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What's the most overrated and annoying attraction where you live?

The USS Battleship in Mobile, AL and the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL. Yes, they are impressive and I certainly appreciate all the soldiers for their courage and the Blue Angel pilots for their talent. I mean absolutely no offense to any of them.

That said, did my grandpa and dad have to drag me to each attraction a hundred times over when I was a little girl? :( I never want to visit either place again. I guess they aren't necessarily overrated (the Blue Angels are enjoyable to watch at least once), but my family caused me to find them annoying!
 
Buffalo Bill's grave. I've lived here since 1971 and have never been there yet it draws something like 1/2 million visitors per year, and they're not 100% he really is buried there.
 
Oh, there are so many. A lot of the traditional tourist attractions really are worthwhile, though. The Empire State Building does have an astonishing view, the Statue of Liberty is inspiring, and the Met is worth repeat visits.

I know! Macy's. The Macy's. I avoid that store at all costs! Who wants to go to a store so crowded they have to hire ushers to let people up the escalators in shifts? Although the old-timey wooden escalators are kind of cool.
 
Hemingway House in Key West and the cats that are supposedly (they are not) descended from Hemingway's cats. Sloppy Joe's and Captain Tony's are definitely cool though.

I have to take exception to categorizing King's Dominion and King's Island as overrated. Those are awesome theme parks with some really bitching roller coasters. The Rebel Yell (King's Dominion) and The Beast (King's Island) rock!
 
Goji said:
All the tourists who stop me in town for directions during the peak seasons always want to know how to get to "the lighthouse", which is at the tip of the peninsula and, for some reason, wildly popular with the tourists. I went there on a school outing once. It was boring, and we spent half the time ripping ice plant out of ground (it was called a lesson in the dangers of non-native and invasive species, but we all concurred it was really a loophole in the child labor laws). I may be a bit biased, but I hate that place, regardless of its historical significance, and don't get its popularity one bit. Oh well.
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Point Reyes? Well for stark natural beauty, it's hard to find better..

Locally, there aren't many attractions..you have to do a little travel for that..But the nearest old time attraction only holds an attraction for parents of small children and small children..

http://www.fairytaletown.org/


You have been warned..
 
Pike Place Market, Seattle.

It is awesome; don't get me wrong. I just am not 100% sure that it deserves the "world famous" image that it seems to have garnered. It is home to the first Starbucks and the first Seattle's Best Coffee shop; it adds a nice edge to the commercial district. I frequently enjoy going there.

The volume of photo-snapping tourists, however, is stunning. Often Asians, but really they could be anybody, pour through in throngs. Inevitably, they stop to take photos of themselves in front of Starbucks, and on one of the hills with the famed lighted sign and water in the background.

It stands out as the #1 regional "Tourist Trap" - more so than other attractions nearby which are more glamorous, like the BoA Tower Observation Deck, or the Space Needle, or our World Fair contesting Opera House.

In any case, I am reluctant to bash any local landmarks. After all, they bring in commerce and put the joint on the map, not to mention being fun. Like the OP mentioned though, I no doubt have wound up in the background of lots of tourist photos over the years.
 
The Calgary Tower.

You pay 8 dollars to ride an elevator and get an okay view of the south of the city, as the north has been blocked by taller buildings. I suppose it makes the skyline look a bit nicer, though.
 
I agree about Pike Place, Joshua Howard. I was born and raised in Seattle, and developed the same love/hate relationship with Pike Place as you describe.
 
thestrangequark said:
Oh, there are so many. A lot of the traditional tourist attractions really are worthwhile, though. The Empire State Building does have an astonishing view, the Statue of Liberty is inspiring, and the Met is worth repeat visits.

I know! Macy's. The Macy's. I avoid that store at all costs! Who wants to go to a store so crowded they have to hire ushers to let people up the escalators in shifts? Although the old-timey wooden escalators are kind of cool.
Click to expand...

So guilty of going there while I was in town on business in the 80's. That's cool that the old wooden escalators are still there, it was very anachronistic even back then.

Bay Area, it's Fisherman's Wharf. Hands down, cheesiest thing ever. Tourist trap shops, worst food in town. (Although in season a couple of the street crab vendors are OK)
 
Canadave said:
The Canadian Museum of Civilization. It's kind of neat, I suppose, but it seems to generate a ton of praise while being far from the best museum in the city. I don't understand it.
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I agree it's overrated but have you been to the Mint?

Lineups for nothing and surely guards to deal with to. And most of our money is made in Winnipeg anyways.

Avoid.like.plague.
 
I'm not really aware of anything around here that I'd consider to be an "attraction", but if there are they're probably overrated. Compared to the other places I've lived, Edmonton is essentially a cultural wasteland.
 
Nottingham Castle.
It not a castle its a big house with not much in it.
But at least i do not have to pay to get in it as i have Nottinghamshire library card.:p
 
The Oklahoma City National Memorial. Was here when McVey and company lit their homemade bomb, and I witnessed the media whores come and go. I have no interest in touring the Memorial.
 
goldbug said:
Goji said:
All the tourists who stop me in town for directions during the peak seasons always want to know how to get to "the lighthouse", which is at the tip of the peninsula and, for some reason, wildly popular with the tourists. I went there on a school outing once. It was boring, and we spent half the time ripping ice plant out of ground (it was called a lesson in the dangers of non-native and invasive species, but we all concurred it was really a loophole in the child labor laws). I may be a bit biased, but I hate that place, regardless of its historical significance, and don't get its popularity one bit. Oh well.
Click to expand...

Point Reyes? Well for stark natural beauty, it's hard to find better..
Click to expand...

Point Reyes is beautiful. That's one of the reasons my family lives here. The lighthouse, on the other hand, is a big ugly rusting building. I'd hit any of the beaches or natural attractions we have around here, which are not at all rare, before I went to the lighthouse. Everyone else seems to make a bee-line for it though.
 
I think a lot would go for The Millennium Tower in Portsmouth. Designed for 2000, but completed several years later, I actually quite like it, and the views from the top are great.

I'd go with the Explosion Museum in my own home town, however. We're supposed to be steeped in Naval History, and this money-sponging flashy add on brings little in terms of education or interest. A notorious cashcow here.

Google them if you're that interested.
 
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