Cliff’s Amusement Park

Seriously. If you have young children DO NOT come here. Who charges full price for children under 2? Sheesh, they even ride free on Southwest Airlines! Not impressed, and definitely will not be buying season passes again.
Hope it was worth it for you Cliffs, loss in concessions, games and other revenue for a family of four over an entire sea on over letting a kid ride the train and the Merry go round.

First time to visit Cliffs. Came with my family. All the employees were courteous and friendly. No complaints here. 4 stars due to 1 ride closure or seasonal maybe? My family was smiling and i appreciate that… Thanks again…

I will NEVER pay the outrageous prices to take my child to a haphazardly ran park ever again. I hate when people start reviews like that but I am just stunned at the horrific experience. Not only will they refuse to take credit cards — it’s clear they don’t want my business, terrible service soon as I pay $ 100 to enter the park. I should have known with the issues we had getting in the gate. Cliffs advertised mothers ride free on Mother’s Day — false advertising as the commercial on the radio did not say it was buy one get one free. I took two children and had a buy one get one admission for the kids. They said I had to pay two admissions to get the one free — meaning as a mother I was not free. Then towards the end of the day, they would not allow my 50 inch child on the carousel. His head far over their line on the measuring stick along with the line at the gate and all over rides, she stood there arguing with me while holding the stick beside him even though it was showing he was way pass the line! Not to mention I was pretty irritated after finding out I was locked in a park, not able to go to the car to get cash — my child famished and dehydrated. After spending the day there and him riding all other rides including the rattler and sidewinder with no issue — not being allowed on the carousel was the final straw. Especially when the last THREE times we were at Cliffs over the last year and a half he had zero issues on the 48 inch rides. I like to support local family owned businesses but Cliffs will never again receive my money. Not like they care enough because they certainly weren’t concerned to fix it while I was there. What a terrible birthday celebration. If you plan to go, maybe take a doctors note signed and notarized with your child’s height and bring plenty of cash because the prices are astronomic and they throw a fit when you mention the words ‘credit card’ Silly me considering buying a season pass earlier today, should have went to hinkle like we planned.
Edit: forgot to mention not all the rides were open — if you have a major ride closed you should announce it at the gate as other amusement parks have the respect to do — moments within the park we realized the main ride we went there for was closed!

My kids love visiting Cliff’s! I wouldn’t recommend the platinum season passes though. They do not work all the time.

I like having an amusement park so close and having a small water park included in the entrance fee is nice. It gets hot here in Albuquerque in the summer, so after riding a few rides, it is. I’ve to be able to cool off. There is a nice selection of rides, the food isn’t bad, although typically expensive. I like that money does not change hands, all purchases must be made with a debit card that you purchase and load money on at the park.
The face painting has always been a disappointment. Our first visit we waited in line almost an hour. That is crazy because they only had one person painting. The second time we just gave up, which is a shame, we love face painting and were willing to spend the money. Think about modifying how you have it set up, kids are suckers for getting their face painted! You can make lots more money for the park that way.
We only played a few games because our daughter loves to try and win stuffed animals, but as is normally the case, you have to win multiple times to get a big stuffed animal and usually she doesn’t.
If you don’t get online for a discount, it can be pricey, but hey, we are in the middle of the desert folks, what do you expect, Disney?

