What Have I Got Myself into? (Volcano Bay Opening Weekend)

soniam

Wooden leg named Smith...
Joined
Jun 22, 2012
This will be a combined pre-trip and trip report. Not much pre-trip left, since we will be leaving in about a week. My 11 year old son and I will be doing our first mother/son trip and our first Universal only trip. We have been to Universal before. Our trip dates will be May 25-29. We will be staying at Royal Pacific and attending Volcano Bay on its 2nd and 4th days of opening. I am not really sure that I fully know what I have gotten into by attending Volcano Bay opening weekend:eek: Here's a picture of DS and I at Margaritaville in March of last year.


DSC_2485_037.JPG
 
Plans

Arrival (May 25th): Fly into MCO and arrive at Royal Pacific late. I am hoping to find a will-call kiosk in the lobby to get some some of our Volcano Bay extras.

Volcano Bay (May 26th):

  • Pick up DS 3 park preferred annual pass and our premium seating voucher before the park opens, I hope. Hopefully, I can upgrade my 2 park annual pass to a 3 park at the ticket window. We have a July trip for which I have already bought single day Volcano Bay tickets. I will use one of those if I can't figure out how to upgrade my AP:sad2:
  • Hit Volcano Bay during early entry on its 2nd day of opening. Originally, we were going to go to a park first and the VB. However, I could only manage to get 1 regular, not unlimited, Express Pass at VB for my son. So, I am hoping the crowds will be lower then, and we can manage to get in some rides without having to wait too long. A lot of this depends upon how Tapu Tapu works:confused3
  • We will have premium seating in the Rainforest Village with a lock box, so I won't have to keep going back and forth to the locker between rides:beach:
  • Eat lunch and probably dinner there. Thank goodness they serve adult beverages; I suspect I will need one before the day is over:drinking1
  • The plan is to stay pretty much all day or until we can't stand it anymore. However, I would like to see it at night.

Islands of Adventure & Universal Studios (May 27th):

  • We will hit IOA during early entry.
  • We usually do Forbidden Journey first. DS has not done Kong yet, so I want to do the regular, non-EP, line for this once it opens.
  • We will head over to USF via Hogwart's Express and then eat lunch at Leaky Cauldron.
  • We should finish up at USF around 2 or 3pm and head back to Royal Pacific to swim and get tasty adult beverages for myself.
  • As per our tradition, we will eat at Margaritaville for dinner. Apparently, they don't take reservations after 5:45pm anymore. Hopefully, the wait won't be too long.
  • We might hit a park for a few rides or wand play after dinner.

Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, & Volcano Bay (May 28th):

  • We will hit rope drop at USF but not early entry. Only IOA has it this trip.
  • We plan to get to Toothsome at opening for lunch. We have not eaten there yet:jumping3:
  • We will head to IOA after lunch.
  • We should finish up in the early afternoon and then head to Volcano Bay for the rest of the day.
  • We have premium seating again for this day. I was lucky enough to get 1 unlimited Express Pass for DS. I also ended up with 2 regular Express Pass. I guess I will see if I can actually use both of them to ride each ride twice:confused3 We will do dinner here and probably get to stay until after dark.

Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, & Departure (May 29th):

  • We will be at IOA for early entry again.
  • We will probably head to USF before lunch and do maybe Minions and then head to Cowfish for lunch.
  • After lunch, we will finish up at USF.
  • Leave for the hotel for luggage and then the airport around 2pm.
 
Looking forward to hearing the details of your trip once you get back! We're going in June, and I'm afraid every day is going to be crazy busy at VB!!
 


Can't wait to hear your report on VB! We'll be there June 8 and have a cabana that day- expecting it to be a zoo for a long time! Haven't tried Toothsome yet- lunch is a good idea- I heard the dinner wait gets long!
 
Looking forward to hearing the details of your trip once you get back! We're going in June, and I'm afraid every day is going to be crazy busy at VB!!

Thanks for following along. I hope to get a little time to update with some live pics.

Can't wait to hear your report on VB! We'll be there June 8 and have a cabana that day- expecting it to be a zoo for a long time! Haven't tried Toothsome yet- lunch is a good idea- I heard the dinner wait gets long!

Thanks for reading. Is there anything you want pictures of specifically for your trip or any info, besides all of the info:)
 
Volcano Bay Planning Craziness:crazy:

Tickets:
- My first concern was tickets. I had to renew my 2 park preferred annual pass mid-March, before all of the announcements were made. Everything has been saying that you have to do it in person by May 25th. I finally called today and waited on hold forever. They said that you do have to do it in person, even if you don't live in Florida. On or before May 25th, it has to be at the Islands of Adventure upgrade center. After May 25th, you can do it at Guest Services. So, now I have to find a GS that's open before Volcano Bay early entry at 9am on May 26th, or I can't get into the park. We get in after 10:30pm the night before, so it will have to be Friday morning. I am hoping the GS at Volcano Bay will open early, but I might not risk it and head to Islands of Adventure, which I am hoping will be open before 8am, since IOA has early entry at 8am.

