Last week Nick’s cousin Enya, who’s from Norway, came to visit us! We had talked about doing something fun while she was here and what better way then to visit an Orlando park.
Universal’s Volcano Bay Water Theme Park opened a year ago, and while it was being built, Nick and I couldn’t wait for it to open up so we could visit! Having Enya here was our perfect excuse to spend the money and take a day trip over. We live an hour and a half away exactly, so it really was no hassel. We packed a cooler, and lots of snacks for the little one and made our way early Saturday morning.
They give you the option to upgrade to premium seating which includes two lounge chairs that have 
cushions, and a canopy to provide you with shade. Kind of like what you find at Clearwater Beach, if you’ve ever been there. They also have two different cabanas you can rent out depending on how big you need. These options include a wait staff. When I had called the day prior to buy our tickets and reserve lounge chairs, the entire park was reserved! We were still able to buy tickets, but we had to find our own lounge chairs and an umbrella to sit under once we got there. I definitely recommend getting there early if you don’t reserve a special spot so you can find a space with shade. We will without a doubt get a cabana next time or lounge chairs with shade included.
We ended up leaving our cooler in the car which was fine because we had to park in the Universal parking garage specifically for Volcano Bay ($22 for parking). We just put our sandwiches and snacks in our bags and headed in. You can bring a stroller in and we also brought in our own towels because they charge $5 for each towel you rent. When we arrived at the gates we went to the kiosk and printed out our tickets. Enya and Nick also bought fast passes. These passes only allow you fast access to each of the 
slides once though. We thought it’d let you go on whatever slides you wanted repetitively. I don’t think we’ll spend the money on those again. Once you print your tickets, you are given a TapuTapu bracelet that allows you access to ride the slides and hook up your credit card so if you buy food at their cafeteria you can simply just swipe your bracelet and pay. FYI the cafeteria’s chocolate milkshakes were sooo good! A must!
Sebastian and I hung out the whole time because I couldn’t ride on the big slides anyways. There were still lots for us to do together though. They had a lazy river, wave pools, regular pools, and a kids area with mini slides for the babies. I think one of Sebby’s favorite things to do was to go down the mini slide 
once he got the hang of it. He really enjoyed the wave pool too even though he had to wear a life vest. Every time the wave pool was about to start up again it would play a drum tune and Sebastian would start dancing! It was the cutest thing ever! At one point, when he was dancing, I started to tell him that Moana actually lived there. “Moana” is his favorite movie to watch right now. They also have a slide named Moana.
Nick and Enya were able to enjoy all the slides and the fast river. At the fast river even adults had to wear life vests because of how fast the jets were! Nick went on almost all the waterslides. He even endured the Ko’okiri Body Plunge Slide, which is the tallest water slide in the U.S. His favorite was the Serpentine Body Slides though which were also found in the Volcano.
We were there pretty much all day. I think it was around four o’clock when we started to notice a significant decrease in the people there. It was so surprising to me how many people were leaving the park. I figured it was probably because they were either staying at hotels nearby or had dinner plans made. I felt like we had still so much to do though, and better for us that it wasn’t as crowded!
By eight, we were ready to head out and the park was getting ready to close in an hour. After a long day in the sun and water, we could tell Sebastian was just about done. His eyes were getting hazy and he would daydream a few times while Nick or I held him. As soon as we started to head home, Sebby was out, shocker.
Nick and I will hopefully return to Volcano Bay one day without the babies. That way we can enjoy a day acting like kids again and go on every water slide..
If you’re thinking about visiting Volcano Bay I highly recommend it. We had a great time and look forward to returning back in the near future.
Sincerely,
YYM
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