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

[xultimatefanx]

Looks like something went wrong in Volcano Bay recently.

Orlando Weekly

 

[Wdw1015]

Does anyone know if we can wear shirts over a bathing suit on the rides?

 

[hhoope01]

Does anyone know if we can wear shirts over a bathing suit on the rides?

Both my daughter and I wore shirts during our visits and pretty much rode all the rides/slides while there. So I wouldn't think you or anyone would have any issues.

 

[Sehsun]

Does anyone know if we can wear shirts over a bathing suit on the rides?

You should be fine as long as it's a rash guard type material. DH always wears a rash guard shirt and hasn't had any issues. One time a team member asked him what material the shirt was - I think implying that if it was cotton, he would have had to take it off - but this was for the body slides where you make direct contact with the slide the entire time. If you're riding in a tube, it should not matter what kind of material your shirt is.

 

[karaintn]

We will be there next week and for us the answer is NO. We are staying on site and also plan to take advantage of EE. From what I have read/researched, if you are able to do that (get there early) you will be able to hit just about everything in the first two hours and then can chill in the lazy river and other things while waiting for any virtual queues. That's our plan, anyway. Will probably take some kind of break back at the hotel too, assuming it's not a big hassle with turning in the Tapu Tapu and then getting them again later (and whatever else may be involved with reentry). I'll try to remember to report back on how it all shakes out.

How was your trip to VB? We go next month and I'd love to hear how early entry worked out for you!

 

[TallandGoofy]

How was your trip to VB? We go next month and I'd love to hear how early entry worked out for you!

Thanks for reminding me!

We stayed at Cabana Bay and started walking over around 7:40 am or so for 8 am EE. Easy walk and not crowded at all when we got there. We were third or fourth in line at one of the tapstiles to get in. Unfortunately, we had a major snafu that ended up eating alot of our EE time.

In an effort to be "ahead of the game" and to be able to charge directly to our Tapu Tapus, I linked our park tickets to the Universal app. They then appear in the "Wallet" section of the app. I also added a credit card. From Saturday when we arrived to the day before our VB day, I used the app with the tickets in the "wallet" to go to the parks. That's Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I was using it. Now, on Wednesday, the VB day, as they began letting people in, I pulled up the app just as I had been all week and guess what? The tickets were GONE. It was like I'd never linked them or added them. Girl was so nice as I sputtered about how they were there and now weren't. She told me to take my time but ultimately, I had to get out of line. First went to where they sell tickets because that was what she suggested. They couldn't help and sent me to Guest Services. They honestly weren't any help either. Like I think three people tried to find our tickets in the system but couldn't. I should mention, they were purchased from Undercover Tourist and they said that is why they couldn't find them. While they (GS) weren't finding them, I went into my email to find the order confirmation and then also found the link from UT to the printable tickets. Had I done that from the get go, we would have gotten in much sooner. I just had to pull them up on my phone and they worked fine. Also, while I was futzing around with my phone, my wife called UT and she said they were very nice and willing to help but since I found the tickets we ended up not needing them to do anything. I don't want to give the impression that you shouldn't buy from UT. While it seemed to semi-complicate this particular situation, I've used them for just about all of our Orlando trips for Disney and Universal and always good experiences. I really have no idea what caused the tickets to disappear. Later that night I was able to relink them into the app and they continued to be there and work for the rest of our trip.

OK...so we lost about 20 minutes with that debacle. Then, just for fun, I caused us to lose another 10 or so minutes. DW went to get our premium seating while kids and I started heading to go do some slides. We all showed our room keys initially to get in for EE and then DW went to get in line for the seating. Somehow, kids and I got out of the EE area and then when we tried to go to slides that were open, we hit a road block where you had to show your keys again. So, I had to go all the way back to DW to get our room keys. Lesson learned - keep those keys with you for that first hour!!

Finally, we were able to start riding. We did Moana (family raft) which was Ride Now and then went over to the Krakatau Aqua Coaster. Rode that twice in a row (Ride Now) and then I think around 9:30 it was showing a 10 minute wait so we tapped in and went to ride a different raft type ride (forgetting name) that was Ride Now. Then back to Aquacoaster. After that ride, it was showing 40 minute wait so we tapped in and went over to DW to check out our premium seating. Took a little break and got some drinks too. I think we did Lazy River after that. We really wanted to do the Fast river but it was closed. This was the week they had that electrical malfunction so we never got to try it which was a bummer. There were a couple of other slides closed too that I think were related to that.