Update: As soon as we posted this review and mentioned Cliff’s Amusement Park on our podcast, the Admin for the Park reached out to us. They also made the effort to speak to the employees that were working at the time of our experience and listened to the list of concerns we mentioned during our podcast. Cliff’s Amusement Park is working to resolve this issue as soon as possible, and they’ve made a conscious effort to be very, very clear in their rules/​regulations when explaining them to their employees and how employees should respond to Customer Service issues. We will be returning to this park and hope to have the next two Pro Bumper Car League meetups at Cliffs!
We’re pretty disappointed by our experience here. We went here earlier this summer for a group picnic and had a blast. Since it’s an amusement park, we took a lot of photos and videos, then featured them on our Youtube channel and podcast recommending Cliff’s as a go-​to location in Albuquerque. In fact, we had such a great time, this was the FIRST place to come to mind when CheapGeek1 (of Youtube) decided to start the local Professional Bumper Car league. Well, we ran into problems right off the bat. We had each member of our Pro Bumper Car club purchase the «Magical Christmas Pass». –We were all under the assumption that a «Christmas Pass» would be good for the 2015 Christmas season. A few of us (okay, two of us) even called Customer Service and ordered our tickets that way, confirming several times over the phone with agents that the passes were «good for Christmas».
When members of our group showed up, we were told by the ticket scanners and ticket guests that these were «single day passes». No where on the website or the information some of us were provided over the phone indicated these were single day passes. For the money, the price of the «Christmas Pass» and the limited amount of open rides made logical sense to us.
Even if these were single day passes, then we’d just be mildly frustrated/​upset. We called Customer Service after the Guest Relations desk immediately/​rudely/​flatly said «No, if you want to go for All of Christmas, you need to buy the 2016 pass for $ 89»…When we called Customer Service, confirmed our tickets, they put us on hold, and then hung up on one of my team mates. So I called back, gave my ticket info, asked a single question, and was immediately hung up on too. Put some clarity on your website, and train your agents to use better Customer Service than to hang up on people who aren’t being rude, raising their voices, or being irate (YET).
Trying to not let any of this experience bother us, we proceeded to the Bumper Cars. Our team rode a couple rounds, when the Bumper Car attendant was pulled aside by some skinny kid and sternly talked to. The Bumper Car attendant then told us we were unable to use cameras at all in Cliffs, and that if we didn’t put our cameras away, he wouldn’t be able to let us get on the Bumper Cars. What!!! Nevermind the fact that earlier this year we used a video camera without hassle in the park, on the bumper cars. This kid just told us his supervisor said we weren’t allowed to use our cameras at all inside the park! Are you serious? When we asked to talk to the supervisor, the supervisor was nowhere to be found. We were REALLY UPSET at this point. Even though we know our rights when it comes to public attractions and amusement parks, we begrudgingly put our high-​end action cameras away. Oh, did I mention these were Action cameras with protective cases? Anyhow, we continued to ride a few rounds, in which other individuals used their smartphones and video cameras to record their bumper car rides, or had family members record their bumper car experiences while physically dangling over the edge of the bumper car attraction (an actual safety hazard). So, it’s okay for someone with a simple smartphone (not in a protective case) to dangle over the side of the bumper car attraction and record video, but the moment I break out a camera someone threatens to kick my entire group out of the park?
This treatment of customers and our experiences with in-​person and phone customer service will definitely be shared with my travel podcast audience. It would be one thing if it were just me, but for an entire group of lackey, normal, everyday Bumper Car enthusiasts remotely connected to me by a common interest of Amusement parks to be treated badly speaks VOLUMES.

Cliff’s Amusement Park, Albuquerque, NM — Cliff’s is an absolute classic venue here in Albuquerque. It’s our only amusement park, and it gives us something to look forward to in the Summertime. It brings about a feeling of nostalgia to me when I go back, however the last time I went, it was not quite the same as it used to be.
I don’t know if it’s just because I have gotten older, or if it’s because I have branched into bigger and better amusement parks, but Cliff’s seems to have changed and not in a good way. The rides used to be fun and exciting, and now they seem dull and boring. There’s a definite «fair» vibe at Cliff’s, there always has been, but now it’s a «fair» environment in a bad way. The rides are creaky and squeaky, and that’s a little scary.
The food is mediocre, as are the shops and bathrooms. They’re okay given the area, but nothing exciting. The grounds are pretty clean, except on crazy busy days, then it’s just hard to keep up with the crowd.
The old school water rides they have are still pretty nice, and those are fun, even my husband who doesn’t seem to like any rides loved those. The kids area looks like it has cleaned up nicely too, but I can’t even compare that to what it used to be because when I first started coming here I was too big for those areas.
Overall, if you’re looking for something fun to take younger children too, Cliff’s is a pretty nice area to go to. If you’re a younger adult, or a teenager, you’ll probably like it quite a bit too. Other than that, I can’t promise it will be much fun, but Cliff’s is always fun to go to at least once!

