Niagara Falls/Toronto upcoming vacation..tips?

[njmomboys2]

Hi there...we are going to Niagara Falls/Toronto from August 1-7th. We are driving from NJ. Here is our plan...any suggestions/tips? thanks!! Family of 4, me, DH and 2 sons ages 14& 9

Niagara: Staying on Canada side at Embassy Suites Hotel. Have the Adventure Pass that includes Maid of the Mist, walkway, journey behind falls and movie.

Also planning on doing the Greg Frewin Magic Show, Sky Wheel, Aero Car?

Can someone provide any other "not to miss" and restaurant suggestions.

Toronto: staying at Grand Hotel & Suites Toronto. Planning on doing Casa Loma, CN tower, Hockey Hall of Fame, BlueJays Game and Canada's Wonderland.

Also looking for some "not to miss" other things and restaurant suggestions.

Both hotels include breakfast. Thanks!!!

Also for Canada:
1-What is going through the border crossing like? We have our passports?
2-What is the policy on bringing gifts back? is there a $ limit?
3-Do I have to switch over my $ or can I use American $ or credit cards?

Thanks so much!!!!!!!!

 

[Amy]

Hi njmom! We went to Niagara Falls and Toronto about a month ago. I found a lot of good information on TripAdvisor. (You might want to check the TripAdvisor forums for Toronto - the garbage workers went on strike when we were there; as of about a week ago, they were still on strike. I don't know if they've settled yet.)

Ok, Nigara Falls first:
Like you, we did the Adventure Pass. You can't beat the convenience of using their bus system instead of driving. The bus will also take you to attractions that aren't part of the Adventure Pass, like the Spanish Aero Car and Butterfly Conservatory, both of which I highly recommend. With your Adventure Pass, you'll get coupons for 50% off admission to both of those, plus some other stuff, too.

Oh, we did Maid of the Mist in the afternoon (3:30-4:00ish) and it wasn't crowded - we just walked right on. Maybe a lot of people do it first thing in the morning? You will get VERY wet, so be sure to protect your camera.

We didn't do the Sky Wheel, but it looks like fun. If you think you'll be doing a lot of the Clifton Hill stuff (putt putt golf, wax museums, etc.), there's a Pass you can buy for around $30 that'll give you a discount on a bunch of things. You might want to check into that. We only did a couple of Clifton Hill things so didn't bother with the pass.

Depending on which days you'll be there, they do fireworks over the Canadian falls Wed., Fri. and Sun. nights. There's also a free concert at 8pm, with the fireworks at 10.

Toronto: Did you look into getting the City Pass? (Go to citypass.com - they sell passes for diff. cities) In Toronto, it includes, the CN Tower, Casa Loma, Toronto Zoo, Royal Ontario Museum and Toronto Science Center. (If you see anything on the internet that the City Pass includes the Hockey Hall of FAme, it used to but doesn't any longer.) If you only do 3 of the 5 attractions included in the City Pass, it pays for itself.

CN Tower - don't miss this! Way cool! Be sure to check out the glass floor. One warning: your admission to the CN Tower includes the 2 viewing levels and either a movie about the building of the tower OR this "ride" called Himalamazon. My boys (they're 17 and 19) didn't want to do anything educational, so while DH did the movie, I did the ride with them. DON'T DO IT! It is the most stupid ride - they try to be like STar Tours with the screen and moving seats, but the whole premise is stupid, totally unrelated to the CN Tower. Do the movie.

I'll continue in the next post....I'm not sure of the space limit here.

 

[luv2sew]

It's been awhile since we did this trip so some of what I say may not be anymore or may be wrong due to memory lapse (it's tough getting old)

Sounds like a great trip you have planned. We loved Casa Loma and if you have time would most definately add the science center and zoo and Royal Canadian Museum. Also if you have time scope out the underground....they have a huge mall inside the subway system.

At Casa Loma get the self guided audio tour things it beats waiting around for the tour guides and you'll get great information at your own pace with them.

When in Niagra falls, when we were there last, there is an aviary not too far from the falls general area and right around the Hershey store...that is nice to see. Loved the butterfly thing and the Clock made from flowers at the gardens.

Crossing the border is a little unnerving they are not nice (both sides border agents) (you really don't expect them to be) but don't take too long getting out your stuff...and definately follow those signs that say "WAIT HERE" I don't know what the rest of the sign says but someone in front of us pulled up to the rear of the car in front of them that was getting checked for crossing and they had h*** to pay. There is an area right after crossing the border that you can exchange money and get stuff....if you stop there watch the exit that you exit the parking lot from cause it will take you right back across the border. We did that and had to cross out of Canada and back in again and explain that to the agents.

You can use American money but you wil then be trusting them to do the exchange rate. We just exchanged our money and then stopped back into that store again at the end of our trip and exchanged it back (I don't remember having much left)

The funky thing we found about driving there was the speed limits.

Have a great trip we have done Niagra twice and both times stayed on the Canadian side ....It is very lovely and peaceful watching the falls and the fireworks are great above the falls...we would most definately do this trip again.

 

[java]

Oh Have a great time. We went 2 years ago for a long weekend and stayed at that Embassy suites(high level falls view room) SPECTACULAR views. And the breakfast there is unbelievable. It's the best one we've ever had at an Embassy suites. It's full on breakfast- bacon, omlette station, french toast ect... It was huge!
And honestly that carried us over until dinner.
If you see DINO say hi from us! He's a cutie from the bellstand! Gave us great tips too. There is a good pizza place just across the street 2 blocks back from the hotel that is very good and inexpensive.

