Grand Canyon Skywalk
The Grand Canyon Skywalk is officially opening for public at March 28, 2007.
Image: Grand Canyon Skywalk (credit: CNET)
The glass bridge at the Grand Canyon West is 4000 feet above the Grand Canyon’s floor and extended 70 feet from the canyon’s rim. (Petronas Twin Towers is only 1483 feet!)
The Skywalk will cost US$25 per person in addition to the cost of a Grand Canyon West entrance package. If you would like to be the first to experience it on opening day, there are 100 limited tickets available at eBay, each for US$250.00.
I must visit it at least once in my life, and you should too!
Book: Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon
er… i don’t understand. first you said it cost US$25, then you said ebay offering it at US$250. how come? the $250 is include the grand canyon west entrance package?
well if i can afford it, i like to try it out too!
@lucia: The $250 ticket is special limited edition for first 100 visitors to experience the glass bridge before other people. In short, SVIP.
hmm… I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to build a skywalk. It looks kinda odd.
very good project – BUT the price at USD 25 is cheap if you earn US dollars
I wonder, when can I go there?
Need to accumulate some money, then we go….
Anyway, I think, being there will be a great great experience….taller than empire state building!!!
In fact the better way to view the Grand Canyon is to join the plane ride (small plane) that fly along the Grand Canyon.
That is a crazy amount of money.. i would be freaked out too!
Cannot believe that the outer railings are so low and uncovered. No doubt an awesome if scary experience though, thanks for highlighting the opening of this structure Liew.
The trip to skywalk was amazingly “FUNâ€Â:: sarcasm::!! (Please continue reading, you will understand what I mean!! ) Before you arrive to the skywalk, you will HAVE TO go through a 20 miles rocky road (this is the only road to your destination!). The road was so bumpy that you can’t talk in normal tone, and by the time you arrive, your body would probably be half numb like me. After that, you will arrive at the skywalk parking lot. The staff there will tell you nicely that you will park your car there at no fee, and the bus will take you to the skywalk after you purchase the ticket. The ticket cost $50 per person that includes a visit to the natives and a buffet. If you want to walk on the skywalk, you will have to pay additional $25 which is a total of $75. IF you want a helicopter ride, the total price would be $100+, you can totally spend hundreds of dollar here if you want to, totally a ripe off.
The bus ride has 2 stops, first at Eagle Point and second at the buffet place. The bus ride was only 2 minutes, and then you will see the Eagle Point (a mountain with the shape like Eagle) on your right hand ride. And then you will see the skywalk (a total disappoint). The skywalk looks nothing like the picture they designed; it’s basically a SMALL, SHORT “U†shape bridge hanging out the cliff. There was no building that connects to the bridge (the design shows that they were suppose to have a building). Anyways, he bridge looks like a walkway on huge pieces of steel, very crappy. The bridge is made of three layers of glass on top of those steels, but the view from it was not that much of a difference from looking down from the Grand Canyon cliff. (It’s a bit scarier, but definitely not worth $75). There was suppose to be native tribe and dance you can visit, but the tribe was right by the bridge, and it’s basically a few native white tents. The tent has a lot of modern stuff in it, mostly beach chairs. The native dance was basically 2-3 kids (age 5-12) trying to demonstrate their native dance (no one was watching). After they did their “danceâ€Â, the mom asks people to give them tips for their effort. By the way, there’s a signing wall, most of the comments on the wall was “THIS PLACE SUCK!!†Anyways, after watching the Indian dance and the skywalk, you get in line to wait for a bus that was suppose to comes every 15 minutes to take you to the next stop, “the buffetâ€Â. The bus did not come every 15 minutes as promised, it came every 30 minutes. The line waiting for the bus was super long, but when the bus came, the Chinese tourists that were never in line get to enter first (everyone was complaining at this point!) Most of the people waited average 45 minutes under the hot Arizona sun, others waited longer. Everyone was complaining, here is the conversation of a couple that everyone totally agreed on:
Husband: “Instead of 15 minutes, I could spend the whole day at the Grand Canyon at no cost!â€Â
Wife: “sheesh.. honey, you are way too loud!â€Â
Husband: “Well darling, it’s okey, I am sure everyone is enjoying their trip, I mean Grand Canyon never lies to us, just look at the line waiting for the bus! You know we are never coming back!â€Â
The ride to the buffet was also 2 minutes, the buses were so late that people decided to stand and ride the bus to their next destination, the buffet restaurant (instead of restaurant, I would rather call it a shack). The buffet restaurant was horrible. First you wait in line for at least 30 minutes because there was no food, and then you enter to get food. The menu was: peach pie, cold slaw, Mexican red bean (it taste Mexican to me, maybe it’s Indian), chicken thigh, corn bread, and corn (taste like refrigerator). You get a small amount of each on a plastic plate from the server (no self serve so you can’t get more). The table was located outside the restaurant, a few tables were under a tent, but most of them were under the sun. For those of you thinking that buffet isn’t that bad, let me tell you, you definitely won’t go for a second round because there’s a line of starving people that hasn’t got food yet. I am not even sure if you can go for a second round. By the time I finished my food, I was still starving. After that is another long wait for the bus. Everyone looks unhappy, and the bus driver drives recklessly on the road trying to get people back to parking lot. And after a long day trip, what comes later is 20 miles drive on the entertaining bumpy dirt road. What a day!!
I personally would definitely not recommend this place for family because kids won’t remember what they see after you pay for their outrageous ticket. I would definitely not recommend this place for elders as well because the sun would just dehydrate them. I wouldn’t recommend this place for couples as well, because long bus waits under the blazing hot sun would only increase the chance of argument. For those looking for a great trip, Grand Canyon is definitely a great place to visit, but “skywalk†is definitely a NO!
thanks for the great review, QOO!
I am going to visit grand canyon early december – one day. Any recommendations south rim or west rim?
Sarah, if you have the time, by all means, try to make it to the South Rim. You’ll definitely find the vast, expansive views there that you have seen in photos and film footage throughout your lifetime. Remember that you could encounter snow at that time of year; snow or no snow, it will be cold. Grand Canyon West is lower in altitude, it gets cold, but not as cold. As the poster elaborated above, Grand Canyon West is very much in “under construction” mode, so keep expectations realistic. Take a gander at this video it will help you decide http://grandcanyon.com/grand-canyon-skywalk.html