Notices
Walt Disney World and Florida Trip Reports Trip Reports and Videos

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 5 Oct 17, 07:57 PM  
Link to this Post
#1
H_C-2017
Serious Dibber
 
H_C-2017's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 16
'Going the Distance' June 2017 - Day 4 - Volcano Bay, Roccos Tacos, IOA+US.

Tuesday 13th June


Day 4


Index: 'Going the Distance' June 2017


Today we went to our first waterpark of the trip: Volcano Bay. I was abit apprehensive of this as I had seen some ( a lot) of awful reviews about how busy it was, how people were only able to get on one ride etc.

We had aimed to get there for 8am opening for resort guests but we ended up running a little late and didn’t make it to the bus stop until 7:55. There was a bus waiting but we picked up from Sapphire Falls on the way, so by the time we got off the bus it was nearer 8:10-15.

The walkway to the entrance was nicely themed and we were soon heading into the park – getting our Tapu Tapu on the way in and showing our resort key-cards.







We headed to the main beach to grab some sun loungers and then went to find the nearest lockers to shove the bags and valuables in. We had a quick dip in the wave pool and took some photos whilst it wasn’t crazy busy and then headed to do some rides.



I thought the theming was beautiful - very tropical.









We didn’t really fancy the big drop slides – bit too intense for us I’m afraid, especially at 8:30 in the morning.

We headed for some of the raft slides instead as they are more my cup of tea.

I don’t have many photos etc of the rest of day as we didn’t take the camera or our phones round with us really. I had a knockoff gopro type thing but didn’t want to risk trying to take it on the rides. Some of the following photos of the slides I’ve borrowed off google.

First up we went on these:


Which we really enjoyed. The blue one - Honu of the Honu ika Moana - was my favourite. They were both a ‘ride now’ which meant we waited 5 mins or so at the top to get a raft and get going.

We headed for the Aqua coaster next as it was getting on for 9am – when the park would open for general admission. This was also listed as a ride now but we must have waited for at least 20 minutes as I think they were struggling to get the numbers to match up and were constantly calling for groups of 3 and 5 for some reason.

We shared with a young boy and his mum. I found this really good! Abit like being in a canoe. The way they use magnets to pull it up is really clever. I also liked seeing the inside of the volcano etc although I think they were still doing some work to finish it all off.

We then went on the Round Raft Rides called Maku and Puihi. Again they were both a ‘ride now’. We had a young American lad join us on one as he was a single rider. The raft/tube slides are my favourite type of water slide and there are lots of these at Volcano Bay so I was perfectly happy. I’m not a 100% confident swimmer and I’m not a fan of getting out of my depth. All the pool at the bottom are about 3.5ft so no issues at all.



We then went on two of the Taniwha Tubes which are two person tubes unlike the others which are group raft rides. We went on the dark blue and dark green ones. They were also a ‘ride now’ although I think we waited around 10-15 mins at the top for these and it was starting to get a little busier.



We decided on the Punga Racers next – by this time I think it was definitely getting busier as the wait said 20 mins.

We decided to have another dip in the wave pool while we waited. I liked the wave pool – the volcano is very impressive and the waves weren’t too rough for me. We grabbed a quick drink from our bag by the sun loungers first. I had brought a thin canvas bag for us to keep suncream and drinks etc in.

Chis spent a lot of time trying to splash me. Must have been amusing for him or something…












^ I think this is a really good photo for a knock off gopro

Punga racers had some technical difficulties just as we got to the top. I think the lights to say when it was safe to go down were abit out of sync. It took them a few mins to sort that out before we could go down. I find it so hard to push off on these mat type rides and I have no idea why. I end up doing some awful on my belly shuffle to get myself going :’)



We actually tapped into the drop slide which was showing 70 minutes at 11:10 – I think we decided that we wanted to spend some time in the wave pool, lazy river, plus get some lunch and thought that we might be feeling braver later to go on the drop slide (spoiler: we didn’t).

We had another dip in the wave pool followed by a short recline on the sun loungers before going in search of food.







We ended up at Banbu which was basically the first place we stumbled upon.

Chris had a Reka Burger -
Pepper Jack Cheese, Bacon, Caramelized Onions, Topped with Pickles and BBQ Sauce, On a King's Hawaiian Roll, Served with Fries.



Which I think he liked as he gobbled it up really quickly.

I had a Bambu Burger -
Double Cheeseburger, Fresh Slaw, Fried Onion Crisps, Avocado Mayo, On a King's Hawaiian Roll, Served with Fries.



I thought this was good - standard quick service Burger but it was done well and the avocado mayo was lovely!

We both had a Minute Maid lemonade to drink and the total was $36.81 – blurry receipt!



We decided to spend some more time in the wave pool mainly just bobbing about, nothing too strenuous after lunch. The sun had started to come out now, it had been a bit on and off with clouds all morning. To be honest we thought that was good waterpark weather as there was less chance of Chris getting burned. I liked watching the people coming down in the tube of the big drop slide Chris also practiced his water aerobics.











