Another PTR - Let's Make it a Half!

skier_pete said:
Hey there! I DID spot her tag. Happy to help when any fellow DISers come from down under to our area. SO many people were so helpful to us when we planned our trip to Australia.

I live in Buffalo area, but about 20 minutes from Niagara Falls, so am pretty authoritative on the area. (Not quite an expert.)

The only thing is I guess I would ask you about the timing. I can tell from the post that you are going to be here in September, but exactly what is the date that you are flying out, and the time. Generally getting across the border from Niagara Falls Canada is not all that difficult, especially if you are coming first thing in the morning. I don't think there is much issue with "rush hour" traffic. I just checked for right now which is 8 AM in US, and there is no wait at any of the borders. You can look for yourself at http://www.niagarafallsbridges.com/index.php/services/traffic-conditions. You would come over the rainbow bridge. I would expect a typically morning crossing to be no more than 20 minutes.

The drive from the Falls to the Buffalo airport is maybe 30 minutes, it's not a real big airport, so giving yourself 90 minutes at the airport is probably sufficient as well.

As far as what to do, you mentioned driving up to Fort Niagara before going to Rochester. Fort Niagara is pretty nice, though you don't need more than 1-2 hours there to see it. It's about 45 minutes from the airport to get up there. The drive along the lake to Rochester has it's scenic parts and not so scenic parts, but if you are going up to Fort Niagara anyways, it's probably actually faster than going back down to the the thruway.

The 1000 islands are really beautiful. Definitely you want to take an island cruise as the best opportunity to see the area in a short time. Make sure to take one that also combines a stop at Boldt Castle. (You can look it up, it's pretty interesting.)

Toronto there of course is lots of stuff to do there - all depends on your tastes.

Niagara Falls you are definitely better off on the Canadian side. Your call as far as the Fallsview hotel room. We've stayed there, and the one time we had a Fallsview room it was like "OOOOHH!" for 20 seconds and then we never looked out there again (it was winter). However, we are more Jaded towards the falls as we can see it anytime we want. I agree with PIOs comment about the multi-pass that includes the bus. You can see quite a few things. In September the tourist season is pretty much over but the weather should still be nice, so you'll be able to see lots.

Another nice thing to do is to check out Niagara on the Lake - it's actually on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario, on the opposite side of the Niagara river from Fort Niagara, but its a small village with nice shops and restaurants and again if the weathers nice its nice to walk around and not quite as tacky/touristy as Niagara Falls. It's only about a 20 minute drive down (up) the river.

Any other questions - feel free to tag me again. I'll probably follow along, but I'm not always consistent in reading PTR/TRs.
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Thanks Pete! :flower3:
 
zanzibar138 said:
Thanks so much for your help PIO and skier_pete - I knew the DISers would come to my rescue :thumbsup2

I think our flight leaves from Buffalo at about 11am on Tuesday the 15th of September, so it sounds like border control shouldn't be a problem. The only overland border I've ever crossed was Zimbabwe - Botswana and back, and that was a huge ordeal that took a long time! Living in Australia, we don't have much opportunity to drive over country borders ;) Sounds like it shouldn't be a problem to stay on the Canada side.

I actually looked at staying a night at Niagara on the Lake, but it was too expensive. We'll probably drive through on our way to the falls. Sounds like a pretty place to visit. The canals with locks sound like they're worth checking out too. I'm sure that would interest DH - maybe we'll try to drive through that area on our way too.

I did wonder about the activity packages - any idea where we can purchase them? I did read somewhere about fireworks too, but am guessing they're not on Sunday or Monday nights, and I don't think it's important enough to try to change our itinerary. I've read that they have special lighting effects on Horseshoe Falls, so hoping that's on every night at least. Sounds like it will be worth the effort to try to convince DH to get a falls view room.
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I would check out the fireworks timetable. My faulty memory seems to think that they DID shoot fireworks on Sunday night.

I also think the light effects are every night. IMO, The light effects show better on the American Falls than Horseshoe Falls.

I bought the activity package when I got there at a ticket booth. But I think you can purchase these on-line now.
 
Fireworks are Fridays and Sundays in the summer, I don't know how for into September they extend. The website doesn't say except "until September".

You don't need to stay in Niagara on the Lake. It is a very short drive from the falls.
 
Oooh! It would be pretty exciting if we did manage to catch the fireworks! I know our chances aren't great though since it will be well into September when we're there. I find most places in the US (including DLR) use Labor Day to mark the end of the summer season, so I'd be expecting the same at Niagara Falls. Will definitely keep an eye out though!
 


Sounds like a wonderful road trip Zanzibar - one I'd like to take though for ours I would add on Quebec as a wonderful aunt we since stayed with several times in Vancouver gave me an old Viewfinder with tons of reels of pics of Quebec that enthralled me as a child. Not sure why it hasn't topped the bucket list in retrospect but its getting close.
 
