Volcano Bay: Photos & Reviews

[Frank Drackman]

some photos

 

[JPRA513]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Frank Drackman]

here are some other photos:

 

[Hockeyman55]

Finally made it to Volcano Bay on Monday and a little bit of yesterday morning and the waterpark gods must have been smiling upon me with the luck I had both days. Started both days with EPA and on Monday I saw hardly a soul for the first hour, the cool weather sure helped scare off some but I took full advantage of it and had no waits the entire time there. Of course rode Krakatau multiple times without having to get out of the raft, what a ride, best waterslide I have ever been on. Of course I knew Honu would be great as well as Maku and Puihi but the one that caught me by surprise was Punga racers, those were the surprise for me, want to talk about a fast and wild ride, I flew down those slides and got nervous how fast I was going, such a blast. Only slides I didn't go on were the drop slides inside the volcano, other than that I experienced it all and cant wait to get back. I even managed to snag some pics while there, here is the first one.

Volcano Bay by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

 

[Ashhanbre]

how cold was the water?

 

[Hockeyman55]

how cold was the water?

It was heated so the water was perfect. Im going to guess it was in the high 60s Monday morning but warmed up into the low 70s by noon. I would wrap my towel around me as I would go from slide to slide to stay warm, worked out pretty well.

 

[Returning-The-Reaction]

I even managed to snag some pics while there, here is the first one.

Volcano Bay by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

That is a beautiful picture!

 

[UNIrd]

Volcano Bay by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

This picture!

 

[JPRA513]

I'll go ahead and echo the sentiments about that photo. Honestly, looks like it could be used in promotional materials by Universal. Glad you had a fun time!

 

[captainmoch]

Just a note: Volcano Bay might close this weekend due to the cold front coming into Orlando. Not terribly likely but it's being considered, since temperatures may be as low as 40 degrees this weekend.

 

[Mad Dog]

Just a note: Volcano Bay might close this weekend due to the cold front coming into Orlando. Not terribly likely but it's being considered, since temperatures may be as low as 40 degrees this weekend.

Disney's water parks will be closed, one for refurb, the other for the cold weather.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Mighty Krakatau by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr


Volcano Bay by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr


Volcano Bay by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

 

[bobbie68]

Hi I went to VB last July/August and had a blast. At that time they had offered the unlimited EP that we had purchased ahead of time. It was great to have it due to the long lines and VB working its kinks out. We rented a cabana on one of the days, we were located in the wave village where it is dubbed (cabana row) this is where it backs up to I-4. I was not happy at first with this location however, it was not as bad as it seemed. We did not hear any traffic and the ceiling fan and music drowned other stuff out. What I liked particularly about this cabana is we were the only one by itself set back from the walk way. There was no traffic near our cabana and people couldn't put their chairs right up to it. We noticed at many cabanas people were putting their chairs in front of others cabanas. I would have been very upset. Our cabana was #22 I believe. I thought it was nice to have the cabana but for us it probably wasn't worth it. We are not people who rest a lot and I felt like for the money I had to be in the cabana. I think it is great for families who have people who like to relax.

We did stay at Cabana Bay so we had early entry and our own separate entrance which was nice. This was very helpful in the summer. I recommend to anyone going in the summer months to stay on-site if possible. Our favorite rides were the Krakatau, Puihi and Moana. Even though we had the unlimited express pass we had a plan. We hit all the main rides first multiple times with early entry. The boys did the volcano body slides at night and enjoyed them. My daughter and I did not try them. I heard a lot of complaints of people getting water up their nose and feeling closed in. I loved the fearless river. However, I understand they now use life vests instead of tubes so I am not sure how I will like it this year. The lazy river was average but nice. We didn't go in the wave pool. It is beautiful but I found the waves kind of boring and it was cold.

We ate at Whakawaiwai we had the long board pizza and the shrimp mac and cheese. My only problem was that I thought the portions were a little small. We also ate at Kohola and had burgers and coconut crusted chicken. Overall I think the food here is very good for a park.

