Grand Canyon Skywalk Review
For our honeymoon, we spent a few days in Vegas but took one of those days to drive out to the Grand Canyon Skywalk. And boy oh boy, was it ever a disappointment. The Skywalk is a glass bridge that extends out above the canyon and is supposed to give you a real sense of just how deep the hole is. In reality, the bridge is so small, you don’t even get out past the canyon’s wall. The glass floor only has a small sliver down the middle that’s transparent, and the glare from the sun makes it hard to see anything, anyway. The view was better off the bridge:
The worst part about it? The Skywalk costs $30 per person! But because that section of the Grand Canyon is owned by the Native Americans, they charge you another $40 (again, per person) just to enter the area. Ouch. We could have saved $120 by going through a National Park entrance. Of course, I knew all of this before I went, so I guess I have no room to complain. Sometimes, though, you just have to see something for yourself, no matter what others say about it.
Responses to “Grand Canyon Skywalk Review”
Comments RSS Feed – All CommentsHopfrog — 12 July 2011 @ 7:54 am
I was really biting my tongue when you told me you were going here. No sense in dashing anyone’s spirits about something, but this is widely considered a huge ripoff among Las Vegans.
As I mentioned to you, it was designed by a Chinese engineer so it is a popular destination among Chinese tourists. On a positive note, I think either History or Discovery run a great documentary on the construction and design of the project. A lot of effort and troubleshooting went into making the skywalk and it’s too bad that it is a bit of an expensive, meh moment. I have a feeling the documentary is probably a lot more entertaining than actually walking on the thing.
Clark — 12 July 2011 @ 8:24 am
Yeah, I could tell! I knew it would be a letdown. No surprise there. Sarah saw a documentary on the bridge, though, and had her heart set on going ever since. I just wanted to see the canyon (last time I went, I was too young to remember). So it still worked out.
It is a technical feat, but the bridge needed to be at least three times bigger than it is. When I first heard of this project years ago, I imagined an invisible bridge that extended all the way across the canyon. Now THAT would have been sweet. Impossible, maybe, but sweet.
I should have mentioned this in the original post, but the attraction really felt like being in China. Lots of Asian tourists. Lots of signs in Chinese. Being forced to wait out in the hot sun for 30 minutes for a shuttle bus. Brings back memories…
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