- Second concern was my son's ticket. He doesn't have an annual pass. However, we will be coming back in July and possibly next March. After calculating the cost of individual tickets, multiday/multipark tickets, and the various annual passes, the 3 park preferred annual pass with 1 day Volcano Bay anytime ticket for July turned out to be the cheapest option. So, now I have to pick up his AP at a ticket counter on the morning of May 26th, before Volcano Bay opens for early entry at 9am. Again, I am hoping that the ticket counters either at Royal Pacific or IOA will open before 8am. Otherwise, I need the Volcano Bay ticket windows to open before 9am.

- Back up plan: Since we will be going in July, and our preferred APs will have blackout for Volcano Bay, I need tickets for the 3 of us for 1 day. Since all summer is the same price, I went ahead and bought the 3 tickets for July. I figure if we can't my son's AP or upgrade my AP before Volcano Bay opens at 9am on 5/26, then I might suck it up and just use 2 of the single day tickets. I can pick those up the night before at the hotel will call kiosk.

Wow! None of that was confusing:rolleyes: Now here's more:)

Premium Seating:
This was luckily pretty easy. Once it became available, I called and got 1 pair for both of our Volcano Bay days. Usually, it's 3 of us going, and I tend to stay at the chairs, only 1 or 2, since DS does't really use one much. However, with this being only the 2 of us, I knew I would be leaving the chairs a lot more. I thought it would be nice to have reserved seats with a shade, but I am really looking forward to that lockbox. I think it will save me a lot of back and forth to the lockers. I plan to bring the nice DSLR, and there is no way that I would leave it unattended. It cost more than this vacation, plus a couple of others. I don't usually splurge for things like this, but sometimes your time is worth the money. They sold out pretty quickly, I think. Someone posted on the boards when they became a available, so I jumped on it. Unfortunately, at the time, I didn't really understand the difference between the will-call kiosk and the ticket windows, so I picked ticket window. Now, I have to get these at the ticket window too on Friday morning. I am also hoping that having the reserved premium seating will help guarantee us entry on our second day, when we plan to get there in the afternoon. I don't know if they will reach capacity or not.

Express Pass:
We never buy Express Pass. We go during busy times, and it has always been cheaper to stay at one of the deluxe onsite hotels, which include unlimited EP. I hadn't even thought about buying EP for Volcano Bay. I didn't think we would need it with the new reservation system. Well, I started reading more about the Fallon ride and started getting paranoid. I priced it out for unlimited for both days for both of us, and it was going to be ~$250. That seemed like a lot of money. I hemmed and hawed around about it for a week or so. Then last Friday, I started to buy the unlimited EP, while I was at work. I must have gotten interrupted or there was a problem, but it didn't go through. I didn't think about it again until Monday morning. By then, it was pretty much too late:sad2: I couldn't find anything for the both of us online for either day. I called and managed to get 2 regular Express Pass for our second day. I kept trying online and managed to get 1 unlimited EP for our second day and 1 regular EP for our first day. I think I bought the last unlimited EP for 5/28 and the last regular EP for 5/26. I would pay more than $250 now to be able to get these:( I keep looking, because I have seen stuff show up for other days, just not ours. Maybe they will add more, fingers crossed.

Oh well, I had to make the best of it and changed our plans to show up during early entry on our first day to hopefully get a lot of rides in before it gets too crowded. Plus, we plan to be there all day, so hopefully, DS will get to do what he wants. At a minimum, he will get to ride everything at least once. With some form of Express Pass on our second day, I am not quite as worried, even though we won't be arriving until the afternoon. Having the EPs will also hopefully help with entry if they reach capacity. Luckily, I can pick all of these up at the will-call kiosk the night before. Here's what we have for EPs now. I am a little concerned about how they will deal with the regular EP. I don't want it to accidentally get used early in the day when he can still make Tapu Tapu reservations:oops: If it's a completely separate line and scanner, then it will be OK. However, I am thinking that I may not add the regular EP to his Tapu Tapu, assuming that's what they do, until later in the day when the park seems more crowded. I may do the same for my regular EP on the second day. I am hoping that I can add 1 regular EP for me, use up the rides, and then add the second one for another round of rides. We have always used the unlimited EP, so the one ride EP will be new. However, I may just be out of luck and lose the 2nd one. We'll see.

