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

[Eddie512]

This time next week, I WILL BE THERE!!! wondering if people can recommend some good things to eat for lunch or snacks to try???

 

[soniam]

This time next week, I WILL BE THERE!!! wondering if people can recommend some good things to eat for lunch or snacks to try???

The jerk shrimp mac n cheese @ Whakawaiwa Eats
Adult beverages were all good, but I liked the Ko'okiri the best. Guavurama was my second favorite.
Chocolate pineapple upside down cake was good, but a little dry. Molten lava cake was good.
Burgers were good. DS just had a cheeseburger with mustard, but it tasted charcoal grilled.

 

[CoachZ]

No, it actually locks. The first day, it just had a combination lock. On our second day, they replace the combi lock with one that worked with the Tapu. It was a clear plug thing. You would push it down with your Tapu face on it, and it would lock. To unlock, you would push it down again with the same Tapu. I had an expensive camera that I wanted to lock up, so I absolutely needed a locker. It was a good size box too. I was able to fit my big DSLR with decent size lens, 2 smart phones, 2 Kindles, a small water camera, a Go Pro with a short stick, and a small wallet with about 1/3 to half the room to spare. I did have to stack some things. My only complaint is that we needed a separate table. We would use the lock box as a table but kept having to remove stuff to get in it.

Does anyone have a picture of the lock box that comes with the premium seating? If not, any idea on the size of the box? Just wondering if it will hold a backpack of dry clothes.

 

[atricks]

Does anyone have a picture of the lock box that comes with the premium seating? If not, any idea on the size of the box? Just wondering if it will hold a backpack of dry clothes.

 

[Music City Mama]

View attachment 247304

Do you have a guess on the dimensions? Also, what kind of lock does it have on it?

 

[k&Jsmom]

Does anyone know if I would be allowed to wear my water proof belt bag on the aqua coaster? I know its not allowed on the slides. Thanks

 

[sweetpee_1993]

What's the word on GoPros? Are there a lot of slides I can't use it for? When I am using it, do they require a particular mount (chest, wrist)?

Juuuust found out we're going to have the chance to stay at Cabana Bay and go to Volcano Bay in September. I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am about this!

 

[Eddie512]

Does anyone know if I would be allowed to wear my water proof belt bag on the aqua coaster? I know its not allowed on the slides. Thanks

I'm wondering if I can wear my waterproof aquabox (containing phone, room key, etc) on a lanyard?

PS thank you to whichever forum contributor suggested this, it's such a great item and only $7.99!!! Having spent big bucks on waterproof cameras (that take lesser photos) I am mighty pleased with it!

 

[soniam]

Does anyone have a picture of the lock box that comes with the premium seating? If not, any idea on the size of the box? Just wondering if it will hold a backpack of dry clothes.

I don't think that would fit, unless it was maybe 1 person's clothes. I would just leave the clothes on the lounger. We did and didn't have any problems. We only used the lockbox for valuables.

Do you have a guess on the dimensions? Also, what kind of lock does it have on it?

It's a little more than a foot deep and a little more than a foot long. The width is about 6".

Does anyone know if I would be allowed to wear my water proof belt bag on the aqua coaster? I know its not allowed on the slides. Thanks

They were kind of picky about stuff when we went opening weekend; however, Krakatau, the aqua coaster, was one of the few things that they let me keep my flip flops and glasses on for. So, there's a good chance that would let you keep that.

What's the word on GoPros? Are there a lot of slides I can't use it for? When I am using it, do they require a particular mount (chest, wrist)?

Juuuust found out we're going to have the chance to stay at Cabana Bay and go to Volcano Bay in September. I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am about this!

The GoPros seem iffy. On opening weekend, they wouldn't let us take it on hardly any of the raft/tube/boat slides. Didn't do the body slides. We have one of the short floaty sticks with a secure strap for ours. It's a small one without a display. However, I have since seen videos of people obviously using their GoPros on the tube and raft slides. We are going to try it in July. I think they were just being particularly anal the opening weekend.

