Laura

From time to time, many of us wind up visiting an attraction that is, well, not all it was cracked up to be. Sometimes we wish we could get our money back, but then again, perhaps the proprietor of this attraction needs it more than we do. Maybe we could do others a big favor by identifying United States attractions we have visited that are to be avoided.

Here are the rules.

To qualify, the post must discuss an attraction or resort. It has to be someplace you visited specifically for the experience, like a resort, museum, park, beach, etc. If the attraction was especially expensive, please note that fact. Let's not include bad hotels or bad restaurants, because people rarely pick a vacation spot for the hotel or restaurant, unless it is a resort.

Also, you must describe the reasons you were disappointed in detail. No points are awarded for posts like "The Grand Canyon sucked." That would be unsportsmanlike conduct. Take the time to talk future victims out of it.

Next, the attraction must be lousy on its own merits. The fact that you got stuck in traffic on the way there or had a headache just means you had bad luck. However, you are permitted to weigh and discuss factors such as effort required to experience the attraction in judging whether it was worth it.

Lastly, we are not looking for "destinations", so it not helpful to say "I don't like LA." Think of something that a visitor could easily avoid and thereby save a travel day and improve a vacation they might otherwise take to the area.

Let's see. I will nominate the Queen Mary in Los Angeles, although I know the rest of you will probably outdo me. At the time I went, the only experience available to tour it was a self-guided tour. So you pay quite a bit to wander around a big ship. I don't recall the price as it has been a while, but I do recall that feeling of reaching for my wallet very, very slowly and reluctantly. There is probably a lot of history there, and I love history, but there was no guide there to explain it. The posters on the wall just didn't give the ship the treatment it probably deserved. Given that LA is so spread out and the Queen Mary takes a lot of travel to reach from some of the other tourist destinations, I would say it should be skipped.

Lily

Any of the pay "museums" in Gettysburg, PA. The place is full of history and nice gift shops without the tacky little $5+ museums. Try instead, the National park exhibits, the Eisenhower Farm tour, the touring bus thru the battlefield.

John

L.A. has been blamed for too many bad things already, so let's not blame her for the Queen Mary. That rusting hulk is in LONG BEACH, CA--and is Long Beach ever proud of it. I agree with Laura that it certainly is not worth visiting.

Gary

NBC Studios Tour, Burbank, California:

One pays for a ticket, then waits in an uncomfortably small room for at least 30 minutes. The guests are shown the storage bin where unclaimed prizes from 70s game shows are kept. The guests are then taken to the employee parking lot and shown Jay Leno's car. The tour proceeds to the empty Tonight Show Studio, where the guests sit and are asked, "Are there any questions?" The tour climaxes with a dazzling demonstration of how a TV weather map works. Tour over. Since the building is shared by the local NBC affiliate, I asked the guide, "Can we see the news studio?" The reply was "No, that's off limits to the public." At that point, I was too weary to ask the obvious question: "Why?"

Cindy

I have a nominee that I will christen as "Big Government Agency Trying to be Disneyworld." It is the FBI tour in Washington, D.C. You would think this would be a really cool tour. I mean, crime is interesting, isn't it? Not once the government gets ahold of it, it's not. You line up to see the FBI tour, and the wait can be really long. Most other attractions in Washington, D.C. have timed tickets. But unless something has changed recently, not the FBI. You go in, and your cheerful government escort walks you around. You see "displays" mostly. So this might be a pair of handcuffs with a police baton and other such stuff stuck to walls under glass. The next display might be on drug use: a picture of some pot and some "just say no posters." The highlight is when everyone is taken to a big room where an FBI agent fires an automatic weapon (a big one, too) at a paper target. All the little children practically press their noses against the glass to watch the gunplay. That's it. End of tour.

I am not sure they are still doing the automatic weapons part of this tour in this post-Columbine era. But what makes this tour so sad is that it could be a very interesting and detailed study of criminology and history of crime in America. As it is now, it is just plain overrated.

Owen O'Neill

I was quite disappointed by Mount Rushmore. Yes... ita is a remarkable sight but prior to arriving few people are aware that it can only be viewed at a significant distance. The effect was much like seeing a photo of it in a book but in some ways less impressive. I mention this specifically because we went a number of hours out of our way to reach it. The consensus was uniform among my parents and myself in thsi regard (I was 15 and traveling with them). On the bright side, the Black Hills area that we passed through on the way there was full of scenic natural beauty (but IMHO not worth a special trip).

Gary

On second thought, maybe there was something that, while not WORSE than NBC, was more disappointing.

If only I could: Forget the Alamo.

San Antonio was okay. The hotel was fantastic. The food was great, the Hill Country beautiful.

