This is one of the best tours we have ever taken. It started at the Dances With Wolves set, which was very cool to see. The breakfast was good, but not much variety. The pancakes were all-you-can-eat, which was nice if you're very hungry. They ran out of coffee...a problem with so many people having breakfast. It took quite a long time to get more brewed. Staff should have been monitoring this.
Our tour guide was Joe and he was excellent. He was relatively new at this job, but he made the tour outstanding. He had lots of historical information and stories to provide. He was a very safe driver and we were amazed at how he was able to get the bus through some of the tunnels.
The places where the bus stopped for just to get out and look around, as well as the scheduled tour sites made up a nice sampling of the area (Mt. Rushmore, Needles Highway, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse).
The stop for lunch at the lodge had a buffet with lots of variety and good prices. There was also a nice gift shop in the lodge.
At the end of the tour, we ended back at the place where we began. Dinner was served in a fast, efficient system. The food was very good: choice of brisket or chicken, cowboy beans, small corn on the cob, apple sauce, and spice apple cake. Drink choices were lemonade, tea, or water. It would have been nice to have ice in the drinks. Soft drinks were available for sale.
The after dinner show very entertaining. The Wrangler's Band performed songs from five different decades and it was apparent that the audience related to almost every song.
The only suggestion I would make is that free bottled water & snacks should be made available for such a long event. We have never been on such a long tour without them.
This is a tour not to be missed. We immediately started telling our friends about it as soon as we got home;