We did Aquacoaster for a 4th time. Hit the Lazy River again. I lost my Tapu Tapu and had to go get a new one. I would have been more panicked about it except I'd read on many a thread that this happens all the time. It was very easy to get a new one. It was getting to be lunch time so we (DS and I) ordered food from our server in the premium seating area. I will say, the service as far as friendliness was very good. The time it took to get food though was really sloooooooowwwwwwwww. DW and DD went and ordered food at the restaurant. They got their food, sat and ate it and then came back and DS and I were still waiting. It did finally come and it was pretty good. I had coconut chicken sliders and DS had a cheeseburger. By the time we got our food and finished eating, I think it was around 1:30 or maybe almost 2. It was very hot and very crowded. We decided to go back to the room and plan was to come back later in the evening. I let the people at the premium seating stand (there is a place where usually 2 - 3 people were there to help) that we were leaving and would be back. No problem - the seat was ours for the day. We didn't leave anything behind other than the towels we'd rented. Oh - that was a mini-snafu. Like very minor. I really didn't want to pay $6 a pop on rented towels so had read that a lot of people just grab them from the Cabana Bay pool on the way over to VB. We actually did that on the Monday night before for a quick little evening hop over to VB. Unfortunately, at 7:40 in the morning, the gates to the pool were locked so we weren't able to do that when we headed over that morning. Oh, well....

Chilled in the room and then went to dinner at Toothsome. While there, DW was noticing the radar and a big storm coming. Wasn't sure VB would be an evening option. DD wanted to ride Gringotts after dinner so while DS and DW headed back to room, DD and I headed there. We rode and then, when we started walking outside, noticed the very dark clouds forming. DW also texted to let me know storm was coming. DD and I made it to City Walk central parking when the deluge hit. Waited a while for the bus because so many people were trying to get back to the hotel. Finally got on, though and made it back to our room. So, sadly, we did not make it back to VB. We were a little disappointed but as the Aquacoaster was our favorite and we got to ride it 4 times, we were ok.

Oh - something else I did that morning. I had a photo package and made sure to go to the photo store where they were able to link the package to our Tapu Tapus. That was really cool because then the selfie station photos and the slide photos all showed up with my other pictures that came with the package.

Also - thoughts on premium seating. DW and I agreed we would not do that again. Getting there early, we would have had plenty of seating options. It was nice to have the server but it took so long, it really wasn't worth the money we paid. I think the best part was having the private locker. That was nice, but again, not worth what we paid. For Wednesday, June 5th (the day we were there) it was $110. Originally, we were going to go on Monday and the price when I called a few weeks in advance was $80. It went up $30 when I called a few days before to switch to Wednesday. Apparently, the Monday would have gone up as well so it is best to reserve early. But either way, the value just wasn't there for us. BTW - a cabana for that same day was initially $375 and then went up to over $400 (maybe close to $500). That's more than a room at one of the premium hotels so couldn't justify that though they do sound pretty nice.

I think, overall, we had a good time and I'm glad we got to check out Volcano Bay. Obviously, I'd do some things differently and I can't control weather (or electrical issues that close down sections of the park) but we did have a good time. Will hopefully get to check it out again some day when everything is operational.

 

[TotoGogo]

You should be fine as long as it's a rash guard type material. DH always wears a rash guard shirt and hasn't had any issues. One time a team member asked him what material the shirt was - I think implying that if it was cotton, he would have had to take it off - but this was for the body slides where you make direct contact with the slide the entire time. If you're riding in a tube, it should not matter what kind of material your shirt is.

The material is similar to athletic/exercise clothing?

 

[Sehsun]

The material is similar to athletic/exercise clothing?

Yup! Also known as moisture-wicking shirts. They are known to dry pretty quickly.

 

[SA mom]

We were able to wear rash guard and/or fishing type shirts on everything we rode. We did not do any body slides but were told we would have to take them off for that.