We then a go on the lazy river – I honestly can’t remember if this was the ‘slow’ or ‘fast’ one now. Chris couldn’t get a tube at first as I think it was fairly busy by this point so we just shared one. This meant that he pushed me and held me under all the waterfalls.







I love lazy rivers. I liked the cave parts as there were twinkly lights in the ceiling.



Chris managed to find a lone tube floating so grabbed it.
I think we did two laps – it felt that it took a long time to do a full circuit.





At this point we decided there was no way we were likely to get enough courage to do the big drop slide. It was nearly 1:30pm by this point and we decided that we would head back to the hotel and get ready for an early-ish tea so we could head back to the parks in the evening.


A nice staff member offered to take a photo of us on the way out.


Back in the room we started to do some packing as we would be checking out tomorrow. I couldn’t believe how quickly the first part of our holiday had gone already! We half-packed and got ready to go out. We had planned an early tea tonight at Rocco’s Tacos and then wanted to head back into the parks later. I took a photo in the long bathroom mirror again – this was a great selfie mirror





We left at 16:45 and headed to grab an uber. Rocco’s Tacos is on Sand Lake Rd, so it took less than 10 mins to get there. We were seated straight away. The décor is really nice in there.

For drinks I had a watermelon margarita to drink and Chris had a highstepper.





I loved the margarita- it had sugar around the rim and was so tasty. Chris didn't really say much about the beer but he drank it quickly enough.

For mains I had Molcajete surf and turf - which was a bit like fajitas but in a hot rock bowl.



Chris has the Korean style BBQ tacos - which you can kind of see in distance although I think he had already started to eat one.
My surf and turf was amazing! The sauce/broth was rich and had abit of a spice to it.

Chris ordered another drink. He had a margaritta but it was one the server recommend as his favourite and it was no longer on the menu. Here's a photo of it anyway!



The total was $75.97.
We left $90.



They also do unlimited tacos for 14.99 on Tuesdays but you can only choose from the more standard style e.g. Not the Korean ones.

We were then headed in another Uber back to the hotel and grabbed our lanyards with our tickets and express passes in. We made it back to the parks by 18:45.

I stopped at the Christmas shop near the entrance to buy a decoration. I decided on a simple one of the logo which kind of fit in well with the NASA one I had bought the day before. It was $11.67 with tax.





Heading to Hogsmeade I had my photo taken with the conductor and then we headed to Forbidden Journey. I still can’t decide which was my favourite between this and Gringotts.








Again I'm sure i've talked about it already but the detail in the queue is fantastic.

I attempted to take a selfie but it didn't come out too well. Chris always pulls odd faces



I really wanted to buy a wand but decided to buy it in Diagon Alley when we headed over there as I didn’t want to carry it any longer than necessary. I know I could have bought it earlier on in the trip and got it delivered to the hotel but I had spent time browsing and had planned to get everything I was 100% sure I wanted on the last day so I didn’t overspend.





Next we decided to have a go on the Hulk before we headed over to Universal studios. Again I love the initial acceleration, such a rush.





We then got on the Hogwarts express to Diagon Alley – which was looking very lovely as it was getting darker. I did some shopping here I took photos of my purchases when we got back to the room that evening.




We then decided on a quick ride on the Mummy at around 8:35 which ended up being a not-so-quick ride as we didn’t get off until just shy of 9 o’clock. By this point the evening show was going to start and we ended up near the lake anyway so decided to stay and watch. Obviously they aren’t as impressive as the Disney fireworks but we enjoyed identifying the films from the clips despite the fact our view wasn’t the best.











We followed the crowd of people out of the park after the show and decided that we would go to cold stone creamery for an ice cream as I really wanted to visit and we hadn’t got round to it yet.



It was busy in Coldstone but that was to be expected as everyone was leaving the parks at the same time.

I had a like it size birthday cake ice cream and Chris had the love it size birthday cake shake. We must love birthday cake or something :P The ice cream melted quite quickly even though it was evening and I was so glad I hadn’t attempted ice cream during the day in the sun as I’m sure I would have spilt it all over me.







Total was Total was $13.72 and worth every cent as it was super delicious.

We were back in the room by 9:50pm which was good as we still had packing to do!

Some photos of my shopping coming up:
Severus Snapes Wand (non interactive):





He’s one of my favourite characters, I get very emotional during the flashbacks in the final film.

The wand was $46.81 including tax.
I also got a Ravenclaw scarf:



And some sweets as a gift for one of my friends :


Total for these items was $55.23 including tax.



Total Steps: 12,607. Not bad considering we were at the water park all morning and so clocked no steps on my phone as it was in the locker.

