cdoc29
Cruising with the Crazies
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2010
So we just finished the day at Volcano Bay and we had a cabana for the day.
My impression of the park was 'wow, it's awesome' and I definitely plan on going again. The rides were all top notch, the food was tasty and my kids had a blast on the slides and activities. Definitely a win for my family. The Cabana was a waste of money for us and not a value for the money. But I can see where in the right situation it would work and could have worked for us.
The Cabana
After all the great reviews I have read the cabana did not live up to hype for me and the way my family did the water park.
Having a cabana is great if you have someone who plans on spending all day in it, like those who hang out in a lounger chair all day or if you can get one closer to the action so its easier to utilize. As we were riding slides and rivers we didn't feel like walking back except for lunch and when they temporarily closed for lightning. We felt we would have been better off just securing chairs (they are everywhere and I cannot see having a hard time finding a couple of chairs unless its the middle of the super busy season) in a central locale.
The cabanas come with early entry, when we got into the park at 9am (early entry time) from time of walking through the turnstiles to checking in at concierge to getting walked to your cabana probably takes about 45 minutes. You would be better off hitting a few rides while they are all empty and checking into your cabana around 10-11am.
My Experience: (and I did mention several of these things to the concierge desk who thanked me for my my input and asked me to fill out the survey at the end of the day to help them improve)
1) Don't let anyone tell you there is no such thing as a bad location with a cabana, that is not true. When we were called the day before I simply asked to be centrally located, we wound up in 21C which near the entrance off to the side of the wave pool, All the slides and both rivers were a long walk from the cabana. What made me especially upset was there were several cabanas not being used (like all of #16) that would have been more centrally located. I am guessing they placed all the cabanas near each other for their convenance but that made for a poor day for us.
2) Despite what people have said in previous reviews you can only order off the cabana menu for delivery to your cabana, want tacos from the feasting frog be prepared to schlep yourself over to get it. Have little ones that only eat chicken tenders, no dice you gotta go get them yourselves. While they can do things like withhold onions on burgers for food orders anything beyond this was not possible. The exclusive menu is not really that exclusive and limited compared to all that is offered in the park.
3) The website says a fridge stocked with water and that means 12 waters that come with the Cabana is all the complimentary water you get, after that its $5.50 a bottle.
4) it was such a slow day that the other than using the Tapu Tapu for the water coaster it was a waste to have the ability in cabin, plus if you are out and about riding slides it is a long walk from your cabana to use it. As it was a slow day all the rides were pretty much walk on, and when we went for the water coaster we still waited in line for 35 minutes.
5) The lock was not functioning for the locker and when we texted about this some came and jingled it till it worked which lasted all of till the next time we used it. I never felt secure leaving valuables there. Or as secure as I would have felt leaving a bag on the chair.
6) The Cabana Attendant left a lot to be desired, We only met them when they took our one food order and when they brought the bill for the food. She also implied when we were first met her that the they were expecting lightning and made it sound as if they would be closed for the day after 2pm. When I inquired about what does that mean for cabanas she replied you can check with concierge about that. Also if the park closes for lightning that means the attendant cannot do anything for you, no food orders, no fresh towels, nothing until everything opens up. You can still go get food for yourself because of course they are still selling food during this time, just that your attendant services are also on hold. They also closed out the check so when everything opened back up we simply never contacted them again as they proved to not be as helpful as reviews made out. They were good about bringing us fresh towels the one time we asked.
Overall if you are going during a slow time of the year, like we did on a Wednesday in the middle of September, you are probably better off not wasting your money on a cabana. (the $450 goes a long way to other vacation stuff and the big splurge would have been better spent on something like a day pf express passes or something) I hope to visit Volcano bay in the future but as we tend to be more Disney Centric vacationers and this week reinforces what we love about Disney that may never happen. Keep in mind my experience may be unique to me and you may have a totally different one but I just wanted to share my perspective for anyone considering a cabana and has read nothing but positive glowing reviews.
