I booked this Grand Canyon South Rim Bus Tour through Viator. I also opted to add the IMAX Grand Canyon movie. The day began with the 5:30 AM pick up at hour hotel. The bus was about 20 minutes later than they said, but that really isn't bad considering we were among the last to be picked up. We were taken to the processing center (yes, they take a few minutes to try to up sell you on the optional tour items but it is a soft sell approach and it does give you the opportunity to add to your tour if you hadn't already done your homework). After you purchase your ticket or present your prepaid voucher, you have the opportunity to purchase breakfast, drinks and snacks from the commissary before lining up for your tour bus. The bus was nice and plenty cool for a hot summer day ( take a light jacket or sweatshirt with you as you may actually get cold on the bus). The travel time to the South Rim is about 4 1/2 hours. First stop is the new bridge overlooking the Hoover Dam. The bus parks and you hike about a 1/2 mile ( up 70 steps to begin with) to get to the center of the pedestrian walkway on the bridge. Great views and 20-30 minutes is more than enough time to make the trek, take plenty of photos and trek back to the bus. Second stop is a McDonald's in Williams, AZ. The McDonald's there is prepared to handle several buses at a time and they were efficient, organized and fast. They served 3 buses while we were there and from ordering to eating was about 10 minutes. I wish the McDonald's in my town was this efficient. Back on the bus and on to the Canyon. Bring plenty of butt with you. While the bus seats are comfortable, I ran out of cheeks about halfway there
The only downside to our tour was our bus driver ( Melissa). I believe that Melissa McCarthy based her character in "The Heat" off of our bus driver Melissa. Brash, occasionally rude, and constantly annoying. Sadly she was attempting to be funny and informative, but her personality just doesn't achieve it
This trip was very long. We were picked up at 6am and dropped off just before midnight. The weather was awful, we got soaked and we couldn't see a thing. I appreciate they can't impact mother nature but I think on the day we went the trip should have been cancelled ( others were).
We booked with viator for a trip to grand canyon South Rim and overall it was a great experience. We were in a very comfortable bus and our driver was nice. What you need to know : that tour is very long. Even with the most comfortable bus ever, this is LONG. We had to wait for those that booked the IMAX movie before heading to the grand canyon... Come on, you don't need to watch a movie, you're going to see it LIVE! So for us, this was a waste of time and you only got a few hours at the grand canyon.
Something we didn't appreciate was that we were staying at the Hard Rock Hotel, the pick up was accross the street maybe 5 minutes walking distance and at the beginning, i had no problem with that until when they dropped us at 11h30pm after the day, a man followed us in the street. Thanks god we weren't that far of the Hard Rock but still... not very fun.
We appreciate the tour, we loved the grand canyon but next time we go to the grand canyon we will take the car and go by ourselves :)