The tapu tapu bands I am on the fence about. I am not sure if I like the whole virtual line queue yet. I do know that I don't like wearing these big things on my wrist. Just a tip if they still have problems with falling off (ours did) We used shoe laces to tie them and hold them in place. It worked very good.

The day we didn't have a cabana we got regular seats in front of the Dancing Dragons Boat Bar in front of the wave pool. I liked these seats because they were right near a bathroom, a drink refill and a concierge hut. We did not rent a locker I purchased an "aqua vault" and locked it to my chair. This is the best money I have spent on an item for a park.

Thanks for reading along:grin:

 

[mbreen603]

Hey everyone! I just thought I'd share some of my reviews of Volcano Bay as I took a few trips in the past month!

This was my first time visiting since last summer in mid-June and I have to say, the park has made tons of improvements since then! All of the pathways were opened this time, the inside of the Volcano was opened including the pathway across the wave pool, the 'gong' and the wave notification thing was working, and all of the TapuTapu effects were working!

Even though the slides are still great, I do think there could be some improvements:

-Kala & Ta Nui are a bit rough on the back, especially towards the end of both the blue and green slides. I'm not sure how they would fix this, but wow you certainly feel every section put together on your back.

-Punga Racers ending is still terrible. I thought these were supposed to have the "Manta" shaped mats by now but I guess they just gave up on that idea? Anyways, if they could re-work the ending so it isn't so rough and put in timers to see who wins the race, that'd be great! I still really miss the Aqua Drag Racer at Wet N Wild before it closed. Those and Mach 5 were so much better than the Punga Racers.

-Maku & Puihi tubes are now very awkward! Instead of sitting upright like the older tubes and the tubes on Honu ika Moana, these new ones are a bit strange because of how far back you are reclining while sliding down the slides.

-Ko'okiri seems to have some maintenance problems as it seemed to close in the afternoon almost every visit I was there (4 different days between June and July). Kala & Ta Nui had no problems, only Ko'okiri. Did anybody else notice the same?

-TeAwa Fearless River with the life-jackets are no where near as fun as the old tubes. While I understand the change, I do not get the removal of the big wave from underneath the Volcano either. They send such a small wave now it is hardly even noticeable. It is still a lot of fun, but it was AMAZING with the tubes and the giant wave.


Overall, I believe the park still has a bit of a ways to go to improve, but it is miles better than last year! Besides the slides, if I had one major complaint, it is the RIDE NOW. Punga Racers was listed as RIDE NOW, and the line was all the way to the bottom of the stairs. Taniwha Tubes had RIDE NOW and the began before the swinging bridge. I personally waited about 25 minutes for Ko'okiri for my RIDE NOW. I think this should be 5-10 min MAX and hope they solve this soon. Another issue is when I tap in to wait and then go to a RIDE NOW slide, I can no longer see the wait time as it gets stuck on "Smile for the camera on your way down" or something like that.

I thoroughly enjoy Volcano Bay, but I will only go early in the morning at park opening or after a storm in the late afternoon to close. It is a terrific park and I'm really curious to see what they'll put for their expansion, but I think they should fix some of the things I mentioned above before moving forward.

 

[Alicia]

Hey everyone! I just thought I'd share some of my reviews of Volcano Bay as I took a few trips in the past month!

This was my first time visiting since last summer in mid-June and I have to say, the park has made tons of improvements since then! All of the pathways were opened this time, the inside of the Volcano was opened including the pathway across the wave pool, the 'gong' and the wave notification thing was working, and all of the TapuTapu effects were working!

Even though the slides are still great, I do think there could be some improvements:

-Kala & Ta Nui are a bit rough on the back, especially towards the end of both the blue and green slides. I'm not sure how they would fix this, but wow you certainly feel every section put together on your back.

-Punga Racers ending is still terrible. I thought these were supposed to have the "Manta" shaped mats by now but I guess they just gave up on that idea? Anyways, if they could re-work the ending so it isn't so rough and put in timers to see who wins the race, that'd be great! I still really miss the Aqua Drag Racer at Wet N Wild before it closed. Those and Mach 5 were so much better than the Punga Racers.