Go to NIAGRA ON THE LAKE! So cute and great restaurants. Nice shops (there is a chocolate one to keep the boys interested)

We had a great time. The movie was eh. Not great. We loved the Butterfly Conservatory. Maid of the mist is a classic.
That whole strip Clifton Hill really wasn't our kind of stuff. And it is a money zapper. We let the kids pick ONE to go to and they pick Ripleys and it's everything you expect it to be(good and bad)
We ate at the Rainforest Cafe and it was one of the worst we have been to- so skip that.

Getting in wasn't bad- getting out was tough. We used a map and actually went around a back way to get back over the bridge and I think we saved a good hour + by doing that. So BRING A MAP!!
And they make you feel like criminals going in- going out they couldn't care less.

 

[Amy]

I'm back....got sidetracked with work, can you imagine!

Ok, more on Toronto.....

Casa Loma - GO EARLY IN THE DAY! It opens at 9:30, we got there at 9:45 and were behind one tour group and ahead of 2 others. And because it's an historical building, there is no air conditioning. It's HOT! If you can, be sure to head up into the turrets - you get a neat view of the city from there, and it's kind of cool to see the roof of the castle.

Hockey Hall of Fame - my boys are BIG hockey fans, so we spent most of the day here; they scoured every inch of the place. You can also touch the Stanley Cup.

The Toronto Zoo is pretty nice, too. We went here the morning we were driving home, so we didn't see the entire zoo - we got hit with horrible thunderstorms and would have had to leave early anyway.

Since we'd never been to Toronto before, we did a Hippo Tour - it's like the Ducky Tours we have here in Pittsburgh, a bus tour of the city, and then the bus goes in the water and you see the city from there. It was pretty neat, and a nice way to get acclimated to the city.

I don't know where you hotel is located, but we didn't use our car at all in Toronto - we took the Subway everywhere (except the Zoo). Very convenient. There's a day pass for the Subway - it's $9 a person, but you can ride as often as you want.

Ok, restaurants. We only spent 2 nights at each place. My oldest DS collects Hard Rock t-shirts, so in both Niagara Falls and Toronto we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Also ate at TGI Friday's in Niagara Falls. In Toronto, be sure to eat at Wayne Gretzky's restaurant - we ate there after touring the Hockey Hall of FAme, so we had the full hockey experience! Be prepared - restaurant prices are MUCH higher in Canada.

Crossing the border is no problem, just be sure everybody over 16 has a passport. I think under 16 you just need a birth certificate. We were asked if we bought anything in Canada, and we just said souvenirs like t-shirts and stuff. They asked if we won over $10,000 in the casinos - don't I wish! We didn't even visit any of the casinos.

Paying for stuff - we used credit cards mostly, and the US dollar was worth more than the Canadian dollar, so once we got our cc bill, the amounts were a little lower. You can pay cash using US dollars - some places will convert the currency at the register, some places will take your US dollar and give you change in Canadian dollars on an even exchange. It depends on the place. I didn't get too nit-picky about the exchange rate and making sure they weren't taking advantage of us.

I think that's about it. If you have any questions, ask away! If I think of anything else, I'll post some. Right now, I'd better get back to work.....

 

[lecach]

We like Mama Mias in Niagara on Victoria avenue (http://www.mamamias.ca/victoria/). We also usually eat at Rainforest since we don't have one at home.

 

[njmomboys2]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and tips. Greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[merryweather20]

I recommend you hit the Flying Saucer for breakfast, only 99 cents! Head up Clifton Hill, then keep to the left.

Of the things on Clifton Hill they are all pretty junky and expensive tourist trap stuff, if you want to try one Ripley's beleive it or not is the best. Its one some awards, they have shrunken heads and things like that.

There are fireworks over the falls often during the summer, ask at your hotel when you get in. The new casino (the one up the hill) is pretty impressive and the fountain in the lobby is pretty snazzy.

They take credit cards and American cash everywhere. The exchange rate they give you for American cash will generally not be that good, since they take the bank rate and then pad it.

As for the garbage strike I live in Toronto and haven't seen a problem that a trourist would notice. The areas you are going you won't notice a thing. You won't however be able to go to say a public city pool or public city baseball diamond while you are there.

I second the suggestion for the Ontario Science Centre. Canada's Wonderland gets really busy, so plan that for a weekday. The Toronto Zoo is very good but there is alot of walking, some of the animals also have large natural habitats so its no guarantee on what you see. Maybe go to the website and see if its what you'd like?

You can absolutely spend a whole day at just the Hockey Hall of Fame.

For places to eat in Toronto I recommend the Old Spaghetti Factory:

#54 The Esplanade
Toronto, Ontario
M5E 1A6

 

[LanaJayne]

The speed limits signs in Canada are in kilometers per hour. An easy way to remember the mph/km-h conversion is:

20 (mph) gives you 30 (km/h)
30 gives you 50
50 gives you 80

When you see signs for 80 km/h that means 50 mph.
Most of the freeways will post 100 km/h which translates to about 60 mph (62mph)

That also helps with the distance markers. 100 Kilometers away is about one hour of driving (at 60 mph).
We had fun calculating the speeds and distances!!!

Have a great trip!

 

[njmomboys2]

Thanks again....just so I am plot out the days...any tips on how long we should plan for the attractions (I know everyone is different but just a ballpark)?

Niagara:
Maid of the Mist
Walkway
Journey behind the falls
Movie

Toronto:
Casa Loma
CN Tower
Hockey Hall of Fame...planning a full day since by husband and boys are HUGE Hockey fans...and one of the main reasons for this trip : )
Canada Wonderland

Thanks again!!

 

[njmomboys2]

Should I buy my tickets ahead of time for the Toronto attractions? Will I save paying the Canadian taxes? We are only doing the CN Tower & Casa Loma, so doesn't pay to do the CityPass.

Also at the CN tower...should I do the Skypod? What do you really need to do there?

Thanks