Niagara Falls Trip Report

[dtuleya]

Well, we're under the 40 day mark for our trip to Niagara Falls. Many of you have been very wonderful in helping me plan my trip. Here's what we have so far:

Hotel - Sheraton On The Falls - $45/night (priceline.com - yeah!) Anybody ever stay here before?

Day 1

Drive directly to Lion Safari after arrival in Canada (so many of you have told me we'd enjoy this more than Marineland).
Eat lunch somewhere (any suggestions?)
Drive back to Niagara Falls and check into our hotel.
Check out the Clifton Hill area and go on the Dinosaur Ride and/or take in an IMAX movie.
Eat dinner at Rainforest Cafe.
Relax at hotel for Day #2
Possibly check out the Nightly Illuminations of the Falls.

Day 2

We have already purchased our Explorer's Passport Plus tickets (Journey Behind the Falls, Great Gorge Adventure, Butterfly Conversatory and People Mover Bus Pass).
Maid of the Mist
Anything we missed from Day 1
Eat at Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock Cafe.

Here are the questions I still have:

1. Can anyone estimate how long it will take us to see the places we plan on going on Day 2? Is this a whole day sight seeing or 1/2?

2. Does anyone know if/where I can get discount tickets for the following places:

Lion Safari
Maid of the Mist
IMAX
Dinosaur Ride (it's hard to find any information on this)

3. What other "must sees" am I missing? I have two boys (8 & 13).

4. What would be a logical itinerary for Day 2....in what order should we see the attractions to avoid back tracking and wasted travel time?

5. Where can I find information on the locks/canals?

Sorry this is so long, but I'd like to experience as much as possible.

 

[cottontail]

Hi: H

Have you tried AAA for the african lion safari passes at a discount, I don't know if your heading to toronto area from niagara falls, but they have an amusement park with rides called Canadas Wonderland, but you would have to check to see its hours and when it opens, also the Toronto Zoo is quiet a nice relaxing place to go, we love it there.

Niagara on the lake is a nice place to visit.

A place very casual that we ate at while in niagara falls was Flying saucer restaurant 6768 lundys lane niagara falls canada. It is kind of quarky shaped like a flying saucer, round inside really neat, the menu is extensive, good food, great amounts and good prices.

Food like chicken fingers, baked potato, pizza sub, chef salad, perogies, chicken, swiss and ham, roast beef, turkey sandwiches, also dinner platters open faced charbroiled n.y. steak, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken primavera and lots more.

I think they have an early bird breakfast special 99. cents, 2 extra large eggs, homefries, toast and jam served from 6 a.m. to 12 noon. I just read that off their take out flyer. My brother and wife in their 50's seem to find all the kind of nostalgic, neat places to eat. We tried it once it was packed but we only waited 5 min for a seat, and the food was good, I would go back there again. The kids might like it.

Here are a couple of links of things around.

http://www.torontozoo.com/

http://www.canadas-wonderland.com/visit_calendar.jsp

Hamilton has royal botanical gardens and dundurn castle, we are located in between niagara falls and the african lion safari here's a couple of links

http://www.rbg.ca/index2.html

http://www.hpl.ca/Collections/landmark/Dundurn.shtml

That is all I can think of for now,

Deb.

 

[maryann4086]

Are u going all the way to african lion safari? Thats a good hour and a half drive from the falls, unless you mean something else. Do consider going to Queenston, and niagara on the lake, great area, beautiful place. As far as how long things will take, depends on how much time u wish to spend. U can be at the butterfly conservatory as long as u wish. Hope u try to take in some of the other sites around the falls. When u get to the hotel they will have a place with lots of brochures, and coupons. Ask, they will be glad to help. Hotel has a great buffet btw. If youre into shopping try the factory outlet mall. Let me know if u have other qs. Try typing in the welland canal for info about the canals, its in around st catharines. Hope some of this helps.

