Apparently they didn’t let you see the basement. That’s the best part.
The Alamo. (As DiosaBellisima said, small–and dwarfed by surroundings.)
In that same vein, the OK Corral. (All right, I wasn’t expecting that much from the OK Corral. I was driving through Tombstone anyway so I didn’t go out of my way. If people do go out of their way, I’ll bet they’re disappointed.)
I’ll fully admit my weakness in the area of- in particular- that sect of history, so maybe someone can help me out (unless this is a huge hijack, but I don’t think it is). I figured that at some point the mission itself was much bigger, like many of the California missions once were. So what happened in the case of the Alamo? Was it destroyed during the battle? Destroyed later? Fell to decay and was taken over by the city for development?
It was just so striking to me how it was in the middle of everything. . . I guess it just really took away from the history of it for me (I know that sounds silly).
The arch in St Louis. I saw it many years ago while passing through. I remember thinking, “meh”.
No, no, go back and give it a fair chance. The Grand Canyon can be under-whelming at first, from the paved tourist-engorged overlooks right outside the hotels. You have to hike or ride down into it–and soak up the atmosphere for a few hours–to get a feel for its grandiosity, beauty, and variety. Really, give it a chance!
For me, I found the Sphinx to be under-whelming. It looks puny after the Pyramids. Anything would look puny after the Pyramids. Anywhere else, it would look huge. Location is everything.
Next week I’m going to see the Great Wall of China. I hope, hope, hope it isn’t under-whelming! But you never know.
The Grand Canyon is most impressive from the bottom of it.
The Mall of America.
The Travel Channel makes it sound like the greatest thing since sliced bread. In reality, it was only marginally cool.
Gotta agree with you there. I expected to be in a huge cavern, when in actuality, it seemed like I was in a space the size of my junior high school boys’ locker room.
Stonehenge for me too. I looove semi-mysterious prehistorical wonders and early British/Irish history in general, so I was absolutely psyched to see Stonehenge. The actual site is kinda underwhelming. I do think the fact that you can no longer get close to it and the stupid tunnel under the road setup do it no favors. Overall, it kinda went away thinking it was just some big rocks that people had stood on end.
Chitzen Itza, on the other hand, wow! Doubly impressive because they built it in what can charitably called a steaming hellhole of a jungle not fit for human habitation, where its hard to immagine anything lasting a few years, let alone a thousand.
I also agree about the Statue of Liberty. When I was a kid I always imagined it was as big as (maybe a small) skyscraper, and I thought those windows at the top were like regular windows from a house, so there was a big room where you could walk around. Instead, you have the two staircases and in the head is just a little semicircle platform where a few people can stand.
Also Old Faithful. Now, as a whole Yellowstone is spectacular, but Old Faithful is one of the lamest geysers there, aside from the fact that it’s sorta big and it goes off often. There’s at least one bigger one right there in the same basin, that I saw. There’s all sorts of geysers, springs, cascades, and mud pots, and most of them are better than Old Faithful.
The Great Salt Lake is absolutely horrible, at least the shore is. There are millions and millions of little flies on the beach, and as you walk a wave of them arises in front of each foot. Also it stinks.
Yeah, Utahns never go there. It reeks and is covered in brine flies. There’s the cool novelty of “hey, I float in this water!” but the novelty lasts about ten minutes - in other words, half the length of the shower you need afterwards to get all the damn salt off you. 
It’ll probably look puny. I read somewhere that everything looks puny after you’ve seen the Pyramids.
I was underwhelmed by the Piazza San MArco in Venice. I’m not a big fan of pigeons.
The Washington Monument. Easily the most skippable of all D.C. monuments. To me it’s just a big pointy stick.
On its own, I’ll agree with you. I will say though that as part of the whole Mall, it does work. It’s a neat halfway point between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol Building.
Well, the view from outside and below is underwhelming. The view from inside, at the top, is spectacular.
I liked it when I saw it several years ago but I hear it has really gone downhill since then.
I doubt you will be disappointed. I recommend against going to the Badaling section of the wall because it is the most touristy and crowded section of the wall. I went to the Jinshangling section of the wall and it was just stunning.
Yeah, Santa Fe is unique in that most of the reasons behind its current look and configuration are tied, entirely, into promoting tourism.
You can add another vote for the Statue of Liberty from me. Growing up in NJ, I was always unimpressed by the site of the Statue on our drives into and out of the city. It looked tiny compared to buildings even on the NJ side.
Now one landmark that I think went for overrated to underrated is the Empire State Building. You could barely get me to glance down to that part of the island when the Towers stood but after they fell it looks even more impressive than before. Especially when you consider that it was completed in 1931.
I really can’t stand those stupid “historic” wharfs. (I’m looking at you San Francisco, Baltimore and New York) They all have the same boat and quite frankly I do not see their merit outside of overpriced food and street performers. And if I recall correctly, the number and quality of performers at South Street Seaport has gone down since I was a child. Bottom line, these places are hardly a “must-see” on your visit to these cities but people will always direct you there.
I wouldn’t even rate it that high. It’s just a mall, and it’s not really all that impressive as malls go. It’s just like any other big mall, and it’s not as nice as the Galleria in Houston, or as cool as the West Edmonton MAll.