 

[SA mom]

Need SHADE? We found it.

On hammerhead beach, at the back of the park, there are 3 palapas (covered strictures) type things. Chairs under the middle one stay in shade all day. It’s across from the entrance/exit to TeAwa The Fearless River.

 

[Wdw1015]

Need SHADE? We found it.

On hammerhead beach, at the back of the park, there are 3 palapas (covered strictures) type things. Chairs under the middle one stay in shade all day. It’s across from the entrance/exit to TeAwa The Fearless River.

Thanks for the info! We are a fair skinned family heading there in August and our plan was to attempt to find one of these to make our home base so it’s helpful to know the specific location!

 

[MumziMom]

I've been looking at rash guards for sun protection at VB/the parks for our August trip. They are pricey! I just found that Target has boys/girls rash guards at an insanely inexpensive price point. I'm 5'5", 128 lbs, and their boy's/girl's large both fit me well for swimming, and their xl fit well for loose sun coverage. Length for both is excellent. They have a upf of 50+. I bought a bright green boy's, and a white with a "mermaid" phrase on it, both for $12.99 each; they are also currently 20% off both online (code "swim") and in person with the Cartwheel app. While not as beautiful as some of the "adult" ra$$$$h guard$$$ I've seen, I'd rather stay unburned, and also use that extra cash elsewhere on the trip.

 

[mel2014]

I've been looking at rash guards for sun protection at VB/the parks for our August trip. They are pricey! I just found that Target has boys/girls rash guards at an insanely inexpensive price point. I'm 5'5", 128 lbs, and their boy's/girl's large both fit me well for swimming, and their xl fit well for loose sun coverage. Length for both is excellent. They have a upf of 50+. I bought a bright green boy's, and a white with a "mermaid" phrase on it, both for $12.99 each; they are also currently 20% off both online (code "swim") and in person with the Cartwheel app. While not as beautiful as some of the "adult" ra$$$$h guard$$$ I've seen, I'd rather stay unburned, and also use that extra cash elsewhere on the trip.

This is a good tip, thanks! We just went to Hawaii for a week and I had one long-sleeve rash guard and it was so nice to avoid all of the sunblocking, but it's getting a bit threadbare at this point, so I just ordered three XL from Target online to try for fit. I was eyeing the Lands End ones, but even on sale they are $24.

 

[LavishWig]

I'm looking to head to Volcano Bay on Sunday 18th August, I was initially going to go along around 9am but, as is the case with an Orlando holiday, there will be a lot of early mornings so I'm thinking of just heading along around 3pm/4pm and staying as late as I want (park closes at 9pm). This will be my only day at VB so I don't want to risk missing out on the rides, what do you all think of this plan?

 

[cemeb4dk]

Question for the experts. We are headed to HHN for a weekend in Sept. We are DVC members so we will be staying on Disney property. But on our departure day we are hoping to visit Volcano Bay and then just Uber to airport instead of going back to our resort for the magical express. So 2 questions: 1) I assume there are showers there that we can shower up and change before our flight? 2) Are their lockers big enough to hold carry on bags? I'm talking backpacks not the suitcase type carryons. Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Sehsun]

So 2 questions: 1) I assume there are showers there that we can shower up and change before our flight? 2) Are their lockers big enough to hold carry on bags? I'm talking backpacks not the suitcase type carryons. Thanks in advance for any help

Yes. There are four different restroom + locker areas in the park, one in each village. They all have about 3-4 showers each. In each of those areas, there are lockers big enough to hold a school-size backpack.

 

[georgina]

This is a good tip, thanks! We just went to Hawaii for a week and I had one long-sleeve rash guard and it was so nice to avoid all of the sunblocking, but it's getting a bit threadbare at this point, so I just ordered three XL from Target online to try for fit. I was eyeing the Lands End ones, but even on sale they are $24.

Lands End has them on clearance now - solids are $14.99, plus they set me a promo code for another 10% off. Gonna check out my local store tomorrow to see if I can pick one up there to save the shipping cost. I wear them whenever I am out in the sun at a beach or pool.