So today 8÷9÷2015 has been a complete waste of time. Service by the high school kids/​employees has been less than adequate.
I have been to cliffs on several occasions and although there have been issues nothing has prompted me to write a negative review until today.
Face painting is a complete waste of time. The two times we got in line there was one person ahead of us and neither of the girls working the booth took the time to acknowledge us or explain why the wait was in excess of 20 min. Both times we left disappointed child.
The bumper cars were another spot of contention. 7 working cars? Come on that’s just poor park operation and I blame that on management. Overall the rides were standard wait times and there were no other issues.
Every line I got into to purchase food or drinks was a lesson in time management. With employees visibly goofing off in the back of the shops to supervisors taking orders from friends who would walk up to the pick up widow and place orders cutting in front of large lines. I mentioned this to the supervisor and did get a perfunctory apology. Another time an order at the Rattlin Pizza shop was wrong and when we made the employee aware of the mistake we were told to get back in the line to reorder. The line was 17 people long. All we needed was a slice of cheese pizza.
The experience was a major let down. I’m sure we will be back again. It’s hard to keep a young child away from a park that means so much. Hopefully this was a one time bad experience.

Our family was in Albuquerque while we were on vacation and seeing places like Carlsbad Caverns and the Grand Canyon. Our boys are 8 and 10 and we wanted to do something to break up the sightseeing. My 10yo LOVES amusement parks, so we gave Cliff’s a try.
We loved it. It’s by far the best run park we’ve ever visited anywhere in the country. The staff was wonderful. We all had a really great time. We’ve gone to a lot of Six Flags and while they have more thrill rides, I’d still choose Cliff’s every time over those parks. Wish we had something like this in Texas.
Thanks Cliff’s Staff! You were great and if we’re ever in ABQ again, we’ll be back.

Cliffs still at times for us old school folks affectionately referred to as Uncle Cliffs, is still a pretty great place to hang out. It is well worth getting a season pass. The platinum pass is the best value. Not only do you get unlimited rides and full use of monkey mania, you also get five bucks of cliffs money every time you go!!! That money can be used for anything from games to food.
The reason it doesn’t get the full five stars many of the rides are closed when we have come. I understand one or two but several rides have been closed for weeks.
Other than that totally worth visiting.

I’m not sure if I could handle the actual ride aspect of this park. It looks fun, but when it’s a scorcher out, I can’t imagine anything worse than waiting in line only to vomit on some crazy coaster.
The water park however is just my speed! It is busy during the summer, but after 4 pm it really clears out. Nothing more refreshing than getting gallons of cold water dumped on your head or speeding down a water slide! Totally awesome.
The one and only downside is their policy against bringing in your own food, but I get it. Frankly, the admission price is very reasonable and you get our money’s worth in water alone!

Never been to a water park in triple digit weather and ice cold water, just ruined the experience, you would think the expense they would of planned better and harnessed all that solar energy.

This is a small in a scale of amusement parks but my munchkin and I had a blast visiting during Magical Christmas! There were a ton of rides for the 3 year old (and I) could enjoy for just a price of one adult since 3 year and under is free! The Christmas lights were beautiful! I wouldn’t want to go when there aren’t any lights. We rode merry-​go-​round, mini ferris wheel, airplanes, and giant swing and there were more we could have rode.
It was FREEZING cold that night but there were a bunch of fire pits to warm up in between rides that helped us a lot. Hot cocoa and coffee were available at concession but I wish they had a indoor sitting area or store or somewhere we could thaw ourselves… After a few hours in the what felt like a sub-​zero weather, we had to leave.
I also wish the website was clearer on the can food drive that I could have saved $ 4 off admission. Their site isn’t very user friendly nor informative.
We’ll be back in the summer for sure to enjoy the rest of the park!

