Helen Waterpark — Attraction in Helen

I am not a person to speak negativiely about anyone/any business. That being said, this business and owner deserve only that. We drove 3hrs to enjoy what we thought was unlimited water park and tubing priveledges. What we truly purchased $70 later was 6hrs of unlimited standing in line and not once did we tube nor were we able to do anything in the water park. All the tubes for the lazy river and slides were taken and you were unable to take part in either without tubes. We waiting for 1.5hrs just to purchase tickets. We then decided since it was now past lunchtime we'd get lunch at their snack shack-where we waited yet again for another 1.5hrs. After eating we ran to the restroom where we experienced completely disgusting bathroom facilities. There was a horrible smell of urine, overflowing trashcans, all three papertowel dispensers were empty, stall doors that do not latch properly, etc. According to my husband and son, the men's restroom was found in the same condition. We then went to the bus stop that was to take us to the tubing facility. We were told the buses ran every 15 minutes. After waiting another 1.5hrs we got on a bus that took us to the tubing facility. Upon arrival, we see a line at least 100yds deep. We decided to return to the main facility instead of waiting again in the blazing sun and heat of July. Several other customers stayed on the bus as well. Before leaving the tubing station, others returned to the bus stating the wait time was 2+ hours to get a tube and that they had also run out of tubes. While returning back to the main facility, I noticed every bus we passed (from the competitor tubing company down the road from this one) had a full bus of passengers with a trailer full of tubes for said passengers. When we arrived to the main facility, we went in to speak with someone regarding a refund since we not once were able to participate in anything we paid because they were so crowded and continued to sell tickets/passes anyway. There were several others in line to speak with someone regarding the same issues we had. The owner stated anyone with a wristband would not get refunds but those without would get refunds. I asked why wristanded customers wouldn't be refunded and her response was because tubing was free with the waterpark unlimited pass. Mind you, we paid $70 and were not able to do any activities on the premises because of their overselling of tickets/passes. Several others spoke their piece about how they deserved a refund because all they were able to do was wait several hours in line before the tubing was shut down for the day. The owners exact response was "You're not getting a refund. It's not my problem.". I am not sure what owner would ever respond to a paying customer that way, but never again will my family waste $100 of our hard earned money in this woman's facility. It is clear by how unorganized, unsanitary, and the quality of the employees and owner, that the lust of the almighty dollar and not the satisfaction of the business' customers is what the drive of the company is. Ethically, I have no idea how this woman, the owner, can...

You know how, as a parent, sometimes you want to take your kid to a theme park-type place, but don't want to spend ALL day there? This is that kind of place.

We arrived around 1130 am on a Thursday, and it was a total ghost town. We had to drive around a few times and peer over the fence to make sure all the slides were operating and that it was, in fact, open. We didn't bother buying tickets in advance as the price was more or less the same at the ticket booth, and we were only able to apply a military discount at the ticket booth. Unfortunately, the slow wifi meant we were waiting in line for what felt like forever.

A few notes about the park: It's small. I think with little kids, this works out fine because, as mentioned above, some days you just don't want to spend 8 hrs at a waterpark. If you're under 42", I honestly wouldn't bother. Kids under 42" can use the lazy river, and kids 3 and under can play at a little playground, but that's it. There's a sort of mushroom water spray feature that littles can play in, but it's at the entrance of the lazy river, so lots of people are coming and going. Life jackets are available I'm infant and youth sizes, which is helpful because the pools the slides dump into are 48" deep and if your kid is 42" and still learning to swim (though there are lifeguards that assist the little kids), it can be a bit dicey.

There are essentially two types of slides and two of each type. There's a slide you go down on a mat and a tube slide that you go down on a doubles tube. Add a lazy river, and that's the extent of the water park. As mentioned, it's small. On the plus side, there's hardly any wait time on the slides so you can go over and over relatively quickly, which, again, is great for impatient little kids.

One area that could use improvement was the bathrooms and changing areas, which are very dated and not the cleanest I've experienced. I'd rate it maybe a C+. Also, they don't let you bring in any food or water (I did see a water fountain, though), but they didn't check our bags either. You can come and go as you please as long as you have a wristband, and there's ample picnic tables right outside the front of the building if you want to bring a cooler of food. There's also a small concession stand on site.

Overall, we spent about 3 hrs here with our 5yos and had a fun time. I think about $15 for adults and $10 for kids (regardless of height) would be about the right price point given the size of the park and how long we spent there (definitely wouldn't spend the entire day), but $18 for anyone 42" and over wasn't...

This is a review for the tubing only--the water park doesn't look like much.

Tubing in the Chattahoochee is alternately relaxing and kind of a workout! Get the stick so you can maneuver around the rocks and kind of steer yourself towards better routes. You WILL get stuck a time or two, unless the river is very high. Once, I got dumped out because I got stuck then someone came up behind me and scooped me right over! It's not deep anywhere (at most chest high on an adult, but more usually about knee deep.) You WILL bump into people and if you're not strapped to someone, you may not see them the entire trip. For both companies, you can park at the bottom/take out spot down by the welcome center, stow your valuables in your car and you car keys at the desk, then ride the bus to the put in spot, then float downriver to your car. I guess you could also do this in reverse but I guess I'd rather be dry on the bus.

I ended up tubing with both Helen Tubing (pink tubes) and Cool River (blue/green/yellow tubes). They both float down the same river and cost the same ($10) but Cool Water puts in and takes out a little before Helen Tubing. The biggest pro to using Helen is that just after the take out for the Cool River folks, there's a nice little waterfall to go over which is probably the second most thrilling spot on the trip. The top thrill is a "slide" just past the downtown bridge that our Helen Tubing bus driver pointed out on the trip over. When you go under the biggest bridge (and you'll know it by all the restaurant diners watching you), aim towards the right-hand side and go through the farthest gap in the rocks. That leads you you to a great double-dip slide that is just fantastic.

The biggest con to Helen Tubing is that their sticks don't have loops! They did up until a few weeks ago but I guess the last shipment they got didn't have them. I ended up losing hold of mine 3-4 times and had to jump out to go fetch it. They can make you a handle with some duct tape which might help. That's the only real reason I give Helen Tubing 4 stars instead of 5. Plus, our trip ended up being right at noon, and while our bus wasn't crowded at all, the sun was directly overhead making it harder to lean back on the tube and relax. Going early or late when the sun isn't right overhead would be better. And if you have fair skin, wear a long sleeve top. My arms were burning after two hours in...