Volcano Bay (and really water park) novice. I’m local and an out of town friend is coming down from a family vacay in Daytona. She’ll get here on Saturday morning and wants to go to Volcano Bay for the day. I haven’t been to a water park in at least 10 years and obviously never Volcano Bay. Will do some of my own research, but with only a couple days notice, I wanted to post and get some tips and info direct from people who know more than me!
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Calling @Jeff_AZ and @darkmite2 
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What questions do you have? It’s been a couple years now since my last visit but hopefully @darkmite2 will have the latest info for you.
I love Volcano Bay and am planning to visit with my family in October. When is your visit? If it’s before October they will still have Tapu Tapu in place, which makes a difference for strategy.
Good luck!
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Tapu tapu is something I know I’ve heard mentioned. Hoping I can find a good blog or video explaining how it works. It’s basically a virtual queue yes?
We’re going this Saturday and she threw this at me today. I really didn’t expect her to pick a water park.
Very water park novice question (genuinely 10-15 years since I’ve done one) - what’s the footwear situation with hot concrete walking around? Also, what do people do with their stuff? I’m assuming lockers?
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Yes, it’s a VQ that is used for all rides. There is no other way to get in line other than Tapu Tapu, unless it’s deemed a “walk on.”
Here’s a short video:
My biggest piece of advice:
- Arrive early. Make use of Early Entry if you or your friend have a reservation at a UOR hotel.
- Get into the Krakatau VQ very first thing.
- From there it will be less stressful to ride everything else, but generally try to ride as many rides as possible in the morning before waits get too long.
- The Fearless River is my favorite attraction and a great thing to do while waiting for your ride times to come up.
- You can only be in one VQ at a time. Don’t tap into another attraction until you’ve used your previous one unless you want to override your existing one.
Definitely ride Krakatau! It’s the best water coaster around. Everything else is fun, too, but most of the rides are basically interchangeable. The Body Plunge is a unique thrill, but I haven’t worked up the courage to do it yet. 
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Tapu Tapu is great! It’s like a virtual queue. After you tap at the attraction you want to “be in line” for, you do stuff without waits as you wait for your call back (ie. the lazy river, the wave pool, TeAwa Fearless River, walk through Vol’s Caverns, or attractions that are currently “ride now” without needing to tap in).
There are locker bays scattered throughout the park. Try to pick one closest to where you’ll be most of the time.
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The main paths have water misters low at your feet to keep the surface cool.
Yes, lockers is an option. Some people are comfortable with leaving belongings under a towel on their lounger.
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You can wear flip flops or water socks (water shoes) around the park and in the rivers / pools There are bins outside slide entrances where you can leave them because you can’t wear or hold them on the slides, unfortunately. In fact for most slides you can’t have anything loose in your hands. They do let you have a phone that is on a lanyard on your neck for some of the slides, but not the plunge slides.
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Another water park novice question - towels, I’m guessing BYO?
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BYO or pay a nominal fee to rent one. You can also purchase one at the gift shop.
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I see a problem if she isn’t early enough to enter when they open. She’ll start behind everyone else that will already be virtually waiting in line.
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If you are staying at an onsite hotel, you can ask bell services (or at the pool I’m not sure where to ask currently) for towels to take to volcano bay. Those will be free.
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So we’ll all go together. She’s coming from Daytona to my house and then we’ll drive down. Hopefully we’ll just make it in time for park opening (not EE). Not my usual liner way but will just have to make the best of that.
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I adore VB. It has two things that I think make it stand above every other water park I’ve visited. The water coaster and the fearless river. That fearless river is fast! In fact my favorite place to park my stuff is the shaded spots at the fearless river entrance. I always wear water socks because otherwise my delicate feet can get abraded on the floor of the fearless river.
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I second this. The pads of my big toes often get split open from gripping rough pool surfaces, and Fearless River is definitely one of the biggest offenders in that arena. You can wear sandals, too, if you prefer.
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Ordered us some on Amazon. Can they pretty much be worn in everything?
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I think this answers that question but let me know if I’m misunderstanding:
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Yes - totally forgot reading that earlier. Thank you so much
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I have a water proof waist pouch. The kind that sits under your clothes. I put my socks in there when I get to the beginning of the ride. Before I got that, I would just shove the socks into my swimsuit. Worked because a water park needs a one-piece swimsuit. There is an obvious place to leave shoes somewhere as you enter the ride. But I find it annoying to have to go back to get my shoes. It isn’t the distance. I leave a ride a jazzed and ready to do something else, so the detour is a letdown.
On the water socks, I bought some cheap ones and I consider them one-use. The cheap ones aren’t meant for lots of concrete walking.
Another thing since you said you aren’t a water park person. Leave all your jewelry at home. Lots of time in the water can make rings fall off. They find rings all the time.
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Thanks everyone so much! We had a great day - such a beautiful park and everyone’s tips helped make it easy to navigate and super enjoyable for my group. Even my non theme park husband had a great time!
I’ve already emailed Universal to tell them how much we loved Tapu Tapu! Can’t believe it’s going away!
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