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

[Patches Lee]

does anyone know what the minimum weight is?

I haven't gotten a clear answer from GS about what the weight requirement is specifically but here is their reply.
Looks like Maku, Puihi, and Krakatau would be a no go for us.

 

[yellowfish78]

I'd like to know how they are handling the raft rides and water coaster. Before they combined groups to meet minimum weight. Heard they didn't do that during covid operations. Makes a difference for which AP I get since myself and DD12 probably wouldn't meet minimum if they don't combine.

My last trip was 10/31. My son and I went - he's 6 and I'm not a lightweight. We did Ika Moana (I think? It's the green raft ride that seats you in a clover raft) and we rode with two other teens.

 

[03GirlsMom]

I haven't gotten a clear answer from GS about what the weight requirement is specifically but here is their reply.
Looks like Maku, Puihi, and Krakatau would be a no go for us.

Interesting. I believe they were still combining guests in the fall prior to the winter closure. I haven't heard anything about them not combining since the reopening.

 

[Patches Lee]

Interesting. I believe they were still combining guests in the fall prior to the winter closure. I haven't heard anything about them not combining since the reopening.

I read blog from the Frog Family pre closure that mentioned that just their kids couldn't ride something since Uni wasn't combining groups, it's what got me looking in the first place.

 

[MeridaAnn]

Interesting. I believe they were still combining guests in the fall prior to the winter closure. I haven't heard anything about them not combining since the reopening.

I was there on a solo visit right before it shut down. I was able to ride Krakatau alone, but Maku and Puihi weren't allowing single riders (not sure if it's more about the minimum weight or keeping the raft balanced).

 

[Princess Merida]

I'm going in April and was considering renting a cabana. We have 8 people, but the cabana is mostly for my parents and young nephew to have shade and a fan. Everyone else will be on rides and will likely only come to the cabana to eat lunch. Can I rent the 6 person one for this situation? If I do will everyone be able to sign up for rides from the tablet?

 

[bdiddy]

We are going to be at USO for 3 days and have the park-to-park pass. Last time we went Volcano Bay wasn't open and just did 2 days, 1 day each park. We are going to be there a Sat, Sun and Monday. Which day would you recommend doing VB vs the park days? Or would you mix it up and hop around between them all?

 

[christophfam]

Premium seating has opened up. I was able to get ours for mid March.

How was it? Never been and daughter and I are thinking of trying vb and premium seating in early June. Would love to get a review!

 

[Patches Lee]

I'm going in April and was considering renting a cabana. We have 8 people, but the cabana is mostly for my parents and young nephew to have shade and a fan. Everyone else will be on rides and will likely only come to the cabana to eat lunch. Can I rent the 6 person one for this situation? If I do will everyone be able to sign up for rides from the tablet?

Does reserving cabanas or premium seating guarantee VB entry? I want to do one for June, but the capacity limit has me on the fence.

 

[Princess Merida]

Does reserving cabanas or premium seating guarantee VB entry? I want to do one for June, but the capacity limit has me on the fence.

Sorry, I don’t know the answer to this. I didn’t ask because we plan on being there 30 minutes to an hour before they open.

 

[03GirlsMom]

Does reserving cabanas or premium seating guarantee VB entry? I want to do one for June, but the capacity limit has me on the fence.

I asked when we booked our cabana for early April. While it does not guarantee entry, it does give you priority. I'm assuming this is similar to the parks giving priority to on-site hotel guests when parks reach capacity.

We'll plan on being there for early entry anyway so I don't see it being an issue.

 

[yellowfish78]

How was it? Never been and daughter and I are thinking of trying vb and premium seating in early June. Would love to get a review!

We got their 30 mins early and got into the line that three employees told us to get into - one LONG line for the cabana/premium seating rentals. Waited 15 minutes and someone came out of the little hut and said if anyone was checking in to premium seating to go to the NEXT hut - by premium seating. So if their is more than one adult in your party, one person say in the first line while the second person checks out the spot by the premium seating.
Waited ANOTHER 20 mins for this line. Ended up in spot #48 which was far to the right, semi-shade and by a back exit so it was a good location.
Other than the long wait to check in (which totally defeats the purpose of early entry...) it was good. Food and drink service was quick, even at lunch time and it was worth it to have a base location for what we paid.