I love the VB long sleeve T's they sell in the park, but they have 0 SPF

 

[Z-Knight]

Thanks for reminding me!

We stayed at Cabana Bay and started walking over around 7:40 am or so for 8 am EE. Easy walk and not crowded at all when we got there. We were third or fourth in line at one of the tapstiles to get in. Unfortunately, we had a major snafu that ended up eating alot of our EE time.

In an effort to be "ahead of the game" and to be able to charge directly to our Tapu Tapus, I linked our park tickets to the Universal app. They then appear in the "Wallet" section of the app. I also added a credit card. From Saturday when we arrived to the day before our VB day, I used the app with the tickets in the "wallet" to go to the parks. That's Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I was using it. Now, on Wednesday, the VB day, as they began letting people in, I pulled up the app just as I had been all week and guess what? The tickets were GONE. It was like I'd never linked them or added them. Girl was so nice as I sputtered about how they were there and now weren't. She told me to take my time but ultimately, I had to get out of line. First went to where they sell tickets because that was what she suggested. They couldn't help and sent me to Guest Services. They honestly weren't any help either. Like I think three people tried to find our tickets in the system but couldn't. I should mention, they were purchased from Undercover Tourist and they said that is why they couldn't find them. While they (GS) weren't finding them, I went into my email to find the order confirmation and then also found the link from UT to the printable tickets. Had I done that from the get go, we would have gotten in much sooner. I just had to pull them up on my phone and they worked fine. Also, while I was futzing around with my phone, my wife called UT and she said they were very nice and willing to help but since I found the tickets we ended up not needing them to do anything. I don't want to give the impression that you shouldn't buy from UT. While it seemed to semi-complicate this particular situation, I've used them for just about all of our Orlando trips for Disney and Universal and always good experiences. I really have no idea what caused the tickets to disappear. Later that night I was able to relink them into the app and they continued to be there and work for the rest of our trip.

OK...so we lost about 20 minutes with that debacle. Then, just for fun, I caused us to lose another 10 or so minutes. DW went to get our premium seating while kids and I started heading to go do some slides. We all showed our room keys initially to get in for EE and then DW went to get in line for the seating. Somehow, kids and I got out of the EE area and then when we tried to go to slides that were open, we hit a road block where you had to show your keys again. So, I had to go all the way back to DW to get our room keys. Lesson learned - keep those keys with you for that first hour!!

Finally, we were able to start riding. We did Moana (family raft) which was Ride Now and then went over to the Krakatau Aqua Coaster. Rode that twice in a row (Ride Now) and then I think around 9:30 it was showing a 10 minute wait so we tapped in and went to ride a different raft type ride (forgetting name) that was Ride Now. Then back to Aquacoaster. After that ride, it was showing 40 minute wait so we tapped in and went over to DW to check out our premium seating. Took a little break and got some drinks too. I think we did Lazy River after that. We really wanted to do the Fast river but it was closed. This was the week they had that electrical malfunction so we never got to try it which was a bummer. There were a couple of other slides closed too that I think were related to that.

We did Aquacoaster for a 4th time. Hit the Lazy River again. I lost my Tapu Tapu and had to go get a new one. I would have been more panicked about it except I'd read on many a thread that this happens all the time. It was very easy to get a new one. It was getting to be lunch time so we (DS and I) ordered food from our server in the premium seating area. I will say, the service as far as friendliness was very good. The time it took to get food though was really sloooooooowwwwwwwww. DW and DD went and ordered food at the restaurant. They got their food, sat and ate it and then came back and DS and I were still waiting. It did finally come and it was pretty good. I had coconut chicken sliders and DS had a cheeseburger. By the time we got our food and finished eating, I think it was around 1:30 or maybe almost 2. It was very hot and very crowded. We decided to go back to the room and plan was to come back later in the evening. I let the people at the premium seating stand (there is a place where usually 2 - 3 people were there to help) that we were leaving and would be back. No problem - the seat was ours for the day. We didn't leave anything behind other than the towels we'd rented. Oh - that was a mini-snafu. Like very minor. I really didn't want to pay $6 a pop on rented towels so had read that a lot of people just grab them from the Cabana Bay pool on the way over to VB. We actually did that on the Monday night before for a quick little evening hop over to VB. Unfortunately, at 7:40 in the morning, the gates to the pool were locked so we weren't able to do that when we headed over that morning. Oh, well....

