If you are going to Snowshoe this season and family tubing is a big fun part of you looked-forward to vacation, BE AWARE THAT STARTING ABOUT A WEEK AGO (today is Jan 3) THEY CHANGED THE REQUIREMENTS TO BE ABLE TO TUBE FROM A MINIMUM OF 4 YEARS OF AGE TO 4 FEET OR MORE TALL. As it says on their present website, "no exceptions"...no children with an adult either.
This means that if your height challenged young child went tubing last year or earlier, or even earlier this year, because they were 4 years old or older, they can no longer go tubing at Snowshoe, likewise for height challenged child that was underage before, but now 4 and really excited about going tubing. If you have promised them tubing on your coming vacation....you are doomed to crushing child disappointment and all that this entails.
I will post this on multiple threads to make sure the word gets out!
The Colonel

Because of the Snowshoe Resort changing their rules re who can tube, and in an effort to educate DCSki readers about Tubing at Mid-Atlantic areas, I did a quick web check last night (Jan 2) and made a few phone calls today to ascertain confusing tubing rules. NOTE that each line is broken into Name of Area;Minimum Age (if applicable); Minimum Height (if applicable); Whether Area Has a Separate Childresn Tubing Hill or Special Children Only Tubing Lanes; Whether Young Child Can Tube With Adult In Tube; and any Comments. (BE SURE TO READ ADDITIONAL NOTE AT BOTTOM OF RESORT LIST):

Tubing Hill Restrictions
(Data from Resort Web Site 01/02/09)
Note that a "?" notation indicates that info either not available or not applicable.

Area/Age/Height/ChildHill/Tube With Adult/Comment
Snowshoe/ NA/ 48"/ NO/ NO/ Intrawest
Wintergreen/ ?/ 42"/ YES/ ?/ Applies to Plunge, separate child tube hill
Wisp/ ?/ 42"/ ?/ ?/ None/
Tremblant/ 4/ ?/ ?/ ?/ Intrawest
7 Springs/ 4/ ?/ ?/ ?/ ?
Casnaan Vly/ 4/ 42"/ ?/ ?/ ?
Massanutten/ ?/ 36"/ ?/ ?/ ?
Sugar Mt/ 3/ ?/ ?/ YES/ <6w/adult
Blue Mt/ ?/ 36"/ ?/ ?/ ?
Beech Mt/ ?/ 48"/ ?/ ?/ ?
Whitetail/ 2-5/ ?/ YES/ ?/ Age2-4 chid lanes
Liberty/ 2-5/ ?/ YES/ ?/ Age2-4 Child Hill
I note that most areas have a 4 year minimum age to tube unless they have a special children's tubing hill or cordon off lanes on main tubing hill for youg children only. The above info made from a quick check (Jan 2) of resort related ski areas in Mid-Atlantic. I strongly suggest you call ahead to confirm tubing rules for smaller children before going to the area to tube, or planning a tubing included vacation. A "?" indicate no info available on resort web site. Obviously facilities, prices, hours, and length of sessions differ by resort.
The Colonel

Until I can rock the moguls without rookie patroller getting all Barney Fife on me, I'll be in the BC. Bring patch kit.

????
The Colonel

Massanutten does not have an age min, just the height requirement of 36 inches. But everyone must use their own tube. So if they are not allowing tubes to be linked, not a good idea to take a kid younger than 4 or 5. Younger kids can sit inside a tube.

Winterplace has tubing too. A reduced price for skiers on the same day as a liftie for a two hour session. Non-skiers can tube for 4 hours or even all day. I was surprised to see people tubing in ski boots last March.

Hawksnest in NC is all tubing. There are four separate areas, including a shorter one with it's own magic carpet that is good for families with younger kids.

My 4 year old did the tube park at Canaan this past week and absolutely loved it. There is no separate lane however for younger children and you have to really keep an eye on the bottom of the lanes. I stood at the bottom of the hill to "catch" and "whisk" her off the lane at the bottom since there were so many older kids not waiting for the bottom to be clear before coming down the hill.

Interesting to learn how differently the tubing areas operate. We started at M'nut so I assumed other areas were the same. We went to Hawksnest in Dec . . . boy was that different! No guardrails beside the magic carpet meant some people (teens) would jump off, walk around ahead of someone, and get back on. No one was helping people get onto the lift for the longer tubing area (they have 4).

At M'nut there are always at least two people working at the top and 2-3 at the bottom. Everyone has to wait until all lanes are clear before they get the signal to go.

While at the Shoe last week I learned they have once again changed the Tubing rules again, this time for the better.
Now there is a minimum age requirement of 3, and a height rule of either 3.5' or 4 ft. Anyway, if under the height limit you can still tube as long as an adult has their tube hooked to the kid's tube.
At least I believe this is what the folks at the Depot Activity Center told me.
The Colonel