 

[soniam]

I'm wondering if I can wear my waterproof aquabox (containing phone, room key, etc) on a lanyard?

PS thank you to whichever forum contributor suggested this, it's such a great item and only $7.99!!! Having spent big bucks on waterproof cameras (that take lesser photos) I am mighty pleased with it!

They might let you take it on Krakatau, but it's anyone's guess if you can take it on the other raft/tube slides. They were making us hold out prescription glasses with straps in our hands opening weekend. I have since seen video of people wearing their sunglasses on these slides

 

[CoachZ]

View attachment 247304

Thank you! Looks too small for a backpack with clothes for 3.

 

[RalphinSC]

What's the word on GoPros? Are there a lot of slides I can't use it for? When I am using it, do they require a particular mount (chest, wrist)?

Juuuust found out we're going to have the chance to stay at Cabana Bay and go to Volcano Bay in September. I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am about this!

Honestly, they have been all over the place with the GoPro usage. I think I have seen POV's now from every slide in the park, but I have also seen multiple youtube videos of vloggers being told that they would have to put their cameras up to ride. It seems to be a very loose policy right now that can go either way depending on who the team member is working the slide entrance to the rule of the day.

I personally wouldn't bother (and I love to use my GoPro!). And that's just because I would be irritated at bringing it all the way to the slide just to have to take it back and lock it up just to be allowed on. No policy seems consistent right now.

 

[jagafen]

Just wanted to pop in and share our experience, June 21st. All in all, it was a good day. We were there for early entry (must do for onsite guests) and stayed until about 1:30. We had premium seating, which was nice, even though our view was mostly of lifejackets (#16), so not the most scenic. In the process of obtaining our premium seating, which I had reserved on April 21st when they started taking reservations, it seems as if the process has changed a bit. I'm not sure when it started, as I stopped reading VB updates a few days prior to our trip. I was told over the phone, and on our confirmation, to proceed to the concierge desk. Once there, they asked for my ticket, and I showed them my confirmation paperowrk. They told me I needed to go to guest services (to the right of the entrance, RIGHT after they scan your ticket) to get the "ticket" to submit to them in order to actually get assigned our seating. Seems a bit silly, but since we were #s 7,8, and 9 in our line to get into the parks, it didn't take too long. Probably not even 10 minutes concierge to guest services back to concierge. A very nice worker opened up the top side of the EE line (rope partition) so I could cross back down to guest services. I had explained to him the situation, so when I returned with my magic ticket, he let me back in through the rope, so I didn't have to stand in the EE line 2x.

As far as the parks/rides themselves, we did Krakatau 2x right off the bat. Then we headed over to the turtle and the whale in River village. Did both of those. We did the other big family slide behind Krakatau, and 1 of the 4 twisty slides, and then another 2 person raft slide. So, 8 slides?? Maybe a few more that I'm forgetting? Everything was ride now, and lines were taking about a half hour, maybe a little less. Hard to tell when you don't have a watch on. DS had ridden all of the slides he wanted, so we broke for lunch at around 11:00 or so. The servers at the premium seating (bless their hearts) were trying real hard. There were 2 assigned to our area. One was obviously newer than the other. As the newer server was taking our order, she was repeating back what we had ordered, but naming it wrong, so we repeated it again to be sure she understood what we wanted. After the 2nd person ordered, she exclaimed "I'm sorry, but I don't know this menu at all!"...good grief. I tried to order a frozen drink (just a pina colada) and there was some sort of complication. Our server couldn't tell us what was available that was frozen, and I felt like this poor girl was running around the park trying to find an answer...honestly, if she took the time to learn the menu and drinks, it would probably make her job a bit easier (coming from and ex-server/bartender of about 11 years). I settled for a different adult beverage in the end. Not a big deal in the end, but being in a serving position and not familiar with what you're selling is a bit of a peevy thing for me. The food was good (DH said the jerk wings were greasy). DS had the longboard pizza, and ate about 3/4 of it (it's huge). DH also had the conch fritters. I had the coconut chicken sliders, and we all shared the fruit salad. With the exception of DH's wings, it was all tasty. The servers were very attentive too, and we never felt like we had to chase anyone down. The one strange thing that happened was our food delivery person...brought everything with cloches over it, and in an insulated carrier. No silverware or ketchup, so as he was distributing the food, I was asking him if the servers tipped him out (NO) He said that food running isn't a tipped position, but we gave him $5 anyway when he brought back the silverware and ketchup for us. Maybe that's the ex-server in me, but the area attendants basically only take your orders and run drinks...I had a hard time with not tipping the person who actually brought around our food.

