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

[bobbie68]

@bobbie68 ohhh, now I got it! big big thanks!
I really appreciate it!

My pleasure

 

[helenb]

My husband and son are planning to check out VB in mid-June. We will be staying at HRH, and they plan to take advantage of Early Entry.

Questions

- What time should they catch the bus from HRH to get to VB early enough for EE opening?
- If they wear water shoes with velcro straps and are not permitted to have them on during rides, can they loop them around their swimsuit waistbands for riding?
- Can they bring pool towels from HRH to use at VB?
- What kind of touring plan/ride priority should they have? (i.e. which ride should they head to first, which ride should they reserve first on the Tapu Tapus, etc.)
- Do they have to do anything in advance to make it easier to register the Tapu Tapus?

Lastly, and this is the big one, are the many problems with crowds and capacity experienced last summer still occurring at VB?

 

[bobbie68]

My husband and son are planning to check out VB in mid-June. We will be staying at HRH, and they plan to take advantage of Early Entry.

Questions

- What time should they catch the bus from HRH to get to VB early enough for EE opening?
- If they wear water shoes with velcro straps and are not permitted to have them on during rides, can they loop them around their swimsuit waistbands for riding?
- Can they bring pool towels from HRH to use at VB?
- What kind of touring plan/ride priority should they have? (i.e. which ride should they head to first, which ride should they reserve first on the Tapu Tapus, etc.)
- Do they have to do anything in advance to make it easier to register the Tapu Tapus?

Lastly, and this is the big one, are the many problems with crowds and capacity experienced last summer still occurring at VB?

Hi from the calendar it looks like VB will open to the public at 9. EE will be at 8 and I would catch the bus from HRH about 7:15 and 7:30 the latest.

Honestly, I have never seen anybody do that with water shoes but if I had to guess I would say no. VB can be very strict on what you are wearing. Some attractions may let stuff on while others won't. I can tell you all the body slides are strict, with stuff being worn. I have seen the family raft rides allow some things. We leave our shoes either at the entrance or exit but most of the time we just leave them at our seats. VB does have some sprinklers on the ground on one side where you walk so it does help. The worse heat we felt there was on the walk way bridges. I know a lot of people complained last summer so not sure if they changed anything.

Bringing pool towels from the hotels is not encouraged at most of the resorts, but people still do. I read a report where a CM at Cabana bay suggested it. You can rent very nice ones there for $5.00. We rented one time and the second time we didn't even bother because it was so hot out that we dried fast.

Early Entry for at least the first hour will be ride now. I would have them go to the aqua coaster first. However, this ride takes time getting started sometimes so if it looks like it is taking awhile move over to another (volcano body slides). If they are interested in the three serpentine body slides in the volcano I would do them after the coaster. Once it is public entry I would tap into either of those they want to ride again or tap their tapu into Moana (The big blue one). This family raft ride will be the most popular of them. Puihi is a family raft ride in the back of the park by the fearless river. It is probably the second most popular family raft ride. I don't know about the Punga Racers we don't like those slides. Ohno and Ohyea body slides can get busy so I would put them in after the family raft rides. The one thing with all the tubes and slides is they will weigh your party and if you are over or under they will adjust seating accordingly.
There was one time before we had lunch that my family of 4 was put together then after lunch we went on the same ride and was split up.

My DH last year set up all our credit card information on the website. It was put on once our tapu was activated. I know they were getting new bands this year however, we used shoe laces to keep ours on. The bands were always falling off. It is a pain because you have to have your proof of admission in the park to get another one. Outside of that nothing else to do.

Their were reports from our Dis friends who went over spring break that there were several days it hit capacity and closed. Outside of that I have not heard of regular days so far. However, I believe that will change once June starts and summer season begins. I think VB will hit capacity again very early this summer. Mid June could go either way for crowds. there are a lot of places in the southern part of the US out already. However, here in the northeast we have a lot of snow days to make up so we will be out a little later.

