Cliffside Coaster — Attraction in Town of North Elba

Two-part review here first of all the experience itself. The ride is pretty cool. I loved getting the history of the bobsled races as you were going through the track. I felt like the ride was long enough and you went at a decent enough speed that it was exciting and enjoyable.

My only beef is the idea of a reservation time. There are a limited amount of slots that you can reserve during an hour so you would assume that those would be the only people in line. That’s not true. We scheduled our visit for a 1 PM right on the coaster. When we got there, the lines gigantic. We waited exactly 1 hour and 40 minutes in line before reaching the bobsleds. It’s an awful long time to stand in line on the cement in the elements, particularly if you have older people or very young kids with you. We were not the only ones that were annoyed about the process as I heard several different groups of people complaining about how they had a reservation time in there only a limited amount of slots in that hour and yet there was more than double that in line still waiting because apparently you can just show up and just buy a ticket and get in...

If you are into spending a big chunk of money for a leisure ride then you will love this coaster.

Pros: The scenery is beautiful. The audio narrating the coaster is great. We appreciated the history lesson. The gentlemen at the loading and unloading were friendly and knowledgeable. Great ride for children who want a thrill.

Cons: The main issue is the price. At $55 I would expect more from "the longest track in the nation". This is not our first experience with a mountain coaster and maybe that is the problem. We expected a fast adrenaline rush. There was about 30 seconds that was fast but other than that it was more like a Disney ride. There are governors on the carts so you can't go faster if you wanted to. I could have had my cell phone out in my hand with very little fear of dropping it. I got to the end and ny first thought was "that was it?" If you have been on the Park City coaster than skip this one.

Bottom line, the facility is great and worth the visit but, don't waste your money on the coaster. If the cost were half the price I would probably have...

Okay, the lowdown..... yes it is $55 and it can take anywhere from 7 minutes to 11 minutes to run through the whole thing. Remember, it is a tourist area and this fits right in. If you don’t want to drop $55 then I suggest not to, but if you would like the historical aspect of the bobsled Olympic runs in Lake Placid and experience some similarities of the run then I suggest paying the $55 and making the ride. I don’t want to try and dive into the creators purpose but I don’t think it was meant as an amusement park ride to complete over and over again. I did it once and maybe years from now it would be cool to do again and that’s it. I took a niece on my coaster that was 7 yrs old, never rode a coaster before and we took it easy and she loved it. Her 5 yr old brother went down (with dad), they flew and he was thrilled! Whether you want to go all out, or take it easy, you can do either or an in...