CP Shores inner tubes

Has anyone noticed a big change regarding inner tubes at Soak City Shores? Specifically the last two times I have been there, the two rivers were not incredibly busy but hoardes of people were waiting at the entrance trying to shag tubes from people getting off.

In the past, there were often as many empty tubes in the rivers as there were riders and plenty stacked beside.... Some folks attempted to take the tubes from the nearby slides into the lazy river but were rebuffed. What happened to all the tubes? Is that next season's upcharge?

In a related note, for the first time in memory you do not need a tube to ride the rivers... This is a positive as it always seemed intuitive but The lifeguards never permitted it before. It is fun to just float in thecurrent with no tube though.
Anyone have any info as to what is going on?

I took advantage of just floating down the river tubeless, but soon found out that the river is way to shallow for that to be comfortable. I'll snag a tube next time.

I've noticed the lack of tubes at Runaway Rapids too (formerly Renegade River). On more than one of our visits there's been a crowd of people desperately competing to snatch one up from an exiting rider before anyone else. Like you said, the river isn't even particularly crowded when this happens.

There's also constantly been between 8-12 stranded tubes stuck floating within the restricted wave machine area of the river too. The lack of tubes ends up turning what should be a lazy, relaxing experience into one that's frustrating.

I imagine that there's been a re-evaluation of the attraction's safety. Certainly allowing visitors to enjoy floating without a tube would indicate as much. Maybe with fewer tubes it's easier for lifeguards to scan the bottom of the river and less likely for a distressed swimmer to go unnoticed. Just guessing here.

When WWK was open they allowed swimming in the river without a tube while Soak City still required a tube. Never understood why Soak City always kept to the rule of needing a tube while its sister park didn't. As for the safety aspect of it the tubes were changed to clear with no graphics many years ago. I haven't been to the water park since 2011 so that might have changed but clear tubes helped solve the problem of seeing to the bottom of the river/wave pool when it was crowded.

Maybe it simply is because they didn't buy enough tubes this year or bought crappy tubes that are always failing? Back in the day Soak City kept an entire semi-trailer full of tubes that were constantly being rotated into the stock all summer long. Or they could just be trying to save money on operation costs.

Just got back from Kings Island for 2 days and Soak City was packed due to heat but the actual park was quite empty. I noticed that all of their water slides and lazy river required you to wait for tubes, mats, etc at the entrance of the ride. We waited well over 15 min in a lengthy line for the lazy river, my guess is to limit guests in it so lifeguards can do their job effectively? In any case, it was annoying to wait since there were so few tubes available, and the lifeguards were trying to make sure everyone gave up their tube at the end of the ride which didn't always work.

shamrockcb, Are you saying that they are trying to take away your tube after one lap?

We had to wait for lazy river (formerly Main Stream) tubes during both of my visits last summer. The lazy river and Soak City in general were not very busy on those days. In prior years there were always ample tubes to choose from.

I don't know much about life guarding, but I wonder if the park's lifeguard certification levels changed along with the removal of the Lake Erie roped off swimming area. Maybe they have lower-level lifeguards now, which may reduce their liability? Perhaps that change has something to do with them now allowing people to swim in the lazy river and with the removal of so many tubes from the lazy river.

Another change I noticed that happened around the same time was they began allowing people to drink alcoholic drinks in the Bubbles hot tub. Prior to that the life guards were like hawks swooping in to make sure nobody was drinking while touching the water. Maybe that's why they have now removed the hot tub.

Yes at Kings Island they were making people leave the lazy river at the end, which isn't very lazy lol But the line to get in was sooo long!

Speaking of "lifeguards" there was some idiot in a jet ski today telling people to stay before a certain point in the water. I'm nearly positive he didn't work there at all, and he was pretty much being a pain to everyone just to be a pain. He claimed to be with the park too.

That's weird. Maybe he's the beach nazi. I think the CP shoreline is fairly free of drop offs or sudden hazards. (Except the risk of occasionally stepping on a dead fish. Ew)

I'm not a fan of swimming in Lake Erie, but I remember when it wasn't very nice and maybe that's it. But is there a pool nearby? There is? Ok, see ya!

Go Intamin said:

Speaking of "lifeguards" there was some idiot in a jet ski today telling people to stay before a certain point in the water.

Was this towards the Wicked Twister end of the beach? It could have been one of the jet ski rental guys trying to keep people away from where they anchor the jet skis. Cedar Point has never used any type of water patrol in the past so I doubt this person had any type of connection to the park itself.

No, it was close to CP Shores, and he was preventing people from going too deep, telling them to move towards the shore.

Interestingly, I was there today and the tubes on the Renegade River were back in force...Stacks of them! Unfortunately, it was somewhat cold and rainy this afternoon so no one was really using them, but at least they tried!

^^^ That's great news!!!

Yes that is good news. I was there both Saturday and Sunday. They did have lots of tubes for the rivers. But what I noticed is that people would take the tube on the river and then during the ride, they would ditch the tube and just leave the empty tube floating in the river. Also on crosscurrent/(plunge slide & raft slides) people were pileing the tubes up by the exit gates and not over by the stairs like they should have. I know and completely understand that nobody can control how the guests be have. But if you are done with your tube or don't want it, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE put it back where it belongs so it's not a major headache/pain in the *** for everyone else, just because you think you are entitled.

Just so we are clear, I'm not trying to be mean, rude, nasty, or snarky, just putting my two cents in.