I hope your family enjoys VB we love it there and can't wait to get back at the end of June.

 

[macraven]

I think we have a lot of that info in the Vbay sticky

And many gave add on info also

 

[helenb]

Thank you so much for your information, @bobbie68 ! It is very much appreciated.

One other question: are classes on an athletic strap allowed on the slides?

 

[oakleycat]

My husband and son are planning to check out VB in mid-June. We will be staying at HRH, and they plan to take advantage of Early Entry.

Questions

- What time should they catch the bus from HRH to get to VB early enough for EE opening?
- If they wear water shoes with velcro straps and are not permitted to have them on during rides, can they loop them around their swimsuit waistbands for riding?
- Can they bring pool towels from HRH to use at VB?
- What kind of touring plan/ride priority should they have? (i.e. which ride should they head to first, which ride should they reserve first on the Tapu Tapus, etc.)
- Do they have to do anything in advance to make it easier to register the Tapu Tapus?

Lastly, and this is the big one, are the many problems with crowds and capacity experienced last summer still occurring at VB?

I think you got great info from Bobbie, but to further answer the towel question, we went to VB on 4/19 and stayed at RPR. The pool staff there encouraged us to take towels, we just had to sign them out with our room number. I'm not sure how that helps though, as when we went to return them we didn't have to sign them back in, just dump them in the towel return. Also, we wore sunglasses the entire time and were only asked to remove them (and hold them in your hand) on the body slides, so I don't think glasses will be a problem.

 

[helenb]

Thank you, @oakleycat !

 

[bobbie68]

Thank you so much for your information, @bobbie68 ! It is very much appreciated.

One other question: are classes on an athletic strap allowed on the slides?

You're welcome

 

[Alicefan]

We got to go back in March and practically had the park to ourselves. The only wait we had was for the coaster style ride (don't ask me to remember any of the names because they all sounded the same to me.) We'll call this one....apookahooeyhooey. lol Luckily they have the reservation times for that one on your tapu tapu so it didn't even mater. It's such a clean and beautiful park. Although I'm surprised that someone doesn't drown daily in that fast "lazy" river! That sucker is a beast! We went around twice and that thing wore us out! I tried one of the swirly bottom drops out slides up in the mountain! I tell you, the anticipation while you're in that closed in case while you're trying to stand there with your legs crossed in an awkward position is enough to make you start cussing! lol Or maybe that was just me? The first thing you do when the bottom drops out is uncross your legs and arms to try to stop yourself. It's a reflex! haha! Will definitely go again!

 

[kungaloosh22]

View attachment 309297
The 5 I have circled by the volcano( near #l) and the two at the top are part of the River Village. They do have a great view however, the only downside we saw was they are on the walking path up to part of the volcano. People are really close to your cabana.

There was a big discussion back on pages 33-34 about whether the 5 cabanas just to the right of the volcano are part of wave village or river village. When I called (twice) to book these, I was told river village, so that's what I reserved. When I got there, I was told they were part of wave village. Fortunately I was there early and they happened to be able to change our reservation, though it took the efforts of several people. We were lucky that we could change it.

The view from these volcano-adjacent upper-level cabanas was fabulous, but they were very windy. I thought it was probably just the weather for our day, but a cabana attendant told us they are frequently windy. The wind was chilly when we were wet, and trying to block the wind with the curtains was useless, as they curtains just blew inside and knocked everything over.

Based on reports from the first year that most of the wave village cabanas had open backs that faced the freeway, I didn't think I'd want that section. However, it looked like those cabanas now all have solid backs, which I think is a very good improvement. I'd consider those cabanas on a future trip.

One other note: based on everything I'd previously read, I thought you can check in at any of the 3 cabana huts. That is, people suggested if the first one by the entrance was busy (wave village), just go to another one for a shorter wait. Our experience was that they insisted we check in at the guest services hut in the section we reserved. We first stopped at the wave village hut, stood in a short line, and were told we had to go check in at the river village hut, as that was where we reserved.

