Niagara Falls??? toronto?

[mtemm]

dh and i went (canada side) for a weekend 8 years ago, and are thinking about taking the kids this summer. Am wondering if there are any good deals for things like maid of the mist and such? also, any suggestions for families. won't be hitting the casino this time around! lol. kids are 9, 7, 7. we stayed at the fallsview marriott last time and really liked it so most likely will stay there again, but are open to looking into other hotels if you have one to recommend.

would love any suggestions!

also, how are the crowds? we went in may, I think around memorial day weekend, and it was perfect...gorgeous weather, low crowds. does it get crazy later in the summer? I was thinking august might be a good time, or would it be too crazy/expensive?

how far is it to go to toronto for a night or 2 after? we'll be driving to niagara falls from MA so will have a car. we've never been to toronto so would love any and all kid friendly suggestions there, too.

thanks!!!!!

 

[anniemae]

I think you can buy a pass for a bunch of the "side stuff" like maid of the mist, the tram, discovery center etc. But that was a while ago, so I'm not sure if they have that now.

Toronto is about an hour from niagara and it is wonderful. We loved Toronto. Casa Loma is nice, a city tour, cn tower. Fun stuff!

 

[antmaril]

The Embassy Suites Fallsview could be a good choice for your family. Nice big rooms, great views of the Falls, complimentary breakfast buffet in the morning and evening snacks.

Have fun!

 

[NancyK]

This site is still showing "winter" passes, but they'll have all-inclusive passes for summer as well.

http://www.niagaraparks.com/


Although it's possible to get to Toronto in an hour, it usually takes a bit longer than that because of traffic. Lots of things to do in Toronto - CN Tower, Royal Ontario Museum, Science Centre, etc. If you have a favorite baseball team, you could see when they are in town playing the Jays.

 

[lizabu]

Sheraton on the Falls is great. Right at the base of Clifton Hill and across the street from the Falls. It also has an indoor waterpark attached (tickets cost extra). I would definitely recommend buying the adventure pass and doing all the tings on it (Butterfly conservatory, maid or the mist, tunnel of the winds, great gorge adventure). There is lots of fun for families. My kids loved the Rainforest Cafe. They have them in other places of course but if they've never been it's fun. Putt Putt golf in the dinosaur themed mini golf course on clifton hill is fun. Ride the ferris wheel and see all the sights from above. Have lunch in the skylon tower. Great view and much cheaper than dinner. It rotates and you see the whole city. There are many things like museums etc that aren't worth what they charge but still fun if it's your first time. I always buy the salt water taffy and fudge when I visit too.

Toronto is about 1 1/2 hours away. I like the City Center Sheraton. It's attached to the Eaton Center. You can walk to tons of places. In Toronto you can shop or see a broadway style show http://www.mirvish.com/shows visit Canada's Wonderland, Medival Times dinner show, The Science Center, The ROM, see the CN tower or dozens of other things.

 

[Gigi22]

Not to be annoying--but do remember to bring your passports or other WHTI-compliant documents with you. I believe this requirement is fairly recent.

 

[mtemm]

thanks all! I need to get going on passports for the kids and I. any ideas how crowded niagara falls would be in august? is it crazy to even consider it then?

also, toronto seems to be expensive because we have 5 in our family. in niagara falls I can do the one room at marriott fallsview pretty reasonably, but nobody except residence inn 2 bedroom suites seem to allow 5 in a room in toronto, and that is more than our budget allows, and honestly as nice as the space is, really more than we need for a 1 or 2 night visit. if we go further out of the city I can find places that are cheaper and allow us all to be in the same room, but is that going to be worth doing? any suggestions as to where to stay/where to avoid? we prefer marriotts due to dh's rewards, but will be open to other places if we can find a deal.

 

[antmaril]

The Embassy Suites will allow five in the room. Of course, all of the rooms are suites. You can get one with two queens in the bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room.

 

[BKMETV]

You are going to hit crowds in the summer but if you are able to walk to the falls from your hotel that will cut out the biggest hassle which is parking.

Definitely do the Maid of the Mist...I find the tunnels under the falls a waste now. When I was a kid you were able to stick your hands out into the falls but of course that's no allowed any more.

The whirlpool is neat...a little tram takes you out over the water...my kids loved it...I prefer staying on dry land.

Driving along the Niagara Parkway to Niagara-on-the-Lake which is a nice tourist area to shop...there is also an old fort there and wineries.

As for Toronto it really depends on what you want to do...CN Tower, ROM, baseball and Eaton Centre...you are better to stay downtown and leave your car at the hotel getting around by transit. Keep in mind if you stay outside the downtown and drive in for the day parking is not cheap. Unfortunately with 5 people you are definitely limited in hotels and Toronto is expensive...have you looked at the Delta Chelsea I know they have family suites. All that being said Toronto is a great city to visit.

 

[Amy]

We visited Niagara Falls and Toronto summer 2009 and stayed at the other Marriott in Niagara Falls - it's up further on Clifton Hill, no view of the falls, but we could still walk to the falls. I highly recommend getting the Adventure Pass - free transportation on the bus (on and off privileges), admission to numerous attractions. Definitely do Maid of the Mist, Butterfly Conservatory, flower clock, tram over the rapids. Your kids are young enough to enjoy all the "touristy" stuff on Clifton Hill. We did the movie star wax museum, and it wasn't scary at all if that's a concern for you. (They DID have a scary room, but they had warning signs and it was quite easy to avoid it.) Definitely do putt-putt golf. In addition to a Rainforest Cafe, there's also a Hard Rock Cafe right by the falls. You might also want to check the schedule for fireworks over the falls - that was kind of neat to see.

