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

[JNL Travel]

Happy to report the following:
I upgraded my 2 days, 2 parks tickets today at RPR. It was 30$ for 4 days, 2 parks or 40$ for 4 days, 3 parks... So Volcano Bay, here we come!

flav, we are planning to do the exact same upgrade this weekend. But we are also considering upgrading the 4-day 3-park ticket to 2-park seasonal pass after visiting VB. Not sure if USF will allow ticket upgrade twice in a rose and "downgrading" from 3-park to 2-park. Anyone on DIS has experience?

 

[alisonslp]

We have a trip planned for Sept 10-15 - Disney but we planned to visit VB one day. After reading all the trouble folks are having with the wait times and all, I am wondering if it is worth it. Hubby seems to think it will be ok b/c school is in session so crowd size will be lower. I am not as optimistic. I would be perfectly content in the lazy river and wave pool all day but if I am paying that much a ticket (one day, VB only), I want my teen kids to be able to ride most of the slides (multiple times). What do you all think for crowds in Sept? I know it just opened and most states are still on summer vacation, so I may not be able to get a reliable answer yet, but figured I would ask.

 

[macraven]

never had heard of downsizing except when it is renewal time.
ive always had the 2 park preferred a

when my email arrived with the options for renewal, i did not go with the 3 park pass but stayed with the 2 park original.


maybe now after this year is over where renewals are done, maybe peeps can downgrade at their next year renewal time.

 

[flav]

flav, we are planning to do the exact same upgrade this weekend. But we are also considering upgrading the 4-day 3-park ticket to 2-park seasonal pass after visiting VB. Not sure if USF will allow ticket upgrade twice in a rose and "downgrading" from 3-park to 2-park. Anyone on DIS has experience?

I have asked to the counter about adding a 5th day... They explained the following:

The current promotion is add Volcano Bay to a 2 days, 2 parks ticket (40$) and they give 2 days free... You can always upgrade to something else as long as the ticket is valid. They basically do "value of what you want - value of what you paid for". As for downgrading, I'd be surprised if that worked, you could ask them once at the counter.

 

[tink1957]

I think an an annual pass would be considered as an upgrade but sometimes the promo tickets aren't eligible for the upgrade.

 

[Raeven]

I have a couple questions about the reserved seating. We reserved a pair of loungers for our day, and I was wondering where do we go to "check in" for the seats? I was also wondering if we both have to go or if I could just check in while my boyfriend goes on some of the slides?

And finally if the loungers are no longer reserved/not reserved for the day are other people allowed to use them? We have them for the full day, but won't be there till close. I would happily point another couple or family to our chairs to use them after we left unless there's some kind of rule about using the loungers without reservations.

 

[georgina]

We have a trip planned for Sept 10-15 - Disney but we planned to visit VB one day. After reading all the trouble folks are having with the wait times and all, I am wondering if it is worth it. Hubby seems to think it will be ok b/c school is in session so crowd size will be lower. I am not as optimistic. I would be perfectly content in the lazy river and wave pool all day but if I am paying that much a ticket (one day, VB only), I want my teen kids to be able to ride most of the slides (multiple times). What do you all think for crowds in Sept? I know it just opened and most states are still on summer vacation, so I may not be able to get a reliable answer yet, but figured I would ask.

Honestly, I think they may be able to rides all the slides if they plan it out correctly, but multiple times will be an issue. The park hours are 9-6 that week. Crowds will certainly be lower, but hard to predict how much. Look up what slides have the longest waits and have a plan. If you get there at park opening, get in the virtual queue for Krakatau, go on Honu and Ike Moana if possible, and then some of the other ride nows while waiting. Of course the weather may factor in as well, there can still be afternoon storms in Sept which shut everything down.

 

[disneyjr77]

Random question...Are the only towels they sell at VB the blue and green one and the one with the bamboo VB on it? I would love one with the pic that's on the glasses, but don't see it in any of the youtube walkthroughs of the gift shops.

Also, do they sell VB stuff in the Cabana Bay gift shop? I want to get the plastic waterproof case for DD's glasses, but wanted it before we got there.

 

[RalphinSC]

Random question...Are the only towels they sell at VB the blue and green one and the one with the bamboo VB on it? I would love one with the pic that's on the glasses, but don't see it in any of the youtube walkthroughs of the gift shops.

Also, do they sell VB stuff in the Cabana Bay gift shop? I want to get the plastic waterproof case for DD's glasses, but wanted it before we got there.

They sell some Volcano Bay merch in a lot of different resort gift shops, Cabana Bay included. Not sure if the waterproof case is among the items for sale at Cabana Bay. From my resort walkthroughs and stay in June, it was limited items and every resort had a slightly different mix of merchandise.

 

[disneyjr77]

They sell some Volcano Bay merch in a lot of different resort gift shops, Cabana Bay included. Not sure if the waterproof case is among the items for sale at Cabana Bay. From my resort walkthroughs and stay in June, it was limited items and every resort had a slightly different mix of merchandise.

Oh ok, at least they have some...if not, then i'll just get it the day we go.

