What it’s like to visit Universal’s Volcano Bay Nights

Universal Orlando’s Volcano Bay was my favorite water park long before I ever stepped foot inside the gates. I’d marveled at the park’s iconic 200-foot tall Krakatau Volcano every time I drove past it while traveling around the city, especially at night when the towering volcano is set aglow with colorful lights.

I’ve since visited Universal’s island-themed water park several times and my hunch that there was something special about that volcano and the water park surrounding its base was 100% accurate. 

When Universal Orlando announced the limited-time return of Volcano Bay’s popular nighttime event, I couldn’t resist the chance to enjoy those nighttime views of Krakatau up close.

Of course, there’s much more to Universal Volcano Bay Nights than just mesmerizing views (though I found myself staring at Krakatau often throughout the night). So, here’s everything you need to know before you visit Universal Volcano Bay Nights. 

What is Volcano Bay Nights?

On select nights in 2026, Volcano Bay will remain open after the sun goes down for guests with special tickets to this limited-capacity event. 

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In addition to smaller crowds and short wait times, this event offers several perks you won’t see during a daytime visit, including live entertainment, complimentary snacks and drinks, and character meet-and-greets.

Most attractions are open during the event and, in addition to the complimentary snacks, select food and beverage outlets are open to purchase food and drinks.

Volcano Bay Nights times

The official event hours run from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., but guests with Volcano Bay Nights tickets can enter the water park as early as 4 p.m. to find a spot on the beach and get the party started.

My husband and I arrived at about 5 p.m. as most daytime guests were on their way out. We headed straight for the beach to get beach chairs in a prime spot near the DJ that was setting up for the evening. There was no need to worry about finding a spot in the shade because the sun was well on its way to disappearing behind the horizon.  

Even before the official 7 p.m. start time, we took on TeAwa The Fearless River, a “whitewater river” ride where you don a life vest and float through some surprisingly fast rapids, and the Krakatau Aqua Coaster. 

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By the time we made it back to our chairs after the official start of the party, the DJ was playing energetic music and dancers had taken over the beach. During the day, you hear a lot of laid-back beach tunes around the park, so having the DJ and dancers definitely added to the nighttime party atmosphere. 

How much does it cost to attend Volcano Bay Nights?

When I went, Volcano Bay Nights tickets cost $99 (plus tax) per person. Universal Orlando passholders received a 10% discount on tickets.

Private cabanas are available on the day of the event on a first-come, first-served basis starting at around $300. The DJ, dancing, and characters are all on the beach. As much as I love a Volcano Bay cabana, I preferred the free seating on the beach to be closer to the party. We weren’t in our seats much anyway as we ran from ride to ride and ate our free popcorn in between.

If you eat dinner before the event (or pack along some sandwiches and snacks), you could make it through the evening without spending any additional money. The only things you may spend money on are food, alcoholic beverages, merchandise and towel rental, or locker rental (both regular lockers and family lockers are available).

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Daytime tickets to Volcano Bay start at $80 for adults and $75 for kids ages 3-9. This event only costs slightly more, but you do get free snacks and a reusable cup with unlimited refills (these cups usually cost almost $20 each).

You can’t put an exact price on the convenience of not waiting in line for the waterslides, but Universal Express skip-the-line access for daytime visits to Volcano Bay begins at $19.99 per person. You could consider that a savings, as well, because the lines at this event are nonexistent.

If you arrive at 4 p.m., you can spend up to seven hours at the park. Volcano Bay is usually open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., so you can get virtually the same number of hours inside the park during Volcano Bay Nights. The freebies and low crowds make up for the small price differential.

What is included in your ticket cost?

For the cost of your $99 ticket, you’ll get the following:

• Access to most of the park’s slides and attractions with little to no wait
• Standard parking (you can also utilize Universal’s complimentary bus transportation)
• Live entertainment and character meet-and-greets
• Unlimited snacks, including Golden Coconut and Pineapple Popcorn and Island Churro Bites with Mango or Chocolate Dipping Sauce
• Coca-Cola Freestyle souvenir cup with unlimited refills

Once you have the cup, you could pay to activate it inside the parks to use during your vacation. They are nice cups, so we packed ours in our suitcases to use at home. 