Day 5 is HERE

Edited at 02:23 PM.
H_C-2017 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 7 Oct 17, 08:43 AM  
Link to this Post
#2
Goldia
VIP Dibber
 
Goldia's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 16

Goldia's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 5
Restaurant Reviews: 43
Wow what a fab day, Volcano Bay, lovely cocktails with dinner and then some fab park fun.
__________________
Abby
New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
Goldia is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 9 Oct 17, 05:47 PM  
Link to this Post
#3
H_C-2017
Thread Starter
Serious Dibber
 
H_C-2017's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 16
Mobile

Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
Wow what a fab day, Volcano Bay, lovely cocktails with dinner and then some fab park fun.
Thanks for reading
H_C-2017 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 10 Oct 17, 02:16 PM  
Link to this Post
#4
collybird
Imagineer
 
Join Date: Oct 11
Location: Dundee
The food at Volcano Bay sounds nice, something a little different.

Great choice of wand, you must have been so excited taking it out of the box.
collybird is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 10 Oct 17, 02:25 PM  
Link to this Post
#5
Moorlandman
Imagineer
 
Moorlandman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 15
Location: Staffs Moorlands

Moorlandman's Reviews
DIBB Villa Reviews: 1
Mobile

Great report!
Moorlandman is online now Boy Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 12 Oct 17, 04:57 PM  
Link to this Post
#6
H_C-2017
Thread Starter
Serious Dibber
 
H_C-2017's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 16
Originally Posted by collybird View Post
The food at Volcano Bay sounds nice, something a little different.

Great choice of wand, you must have been so excited taking it out of the box.
We liked our choices of food. In fact I don't think we had a bad meal anywhere.
I was so pleased with my wand, I have a shelf at home with all my holiday souvenirs on.

Originally Posted by Moorlandman View Post
Great report!
Thank's for reading
H_C-2017 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 21 Oct 17, 03:50 PM  
Link to this Post
#7
klr15
Imagineer
 
klr15's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 16

klr15's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 2
Restaurant Reviews: 7
Mobile

Volcano Bay looks really good! Loving all the details in your trip report, making me miss Florida so much!
klr15 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 21 Oct 17, 04:09 PM  
Link to this Post
#8
H_C-2017
Thread Starter
Serious Dibber
 
H_C-2017's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 16
Originally Posted by klr15 View Post
Volcano Bay looks really good! Loving all the details in your trip report, making me miss Florida so much!
I know exactly what you mean. It's completely chucking it down here at the moment and I just want to go back to Florida so much.

H_C-2017 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 21 Jan 18, 08:47 PM  
Link to this Post
#9
FLAFantastic
Relaxing at the Grand Floridian
 
Join Date: Jan 09
Location: Bolton
Hey!

Fab reports! Really enjoying them!

Question for you: did you request a certain block in the hotel? We are staying in RPR end August and was wondering if you had a recommendation?

Oh and excellent choice of football shirt!

Thanks

AnnMarie xx
__________________

Edited at 08:49 PM.
FLAFantastic is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 21 Jan 18, 10:19 PM  
Link to this Post
#10
H_C-2017
Thread Starter
Serious Dibber
 
H_C-2017's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 16
Mobile

Originally Posted by FLAFantastic View Post
Hey!

Fab reports! Really enjoying them!

Question for you: did you request a certain block in the hotel? We are staying in RPR end August and was wondering if you had a recommendation?

Oh and excellent choice of football shirt!

Thanks

AnnMarie xx
We didn't request a block. We were on the 7th floor of tower 1 facing the main entrance. It didn’t take us long to get downstairs and less than 10 mins to get to the parks walking.
You will have a fantastic time! It’s a lovely hotel.
H_C-2017 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 08:11 PM.


Powered by vBulletin - Copyright © 2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
DIBB Savings
AttractionTickets.com

Get £10 off each Disney Ticket with the code ATDIBB10

Get up to £50 off per room at Disney or Universal with the code DIBBHOTELS


theDIBB Blog
One of the the five worlds found in Epic Universe, How to Train Your Dragon... Read More »
Disney announced that a new nighttime show, “Disney Dreams That Soar,” will run nightly at... Read More »
Walt Disney World Resort guests can get ready to have a “glowing’’ good time when... Read More »


theDIBB Menu


Exchange Rates
US Dollar Rates
ASDA  $1.2361
CaxtonFX  $1.2306
Covent Garden FX  $1.2540
FAIRFX  $1.2350
John Lewis  $1.2380
M&S  $1.2178
Sainsburys  $1.2354
TESCO  $1.2364
Travelex  $1.2353
Updated: 19:00 28/03/2024
Euro Rates
ASDA  €1.1445
CaxtonFX  €1.1408
Covent Garden FX  €1.1507
FAIRFX  €1.1432
John Lewis  €1.1457
M&S  €1.1263
Sainsburys  €1.1440
TESCO  €1.1445
Travelex  €1.1435
Updated: 19:00 28/03/2024

DIBB Premium Membership
Did you know you can help support theDIBB with Premium Membership?

Check out this link for more information and benefits, such as...

"No adverts on theDIBB Forums"

Upgrade Now



X