Hope this helps someone else trying to decide where to reserve and check in!

 

[bobbie68]

There was a big discussion back on pages 33-34 about whether the 5 cabanas just to the right of the volcano are part of wave village or river village. When I called (twice) to book these, I was told river village, so that's what I reserved. When I got there, I was told they were part of wave village. Fortunately I was there early and they happened to be able to change our reservation, though it took the efforts of several people. We were lucky that we could change it.

The view from these volcano-adjacent upper-level cabanas was fabulous, but they were very windy. I thought it was probably just the weather for our day, but a cabana attendant told us they are frequently windy. The wind was chilly when we were wet, and trying to block the wind with the curtains was useless, as they curtains just blew inside and knocked everything over.

Based on reports from the first year that most of the wave village cabanas had open backs that faced the freeway, I didn't think I'd want that section. However, it looked like those cabanas now all have solid backs, which I think is a very good improvement. I'd consider those cabanas on a future trip.

One other note: based on everything I'd previously read, I thought you can check in at any of the 3 cabana huts. That is, people suggested if the first one by the entrance was busy (wave village), just go to another one for a shorter wait. Our experience was that they insisted we check in at the guest services hut in the section we reserved. We first stopped at the wave village hut, stood in a short line, and were told we had to go check in at the river village hut, as that was where we reserved.

Hope this helps someone else trying to decide where to reserve and check in!

Thanks for reporting back from your visit. I was hoping that some posters would do this. When I went last summer there was a lot of trial and error with things. I knew they had a lot of kinks to work out and new decisions to be made on operating the park. It sounds like they have made some changes and I look forward to using this information when I go back in June.

 

[RAPstar]

Does anyone know the policy on goggles? I'm trying to decide whether to get prescription goggles or contacts, and would prefer goggles since 1) they're cheaper and 2) I really don't like contacts. I mean I guess either way I'd be good, I would just need to like hold on the goggles on slides? Just wanted to check before spending money. Thanks!

 

[123SA]

Does anyone have experience with express pass plus? I bought them for July 31 -- one time per all of the slides. I'm planning to arrive for extra magic hour and do what we can, grab a return time for their favorite ride with the tapau, then use the express pass. I am hoping to be finished around 2pm. Does that sound reasonable?

 

[bobbie68]

Does anyone have experience with express pass plus? I bought them for July 31 -- one time per all of the slides. I'm planning to arrive for extra magic hour and do what we can, grab a return time for their favorite ride with the tapau, then use the express pass. I am hoping to be finished around 2pm. Does that sound reasonable?

Hi this is a new program they are implementing there. As of a month ago there was no express pass program being sold. We were there last summer and purchased the old express program where we had unlimited times on all the rides except for the volcano body slides. After that they discontinued the express pass due to capacity issues. I am surprised to see this because they were going to keep it on a day to day basis nothing ahead of time.

I can give you my opinion from using an unlimited express pass last summer. Yes they seems reasonable. As long as you get there for early entry and use that express pass you will do good. The only thing is this tapu tapu isn't like Disney''s system. You tap into a ride then wait for the time. You can only grab one ride at a time. You have to wait to complete that ride to get another time for another ride. I can can tell you that I went on July 30th last summer and wait times for rides were in access of an hour to an hour and a half.

Have fun adn keep us posted! I am going in a couple of weeks and might look into this.

 

[wilma-bride]

Does anyone have experience with express pass plus? I bought them for July 31 -- one time per all of the slides. I'm planning to arrive for extra magic hour and do what we can, grab a return time for their favorite ride with the tapau, then use the express pass. I am hoping to be finished around 2pm. Does that sound reasonable?

Would you mind sharing how much the Express Passes were please?

 

[123SA]

There were two options for the express pass. Please be aware that BOTH options allow ONE RIDE on a list of slides. Neither option allows unlimited rides. I bought the express plus. It was $79 per person for July 31st. The other option was $49 per person for July 31st. I didn't check any other days.