Also, I found it odd that we couldn't run a tab for our premium lounger. We had to close out every time we ordered something. We were told that it was because if the weather changed, and they couldn't come out, they couldn't close out our check, or we might leave if the weather got really bad. I don't see why they can't run it like they do at the resorts and just charge a flat 18% gratuity and be done with it. It just struck me as odd, since we've had great experiences at the pools with their servers.

Oh, and even though we went in with tempered expectations due to how crazy everything's been, the one big disappointment was the pretty soft serve ice cream...It was a big letdown. It's a machine that injects flavor/color into the vanilla soft serve, but for DH and I, it basically tasted like vanilla ice cream. I had the pineapple (and honestly, I was expecting dole whip pineapple, my assumption, my bad). DH had to coconut, and he said it barely tasted like coconut. So, if you're expecting heavily flavored ice cream, that may not happen. It was just a bit of a damper, as we got the ice cream to eat while walking to and waiting for the bus...you know, last impressions and all. Overall, it was a good day, and the hiccups were on the relatively minor side, and overall didn't impact our day in an overly negative way.

 

[disnutz]

VB question of the day - how early do the busses run from the other resorts? I heard to get to VB by 715-730 to be very close to first in line to get in, so will the busses run that early?

 

[Music City Mama]

They told me I needed to go to guest services (to the right of the entrance, RIGHT after they scan your ticket) to get the "ticket" to submit to them in order to actually get assigned our seating.

This is really helpful to know. I wonder if it will still be like this next week -- no telling, but that will be my plan.

What section was your premium seating in? Sounds very frustrating re: the servers, tipping, etc. Ugh.

 

[sandam1]

I have a couple of questions, for those of you that have been to VB and stayed at Cabana Bay:

- How feasible is to take a "mid-day break" or a "rain break" and come back later?

- In the event of capacity closings (which will hopefully NOT be an issue by the time we go at the end of September), if you have already entered the park once, are you still unable to come back into the park? I'm wondering if there are "phased closings" like Disney has or a "no more room at the inn, period" scenario? I'd hate to buy a ticket for the whole day and only be able to use a few hours.

Thanks!

 

[FlipHipster]

Don't remember seeing this posted but I noticed that @UniversalORL has been responding to tweets asking about closing due to capacity and referring them to the Volcano Bay capacity hotline (407) 817-8317

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Has it gotten any better sense (sp) the grand opening or are the waits still at 170 min

 

[atricks]

Has it gotten any better sense (sp) the grand opening or are the waits still at 170 min

Yes, and improving almost every day it seems (It does still get VERY busy though), read the last few pages here for more details. Hint: Go EARLY, and stay through rainstorms. Park has been a smash hit, and It's been closing very early for capacity nearly every day lately and only opening up in the afternoon (best time to come is right after a thunderstorm) It does still get busy, but the waits are a bit better and there's more to do than there was at opening day while waiting for the rides that have the lines.

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTimTracker/videos has several volcano bay videos that shows some of the improvements.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Yes, and improving almost every day it seems (It does still get VERY busy though), read the last few pages here for more details. Hint: Go EARLY, and stay through rainstorms. Park has been a smash hit, and It's been closing very early for capacity nearly every day lately and only opening up in the afternoon (best time to come is right after a thunderstorm) It does still get busy, but the waits are a bit better and there's more to do than there was at opening day while waiting for the rides that have the lines.

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTimTracker/videos has several volcano bay videos that shows some of the improvements.[/QUOT

Thank you