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

Thanks for the reports. I'll be down in 12 more days and am going to look now for Express availability. Looks like a lot of hiccups and minor things. I've probably been reading too many boards and reports on the park. It's got me a bit down. I hope your second day there is much better. Thanks again so much for the in-trip report!

I noticed some reviews and opinions are from people who aren't even there.........I prefer to read from people who have actually experienced it like soniam and others. And it's not all bad........:thumbsup2

My niece and family are there and they've enjoyed their time at VB, loved the Cabana they booked.....and plan to go back another 2 or 3 times.
 
The reviews on Trip Advisor are scathing! Glad to see you still managed to enjoy yourselves. :) We will be going next April so hopefully kinks will be worked out by then, ha!
 


Maybe all those bad reviews will inspire Universal to add back a few more passholder discounts this fall, in case VB attendance doesn't meet expectations. aka...a silver lining.

We can hope, anyway! :idea:
 
Thanks for the reports. I'll be down in 12 more days and am going to look now for Express availability. Looks like a lot of hiccups and minor things. I've probably been reading too many boards and reports on the park. It's got me a bit down. I hope your second day there is much better. Thanks again so much for the in-trip report!

The first day was actually still good, despite some issues. Our second day, Sunday, was good too, but amazingly even busier than the first day.

I'm anxious to hear tomorrow if things have changed (hopefully improved) since you were at VB on Friday.

What are waits like with Express Pass?
Are some of the rides still shutting down regularly or if they're getting more reliable now?
Was the process getting your EPs & loungers a little faster than last time?

It's hard to say what the waits are with EP. I wasn't very good about timing it. Plus, it seemed to be all over the map, at least earlier in the day and on Friday. The most we probably waited was 15 or 20 minutes. But sometimes we almost walked on:confused3

Rides were still shutting down. Krakatua seemed to be running better on Sunday, but it still went down multiple times.

We went to a concierge hut back in Rainforest Village, and it had a shorter line. Getting the EP and towels was faster. However, it was taking forever to get the loungers. We were there before park opening, but the ticket reader at our line wasn't scanning right. So that was slow. We ended up finally getting a lounger about 45 minutes after park opening for early entry:sad2: The woman said that they had to get on the radio to get the lounger number, but there was so much traffic that she couldn't get through. She finally just said "I am going to let you pick your own lounger and here are some extra towels for free":thumbsup2 We picked the same lounger, #45, because it had shade most of the day. If my husband had been with us, I would have just sent him and my son to go ride while I waited. I told my son he could go and meet me back at the hut at a certain time, but I think he really wanted to be with me. He's only 11, so not totally independent yet.
 


Any update on your second VB day @soniam ?

EDIT: as i posted this, your post refreshed above mine :)

I will try to post more this week, but it may not be until this weekend. This is the last week of school. DS is graduating elementary school, so they have a bunch of activities for them.
 
I will try to post more this week, but it may not be until this weekend. This is the last week of school. DS is graduating elementary school, so they have a bunch of activities for them.

This is such a great live trip report, kudos to you for answering questions live! It's great to hear from someone who's actually there on the ground and who has reasonable expectations and critiques. :)
 
Has anyone seen any pictures of what a family cabana looks like, there's only pics of the single cabanas ..I rented one out for June 12, I would like to know what I got ☺
 
Has anyone seen any pictures of what a family cabana looks like, there's only pics of the single cabanas ..I rented one out for June 12, I would like to know what I got ☺

Are the family cabanas the 2 story ones? I have some pictures that I will try to get up this weekend. However, they are not up close, since there were people in the cabanas. Sorry. I didn't want to seem creepy.
 
Are the family cabanas the 2 story ones? I have some pictures that I will try to get up this weekend. However, they are not up close, since there were people in the cabanas. Sorry. I didn't want to seem creepy.
I have no idea what the family cabanas look like, I'm trying to be optimistic that they are gonna be amazing but it sucks not knowing what you're getting for your money(very expensive).. I'm starting to see a lot of bad reviews for VB with the long wait times for the rides, I hope they fix that problem soon.. I'm seriously thinking about canceling my cabana and not go to volcano bay but I hope not because I been planning this family trip for a long time.. Any photos would be greatly appreciated, thank you
 
I have no idea what the family cabanas look like, I'm trying to be optimistic that they are gonna be amazing but it sucks not knowing what you're getting for your money(very expensive).. I'm starting to see a lot of bad reviews for VB with the long wait times for the rides, I hope they fix that problem soon.. I'm seriously thinking about canceling my cabana and not go to volcano bay but I hope not because I been planning this family trip for a long time.. Any photos would be greatly appreciated, thank you

I think there could be wait issues all summer. They are going to have excessive crowds with it just opening. Reliability can take time. Also, there's a big learning curve with the Tapu Tapu queue system. I wouldn't bet on this being fully resolved this summer. Things may improve some, but there will be issues all summer. We are still going for our late July trip. We have the premium seating. We did buy unlimited EP for late July before they opened. Not sure if EP is really the perfect answer right now though. We still experienced long waits or saw long lines with it over Memorial Day weekend.
 

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