Chilled in the room and then went to dinner at Toothsome. While there, DW was noticing the radar and a big storm coming. Wasn't sure VB would be an evening option. DD wanted to ride Gringotts after dinner so while DS and DW headed back to room, DD and I headed there. We rode and then, when we started walking outside, noticed the very dark clouds forming. DW also texted to let me know storm was coming. DD and I made it to City Walk central parking when the deluge hit. Waited a while for the bus because so many people were trying to get back to the hotel. Finally got on, though and made it back to our room. So, sadly, we did not make it back to VB. We were a little disappointed but as the Aquacoaster was our favorite and we got to ride it 4 times, we were ok.

Oh - something else I did that morning. I had a photo package and made sure to go to the photo store where they were able to link the package to our Tapu Tapus. That was really cool because then the selfie station photos and the slide photos all showed up with my other pictures that came with the package.

Also - thoughts on premium seating. DW and I agreed we would not do that again. Getting there early, we would have had plenty of seating options. It was nice to have the server but it took so long, it really wasn't worth the money we paid. I think the best part was having the private locker. That was nice, but again, not worth what we paid. For Wednesday, June 5th (the day we were there) it was $110. Originally, we were going to go on Monday and the price when I called a few weeks in advance was $80. It went up $30 when I called a few days before to switch to Wednesday. Apparently, the Monday would have gone up as well so it is best to reserve early. But either way, the value just wasn't there for us. BTW - a cabana for that same day was initially $375 and then went up to over $400 (maybe close to $500). That's more than a room at one of the premium hotels so couldn't justify that though they do sound pretty nice.

I think, overall, we had a good time and I'm glad we got to check out Volcano Bay. Obviously, I'd do some things differently and I can't control weather (or electrical issues that close down sections of the park) but we did have a good time. Will hopefully get to check it out again some day when everything is operational.

thank you for this post - I think you just answered my Premium Seating question. It is my first time at Volcano bay in 2 weeks and I called to get premium seating. I read blogs which said a pair of premium seats are between $30 and $70 dollars but when I called I was told it was $140 for the day I wanted. I signed up but am rethinking if I will go through with it. I was told the price was this high because they charge for those based on Demand Pricing - ie as availability falls the price goes up. quite a bit of a shock to me. I wonder what others feel like about the seating...and also can you tell me if you get a choice of where or is it a first come first serve for premium seats? Like what if I wanted front row of the volcano pool, will I just have to get there early, or is that pre-assigned based on purchase date.

 

[soniam]

thank you for this post - I think you just answered my Premium Seating question. It is my first time at Volcano bay in 2 weeks and I called to get premium seating. I read blogs which said a pair of premium seats are between $30 and $70 dollars but when I called I was told it was $140 for the day I wanted. I signed up but am rethinking if I will go through with it. I was told the price was this high because they charge for those based on Demand Pricing - ie as availability falls the price goes up. quite a bit of a shock to me. I wonder what others feel like about the seating...and also can you tell me if you get a choice of where or is it a first come first serve for premium seats? Like what if I wanted front row of the volcano pool, will I just have to get there early, or is that pre-assigned based on purchase date.

How many people did you say you need seating for? It sounds to me like they are charging you for 2 sets of premium chairs, 4 total chairs, with each set having 2 chairs. I think all of the premium loungers are all in the same place now. They are behind the Dragon Boat bar at the back of the wave pool beach. They let us pick last October from within the area. There are no premium loungers right in front of the wave pool, at the bottom of the volcano.

 

[Z-Knight]

How many people did you say you need seating for? It sounds to me like they are charging you for 2 sets of premium chairs, 4 total chairs, with each set having 2 chairs. I think all of the premium loungers are all in the same place now. They are behind the Dragon Boat bar at the back of the wave pool beach. They let us pick last October from within the area. There are no premium loungers right in front of the wave pool, at the bottom of the volcano.

I made sure to ask...it was for just two loungers - so for 2 people. Quantity 1, $130 before tax