Cedar Point Shores — Attraction in Sandusky

Cedar Point Shores is Cedar Point's big outdoor water park, the ambiance is nice, and there are lots of water slides here. Colorful, fun looking, twisty turning slides that use tubes or mats in addition to traditional ones. The kiddy areas are pleasant and well themed, with giant beach balls, sea serpents, sandcastles and other fun things to climb on/explore.

However, the park was so heavy on water based 'rides' that I saw more people standing around than actually in the water. There were no regular swimming pool areas for adults, only the kiddie play zones (where I saw many adults sitting in 3 inches of water and using the water spouts just to get a little wet). It was also rather unclear as to where most of the rides or the lines for them began. Late in the day there's lines 50 people deep waiting to get an inner tube before waiting again in the line of people who have them to actually go on the ride. Even their giant lazy river was full, with long wait times for anyone cruising the river to come out. The lifeguards were really good at watching over guests, they made sure rules were being followed and were vigilant enough to ensure that they were right there if anyone needed help in the water. The lifeguards and other staff were really friendly and did their best to give me advice or directions when asked.

Wear your sunscreen and reapply often!! You will likely sweat it off here and the chance of getting sunburn is really high. There is inadequate shade throughout the park (there is not even shade when waiting in line for attractions), with wide areas of pavement that get hot in the sun and few places with A/C to hide. With tempatures rising as high as the mid 90s (with dewpoints that make it feel like it's over 100), this is quite a problem. There is nowhere to wash feet off if they get dirty or too hot from walking on concrete or metal, and shoes are not allowed (even water ones) on any of the rides. I did not see this posted or expressed well either in the park or on their website.

Any loose items need to be left by a chair, near the ride's entrance/exit, or on the ground somewhere... There are no cubbies or other safe designated spots to put things while riding outside of lockers, which are only in a few select locations of the park and cost extra. It is one thing to leave a giant bag or valuables in a locker, but when one can't protect their feet well or even have a hat to keep the sun off them because they are not allowed and need to be stowed away all day? I saw more folks wandering back and forth (to go stow things or retrieve them) than having fun. Younger people who were being told that they could not have necklaces, bracelets, or other objects and that they must cross half the park (possibly go all the way back to the car) to put them away left ride areas bummed out. Honestly, a few sets of cubbies next to each ride's entrance would make all the difference in keeping the fun going and making patrons both happier and safer.

The parking lot for the water park is large enough to accommodate big crowds, but has no formal markers to use as guidelines for finding vehicles. I did find the back of the Steel Vengence and the water slides I could see from the car to be useful in finding it later, but having some numbered signs would go a long way towards helping guests find their vehicles faster. This becomes important when trying to leave the park for personal, medical, or practical needs.

Overall, I only gave 3 stars because I personally found the park to be underwhelming. While the rules made sense, they were not clearly posted, and the park was not set up well enough for me to feel that I had much fun. It is a big water park that had lots to offer, as well as plenty of potential fun for the entire family. Just do extra research on what is allowed or not in the park and prepare accordingly to deal with issues like the extreme heat, long waits, or the lack of...

Date of Visit: Wednesday June 11, 2025 (not a rainy day) Experience: Deluxe Cabana Rental at Cedar Point Shores (Season Pass Holder)

We were excited to visit Cedar Point Shores as season pass holders and booked a Deluxe Cabana specifically because it included food and drink service. Unfortunately, the entire experience was extremely disappointing and not worth the money.

Arrival & Security Experience: Getting into the park was chaotic. It wasn’t just the long lines. It was the disorganized and unprofessional behavior of the security team. Their system made no sense. People who triggered the metal detector were strangely sent to the back of other lines, and there was no clear guidance. It felt like their staff had just started and were irritated we needed help.

Cabana Check-In Confusion: Next came cabana check-in, which was equally frustrating. There are two separate lines: one for “standard” and one for “premium.” Having never been to the park before, we waited in the “standard” line only to be told (after a long wait) we were in the wrong place. We were then forced to drag our kids to another line for “premium” and repeat the process. The staff lacked urgency, enthusiasm, and seemed completely disengaged.