There are also several dining locations and snack stands open during the event with many of the same food and drink menu items that are available during the day. We both ordered coconut curry with chicken for dinner at Kohola Reef, but I saw flatbreads, pizzas, sandwiches, burgers, and more available at other stands. The full bar menu from Dueling Dragons was also available if you want to purchase beer, wine or cocktails.

What is different from visiting during the day?

I cannot overstate how short the lines were, which is one of the biggest differences between visiting during the day and visiting during Volcano Bay Nights.

A regular daytime visit to Volcano Bay includes a Tapu Tapu wristband that you wear for the day. You can tap the wristband at the waterslides to get a return time rather than standing in line. Your Tapu Tapu band will vibrate when it’s your time to ride.

During Volcano Bay Nights, however, wait times did not exist. The “wait time” was simply however long it took you to walk to the top of the stairs and get on the slide. The longest wait of the evening was for Krakatau Aqua Coaster. I believe there were two or three groups ahead of us, for a total wait of five minutes.

You could easily ride every available attraction during your visit and still have time to eat, drink, and party on the beach.

There was also plenty of room to swim and float in the Waturi Beach wave pool, the Kopiko Wai Winding River (a lazy river), and the whitewater TeAwa the Fearless River because of the smaller crowds. 

Short lines aside, it was so much fun seeing characters inside a water park. We posed for photos with Scooby and Shaggy in front of the Mystery Machine and I could not stop smiling when I saw them show up on the beach with the rest of the gang. They were even dancing with guests (especially all of the kids) while the DJ played music.

Where Scooby and the gang are, a villain is never far behind. During Volcano Bay Nights, Ghost Clown was doing what villains do best—creeping around the park to avoid being caught. Ghost Clown’s antics were hilarious and creepy.  

We even heard a rumor that you may have a chance to see this villain being “unmasked” just like in a Scooby-Doo cartoon episode. If you don’t want to miss this special moment, ask a team member when and where to be for the big finale moment before the night ends.

Scooby and the gang felt appropriate for the spooky season, but when Universal introduced this event in the spring, guests could meet DreamWorks characters, so that could change again if this event returns in the future.

Is Volcano Bay Nights good for kids?

We saw quite a few kids at Volcano Bay Nights and most of them were still partying when we decided it was time to head back to the hotel for bed. As mentioned, you can enter the park beginning at 4 p.m. Even if you don’t think your kids can stay up through the end of the evening, you can still get a lot done in a short amount of time because it’s less crowded.

The atmosphere was family friendly. The Tot Tiki Reef and Runamukka Reef kids splash areas were both open during the event and we also saw kids dancing on the beach and playing in the sand. 

Tips

Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your time at Volcano Bay Nights

• Arrive between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. – This will give you plenty of time to grab a seat and familiarize yourself with the park’s layout if you haven’t visited before. The park closes to daytime guests at 5 p.m., so you should be able to experience several attractions between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Bring your own towels –  Volcano Bay does sell towels or you can rent towels, but you can save money by bringing your own towels from home or your hotel.
• Get a waterproof phone pouch – If you want to capture your Volcano Bay memories using your phone, bring along a waterproof phone pouch. You can purchase them for less than $10 on Amazon, but they cost nearly $35 at Volcano Bay.    
• Choose a hotel close to Volcano Bay – If you are planning to stay at a Universal Orlando hotel, go with Universal Cabana Bay Beach Resort, Universal Aventura Hotel or Lowes Sapphire Falls Resort. Cabana Bay would be my top choice because many of the rooms have a Volcano Bay view and it is the closest to the walking path that leads to Volcano Bay. You can also access the walking path from Sapphire Falls and Aventura.
• Parking details: If you are driving to Volcano Bay, you’ll park at Universal’s main security garage and take a bus to the water park. If you are staying at one of Universal’s hotels, you can take the complimentary bus transportation to CityWalk and transfer to a Volcano Bay bus.

Universal will be offering Volcano Bay Nights on select nights in 2026. When the dates are announced, you can be sure I’ll be there, on Waturi Beach so I can soak up those nighttime volcano views again.

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