A (not-so-)quick summary of our recent experience at Volcano Bay:
We were staying at Aventura and I had planned to arrive at 7:30 for an 8:00 am early entry. This was derailed by teenagers, and we actually arrived at 7:53. The line was stopped at the entrance to the tunnel that goes under the road, and we were at the top of the ramp. We started moving very soon, then were next stopped at the tapstile to enter the park. We were the 3rd family back at the tapstile. Note, watch for columns that have 2 team members- one on each side. People were lining up single file behind them, but they opened up both sides.
We entered the park around 8:10? Both of the groups ahead of us had trouble with their fingerprints. We headed left
through the marketplace trying to secure a free spot under a shelter. We didn’t really know where we were going, but it seemed like we were the only ones heading left down the path. Asked a team member where to find shelters and she told us to keep walking and there would be one on the right. We found it and that is where we parked. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this ended up being at the end of the body slides. We loved it because it was smaller (8 lounge chairs), had a concrete floor and concrete path if you approached from the right, and provided great shade. Surrounding 3 sides of the shelter was a sandy area with more loungers. And there was a shower to rinse off sand nearby at the end of the body slides.
We selected 4 chairs (2 and 2 across from eachother) closer to the slides. As it turned out, the 2 inside chairs had full shade all day. The outside ones ended up in partial sun later in the afternoon. But you really couldn’t go wrong. Takeaway - we did not see the value of the preferred seating and are soooo glad we cancelled!
We had a bad experience at the parks so we decided to rent a locker for valuables. The lockers were back towards the marketplace. (Other locker bays were not open.) The mini lockers (currently $10) were somewhat hidden towards the back, but we found them and locked up our phones and hotel keys. We left our towels (from Aventura pool), tshirts, and slides at our chairs to help claim them. Our neighbors came sometime later and kept all of their stuff at the chairs, and just covered things with beach towels. (We know because a gust of wind blew a towel off to reveal 2 purses while we were there. We re-covered it for them.)
After securing our spot we went to find Krakatau (water coaster). We ended up a bit lost, so I don’t know what time we arrived but it was still early entry and sitting at a 10 minute wait. Once we figured out where to reserve the line, it seemed like we waited maybe 5 minutes to join the queue. Then about 20 minutes in the queue until were on the ride. My youngest son and I went first, followed by my husband and other son. We made it over the first hill, then up and over a second hill and almost to the top of the next before we were sent backwards and halfway up the previous peak. We thought it was part of the ride until we settled into the valley with water spraying on us and the disabled ride announcement playing. We ended up sitting there for a good while - both of us ended up a bit chilled with our hair completely wet - until we were evacuated. They asked if we still wanted to ride and escorted us back to the front of the line, where our family was first in line and completely dry (they had been in a boat but were not sent off). The pair ahead of us were also evacuated and joined the front of the line for a reride.
We thoroughly expected to love this ride and get as many rides in that day as possible, but it ended up being just ok, one and done for our family. Being stuck on it probably contributed, but I also think it was very similar to the AquaDuck on the Disney Fantasy, without the see-through tubes showing the ocean and ship, so we were less impressed with Krakatau. We were all still glad we did it, just were not interested in doing it again that day.
When we finished our Krakatau ride, it was after 9:00 and the rest of the rope-droppers had arrived. We went to the big raft slides 2x on each version with no wait, then looped around to the front of the park to get our bearings and redeemed our refillable mug vouchers.
After a stop back at our home base, the kids did the body slides, and then we all went to find TeAwa. Our first time around we had another incident of unfortunate timing. After you go through the tunnel of the Volcano, there is a periodic tidal wave released that caught me and son #2 completely off guard. We were knocked off our feet and submerged for a bit. Luckily neither of us panicked and we recovered, but I remember thinking this could be how it feels to drown and worrying that my water-wary husband was ok. I also ended up losing a water shoe and scraping and bruising my elbow on the side of the wall pretty well. But fortunately my oldest son and husband were a bit behind us when it hit, and son was able to keep husband afloat and calmish through the event. Later in the day we actually saw a lifeguard jump in and grab a 5ish year old kiddo who was not near his adult just as the wave began. There is a sequence of music and drums when the wave is about to come, so something to be aware of.
We worked our way back from the unlazy river and did some other slides - a couple of different 5-person and 2-person raft ones, and the Oh No (6ft drop - husband sat that one out) all with “ride now” status.
We grabbed lunch - adults shared an order of chicken tacos from frog stand by TeAwa, and kids had corn dogs from stand just around the corner from “our spot”. Food was ok, but if I had to do it again I would have brought in my own sandwiches. Some around us had WaWa sandwiches and snacks.
After lunch we reapplied sunscreen and headed back out to hit the other attractions we missed and reride select others. The big drop slide was at an 80 minute wait so the kids tapped in for that. We did the wave pool, the regular lazy river, and other ride now slides while waiting. Based on the kids reports of significant water in the face, I am glad I sat that one out. Then we all went back to TeAwa for 8-10 rounds and called it a day.
One final note, despite our rough start TeAwa was our favorite and much better in the morning with lower crowds. Just so many people later in the day and it seemed like they periodically reduced or shut down the current (perhaps due to safety incidents as we witnessed).
Volcano Bay is definitely a great park and if we ever return we definitely see rope drop as a key, but the extra add-ons (cabana, preferred seating, and express pass) are currently not worth the $$$ for us.
I'm glad you liked the spot you chose.
