If you follow our insta stories, you probably already know that we spent a few days in Orlando last weekend. My hubby and I were along for the ride and we basically crashed my niece and nephews first trip to the Universal Theme Parks. And what a ride it was! After two full days of hitting up Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, a relaxing day at Volcano Bay (Universal’s newest theme park) was just what we needed. My hubby wanted to spend the whole vacation here! No joke!! As soon as you enter the park, you are instantly swept away by the mystical, carefree island lifestyle! If you’re really serious about resting those tired feet and taking your relaxation to the next level then I highly recommend renting a cabana. It’s essential to the most epic Volcano Bay experience! Get the single if it’s available! It’s extremely private (some rentals have upper and lower units). The cabana itself was the cheapest available at the time and set us back about $300 for the day. But I’ve heard you can snag them for as low as $200 in low season. Now that’s a steal! We were located right next to Krakatau, the Volcano and centerpiece of the resort. The draw of the cabana for us was first and foremost we’re all super pale! We’re not sun people in the least bit (except for my hubby).  So in order to survive a full day in bathing suits in Florida we needed some shade to go with our sun! At Volcano Bay that means you have a few options: you can take your chances and try to find a seat in the shade, you can rent covered lounge chairs, or you can rent a cabana. For our group, the choice was pretty obvious! But what really set the cabana rental above the rest as the best fit for us was all the extras that came with it! Not only did we have ample shaded seating for the entire family, but they also provide you with 12 towels (towels can either be brought into the park or rented there), a locker to store your gear (which would have been an additional fee without the cabana rental), a mini fridge stocked full of bottled water, a ginormous gift basket filled with fresh fruits and delicious pastries, your own personal Tapu Tapu station, and concierge service that includes food and drink delivery. Yep! You can just chill in the cabana and someone will bring you food and drinks. All. Day. Long! Of course we had to put the drink service to the test ASAP! We started with a Blue Hawaiian, a mixture of Malibu, fresh pineapple juice, and blue curacao and a Toasted Coconut Pineapple, a concoction of Siesta Key Coconut Rum and fresh pineapple juice. Both were amazing!!  It doesn’t get anymore tropical than this!

We stayed at Cabana Bay (you can see it in the background!) and cashed in on another VIP perk, early park admission! In fact, Cabana Bay is within walking distance. Amazing right?!? This was the forward facing view from our cabana. As you can see it was like we had the entire park to ourselves!! I think it also helped that we visited on a Monday, after all the weekend crowds had gone home.Our personal Tapu Tapu station was the best! If you’re not familiar with Tapu Tapu, it’s a wearable bracelet that everyone receives upon entering the park. It let’s you check into ride attractions rather than waiting in line, as well as opens lockers, and unlocks interactive features around the park. For the ultimate all-inclusive experience you can even link it with your credit card to allow cash free payments throughout the park. Don’t worry! You can set spending limits if you like so you don’t lose track. Most Tapu Tapu stations are found outside the ride itself. Having our own personal Tapu Tapu allowed us to check into rides without even leaving the cabana! It was fabulous!! After riding the Krakatau Aqua Coaster (you HAVE to do this one!!!), spending some time on Waturi Beach, and countless floats around the Kopiko Wai Winding River (think lazy river) it was time to order up some lunch. Oh course how can you not take advantage of that drink service?!? The Tiki Punch was right up my alley, a mix of Bacardi Superior, Bacardi Razz, Bacardi dragon berry, Don Q Limon, and cranberry juice. Make sure you keep the plastic souvenier glass! Refills are cheaper!! If you’re traveling with kids, the Longboard Pizzas are a safe bet! You can find them at Whakawaiwai Eats, the Kohola Reef Restaurant, or the Dancing Dragons Boat Bar if you don’t have a cabana. They’ll run you about $10 for a four slice pizza which is pretty reasonable for theme park eats! We ordered 4 of them for the six of us and they disappeared in like…mmm…..2 seconds! 

The Aia Aia Jerk Wings with Mango BBQ sauce did not disappoint either!! And we’re from Buffalo so we know what we’re talking about when it comes to wings! You can find them on the Dancing Dragons Boat Bar menu.After lunch we hit up some of our favorite rides. Some of our favorites included the Ohno & Ohyah Drop Slides, Honu of the Honi ika Moana (that big blue 5-person raft slide), and TeAwa The Fearless River Ride. It’s basically the opposite of a lazy river. You put on a life jacket and crash through fast moving rapids. It’s what we imagined riding the rapids at the bottom of Niagara Falls would be like! SO fun!!! Obviously it was time for a little liquid therapy after all that. May I suggest Haku-Puini Punch to round out your day?!? And you absolutely must try the Waturi Fusion found at Koka Poroka Ice Cream before leaving the park! This one-of-a-kind rainbow softserve features a mixture of Banana, Blue Raspberry, Orange and Strawberry flavors.  Of course you can also order any of those flavors separately, but what fun would that be! This blended ice cream was seriously THE BEST!!!  If you’re visiting Orlando especically during those hot months, which let’s be real, is like most of the year, you HAVE to check out Volcano Bay!! It’s totally worth spending a day there. And it really does give you that much needed break from walking and park crowds. Do it!!!! And don’t forget about that cabana! Be sure to check out our Top Ten Things to Eat at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and our Best Tips For Early Admission To The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter!

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