Volcano Bay - help me decide Premium Seating vs Express Pass vs Cabana

karaintn

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 28, 2012
Hi all,
We're going to VB in mid July - staying onsite so we'll get early entry. We are a party of 5, ages 43, 42, 14, 10 and 10. I'm trying to decide what "extras" to get for VB. I have the money saved for any of these, but I only want to purchase if they're a good value. We have never been before. Which one of these (or a combo) would you recommend?

Cabana (ground floor) - $550
Premium Seating - $129 each, and I suppose we'd need 2, so it would be $258
Express Passes - (this is the one that allows front of line for CERTAIN rides) $59.99 each, so x 5 = $299.95

I appreciate your opinions!
 
I'm cheap, so I haven't done the first 2 items. Going early I have had no problem finding shaded chairs. A cabana might be a nice splurge if you think you will stay all day. I'm usually ready to leave after 4 hours.

I did buy an unlimited EP the first year VB was opened, before they stopped selling them that summer. I often stay at Cabana Bay, and when showing up for early entry I have ridden the water coaster 5 times in a row with no line. There are some rides/slides I don't bother with any more, so I would think the EP purchase depends on how much you want to ride the ones it is good for. If you want to try them all it may be valuable for you. (Edit - it looks like the lower cost EP does not work for the Volcano trap door slides and Ohno and Ohyah)

I did the twisting trap door slides once, feel no need to do it again (lines can get long for those and the straight down one). Ohno and Ohyah get long lines in the middle of the day, I did them a few times and skip them now too. Taniwha Tubes have always been Ride Now when I've been there, but the EP lists 2 of them. The family raft rides are fun.
 
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I just visited for the first time 2 weeks ago with Early Entry and see NO reason for Express Pass if Early Entry is an option for you. Between 8am and 10 am, we rode the coaster twice and seven other rides with no wait - I was completely exhausted from walking up a thousand steps with no breaks that fast!

If I had a cabana, I might have been able to take a nap, eat lunch, and venture back out, but we called it a great day at 1 pm, rested a bit, and closed Universal Studios that night.
 
My kids were there last week. They got the premium seating. They liked having a place to anchor and the built in locker they had there. THey only thing they said that it was so hot , raising the shade made it feel like a sauna.
 


I thought the cabana was great. It lets you enter the virtual line from there, so that makes the express pass less necessary.
 
First, the middle of July will be hot. And I was not impressed with the "shade" provided with the Premium seats. So I'd not recommend those. Instead, if money is tight, I'd say get in line to enter VB 30 minutes before EE opens up (which should get you close to the front of the lines to enter the park.) There are some decently shaded regular seating available, but those will definitely fill up quickly. You won't have a locker right there at your seat, but if you need a locker you can still get one in normal park locker areas.

If your budget isn't tight, the cabanas, especially the upper cabanas in the middle of the park, are great. Awesome views of the park with a nice breeze plus the ability to put down "curtains" for whichever side the sun is shining down through, makes for lots of nice shaded areas too. You'll get a locker in the cabana, towels (and you can ask for extras if you want them), lots of bottled water, and a nice breakfast/snack platter. The cabana attendant can take and get your lunch order but they are limited to only certain restaurants. We had read about the taco restaurant and wanted to try it for lunch, but the attendant couldn't get food from there. So we had to get it ourselves.

But I do understand that $600+ is a lot of money to put down. When we rented last year, it was only $300 for us and I would pay that again. But not sure I could justify $600, but if you've never been and don't know if you ever will again and you are willing to splurge for the "best" experience. A cabana is very nice. :)
 
Hi I did a cabana our first year it opened. I did not last year. I loved the cabana and thought it was really nice to use. However, there was nobody in my party who was going to get a lot of use out of it. I felt like I had to be in the cabana more time than the park because of the cost. I think if you have someone who isn't a water park person it is the best idea. If you are going to be there from open to close and like down time then I think it is nice to have.

I too bought the unlimited express pass the first year. However, knowing what I do now and early entry I would not spend the money. Last summer we went early entry two days in a row and rode everything we wanted too.

I would not do the premium seating due to the complaints I have heard about the lack of shade with them.

Have a great time it is an awesome park.
 



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