ABQ peeps, hollah: it’s Uncle Cliff’s!
It’s not Uncle Cliff’s anymore and it wasn’t when I arrived in the 505 back in ’96, but decades after «Uncle» was officially redacted from the title, people still be callin’ it Uncle Cliff’s. The park is an absolute institution in ABQ and for those who grew up here, simply uttering that title brings ‘em back to the Days. Back when Dance Dance Dance: It’s a Teen Thing was shiznit and Caleb Crump was representin’. Today, even after a Twitter handle, @CliffsAmusement provides a place for teenagers to make out behind the tilt-​a-​whirl while parents drop loads of cash on cotton candy, funnel cakes and rigged midway games. Want the good ‘ol American amusement park experience? Find it at Uncle Cliff’s.
Over the years I’ve been pretty impressed by the rides here. The Rattler roller coaster will get your heart pumping, and the Cliff Hanger and SideWinder are admirable, they satisfy adrenaline junkies like me. Families have plenty to discover. There’s a toddler-​friendly area that can keep the kiddos happy for hours. The water park is somewhat undiscovered country for us, but judging from the smiles on the drenched faces, it delivers. Another great ride, the Rocky Mountain Rapids, measures up to national standards regarding the ol’ sit-​in-​a-​plastic-​log-​and-​get-​soaked thing.
This place doesn’t measure up to the big parks in the country. You don’t get five great coasters, you get two. There isn’t a lot of room to expand, it’s pretty small, Burque style. But Cliff’s is worth it. The kids love it. The city should be proud to own it. Here’s to Uncle Cliffy. An institution.

What a cool back yard treasure, we recently visited cliffs as a treat for the kids before heading back to school. Our group consisted of myself, my husband, our 7 year old twins, 16month old baby and my father in law.
Everyone had a great time my father in law I dont think was as impressed but he has a annual pass to Silver Dollar city in Branson which he goes to often so I guess he was comparing it to that. We are big fans of Disney Land and try to go once a year but I WOULD NEVER even attempt to compare this place to that and cliffs dosent claim to be this big huge amusement park.
For the price and what they offer its a perfect little local attraction that we will be visiting over and over again :) even my husband was quite impressed with some of the bigger rides and he is hard to please. The toddler rides were perfect for our little guy but there are only a few so we decided to buy a pay as u go pass card for him instead of the wristband and that worked perfectly.
Next time we will check out the water park area as we decided to skip that this time, however the cool water would of been refreshing after walking around the park in the heat.
great family day out we will be back :)
Edited: we went to cliffs in December for the magical Christmas and it was fantastic the kids loved it wel worth checking out

This amusement park is pretty good. I was pleasantly surprised. And this from someone who isn’t normally drawn to amusement parks.
Cliff’s has some fun scary rides. Sure, it isn’t Cedar Point, Six Flags or Disneyland, but if it was, you’d be waiting in really long lines. Here, the lines are relatively short. If we didn’t get on the ride the first time around, we were on it the next time.
Sidewinder, The Rattler, The Wind Rider, Fire Ball, the water tubes, and more, are well worth the day visit. Today, the Cliff Hanger wasn’t open, but that only temporarily dampened our fun. I think I’m better off without it. The Cliff Hanger doesn’t seem to be as scary as the Demon Drop, which had been at Cedar Point up until 2010, but it looks scary enough.
They have milder, though great rides, the classics: Music Express, bumper cars, Tilt-​A-​Whirl, water rides, like the log ride and the water tubes.
If you’re not into wild rides, there are some traditional carnival-​style arcade games.
If you have young kids, there’s a special area with a great selection of rides.
All your favorite treats are there, including cotton candy, Icees, funnel cakes, turkey legs, traditional grill food, like hot dogs and hamburgers, Dippin’ Dots, shakes and smoothies.

