping I could do it without a wardrobe malfunction!

 

[BBL1]

I've only done it on the Krakatau Aqua Coaster, Honu, Maku, and of course the lazy river and the fearless river. Krakatau was the first ride I did and they made me put the lanyard under a strap of my top so I did that for the rest of the rides. Not sure how they handle males, but I just kept hoping I could do it without a wardrobe malfunction!

Thank you! I wanted to use these to try and avoid having to rent a locker. A cell phone would be the only “valuable” I’d be bringing to the park. I would be fine leaving our towels and sunblock on a chair.

 

[Erica_Haley]

Thank you! I wanted to use these to try and avoid having to rent a locker. A cell phone would be the only “valuable” I’d be bringing to the park. I would be fine leaving our towels and sunblock on a chair.

I saw a ton of people with cell phone lanyards both times I've been. I bought mine beforehand but last summer I saw them for sale inside VB. Both times never did a locker, so it's possible

 

[WhitneyMB]

Quick report back--

Thanks for all the advice people give out on here. I just wanted to mention that my family & I were at Universal the first week in August (Easter = packed crowds & closing for capacity early). I had way more fun then I expected at Volcano Bay We did two mornings (arriving at opening) and left after lunch both days. We were able to ride the Aqua coaster twice in a row with nearly no line, which was great! Definitely the marquee ride in the park.

We just grabbed chairs that had umbrellas near Puihi (there were a ton there near the reserved chairs--and we appreciated the shade), and left our towels, shoes & cover-ups. We had bought an aqua safe due to recommendations and it was awesome. Every time we went back to the chairs, we could pull out cell-phones to look at our ride photos, take photos of VB, or just look at stuff online. We didn't bother with a locker--just left our a sling bag with sunscreen & hats on the chair with the aqua safe (nothing worth stealing except in the safe).

My sons loved the fearless river and the wave pool. The first day I had to work to get them to go on more rides while there was no lines. All in all, we got on nearly every ride the first day, with some repeats, and all our favorites (with repeats) on day 2, while taking a more relaxed pace. It is a lovely park.

Advice--when looking for food, head to the back of the park. Everyone tried to buy food at the front and by 12:30 the lines were nearly an hour long at the front! We had eaten earlier with a 5 minute wait, but the back of the park doesn't get nearly as crowed.