-Maku & Puihi tubes are now very awkward! Instead of sitting upright like the older tubes and the tubes on Honu ika Moana, these new ones are a bit strange because of how far back you are reclining while sliding down the slides.

-Ko'okiri seems to have some maintenance problems as it seemed to close in the afternoon almost every visit I was there (4 different days between June and July). Kala & Ta Nui had no problems, only Ko'okiri. Did anybody else notice the same?

-TeAwa Fearless River with the life-jackets are no where near as fun as the old tubes. While I understand the change, I do not get the removal of the big wave from underneath the Volcano either. They send such a small wave now it is hardly even noticeable. It is still a lot of fun, but it was AMAZING with the tubes and the giant wave.


Overall, I believe the park still has a bit of a ways to go to improve, but it is miles better than last year! Besides the slides, if I had one major complaint, it is the RIDE NOW. Punga Racers was listed as RIDE NOW, and the line was all the way to the bottom of the stairs. Taniwha Tubes had RIDE NOW and the began before the swinging bridge. I personally waited about 25 minutes for Ko'okiri for my RIDE NOW. I think this should be 5-10 min MAX and hope they solve this soon. Another issue is when I tap in to wait and then go to a RIDE NOW slide, I can no longer see the wait time as it gets stuck on "Smile for the camera on your way down" or something like that.

I thoroughly enjoy Volcano Bay, but I will only go early in the morning at park opening or after a storm in the late afternoon to close. It is a terrific park and I'm really curious to see what they'll put for their expansion, but I think they should fix some of the things I mentioned above before moving forward.

Thanks for the update! Glad to see things are improving - and what could still use improvement.

The racers slide at Aquatica is great. They just replaced the whole thing too so it’s nice and smooth. It’s just like Aqua Drag Racers but with twice as many slides. And it does have the timers for each lane so you know who won.

 

[eXvute]

Did anyone look at the TEA report for last year? The water park report was very interesting. Volcano Bay posted 1.5 million guests in a shortened year (7.5 months). Disney's parks posted 1.9 and 2.1 million in a full year..... Does anyone else here think that Volcano Bay will reach number one for this year? I know that it was new and also that the months it was not open were some of the slower throughout the year. However they did miss spring break. I think it would be a major accomplishment if they over took the Disney parks in their first full year. What are your thoughts?

 

[Cheezbat]

Did anyone look at the TEA report for last year? The water park report was very interesting. Volcano Bay posted 1.5 million guests in a shortened year (7.5 months). Disney's parks posted 1.9 and 2.1 million in a full year..... Does anyone else here think that Volcano Bay will reach number one for this year? I know that it was new and also that the months it was not open were some of the slower throughout the year. However they did miss spring break. I think it would be a major accomplishment if they over took the Disney parks in their first full year. What are your thoughts?

I’d almost count on it. A number of people I know held off visiting until this year because they figured the crowds were too insane last year and would be better this year.

 

[mainejeff]

Volcano Bay is Orlando waterparks' DisneySea. I don't do waterparks anymore but I WILL do Volcano Bay next time that I visit Universal!

 

[bob albert]

Volcano Bay is Orlando waterparks' DisneySea. I don't do waterparks anymore but I WILL do Volcano Bay next time that I visit Universal!

any water park is terrible when it gets past a certain crowd level. It becomes a natural limit on crowds to a point. There is just a lot of pent up demand for more universal days with increased on site guests. Peak crowd volcano bay is not a must do.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

So I finally went today.

I liked it, didn't love it--I might have if the waits weren't so long. Do the lines get shorter in the slower season/weekdays?

I was able to go on Ko'okiri, Krakatau, Honu, and one of the black Pungas. From what I experienced, the slide lineup itself stands toe to toe with BB. Tiawa (sp?) the Fearless River was awesome, great way to spend a wait.

Blizzard Beach > Volcano Bay > Typhoon Lagoon