Hoover Dam? About This Page:

[B.M.]

Anyone been? I'm trying to figure out what "tour" we want to do.... Looks like there are 3 choices.... the "big" Hoover Dam tour is not an option for us as the youngest is not old enough.... This leaves us with two options- The powerplant tour or the self guided tour. The price difference is minimal; only a few bucks difference.... but as far as I can tell; it looks like you can pretty much see the same stuff doing the self guided tour as you can with the powerplant tour. This is what I was hoping someone with experience could fill me in on.... I actually prefer the idea of doing a self guided tour vs guided in this particular setting as we could just go at our own pace.... the main thing I want to make sure we don't miss out on is the observation deck- is this included in the "self guided tour"?

Any and all input is appreciated.... I want to go ahead and order our tickets online so that 1)we don't have to wait in line to purchase tix or worry about them selling out and 2) it looks like by ordering on-line we get a free parking garage pass

TIA!

[minemoz1]

We did the full tour a few years ago. We really liked it. It was interesting and informative. You go down into the dam in very crowded elevators though.

If you can only do the powerplant due to your child's age, I would. Otherwise, you are just in the visitor center looking at displays and reading. You may want to watch the first Transformers as the powerplant is in the movie.You can walk across the dam and look down There really isn't too much else to do and you should be done in about 2 hours tops. We went first thing in the morning during the week and the crowd wasn't too bad. Also, if you are going in the summer, beware the killer heat. You don't want to be anywhere near the dam after 12. 116 degrees is not fun.

I find the story of the dam just incredibly amazing. What was accomplished 80ish years ago without computers, fancy machinery and in the middle of the desert is just unbelievable.

[DisneyDana]

OMG you just made me think of Cousin Eddie in Vegas Vacation asking questions on the tour..."Where's the Dam bathroom?" lol

[mfirst]

How cool that they've brought many tours back. When we were there in 2004, they only had one tour option - part of the power plant (this was still during post-911 hieghtened security) which was no longer operating.

I remember the tour guide referencing a "Clarkism" from the movie "if you see any drips on the wall, Do NOT place gum on them, moving along now..."

[chezp]

I suspect we did the full tour when we went, but it was a few years ago now and I don't remember. I would definitely see the powerplant though. Wow, that thing is just massive and it gives you a good idea of the scale of the place.

[Colexis Mom]

We did the tour guide version, not the expensive one (pics should be in my SoCal trip report). We felt it was fine. There were lots of "dam" jokes! And we also walked across the dam. Parking pass wasn't included when I bought my tickets online. That would have been nice!

[Teresa]

Originally Posted by DisneyDana

OMG you just made me think of Cousin Eddie in Vegas Vacation asking questions on the tour..."Where's the Dam bathroom?" lol

My cousin's husband is an engineer. A Dam engineer. He inspects the dam. He has a dam boat to go out to the dam in to look at the dam. He takes his animals with him; he has named them; Dam Dog and Dam Bitch (as in female dog). He says he loves his "Dam Job".

Seriously!