Universal Orlando Resorts Volcano Bay: Honest Review

Hello, fellow travels!

Do you love water Parks? If so, this post may be for you. I got a wonderful opportunity to go to the Grand Opening of Universals Orlando Resorts Volcano Bay! I wanted to write about my experiences at the park as well as a Pro’s and Con’s list that I saw to necessary to talk about out for anyone looking to go to these parks in the next couple of months.

Universal Orlando Resorts have added a brand new theme park called Volcano Bay, to accompany the already popular Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.   Typically, Park-to-Park tickets (Island’s of Adventure and Universal Studios) cost $179 per adult ($174 per child) but One-day park passes costs approximately $124 per person adult ($119 per child). For all three parks, that is Island’s of Adventure, Universal Studios, and Volcano Bay you will pay $219 per adult ($214 per child). However, if you are just looking to go to the water park, you will only pay $67 per person ($64 per child).  I was able to purchase two Volcano Bay tickets for $134.  However, also add $20 for general parking, which gives you a grand total of $154 for two people.

When you first park your car, walk towards the back of the parking garage where you are met by brand new busses that take you the entrance of Volcano Bay. This was a nice feature because if you have gone to the either of the other two parks, you know you have to walk a LONG time before you actually get to the gate entrances.  It was nice to get a ride to the front of the park.

Walking into the park was like walking into a tropical paradise.  There were flowers and beautiful sculptures everywhere.  It definitely made you feel like you were in a tropical paradise.

We arrived right when the park opened at 10 am, gave them our tickets and received our Tapu Tapu, which is basically a virtual placeholder in line.  When you go to each ride, you will be able to trap your Tapu Tapu and reserve your place in line.  Once you tap it, your Tapu Tapu will tell you how long until you can go on your ride and then it will vibrate to let you know your ride time is ready.  That way you can lounge around, get a drink or food, while waiting to get on the ride.

When you place your Tapu Tapu to hold your virtual space in line.

Although, the idea of the Tapu Tapu holding your place in line is fantastic. We did find some flaws with the system.  We found that if you do not get to the park early enough to ride the rides or check in, you will not be able to get on anymore.  For example, we were able to test out several of the rides before the crowds came.  However, once it the park had a lot of people we found that on most of the rides we saw it said “Ride Full” and we could not sign up for any more rides.  A lot of the rides including the Aqua coaster “Krakatau” had a five hour wait time at first and then a ride full.  And once it says Ride Full, you cannot ride it for the rest of the day.  (However, for an additional $39.00 you can get a fast pass to get on the rides)  There is also a flaw in the fact that you could only ride one ride at a time.  So if your ride had a 230min wait, you really couldn’t ride anything else unless you switched out your rides.  Another thing that really bothered many was the fact that at times when the ride said full there were no people or very few people waiting in line.  Towards the end of the day when most of the people had left, the signs continued to say “Ride Full” and there was no one waiting.  It was a bummer for us because even though there were not people, we could not ride the rides.  I know it was opening day so I won’t be too harsh but that would definitely be something they should fix in the future.  So the rule of thumb, you SHOULD get to the park early and ride as many rides as you can before it gets too full.

Now, on to the rides.  I have to say all of the rides were FANTASTIC.  They are definitely worth waiting for.  We loved every single one we rode.  The neat thing about these rides was that they were long.  They did a great job at making the experience fun and thrilling.  The whole park, in general, was a great layout.  Here is a sample of the map from the website:

They made the park feel like a true island.  The main wave pool had crystal blue water, with a volcano waterfall and sandy beach.  As you walked around the white sands, you saw children making sand castles and digging holes in the sand.  This is something I have never seen in before in a water park.  There was plenty of spaces to lay out in the sun.  There were two lazy rivers (which should be remained “fast river” where the current ran at 6 feet per second. Click here for an inside look at at the “Rapid” Lazy River.  Plenty of slides and tubing opportunities.  I think the highlight of this was that you didn’t have to haul tubes/rafts from one area to another which made it a lot easier to get around.  If I could make suggestions to Volcano Bay’s staff, I would tell them to put pictures of the rides so that people can reserve the ride they want.  Most of the rides are sharing one set of stairs.  So, you really don’t know which one you are signing up for, therefore pictures would be a great addition to the rides (especially when most of the staff are still learning the names of the rides too.)

The kids play area was fantastic!  I think all parents will breathe a sigh of relief when they see such an amazing/fun/safe kids area.  At all times, there were roughly 10 life guards that I saw in the kid’s area.  There were two kids areas: a smaller one with a nice pool and a big one with slides and fun play areas for kids.  If you want to watch a video of one of the kid’s areas, click here for an inside look!

Overall, I think t that Volcano Bay has some great rides and friendly staff.  I think that the Tapu Tapu system has to be updated to make sure that everyone can get on the rides.  I will definitely be going back to Volcano Bay this summer.  The feeling of being in another country is definitely a big point for me.

Here is my pros and cons list!

Pros

1. Great food and friendly staff.
2. Fantastic and fun rides.
3. Handicap accessible rides.
4. Has a lot of space for their visitors to lounge in.
5. Fantastic and budget friendly food choices.

Cons

1. Tapu Tapu system needs some kinks worked out, especially when it comes to holding your space in line.
2. You MUST get to the park early in order to get on the rides you want.  Otherwise, you will not have the ability to get on any rides.
3. Even though you have a virtual space in line, you will still have to wait in line to get to the ride.  I was in line for approximately an hour and fifteen minutes before I got to go on an actual ride.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask them below and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

Thanks for reading!

Brizzy

If you want a to check out our video on Volcano Bay please check it out Below!

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