Hey guys!
Just back from an eight day trip in Orlando. Spent four of those days at least partly at Volcano Bay. So if you have a question, I can probably answer it!
A few observations:
1. We stayed at Cabana Bay. This hotel is an absolute STEAL if you want to go to Volcano Bay. I cannot recommend early entry enough. With the exception of our first day when we arrived after lunch due to check in, we were at the tapstiles for early entry between 7:00 and 7:30 and were among the first guest in the park. We got to pick out a great shaded lounger and even had our "favorite" spot by the end of the week so we could just go right there. From there, the first two hours is "ride now" heaven. Pretty much any slide you want. We rode Krakatoa 15 times during the week, including not even having to get off the tube one morning for a re-ride. On another morning, we were the first people to ride Krakatoa, Honu, Ike Moana, and Maku. Never had a tapu wait time for a ride before 10am by touring the rides in good order. We basically got to ride whatever we wanted until we tired out enough to tap a ride with a wait so we could enjoy the lazy river. If you are staying onsite and are not up and going into this park as soon as it opens, you only have yourself to blame for waiting in long lines.
2. The aquacoaster is incredible! It's the best water ride in Orlando.
3. My second favorite slide was Honu. It's a very short ride though. Two high thrill moments and then a splashdown.
4. Premium seating and cabana rentals are not worth it IMO. Our loungers we picked out at rope drop had much better shade than the premium seating and we didn't have to bother with going to the concierge hut to rent them (also known as wasting time that you could actually be riding something with no wait early in the morning). I bought an aquabox to lock onto my lounger to store my valuables. Never had a problem bringing it in the park and it worked like a charm. We found our favorite group of shaded loungers right by the dancing dragons bar and they served us well. We never had a long wait for either food of drink during the week. I certainly was able to get what I wanted by myself a lot quicker than the premium loungers located behind us. I just cannot justify paying for something that I'm hardly going to use and that will cost me time on both actually renting it and on getting what I want when I want it. But, to each their own.
5. There is still a lot of construction ongoing and the park will continue to improve. There is a lot left to do near the volcano around Punga Racers and the action river. But they are working on it every night. They are also building cabanas all over the park and have even started on the expansion and extension of the park access road behind Maku/Puihi. The Vol experience inside of the volcano is not finished yet and a lot more Tapu points are being put in all over the park. Every day, it gets more and more complete. And it's a great park already.
6. Quit reading the horror stories. Honestly, brass tacks, I'm an AP holder and was able to go four days within a week. Aside from the first "check it out" day, I got every single thing I absolutely wanted done on each day and left feeling like a got a "complete" park experience. If you come at opening (early entry) and prioritize riding the longest wait things first, you will have an incredibly fun day. If you want to sleep in, come at lunch, stay offsite, etc; you must understand that each of those things are things that will make your wait times longer, and your experience different than what I had. I'm telling you how easy it is to have a wonderful day at this park and ride all you want. It's up to you how you want to apply that info.
7. Tapu tapu worked great for me. We used it for the Taptu pay as well and never had a problem. On our last morning, my son had a stubborn band that sometimes took a few taps to access slides, but aside from that every thing worked great. As a side note to that, make sure you keep checking your bands and get the extra rubber band on them if you can. I had my band fall off in the action river once and then lost my prescription glasses while diving after my band (that was incredibly dumb on my part. I never found the glasses again, the volcano gods ate them. Do not bring ANYTHING into the action river you cannot afford parting with). I also found a good half dozen bands throughout the week in the rivers and at the end of slides. Always check for your band after a slide.
I'm sure I will have a lot more to add as it comes to mine. Open for any questions!
That really cuts into attraction time, unless you can send the rest of the family off to do stuff while one of you waits for the seats. The premium seats do let you bypass food lines and order from the seats; however, the food lines didn't look long until late lunch and afterward. When are you going in August? If school has started back, then crowds will be lower and things will work better with lower crowds. We are going again in late July. We have premium seating for that trip too. I think we will stay most of the day though, because we don't mind chilling in the rivers or even in our loungers for a while. DS11 was pretty content to read on our second VB day in the afternoon when the crowds were the craziest. Hope your trip goes well.
I'll be happy to have a look around, hang in the lazy river and hopefully do the water coaster!