 

[NOSaintsFan09]

I went today. Got there around 9:30am and I think crowd was great. Longest wait we had was the Ko'okiri Body Plunge at 135 minutes when we tapped but ended up being 60 minutes before we got the ride now option. Once on the ride we waited about 30 mins to drop so 90 minute wait overall.

Every other ride (except the roller coster which was a 70 minute wait) we waited no more than 35 minutes or less.

I think the crowds just may be starting to dwindle now that peak summer is over. Still a large crowd but was no where near as bad as the reviews had me bracing myself for. By 4pm, we had did every ride but the Ko'okiri and the OhYah/OhNo ride. By 6pm-6:30 crowd was pretty much all gone with lots of the rides ride now including Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides. I had an amazing time.

 

[JNL Travel]

flav, we are planning to do the exact same upgrade this weekend. But we are also considering upgrading the 4-day 3-park ticket to 2-park seasonal pass after visiting VB. Not sure if USF will allow ticket upgrade twice in a rose and "downgrading" from 3-park to 2-park. Anyone on DIS has experience?

I would like to report back that we have successfully upgraded our 2-day 2-park tickets to Volcano Bay promo 4-day 4-park tickets and then downgraded to 2-park seasonal pass with no extra cost to us. Yes, this means we have only paid for the 2-day 2-park tickets but ended up going to VB for 3 days and then receiving the 2-park seasonal passes without paying a penny. The guest service (especially John at the VB) at Universal is amazing!

 

[disneyjr77]

We originally planned to do VB this Sunday, since it was the last day of the 7:30 EPA...but now i'm second guessing myself. I wonder if it will be less crowds during the week and if we should go on monday? What do you guys think?

 

[ReneeA]

We originally planned to do VB this Sunday, since it was the last day of the 7:30 EPA...but now i'm second guessing myself. I wonder if it will be less crowds during the week and if we should go on monday? What do you guys think?

We went yesterday (Monday) and it was still fairly busy...even though we were in the park by 7:45. We've been told by several workers here that Tues or Wed are the best bet since they are the slow days. We're hoping to have better luck tomorrow since many of the slides were down while we were there...we gave up after 4.5 hours and decided to try another day.

 

[Music City Mama]

I have a couple questions about the reserved seating. We reserved a pair of loungers for our day, and I was wondering where do we go to "check in" for the seats? I was also wondering if we both have to go or if I could just check in while my boyfriend goes on some of the slides?

And finally if the loungers are no longer reserved/not reserved for the day are other people allowed to use them? We have them for the full day, but won't be there till close. I would happily point another couple or family to our chairs to use them after we left unless there's some kind of rule about using the loungers without reservations.

There is a concierge hut shortly after you go through the turnstiles. Just follow the crowd and you really can't miss it (someone can easily direct you). Just FYI, but when we were there in July, another poster who was there right before our trip had said that they were sent back to guest services at the front of the park (near the turnstiles) to get "tickets" for their reserved seating and then go back to the concierge hut. Knowing that info, I printed our tickets ahead of time from the self-service kiosk at HRH. Your boyfriend doesn't need to be with you to check in.

I can't say whether anyone using the loungers who didn't pay for them will be kicked out of them or not (probably depends how busy they are), but I feel pretty confident that they wouldn't be waited on/receive any type of service -- they know who is supposed to be there. If I had to guess, I think they'd probably ask them to leave.

 

[TheMillenniumRider]

I was there yesterday (Monday). I got to the park around 745 or so. Grabbed loungers and hit the slides. Rode every slide in the park, and a couple rerides for some. Visited both rivers, wave pool, and some of the smaller pools, ate a few times, and was done around 530. Not sure what the crowd level was, or if the park was capped. But we had no issues with huge delays, closures, etc. Krakatau was down in the am as well, still managed just fine.

 

[scoopmorgan]

"if you go in the late afternoon/evening when the crowd is less, especially during the week or after a storm, I am sure you will have a good time." We are staying off site (boo-hoo) and the younger set will be attending HHN every night. This could be nice for me to go solo. My question is, if I made my way to a hotel could I catch a courtesy shuttle to VB, then take an Uber back to our hotel? Do the shuttles need to see a room key?

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Do the shuttles need to see a room key?

When I took a shuttle at 7 AM two Friday's ago from the Hard Rock Hotel, they did not check for room keys. The situation could be different the the park is close to capacity, as the concierge explained that there are phased closures for capacity, with hotel guests able to get in in all but the nobody-at-all admitted phase.

 

[Joceyposse]

I know you're not allowed to have loose articles on slides, but I wear prescription glasses/sunglasses and need them to see. Just wondering if they'll let me hold them in my hands on Ko'Okiri body plunge or the other trap door slides? I would hate to walk up all those stairs only to be told I can't bring them on, but I also really need them to see and wouldn't want to miss out on those wonderful views at the top of the volcano, so I don't want to leave them behind. Anyone successful in wearing/holding glasses on the trap door style slides?

 

[TheMillenniumRider]

Yes, just hold them, you can wear them on everything else besides the trapdoor slides.