 

[becauseimnew]

We got their 30 mins early and got into the line that three employees told us to get into - one LONG line for the cabana/premium seating rentals. Waited 15 minutes and someone came out of the little hut and said if anyone was checking in to premium seating to go to the NEXT hut - by premium seating. So if their is more than one adult in your party, one person say in the first line while the second person checks out the spot by the premium seating.
Waited ANOTHER 20 mins for this line. Ended up in spot #48 which was far to the right, semi-shade and by a back exit so it was a good location.
Other than the long wait to check in (which totally defeats the purpose of early entry...) it was good. Food and drink service was quick, even at lunch time and it was worth it to have a base location for what we paid.

View attachment 564459

Thanks for the detailed info. Getting excited for out trip.

 

[Patches Lee]

I asked when we booked our cabana for early April. While it does not guarantee entry, it does give you priority. I'm assuming this is similar to the parks giving priority to on-site hotel guests when parks reach capacity.

We'll plan on being there for early entry anyway so I don't see it being an issue.

Don't think I personally wanna risk the $. Rest of my family has a hard time even getting out of bed on time for school and work at 8am. I'm up way too early because 4:55am work

 

[becauseimnew]

I waited on hold for 3 hours yesterday to book premium seats for Sunday 6/13 ($69.99) & Tuesday 6/15 ($59.99). I'm hoping to read a few more reports closer to our travel date to make the final decision, whether to keep one or neither dates. I actually only called to get pricing, but after being on hold for so long I didn't want to call back.

We were there 5/28/2017, had premium seating when they were scattered around and really enjoyed having the lockers and the servers.

 

[03GirlsMom]

Am I correct in that the only way to get to VB from RPR is via resort shuttle? If so, how soon before park opening do they start running?

If we plan to take advantage of early admission at 9:30am, what time should we plan on catching the shuttle?

 

[StefBar]

I have a question about the current cabana policies at VB. I have reserved an Upper Level cabana for early April. My research (here and on youtube) stated that you should request the zone you want to be in when you reserve the cabana. I was told by the Universal staff member who booked the cabana that I am not allowed to request zones anymore and the policy has changed. It will be first-come, first-served the day of my rental. Does anyone have experience with this? I ask because I know my son will spend 99% of the day at the wave pool and I'm spending over $400 for the cabana and if it ends up being on the other side of the park, it will be a huge bummer.

Right now, my plan is to be outside the park entrance 90 minutes before early entrance (staying onsite) to try to get a Wave Pool cabana. If anyone has any experience on recently renting a cabana please share any advice and thank you very much!!

 

[Princess Merida]

I have a question about the current cabana policies at VB. I have reserved an Upper Level cabana for early April. My research (here and on youtube) stated that you should request the zone you want to be in when you reserve the cabana. I was told by the Universal staff member who booked the cabana that I am not allowed to request zones anymore and the policy has changed. It will be first-come, first-served the day of my rental. Does anyone have experience with this? I ask because I know my son will spend 99% of the day at the wave pool and I'm spending over $400 for the cabana and if it ends up being on the other side of the park, it will be a huge bummer.

Right now, my plan is to be outside the park entrance 90 minutes before early entrance (staying onsite) to try to get a Wave Pool cabana. If anyone has any experience on recently renting a cabana please share any advice and thank you very much!!

I was told the same thing. I have a cabana rented in April as well and hope someone knows the answer to this question. Mine is an ADA so I assume there are only a few. Does anyone know where they are?

 

[StefBar]

I was told the same thing. I have a cabana rented in April as well and hope someone knows the answer to this question. Mine is an ADA so I assume there are only a few. Does anyone know where they are?

Merida, from my research there are only 2 clusters with elevators, if you need that. They are cabana 13 and 14 which are in the River Village, it looks like between Whakawaiwai Eats and the Hona ika Moana. There are others that have ramps but those seem to be the only ones with elevators. I hope that helps a little!

I hope some will chime in if they've been there recently and let us know how early to get there and if it is truly first-come, first pick your cabana or if they just assign you a cabana ahead of time and you get what you get.

 

[cartydog]

I rented one in October, I couldn’t choose where it was in advance. But there were some choices when I got there. So getting there early is probably in your favor to pick what you want. My only request was to be close to a bathroom