Volcano Bay - 1st Time Advice

[HalfGlass]

Hey All,

So it looks like I will be going to Volcano Bay for the first time ever on Saturday, May 5th. We will be getting to the park around 10:00 or so, since our flight is landing insanely late the night before.

My question is...are we going to have problems reserving good rides like Krakatau by the time we get there, or will we be okay? We can come and leave as we please since we will be at Cabana Bay, but we'd rather not trek back and forth between park and resort if we don't have to.

Not sure how everything works there or even how easy it is to get a beach chair at that time of the day to hang around. Is is possible?

We aren't "dying" to go to the water park, it's just an add on day for us before we go drink at Citywalk for Cinco de Mayo. We definitely want to see what it's all about, and outside of Krakatau, there isn't a slide we NEED to do.

Any thoughts?

 

[Ridgepole]

I've only been twice and that was last December. I thought the premium seating was a bad deal. After paying, discovered we had to rent towels. The seating area was not convenient to get in and out of and the "server" was no service. The lock box only keyed to one tapu so tough for two if you aren't attached at the hip. Maybe the $100(s) more for a cabana is good. Doubt it.
As rides go it's a crapshoot depending on crowds. I have heard many onsite people hit it hard in the morning and do IOA or US in the afternoon. This was first week of March I got that info.

 

[Ridgepole]

Also, keep in mind you can only reserve ONE at a time.

 

[Coasted]

Realise you flying in v.late and getting to park ~10am. If opening time is also 10am, then everybody can / will queuing to go in / going in then. Instead I highly recommend rushing for an hour earlier 9am to use onsite early access - amazing perk (even though experienced in Feb off peak) - especially as you can walk to the park.

Get straight on Krakatau etc etc before the park fully opens to the public and the wait time goes crazy. You could get rides done then go back to hotel bed! / beach lounger, whilst others then arrive and queue for hours and hours...

 

[JoeCamel]

Drag yourselves out of bed, get to the park with early entry using the CBBR entrance and stake out your chairs then take a nap! If you wait at that time you might as well stay at the CBBR south pool and soak up volcano views from their lazy river.
This is my opinion but trying to fight the crowds will not make for a relaxing day. You can nap in VB while your TapuTapu times tick off. Remember sleep is highly over rated.

 

[Nick]

If you want the best experience for yourself, you need to get there for Early Park Admission (which means booking at least one night on-site) get done with things like Krakatau and the body slides as those are low capacity. While you are doing that, pick up some return times with your Tapu-Tapu. and do some of the big raft rides. There will also be many rides that are "ride now", which you can ride while waiting for what you have tapped for on your Tapu. Then you'll be able to relax for the rest of the day once crowds are at their highest.

PRO TIP: Make sure you set up an account on the Universal app and add in your credit card ahead of time if you plan on using the Tapu Tapu for purchases. It's not overly easy to set up on the fly if you haven't looked at it a little bit and it's 100% necessary that you have an account anyway. This will save you from wasting time on this and potentially having to go to Guest Services if you really can't figure it out.

Lastly, there are many concierge huts around the park. If you ever have questions, they likely have your answer!

 

[Coasted]

If you want the best experience for yourself, you need to get there for Early Park Admission (which means booking at least one night on-site) get done with things like Krakatau and the body slides as those are low capacity. While you are doing that, pick up some return times with your Tapu-Tapu. and do some of the big raft rides. There will also be many rides that are "ride now", which you can ride while waiting for what you have tapped for on your Tapu. Then you'll be able to relax for the rest of the day once crowds are at their highest.

PRO TIP: Make sure you set up an account on the Universal app and add in your credit card ahead of time if you plan on using the Tapu Tapu for purchases. It's not overly easy to set up on the fly if you haven't looked at it a little bit and it's 100% necessary that you have an account anyway. This will save you from wasting time on this and potentially having to go to Guest Services if you really can't figure it out.

Lastly, there are many concierge huts around the park. If you ever have questions, they likely have your answer!

Another example of what makes this forum great! - the time and effort taken by one individual (example) @Nick C. to share great advice with another individual.

The wider general public could benefit, if there was a way to flag / find these. Perhaps consistently naming as ‘advice’ columns and grouping in the forums menu.

 

[HalfGlass]

Yes, I can’t thank you all enough for all of your help! Means a lot that you take the time to strategize and give a detailed write up! Looks like I’ll be pulling myself out of bed for EE that morning, I trust your guys expert advice.

Thanks again! :clap:

 

[Donald Razorduck]

Here's what we did last week. We stayed at Volcano Bay, we got there early and had to wait. I had waited too late to reserve premium seating so it was important to snag a good spot chair wise as well. If you are riding slides, being in front of the Volcano isn't the best spot by the way. There are plenty of nice, shaded areas to snag a spot in the action zone. We got to chairs that was shaded allthe time we were there. It was a bit cool but we have done Typhoon Lagoon in cooler weather. The heated water was hit and miss. Some slides were very nice while others were luke warm. We as forked other the bucks for the quick queue bands that got you a single use on most of the slides except the two capsule slides atop the volcano. What we did was hit the slides that are notorious for getting long waits. In fact, we rode Krakatau 5 times in a row with basically no wait. It was absolutely a blast. We did all the others several times before relaxing a bit and slowing down. We had the band's and had park to park tickets so we went back to Cabana Bay for a few hours before going back between 6 and 8 and that's when we used our quick queues. If this park gets that new tower like the employee say is about to get underway and it has another water coaster like Krakatau , I'll make it a must revisit Park.

 

[sparky]

Drag yourselves out of bed, get to the park with early entry using the CBBR entrance and stake out your chairs then take a nap! If you wait at that time you might as well stay at the CBBR south pool and soak up volcano views from their lazy river.
This is my opinion but trying to fight the crowds will not make for a relaxing day. You can nap in VB while your TapuTapu times tick off. Remember sleep is highly over rated.

has anyone tried not going during the day? Heading there at night? I know it isn't open super late, but my melanin deficient red heads hate sunblock and spf shirts so very much.