- Friday, 1 regular Express Pass (for my son)
- Sunday, 2 regular Express Pass (for me)
- Sunday, 1 unlimited Express Pass (for my son)


This all got so complicated, that I had to put a note in my phone calendar, so that I know what I have to pick up where and wheno_O Here's the note. It's a good thing that I am detail oriented and enjoy planning; otherwise, I might have given up by now. I guess my Disney World uber-planning skills have come in handy:)

Will Call Kiosk @ RPR Thurs night:
- VB July tickets
- VB 1 regular EP for 5/26
- VB 2 regular EPs for 5/28
- VB 1 Unlimited EP for 5/28

Ticket Window Fri morning:
- Son's 3 park preferred AP
- VB Premium seating 5/26
- VB Premium seating 5/28

Guest Services Fri morning:
- My VB AP upgrade
- My AP plastic card
 


Sounds like a lovely trip all round!

Have you stayed at SF before? It really is a beautiful resort.......
 
Sounds like a lovely trip all round!

Have you stayed at SF before? It really is a beautiful resort.......

Actually, we are staying at Royal Pacific. It's the place we stayed on our first Universal visit. I really like it, but my son likes HRH better. However, since RPR is a little closer to Volcano Bay and had such a good rate, we picked it this time. Plus, with just the 2 of us, we don't really need much room. We have never stayed at Sapphire Falls. I want to, but it's hard to pass up free unlimited EP. I found that I could get a room for this trip at CBBR and pay for unlimited EP to the parks for about the same price as RPR, but DS really wanted to be close to the parks, since we will be going to them 3 out of the 4 days at least. I would love to stay at CBBR too, but again, the EP economics have won out. We will be staying at PBH for the first time in July. I got a good AP rate there. Plus, I have been wanting to stay there for a while, but DH and DS always wanted to be at HRH for the proximity to the parks.
 
Actually, we are staying at Royal Pacific. It's the place we stayed on our first Universal visit. I really like it, but my son likes HRH better. However, since RPR is a little closer to Volcano Bay and had such a good rate, we picked it this time. Plus, with just the 2 of us, we don't really need much room. We have never stayed at Sapphire Falls. I want to, but it's hard to pass up free unlimited EP. I found that I could get a room for this trip at CBBR and pay for unlimited EP to the parks for about the same price as RPR, but DS really wanted to be close to the parks, since we will be going to them 3 out of the 4 days at least. I would love to stay at CBBR too, but again, the EP economics have won out. We will be staying at PBH for the first time in July. I got a good AP rate there. Plus, I have been wanting to stay there for a while, but DH and DS always wanted to be at HRH for the proximity to the parks.

Why did I think you were staying at both RP and SF??? Lol.....

Think I'm getting your trip report mixed up with another.......can't even blame wine!

Looking forward to seeing what you think of VB.......it looks so much fun......
 
In to read up on this! Hope you and your son have a wonderful time! I hope the ticket and express juggling doesn't turn into too much of a headache.

If it does, just remember it's ALWAYS 5:00 at Margaritaville! :drinking:
 
In to read up on this! Hope you and your son have a wonderful time! I hope the ticket and express juggling doesn't turn into too much of a headache.

If it does, just remember it's ALWAYS 5:00 at Margaritaville! :drinking:

Thanks! Actually, they look to have pretty tasty adult beverages at Volcano Bay too, so it could definitely be 5 o'clock there if need be;)
 
Super plans for a super trip!

I truly enjoy reading how others spend their time at UO

Waiting for more soniam!
 
Super plans for a super trip!

I truly enjoy reading how others spend their time at UO

Waiting for more soniam!

I probably won't have many updates until it gets closer next week. Thanks for following along.
 
Anxious to hear your VB reviews. We will be at PBH 5/31-6/2 and have not decided on upgrading to the 3-park pass yet. Decisions, decisions...
 
Anxious to hear your VB reviews. We will be at PBH 5/31-6/2 and have not decided on upgrading to the 3-park pass yet. Decisions, decisions...

I know. Everything is so unknown. Luckily, I think it will be less crowded for your trip than ours. At least the express pass prices are a little cheaper. Is there anything that you specifically want to know or want a picture of? I can try to get that posted soon on this report, since your trip is coming up. Thanks for reading.
 
OMG!!! I was just checking on the unlimited EP prices for @dmetcalfrn days and realized that they now have my days, 5/26 & 5/28, available. Unlimited EP!!! This makes that first morning a million times easier. I was so worried about wasting any time trying to get our APs, the 1 regular EP I managed to find, and our premium seating vouchers. Without the EP, I wanted to use that early entry time to the maximum our rides before the "waits" got terrible. I guess they just decided to release more. Hopefully, it won't be like FP+, where everyone is stuck in the FP+ line. Things are definitely looking up:D
 
We have adventurous 4 and 7 years olds, so the general kid things available and seating/chairs. Anything will help. Have a great time and I saw that you now have Unlimited EPs!!!!
 
We have adventurous 4 and 7 years olds, so the general kid things available and seating/chairs. Anything will help. Have a great time and I saw that you now have Unlimited EPs!!!!

Can definitely get that for info for you. I will be going around taking pictures of anything and everything. I hope Universal gets more info, like a map, up on their site before it opens. Thanks:wave2:
 

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