We’ve all experienced what we’ve considered to be a rip-off. Spending $200 on a college textbook that we used for one semester. That cheap shirt you bought on Amazon that fell apart after the first washing. These gas stations still rip off unwary tourists every day. These hotels are well known for ripping off their guests. And it’s easy to get ripped off at an outlet mall unless you know what to look for.

“Well, THAT was a rip off!”

Maybe the rip off was more than one small incident. Maybe it was an entire place. Perhaps it cost too much money for what you get. Maybe the wait took up waaaaay too much time. But we’ve all said it at some point. “Well, THAT was a rip off!”

It doesn’t matter what “THAT” was – it could even be one of the highest-ranking tourist sites in the country. Maybe an influencer bestowed the joys of the place. Maybe the state’s “Visit This City” department spent a bajillion dollars on TV advertising to entice you to come visit. But the bottom line is that some things – even popular ones – just aren’t worth the time or effort to a whole lot of people. But unfortunately, you may not come to that conclusion until you’ve been there, done that. And by that point, it’s time and money you can’t get back again.

To that point, Casino.org, a website that helps people find the “best” casinos and online games, decided to see what visitors thought the biggest rip-offs were in the country.

Their people reviewed Tripadvisor and Google Trends reviews about U.S. tourist attractions and used them to determine the biggest “rip-offs” that Americans were complaining about. They then categorized these “rip-offs” so they would fall into national, state, and local levels.

Once the lists of most common “rip-offs” were gathered, Casino.org polled over 5,000 American adults, who ranged in age from 18 to 65, to see if they found these attractions worth the price of admission. The polling was done in January, 2024. 56% were female, 42% were male, 1% identified as trans or non-binary, and 1% listed “other”.

The 10 biggest rip offs in the U.S.

#1: Walt Disney World – Orlando, FL

One such example is “The Happiest Place on Earth.” Sure, it attracts a lot of visitors, but 60% of Casino.org’s participants voted Walt Disney World the biggest rip-off in the category of U.S. tourist attractions.

“The happiest place on Earth turns out to be the ‘most scammy’ place on Earth too, as this top attraction ranks #1 for rip-offs,” Casino.org said in a press release. “Starting at $109 per person for the most basic ticket, we start to see why Disney makes the top rip-off ranks.”

#2: The National Mall – Washington D.C.

The funny thing about the National Mall is that it’s free. But respondents said the cost to get there, the price of nearby food and accommodations, etc., made it the second biggest rip off in the country.

“Manipulators exploiting visitors for cash. Aggressive vendors heckled the tourists and blocked walkways. Trash and grocery carts adorn the main plazas,” commented one person on Tripadvisor.

#3: The Alamo – San Antonio, TX

A historic Spanish mission and fortress compound, The Alamo was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. It’s a very historic place…Davy Crockett died there during the battle, Ozzy Osbourne urinated on the compound’s landmark Cenotaph in a drunken stupor in 1982, and Phil Collins donated hundreds of Alamo artifacts (collecting them had been his lifelong passion. Thanks for the heads up, Normy!) to the Alamo in 2014.

The Alamo is a huge tourist attraction which, like the National Mall, is free. But if you want to do a self-guided tour, that costs $20. Want a guided tour? That’ll be $45. Group tour? Another $20 per person, please. I’ve been on those tours…they’re really not all that (no offense to Phil Collins intended).

The other 7 of the Top 10

Check out this page of Casino.org’s website for the rest of the Top 10. You may or may not be surprised (spoilers: my review of Hoover Dam was apparently spot on LOL!).

Each state’s biggest rip-off

Casino.org also asked their survey respondents from each of the 50 states to rank what they thought was, of their respective state’s top 5 attractions (as per Tripadvisor), their state’s biggest rip off. You can check out the list, as well as a few other fun facts, on this page of Casino.org’s website.

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