I’ve lived in Albuquerque for a total of 4 years and I just finally went to Cliff’s and now I’ve been there twice. I have only been in Water Mania but boy was I impressed. The water slides are fun for all ages. I’ve taken my 1-​year-​old niece down all of them and she loves to go down the small one’s by herself (meaning I hold her hand going down rather than her having to sit on my lap). The longer water slides are pretty short but I enjoy them. This is a great place for kids and parents to play and everyone can have fun.
The park is clean and there are chairs and picnic tables all throughout the park to use. You cannot bring your own food in but the food they sell is reasonably priced.
My one and only concern about the water park is that all of the water dropping and flying everywhere along with the big bucket can be very loud and overwhelming for some children. Overall, I’d recommend this water park. Enjoy.

Listen, since someone had the bright idea to close down the Beach water park I have been starved for some hip-​hoppity-​slick water slides to use on hot summers day. Well, Water Mania had my back, somewhat…
Water Mania is a giant jungle gym rigged with spouts, buckets, cannons, and slides which children giddily run through. Basically, it’s any young child’s dream to play and summer here, especially when the giant bucket dumps on everyone.
Is it an adults dream? No, not really. Why? The cost of admissions is ridiculous. It is Cliff’s, but just visiting this jungle gym and five slides comes out to close to 15 bucks per person. Children and adults cost the same unless your little guyrl is under 3, and I wouldn’t recommend small children at Water Mania unless you want it crushed by a stampede of little kids. While I do LOVE water slides the slides were too short and not fast/​exciting enough to keep me entertained long. I was one of two adults who was supervising children in the jungle gym besides lifeguards, so what you have is basically a swarm of bees who don’t seem to understand that you shouldn’t run and push through people. Lastly, there was definitely some kid funk to that water. Children are disgusting dirty creatures, we all know that, they’ll lick, spit, poop, pee, whatever wherever they deem appropriate. So, with the lack of parental observation the children seemed to go crazy and with children feet and bodily fluids I can’t say for sure if there was enough chlorine in that water to kill everything. It left my skin and hair smelling slightly metallic, which grossed me out a little… That’s just not normal.
However, with all the cons of being an adult at Water Mania I can definitely say I enjoyed myself for about an hour before I joined the other adults sadly looking on the jungle gym of banshee children wishing there were adult slides/​beverages I could enjoy during this time. It is kind of used as like a baby sitter for children though so it kind of explains the price.
The amusement portion of Cliff’s is awesome if you have some extra money burning a hole in your pocket. It’s basically like an off season fair throughout the warmer months.

We got here when it opened @ 10 and that was awesome because we had more room to monkey around in water mania without tons of people. Started getting crowded around noon.
Haven’t been here in a few years but the snack bar prices are still pricey.
$ 2.99 for a pickle are you kidding me (I enjoyed every single bite of it). Snack bar lines were really slow because they were training tons of newbies. But they were all very friendly and energetic. We left for a little bit to get lunch (don’t forget to get your ticket to re-​enter). Great place for fun family time.

I’ve been promising my 11 year old we would go and I am a woman of my word. We went last Saturday. $ 10 bucks a person. I paid for our entry on line — nice and easy. We made sure to get there at 5PM when the park opened. Not all rides are open. They have open: Fireball Tilt-​a-​Whirl Falling StarMusik ExpressSea Dragon
CarouselDoggie-​Go-​RoundHappy SwingLil’ Ferris WheelFrog Hopper
Hi-​FlyerBaja BuggiesLil’ YoyoTrain. Most of which can give you a queasy stomach. You get a pre loaded card to pay games. Just add money and play. The park is decorated beautifully. It really looks great. But the Pièce de résistance — funnel cake. As excited as a kid on Christmas morning I get up to the counter, One funnel cake please”. And then it happens. Bubble meet burst. «That will be AT LEAST a twenty minute wait.» Screw this place let’s go. LOL In all seriousness, a great bang for your buck and a really nice change of pace for the holiday season. Worth the money. Glad you’re open Cliff’s. It was a great decision on their part. Locally owned folks!!!