 

[dtuleya]

Thanks for all the info!

maryann4086 - Yes, we plan to drive from Pennsylvania straight through to the African Lion Safari. We'll probably eat breakfast in New York state somewhere. We plan to leave our house so that we arrive at the Lion Safari around 10 AM. Niagara-on-the Lake is something else we thought we might sneak in on our schedule. The problem is, we only have two days to see it all. Glad to hear that Sheraton On the Falls has a great buffet. Everytime I mention the Sheraton, people assume the Sheraton Fallsview, which is supposed to be one of the nicer hotels there. Thanks for mentioning the Welland Canals, couldn't find the name of them anywhere.

Deb - Thanks for mentioning all the great places to eat! The early bird special sounds great. The boys will think the flying saucer one is cool, so we'll probably check it out.

Thanks again for all your help! I'm one of those people who likes to plan as much as possible.

 

[Meg]

<font color=blueviolet size=3>For more info on the Welland Canal (which goes through my city) go to this website: http://www.pixel-vision.com/lock3/
There is a museum about the locks and some other local historic things. Have lots of fun on your trip!

 

[cottontail]

Denise check your private messages for more info on the african lion safari discounts, I was not sure what I could put on the dis, so I sent it the other way.

Deb.

 

[dtuleya]

Thanks for all the help everyone has given me! We're under the 10 day mark and I still have several questions.

We're going to hit Maid of the Mist and Journey Behind the Falls first on our second day. Do you think we should make reservations. MotM opens at 9:45 and JBtF opens at 9:00. How long should I allow for these attractions if I decide to make ressies?

Any thoughts on the food at Hard Rock vs. Planet Hollywood?

TIA!

 

[NancyK]

Hi Denise,
My husband says the food at Hard Rock Cafe was good, but a little pricey. We've only eaten at Planet Hollywood once and were very disappointed in the food. It wasn't as good as the one at Downtown Disney. Maybe they were having a bad day, though.
The Maid of the Mist sometimes has long line-ups, so I would go first thing in the morning. It's been a few years since we've done the attractions, but I think the boat ride is less than a half an hour. For the journey behind the falls, you take an elevator down to the viewing area. You can stay down there as long as you want to. Again - it's not really a time-consuming thing. It's fun to do, though.
I hope you have a fantastic time. Our weather for this week is sunny and hot (mid to high 80s). I hope it's nice when you are here.
Nancy

 

[mickey65]

Hello!

You can't make reservations for the Maid of the Mist...I am not sure about the behid the falls. Maid of the mist does have long lines, but it moves very fast. The tour is about 15 minutes. Get a spot on the left side of the boat (near the front if you can) for the best viewing of the falls....you will get wet no matter where you are though!

I ate at the Hard Rock Cafe when I was there a few weeks ago. The food was pretty pricey and I did not find it all that great, but maybe that is just me.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[dtuleya]

Oops, I was looking at the Niagara Parks brochure and saw that you can make reservations for Butterfly Conservatory and Journey Behind the Falls, NOT Maid of the Mist.

So any other suggestions for dinner (remember 8 & 13 yo DSs)since Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood aren't getting rave reviews? We just ate at a Rainforest Cafe several weeks ago, so I'd like to try something new/different. I have a coupon for a free buffet dinner at our hotel, Sheraton On The Falls (not Fallsview). Anybody ever eat there?

 

[Niagara2]

For an unforgetable experience eat in the Skylon Tower. It is pricey, so go at lunch time to save....it rotates 360 degree's while you eat and the view is fabulous. Don't put your bags on the ledge next to your window table as it disappears as you turn. It is so slow that you donot notice it until you look out and see a different beautiful view!! All francises are there - Outback, Applebee's, etc. For a nice finer dining experience we love Casa D'Ora's on Lundys Lane. Very good Italian food and the service is special. The 40 story Hiltonhotel has a nice dinner buffet and great view too. You can also eat in the Minolta tower. Better food than the Skylon but it does not rotate. 100's of choices....good luck.

 

[dtuleya]

As you can see from my trip counter, we're under the 24 hour mark and it's pulling my hair out, last minute details crunch. Let's see, dog to kennel, get $$$, etc., etc., etc.,

We're planning on leaving Pennsylvania about 3 AM which should put us crossing the Rainbow Bridge about 9-10 AM. What is the traffic like that time of day?