BUT: Imagine twenty tour buses and a thousand people wearing cowboy boots in July. The momument was VERY crowded and, unless you're a member of the Sons of Texas or a descendent of David Crockett, not at all enthralling. There is, however, a very nice bouganvillea growing up one of the exterior fences. I know I'm supposed to feel bad about what happened there...well, sorry.

Side Note: There was no Jan Hooks, no Paul Reubens, no "ah-doe-bee". In fact, there was no tour at all, and certainly no basement.

Joseph

I found Cherokee, NC to be a very depressing area, not at all what I expected. The museum and giftshops aren't bad, but the surrounding area I wasn't enthralled with.

Ruth

Salem, MA -- a grossly overcommercialized exploitation of a dark moment in America's history. Don't bother!

Cindy

I've gotta admit, this was one of the best ideas anybody has come up with for a long time. The input has been greatly appreciated, and I don't mean to laugh at somebody else's expense, but some of the explanations are so funny! You are the people that make forums worthwhile and enjoyable!

Steve

I'd have to register a voice of dissent with regard to Mount Rushmore. It is true it can be a haul and a half to get there from just about anywhere. However, the time to visit is at night when the four gentlemen are lit. The program is quite patriotic and moving, even for the cynics out there. And if you get there early enough, say 7:30 p.m. or so, you can park in the auxiliary lot for free, instead of the eight bucks they charge at the main gate.

And two or three days in the Black Hills would definitely be worth it, especially to the Crazy Horse Memorial and Wind Cave National Park.

If you've gone through all that trouble to get there, no need to hurry home!

wassup

this post

Bob Brown

Rushmore patriotic? Somebody took a big jack hammer and defaced a perfectly good mountain. Glad those guys did not get hold of Half Dome or El Capitan.
Its the same mentality that is ruining the environment with shopping centers and giant housing developments where the first step is to cut down ALL of the trees.

Al Godon

My nomination for a big spoof at best and a monumental ripoff at worst is the boat trip at Wisconsin Dells.
Next nomination is Silver Springs Florida. I agree, Cherokee does have a lot of junk in it. But also some priceless items. Where else can you purchase a big, pink plastic pig??
If you don't have one, I endorse them heartily -- in someone else's yard about 40 miles from mine. Make a good spoof to plant one at night in some stuff shirt's yard.

Emily

We just got back from Washington D.C. and went to a lot of exciting, entertaining, and educational places .. but the Bureau of Printing and Engraving was NOT one of them.

Our tour consisted of a lot of people standing on a catwalk, looking at a lot of big machines either not doing anything at all or spitting out sheets of dollar bills. Once everybody had said "Wow! Look at all that money!" a few times, there was nothing else to do.

I think it would be very dull for children, although it's often touted in the guidebooks as being one of the best places to take your kids in D.C.

Liz

Emily's post reminded me of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. It seemed like it ought to be interesting ,but it was badly done and not worth the trouble. All you got to see was conveyer belts of coins about 100 feet away and some rather poor exibits.

Monica Richards

Here's another vote for the Alamo. I grew up in Sacramento, California, and I've got to say Sutter's Fort, which I previously would have nominated for the World's Most Boring Tourist Destination is about ten times more interesting than the Alamo. And don't even get me started on the riverboat tours! I could not believe that people would pay to be ferried around a Disneyland style river and look at the 80's convention center. Now I like Texas in general, I just wasn't at all impressed with San Antonio proper (but I here the missions around there are pretty cool).

Texas Proud

Fellow Texans unite! Tell these folks why we love the Alamo.

Lisa

I liked the Alamo. I thought the landscaping was beautiful. The history wasn't overwhelmingly interesting but it was a nice little taste of Texas.
But I must admit, my sister-in-law is a native Texan and after being dragged there on many school trips she was like-why did you bother?

Christie

A fellow Texan is responding to the call!! If you are a history buff, then the Alamo is very good. Try to hit it at an off-time, especially when school is in session. I hate crowds, so we usually stop by around sunset or in the evening. It is very awe-inspiring to think of how much that place means to Texas history. But I digress...

I LOVE San Antonio! SKIP the stupid River Taxi tours and STROLL along the Riverwalk! Go into the cute shops, and stop at the bars to have a drink when you get tired. SEE the missions! They are amazing! Sure, the exhibits outside of the visitor center are a bit dated, but the information in them is very good. My husband and I learned a lot from stopping to read them. When visiting a major city, we have often found that the most memorable experiences are found while "exploring." We usually skip the guided tours and just lark out on our own!

My personal vote for the worst attraction also goes to the FBI Tour. I visited Washington DC with a youth leadership group when I was in high school, and all of the other agencies that we toured did outstanding jobs on showing us what they really did. The FBI, however, just gave us the dime tour described above, and we all left disappointed!