1-Park Universal Express PLUS ($79 per person on July 31)


Skip the Virtual Lines at ALL participating rides and attractions at Universal's Volcano Bay™. One use per participating attraction. The Universal Express Pass is valid for one person per calendar day and is not valid for admission to Volcano Bay™.



AVAILABLE ON THE FOLLOWING:

• Krakatau™ Aqua Coaster
• Punga Racers™
• Maku of Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides™
• Puihi of Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides™
• Honu of Honu ika Moana™
• ika Moana of Honu ika Moana™
• Taniwha Tubes™
• Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides™
• Ko’okiri Body Plunge™
• Ohyah of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides™
• Ohno of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides™

1-Park Universal Express ($49 per person on July 31)
Skip the Virtual Lines at SELECT participating rides and attractions at Universal’s Volcano Bay™. One use per participating attraction. The Universal Express Pass is valid for one person per calendar day and is not valid for admission to Volcano Bay™.

AVAILABLE ON THE FOLLOWING:

• Krakatau™ Aqua Coaster
• Punga Racers™
• Maku of Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides™
• Puihi of Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides™
• Honu of Honu ika Moana™
• ika Moana of Honu ika Moana™
• Taniwha Tubes™

NOT AVAILABLE ON THE FOLLOWING:

• Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides™
• Ko'okiri Body Plunge™
• Ohyah of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides™
• Ohno of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides™

 

[CAPSLOCK]

That's actually a really nice split - a cheaper option for those who aren't into the intense droppy slides, which incidentally are some of the slowest moving lines per person.

 

[wilma-bride]

Thank you @123SA

 

[donnishobson]

There were two options for the express pass. Please be aware that BOTH options allow ONE RIDE on a list of slides. Neither option allows unlimited rides. I bought the express plus. It was $79 per person for July 31st. The other option was $49 per person for July 31st. I didn't check any other days.

1-Park Universal Express PLUS ($79 per person on July 31)


Skip the Virtual Lines at ALL participating rides and attractions at Universal's Volcano Bay™. One use per participating attraction. The Universal Express Pass is valid for one person per calendar day and is not valid for admission to Volcano Bay™.



AVAILABLE ON THE FOLLOWING:

• Krakatau™ Aqua Coaster
• Punga Racers™
• Maku of Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides™
• Puihi of Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides™
• Honu of Honu ika Moana™
• ika Moana of Honu ika Moana™
• Taniwha Tubes™
• Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides™
• Ko’okiri Body Plunge™
• Ohyah of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides™
• Ohno of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides™

1-Park Universal Express ($49 per person on July 31)
Skip the Virtual Lines at SELECT participating rides and attractions at Universal’s Volcano Bay™. One use per participating attraction. The Universal Express Pass is valid for one person per calendar day and is not valid for admission to Volcano Bay™.

AVAILABLE ON THE FOLLOWING:

• Krakatau™ Aqua Coaster
• Punga Racers™
• Maku of Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides™
• Puihi of Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides™
• Honu of Honu ika Moana™
• ika Moana of Honu ika Moana™
• Taniwha Tubes™

NOT AVAILABLE ON THE FOLLOWING:

• Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides™
• Ko'okiri Body Plunge™
• Ohyah of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides™
• Ohno of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides™

Is the pass available for pre-purchase now or only at the park? I couldn't find anything on the website.

 

[123SA]

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/tickets-packages/express-passes/index.html


I pre-purchased it.

I have a vacation package. I don't know if that matters. I couldn't figure out how to purchase it on-line. I called 407 224-7840 and selected the option for new tickets purchase. The customer service agent was able to check the dates and facilitate the purchase. The tickets will be available when I check in at HRH. I received a confirmation number and email.

Also, I only purchased it for the 3 kids on the reservation, not the 2 adults.


I jumped on this because last year the day I called to add the express pass was the day they stopped selling it.