Aussie Wendy said:
Sounds like a wonderful road trip Zanzibar - one I'd like to take though for ours I would add on Quebec as a wonderful aunt we since stayed with several times in Vancouver gave me an old Viewfinder with tons of reels of pics of Quebec that enthralled me as a child. Not sure why it hasn't topped the bucket list in retrospect but its getting close.
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Oh trust me - there were plenty more places in Canada we wanted to visit. I was very keen on Ottawa, and would definitely have loved to include Montreal too. Unfortunately we have only just enough time to get around the lake without adding any extra mileage lol! Toronto actually doesn't excite me very much as a city, but I am excited about the Thousand Islands and Niagara Falls!
 
Quebec! Quebec! Definitely add Quebec! And if you're going that way. go to Montreal first then Quebec; not the other way round.

And if you have time in Toronto, try heading to the Toronto Islands.
 


PrincessInOz said:
Quebec! Quebec! Definitely add Quebec! And if you're going that way. go to Montreal first then Quebec; not the other way round.

And if you have time in Toronto, try heading to the Toronto Islands.
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Sadly we definitely won't have time for Montreal or Quebec :sad2:

Will check out the Toronto Islands though. Thanks for the tip!
 
Got our Thousand Island (Gananoque) accommodation locked in. The original place I was looking was booked out, but I think what I found in it's place is even better! Managed to find some cute log cabins (Horseblock Point Cottages) right on the river that get decent reviews AND came in under budget :woohoo:
 
zanzibar138 said:
Got our Thousand Island (Gananoque) accommodation locked in. The original place I was looking was booked out, but I think what I found in it's place is even better! Managed to find some cute log cabins (Horseblock Point Cottages) right on the river that get decent reviews AND came in under budget :woohoo:
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Hurrah for under budget. That's a definite plus!!
 
I just checked out you itinerary on page 1. IT looks like it's changed quite a bit from the early days where it was mainly NY. Love the look of your road trip. :)
 
WanderlustNZ said:
I just checked out you itinerary on page 1. IT looks like it's changed quite a bit from the early days where it was mainly NY. Love the look of your road trip. :)
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It sure has! We're both confident we'll get a lot more out of the road trip around Lake Ontario than a week in NYC.
 
Just a quick update on this one. For our one night in Rochester and Toronto, we just wanted somewhere cheap, but decent. Since location wasn't a high priority, I just did a quick bid on both of these locations on Priceline. We got Comfort Suites in Rochester and Park Inn by Radisson Toronto/Markham. They both came in under $80, so pretty happy with that :goodvibes
 
Lol. The Disboards have changed so much, I can't work out how to add a quote anymore.

Anyway, I think you've made a great decision. We're similar when it comes to spending our holidays in big cities.
 
WanderlustNZ said:
Lol. The Disboards have changed so much, I can't work out how to add a quote anymore.

Anyway, I think you've made a great decision. We're similar when it comes to spending our holidays in big cities.
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Lol! To just quote one person, you click on Reply. If you want to quote multiple people, you click on +Quote on each one, then Insert Quotes under the text box. Took me a while to work it out too, but it's actually easier than the previous system once you know how to do it :thumbsup2

I can't wait to see Upstate NY and the Thousand Islands district!
 
Let's talk Disneybounding! I've discovered Polyvore and have spent the afternoon having a play. These outfits are just a general idea of what it will be like based on what I could find on Polyvore. Obviously I'll be tweaking them as I go. I may be going slightly nuts with my outfits for this trip, but I figure why not.

I'll be starting my bounding outfits on Thursday with an expo/park day as Russell. I plan to meet Dug on this day and get a great photo that I can get an enlarged print of and put in my soon to be Up themed hobby room. I decided to this bound on the first day in case there is an issue meeting Dug - I'll have a couple of back up days then. I have already purchased a little brown satchel style bag, and my mother in law has a great orange scarf that I may borrow and use as a headband.



Friday morning is of course the 5k. I've been pretty keen on the idea of a Mulan themed outfit for a while, so have decided to run with that (haha no pun intended). This will be based on Mulan's introductory outfit, as it is kind of my introduction to the weekend. As an added bonus, I already have the skirt!



For our park time on Friday, I've decided on Mulan's matchmaker outfit (the next chronological outfit in the movie). I have quite a few pink tops - I'll have to see if any will be suitable, and I will just wear my existing pair of black lace up shoes.



Saturday is a rest/non park day, so no Disneybounding that day. The next one will be the half marathon, where I will be inspired by Mulan's battle outfit. I feel like the battle outfit will be appropriate lol! I also have the grey sparkle skirt already!



After the half marathon I will be wearing an outfit inspired by the final outfit Mulan wears in the movie, when she is awarded the sword of Shan-Yu and the crest of the emperor (which will be represented by my half marathon medal!). I have that exact dress sitting in my 'cart' waiting to be purchased, just need to decide on a size. And I'll just wear my existing black lace up shoes again.



My final Disneybound outfit will be Boo! I just thought this would be cute and comfortable. I have a pair of purple shorts in my 'cart' as well, and have already purchased a pink t-shirt that would be suitable. Depending on how I go with Dug, I'll wear this one on Monday or Tuesday.

 
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