My impression of the park was 'wow, it's awesome' and I definitely plan on going again. The rides were all top notch, the food was tasty and my kids had a blast on the slides and activities. Definitely a win for my family. The Cabana was a waste of money for us and not a value for the money. But I can see where in the right situation it would work and could have worked for us.
The Cabana
After all the great reviews I have read the cabana did not live up to hype for me and the way my family did the water park.
Having a cabana is great if you have someone who plans on spending all day in it, like those who hang out in a lounger chair all day or if you can get one closer to the action so its easier to utilize. As we were riding slides and rivers we didn't feel like walking back except for lunch and when they temporarily closed for lightning. We felt we would have been better off just securing chairs (they are everywhere and I cannot see having a hard time finding a couple of chairs unless its the middle of the super busy season) in a central locale.
The cabanas come with early entry, when we got into the park at 9am (early entry time) from time of walking through the turnstiles to checking in at concierge to getting walked to your cabana probably takes about 45 minutes. You would be better off hitting a few rides while they are all empty and checking into your cabana around 10-11am.
My Experience: (and I did mention several of these things to the concierge desk who thanked me for my my input and asked me to fill out the survey at the end of the day to help them improve)
1) Don't let anyone tell you there is no such thing as a bad location with a cabana, that is not true. When we were called the day before I simply asked to be centrally located, we wound up in 21C which near the entrance off to the side of the wave pool, All the slides and both rivers were a long walk from the cabana. What made me especially upset was there were several cabanas not being used (like all of #16) that would have been more centrally located. I am guessing they placed all the cabanas near each other for their convenance but that made for a poor day for us.
2) Despite what people have said in previous reviews you can only order off the cabana menu for delivery to your cabana, want tacos from the feasting frog be prepared to schlep yourself over to get it. Have little ones that only eat chicken tenders, no dice you gotta go get them yourselves. While they can do things like withhold onions on burgers for food orders anything beyond this was not possible. The exclusive menu is not really that exclusive and limited compared to all that is offered in the park.
3) The website says a fridge stocked with water and that means 12 waters that come with the Cabana is all the complimentary water you get, after that its $5.50 a bottle.
4) it was such a slow day that the other than using the Tapu Tapu for the water coaster it was a waste to have the ability in cabin, plus if you are out and about riding slides it is a long walk from your cabana to use it. As it was a slow day all the rides were pretty much walk on, and when we went for the water coaster we still waited in line for 35 minutes.
5) The lock was not functioning for the locker and when we texted about this some came and jingled it till it worked which lasted all of till the next time we used it. I never felt secure leaving valuables there. Or as secure as I would have felt leaving a bag on the chair.
6) The Cabana Attendant left a lot to be desired, We only met them when they took our one food order and when they brought the bill for the food. She also implied when we were first met her that the they were expecting lightning and made it sound as if they would be closed for the day after 2pm. When I inquired about what does that mean for cabanas she replied you can check with concierge about that. Also if the park closes for lightning that means the attendant cannot do anything for you, no food orders, no fresh towels, nothing until everything opens up. You can still go get food for yourself because of course they are still selling food during this time, just that your attendant services are also on hold. They also closed out the check so when everything opened back up we simply never contacted them again as they proved to not be as helpful as reviews made out. They were good about bringing us fresh towels the one time we asked.
Overall if you are going during a slow time of the year, like we did on a Wednesday in the middle of September, you are probably better off not wasting your money on a cabana. (the $450 goes a long way to other vacation stuff and the big splurge would have been better spent on something like a day pf express passes or something) I hope to visit Volcano bay in the future but as we tend to be more Disney Centric vacationers and this week reinforces what we love about Disney that may never happen. Keep in mind my experience may be unique to me and you may have a totally different one but I just wanted to share my perspective for anyone considering a cabana and has read nothing but positive glowing reviews.
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