Park Cleanliness & Atmosphere: Once inside, the park was dirty. Trash was left around the grounds, and even worse, there was trash floating in the water that was completely ignored by the lifeguards on duty. Used bandages were also floating in the pools, and there was no visible effort to manage the overwhelming pollen. On top of that, they do not enforce their posted dress code. Guests were walking around with fully exposed buttocks in thong swimwear, which is not appropriate for a family waterpark. Men were walking around with sagging pants and exposed underwear. It felt more like a beach party than a safe, family-oriented environment. Most alarming of all, there was no enforcement around open wounds. Some guests were visibly bleeding in the water, which is entirely unacceptable from a health and safety standpoint.

Cabana Food Service Disaster: We booked a cabana specifically for the convenience of food service. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

We were ignored multiple times by the server. It took over 90 minutes to receive our food. The food was nearly inedible and hard. Our kids were hungry and unable to enjoy the park until they ate.

When we asked for a manager, we were told none were available. Eventually, a food manager named Dachelle came to help us. She was the one bright spot in the entire experience. Dachelle replaced our food quickly and professionally and was the only employee who seemed to truly care. Thank you, Dachelle.

Even after all of that, it took another 20 to 30 minutes just to get our card back from the server, further cutting into our limited park time.

Attractions Closed or Sub-Par: To top it off, most attractions were closed. We were only able to enjoy:

The kid’s splash areas The wave pool The rapids river

That’s it. After all the time wasted by poor service, disorganization, and delays, our kids barely got to enjoy anything.

Final Thoughts: We’ve visited many parks including Aquatopia in Pennsylvania, Great Wolf Lodge, Castaway Bay, and Kalahari, and we lived in Florida for a decade. Cedar Point Shores was by far the worst waterpark experience we’ve ever had. As season pass holders, this visit has made us question whether we’ll return. If we do, we will not spend another dollar beyond what we already paid for the pass.

Until the park addresses serious issues with staff training, food service, cleanliness, rule enforcement, and basic guest communication, we cannot recommend this experience to other families. You simply dont get what you pay...

At 6:58 the crew lifeguards purposely caused a mechanical malfunction by overloading the tube crank with tubes to cause it to stop. This caused the remainder of the line, who waited an hour and a half for their turn down the slide, to be forced off. We were given the option of a much less enjoyable slide and most people just left, allowing for the park to close on time instead of letting the rest of the line through.

Signage for the waterpark parking is atrocious and no one tells you that a shuttle is available if you are forced back up front to overflow parking.

The website does not clearly state that the military discounts are for cedar point only so if you bought the military discounted tickets you are forced to upgrade at the park at the window and pay the difference. Because most of the workers don’t speak english as a first language your experience may vary. Ours was less than satisfactory.

No one clarified that there are duplicate numbers for cabanas… there are 2 #1, 2 #2 etc cabanas so we were assigned number 4… we walked in to number 4 and I started changing my son when people walked in saying it was THERE cabana. Non english speaking staff were unable to satisfactorily direct me to where I needed to be which left all of us in the situation very frustrated and embarassed.

We were at the park for 6 hours and were only able to ride 1 water slide. There were not enough life vest for infants and many things were CLOSED with optimal weather. The wave pool closed for hours which overcrowded the lazy river and left no life vest for my son. The lily pad obstacle course also closed and again, overcrowded other areas of the park. There was not enough time at the park to get moneys worth, especially with eating and drinking overpriced meals.

When discussing the issue with staff deliberately causing mechanical malfunctions to slides the supervisors were rude and unprofessional. They get right up in your face and don’t rectify the issues such as providing a positive customer experience or refund to come again. Because it is listed that mechanical malfunctions do not result in a refund they do this purposely to not have to deal with angry customers, but several witnesses watched it happen and approached the supervisors of the event. Aggravated mechanical malfunctions should not be tolerated and the park should be held responsible for the immaturity of its staff.

At the end of the night after waiting in line for the restroom, I finally got a stall. A cleaning lady waited directly outside my door of the stall. When I came out she immediately went in and mopped the floor area… I couldn't even pee or change without rudely being rushed, meanwhile there was more line behind me and she prematurely was closing the bathroom to limit who could finish up changing at the park.

After leaving the park from a terrible time we tried the beach. Trash littered thebsand and water for miles! There was absolutely no one attempting to clean the trash from the beach but I couldn't even take a pee without a cleaning lady kicking me from the stall…

Cedar point is a local amusement park to me and holds many childhood memories for me. However, I will not be coming back after the past several less than fun visits. This place attracts simply to out of staters who haven’t seen the park and politics of it corrupt...