I'd like to say a huge "Thank You" to all my Canadian Dis friends who helped me with advice/ideas for our trip. You sure are a great bunch of people.

Thanks again! Canada, here we come!

 

[cottontail]

Have a great trip, and welcome to Canada. Looks like fab weather.


Here is a website with border wait times. As of right now there are no delays and it is around 9.00 a.m according to the chart.

http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/customs/general/times/menu-e.html

Sorry I do not know how to highlight the above to take you right there.

Bye,

Deb.

 

[sammi]

Have a great trip Denise and please tell us all about your adventure when you get back home!

 

[DisneyLisa]

Hope you have a wonderful time Denise. As cottontail (Deb) said...it looks like the weather is going to be fabulous (finally) .

 

[dtuleya]

The first day (arrived at about 10:30 AM)

Marineland - I know, not as nice as Sea World, but it accomplished our goal. Sons got to see a killer whale show and then we were one of the lucky ones that actually got to touch one. Boy they feel weird! Boys love feeding the black bears who seemed to understand our verbal commands to "get ready".

Checked into the Sheraton on the Falls - I love this hotel and would not hesitate to go back there. Very clean, great staff and a great location! Had a city view on the 18th floor. Asked for a complimentary upgrade (Starwood Preferred Guest member), but hotel was full (this was apparent after walking around) and wasn't able to snag a fallsview room. I would always try to book through priceline.com first though since we got a great rate of $45/night weekdays. I don't know if I'd pay $200 for the weekend rate though (that's what the rack rate is for a Friday or Saturday stay). Some "importand guy" from either Indian or Pakistan was staying in the penthouse. Boy, did he have an entourage. There were quite a few "secret service" guys following him around. He was dressed in traditional clothing with a turban while the others were dressed in suits. We wondered if he was some type of "holy man". We were going to ask the hotel staff who it was, but figured they wouldn't tell us anyway.

Dino Island 3D adventure - Kids loved it! Sure jars you around though.

Journey Over the Falls - Only DH and 13 yo went and said it was really cool.

Dinner at Sheraton Penthouse Fallsview Buffet - Very good buffet (won a free meal from one of the Niagara web sites!) with a great view of both falls. Great desserts!

Walked to IMAX - very informative movie about the history of the falls. Even kids enjoyed it.

Day 2 -
Great Gorge Adventure - Boys really liked this. Those rapids sure are scary looking.

Butterfly Conservatory - cool and was included with our Explorer's passport ticket deal. Boys though it was only so-so and we probably wouldn't have made it there if we didn't already have the tickets.

Maid of the Mist - We waited to do this in the afternoon since the temps would be in the mid '80s. Sure glad we did, wouldn't want to walk around looking like a drowned rat all day long!

Journey Behind the Falls - This was so cool!!!

The landscaping it absolutely breathtaking and the entire Niagara Falls area is spotless.

Only disappointment was the busses don't actually start at 9:00 AM, so we missed the butterfly release which we planned on going to first. Had to wait over 1/2 hour for bus and we were at the stop about 10 minutes early. Very discouraging when 2-3 busses pass you by on the way to their destinations.

We ate at the Hark Rock Cafe for dinner the second night and Wendy's for lunch. We had good food at the Hard Rock. Was a little surprised since we know these type of chain restaurants can be iffy. We would buy breakfast (croissants, bagels, danish, milk, juice, coffee) from the Starbucks coffee shop in the lobby and take it back to our room. We brought a box of cereal along for the boys since they aren't big breakfast eaters.

I had our birth certificates ready when we crossed into Canada, but they didn't even ask for ID. The only time they asked for ID was when we entered the US, and then they only wanted adult photo ID's.

Thanks again for such great advice in helping me plan this trip!

 

[sammi]

Hi Denise!

Welcome home and it sounds like your plans came together very nicely! You had great weather and yes the Sheraton is a nice hotel to stay at.

Glad to hear that your family enjoyed Canada and please come back soon!

~Cindy~

 

[DisneyLisa]

Sounds like you had a nice trip Denise...glad to hear it.

 

[mickey65]

Glad to hear you had a good time!

 

[Baboo]

Sounds great! Glad that you had such a good trip. Y'all come back now, Hear?