Loading ...The first time I saw this announced in the AZ Republic (being an Arizonian myself) I was excited to go see it, until I saw in the same article that admission is $75-per-person. I figured it had to be a misprint… I didn’t want to buy the Skywalk, I just wanted to walk out onto it.
Later a correction was made that it was a misprint and it was instead $25. Then a correction to that was printed that it was infact $75, because the ticket is $25 but the transportation up to the walk was $50 and mandatory. Then there was some more confusion until I ended up talking to some folks that had done it, and it was $75 per person. Talk about horse-shit.
Anyway it looks like this gentleman did the Skywalk and had a very similar experience, and found that the costs of the ticket breaks down into:
- $25 gets cut off the top and goes right to the investors that funded the development
- $50 gets added to the ticket because the tribe that owns the land wants to print money aparently
So it’s the perfect storm of idiots determining a price for a landmark that no one will go see except folks that either came from Antarctica to see it or people that hate money.
It also turns out that cameras are not allowed for “safety reasons” and you actually have to check your camera with security. As Maggie Leber put it perfectly in the comment’s section of the original poster’s blog:
What a load of BS. More likely they want to have a special additional charge for professional photographers.
If you can crack their glass by dropping a camera, you really shouldn’t walk on it…
She is spot-on. In order to protect their ridiculous investment then ensuing rape of the public, they forcibly keep cameras off the walk so as not to arouse suspicion from others that the entire thing is a worthless endeavor at the $75 price point. So as far as I can tell, the strategy outlined by the tribe and investors looks something like this:
- Get screwed during project negotiations
- Pass those screwings onto the public
- Keep cameras off the tourist trap
- <Details unknown>
- Swim in piles of money
I suppose at the beginning step #4 wasn’t that important to anyone, but I would suggest they reevaluate it.
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December 8th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Skip the Hualapai Ripoff. They should be ashamed. We made it to the gate after a 16 mile dusty bumpy ride where the $20 parking sign was. The lady in the booth asked for $40 which put me on guard right away. She said additional fees apply. After thinking the bus was optional from reading their web site earlier, I was told no, our car of 4 would have to pay an added $120 to get on the bus. And add the $30 per person on top of that. So quick math put the four of us at $280 to walk onto the famed bridge. I turned the car around and said keep the bridge. I found this site after my visit and can’t imagine how these people are able to get away with this for so long. Not a penny from me and now I’ll go out of my way to give this place as much bad press as possible for the rip off it is. Save your money, there is plenty of Grand Canyon to see in many better ways.
Check this site for hundreds of disappointments
http://hicks-wright.net/blog/grand-canyon-skywalk/
December 8th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Tom,
That sounds absolutely ridiculous. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and give your own accounting of the trip. The most interesting thing I’m finding is that each person that goes has a different story. The price is always exorbitant and upsetting, but it seems to fluctuate to whatever they want to charge when the mood strikes them.
I only hope that they are running it at a loss… what a scam.
October 18th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
My wife and I just returned from a Las Vegas vacation. We had already planned to go to the Skywalk after seeing something about it on TV and the internet. Man, do I wish we had researched it further. The 120 mile long drive from Las Vegas to the Skywalk attraction was horrible; especially the last 21 miles of it which took over an hour and we were dangerously passed on this road by a Grand Canyon Skywalk bus. Once there, we found out that you cannot take your camera on the Skywalk. I would have thought that during the several conversations I had with these people prior to this, on the telephone, this might have come up. We were explained the $150.00 (for both of us) package and when I began expressing my displeasure were told that we were expected to pay the Indian territory fee regardless of whether we took the tour or not. Fat freaking chance!!! We left and drove 120 miles back to Las Vegas, stopping at the Hoover Dam and for a minimal $11.00 fee had an awesome tour and a great time. The Grand Canyon West Skywalk is a rip off and I hope that so many people come to realize this that the money hungry people running this go out of business.
October 21st, 2009 at 7:56 am
Dennis,
I’m really glad you took the time to come here and post — anything that helps people avoid that f-ing tourist trap of doom is better for man-kind.
I imagine when that idea was originally dreamed up, it was by someone that wanted to provide an interesting experience for everyone, and then some marketing agents and lawyers got involved and developed all the rip-off “strategery” around it that we now see — corner people 100 miles away from anything giving them the sense of “well screw it, we might as well pay since we came all the way out here” and make up other things like “Indian territory fee”… jesus, it sounds like you went to visit Jamaica or something.
As an aside, we went to Jamaica and shenanigans like this “taxes” and “fees” and “trip charges” were rampant all over the place and completely different for everyone or not-applicable if they didn’t notice you… just another way to say “rip off” — totally killed the vibe of our trip.