Our boys were older than your kids and they're BIG hockey fans (go Penguins!!), so part of our Toronto visit was devoted to the Hockey Hall of Fame. We also took a "Hippo" Tour of Toronto (what other cities call a Ducky Tour - the bus that goes in the water) that was very entertaining. I'd recommend checking out the Toronto City Pass (citypass.com) - it includes admission to about 5 diff. attractions (CN Tower, Toronto Zoo, Casa Loma are the ones we did; it also includes the Science Center and the Museum). I figured the price for buying admission separately, and as long as we did 3 of the 5 attractions, we came out ahead. Definitely worth it! (If you're hockey fans, be sure to eat at Wayne Gretzky's restaurant - lots of memorabilia all over the place.)

The Toronto subway was very easy to follow; we stayed at a Marriott Courtyard downtown - the subway was only 1 or 2 blocks from the hotel, only about 3 stops to the Hockey Hall of Fame. You can buy daily subway passes for about $6 or $7 (this was 2009, I'm sure prices have gone up).

We didn't do a baseball game while we were there (not big baseball fans), but there was a game the day we visited the CN Tower. Kind of neat to be up in the CN Tower and look down into the baseball stadium!

As for crowds, we visited in mid-July; it was crowded, but not unbearable. Both cities are major tourist attractions, so no matter when you go it'll be crowded.

 

[MamaLema]

I can't help you with Niagara Falls, but if you go to Toronto and stay downtown, I highly recommend visiting the Toronto Islands.

You take a 10 minute ferry to the islands. Most people with kids your age go to "Centre Island" There is so much green, open space, a huge park, wading pool, tandem bike rentals. There is also an amusement park that our family enjoys. Plus, you get the best view of the Toronto skyline from there.

CN Tower is also a must do, just make sure you go on a clear day.

Enjoy!

 

[abdmom]

Marineland and African Lion Safari are things your kids may enjoy near Niagara Falls.

In addition to the Toronto attractions others have mentioned, there's the Ontario Science Centre and Toronto Zoo. Both are not downtown, but are worth visiting.

 

[mtemm]

thanks all so much!

I'm so excited for the kids to see niagara falls. is the tram over the falls on the canada side? for some reason I remember that being on the american side, I guess its been a while though. we did the behind the falls thing and weren't terribly impressed, but have a feeling the kids would like it. butterfly conservatory sounds beautiful. again something new for us. don't remember the flower clock at all. looking forward to checking into all the stuff you all have recommended.

I just realized we have a reciprocity agreement with the toronto science center per our membership at the boston one, so that is very cool.

we are now thinking about just staying put at the marriott fallsview and driving in to toronto for a day trip. cost wise, even with parking, it just seems to makes sense. are we crazy to consider this? are there plenty of garages like in other major cities? we are used to driving in cities and the parking costs that go along with it, and I'm wondering if we can even find some deals like we have when we have driven into nyc in the past. something to look into anyway! cn tower is the absolute must for us in toronto, and ds9 would probably like the hockey hall of fame. science center would be nice, especially since it would be free, and free also means we can go for a bit and not feel too obligated to stay long there. will definitley look into the gretsky restaurant

am really getting excited about this trip!

 

[lizabu]

Yes there's plenty of pay for parking. If you will be downtown park under city hall. Do you have a Costco membership? I was just looking at the Canadian costco website and they had city passes for Toronto. They seemed pretty reasonable and get you into Casa Loma, CN Tower, ROM, science center and the zoo. You need more than one day to do all those things though

 

[MichelleinMaine]

thanks all so much!

I'm so excited for the kids to see niagara falls. is the tram over the falls on the canada side? for some reason I remember that being on the american side, I guess its been a while though. we did the behind the falls thing and weren't terribly impressed, but have a feeling the kids would like it. !

The aerocar is on the Canadian side. It goes over the whirlpool, not the falls though. It is also discounted with the Niagara Parks pass (and is on their shuttle bus that is included with the pass.)

Journey Behind the Falls is included with the pass (as is a walk along the whirlpool rapids, Maid of the Mist and a kind of wierd movie about how teh falls were made. {same location as JBtF}) Also includes the shuttle bus (you could drive to the aerocar, there is parking. The other things though, it is far more convenient just to take the shuttle. You also can make reservations for attractions with the pass {there is a parks info booth across the street from Maid of the Mist, in the park.} Maid of the Mist is excluded from that- plan to get there when it opens to avoid a line.

FYI, the Parks pass is (or was when we went 2 years ago) cheaper to buy stateside at a AAA office (if you're a member).

Cave of the Winds is on the US side, but definately worth the stop (you practically go by it on your way back to MA.) That's the one you walk on boardwalks along the bottom of the falls. We loved that!

We've gone twice in August and it was crowded, but tolerable. Get there early for MotM. The other things, as said, we could get on a reservation. We waited in line only like 10 minutes for Cave of the Winds- biggest issue is the size of the elevator taking you down.

 

[mtemm]

thank you!!!! this is all great information. we have both AAA and costco so I'm going to look into whatever deals I can get thru them.

 

[BKMETV]

thanks all so much!

I'm so excited for the kids to see niagara falls. is the tram over the falls on the canada side? for some reason I remember that being on the american side, I guess its been a while though. we did the behind the falls thing and weren't terribly impressed, but have a feeling the kids would like it. butterfly conservatory sounds beautiful. again something new for us. don't remember the flower clock at all. looking forward to checking into all the stuff you all have recommended.

I just realized we have a reciprocity agreement with the toronto science center per our membership at the boston one, so that is very cool.

we are now thinking about just staying put at the marriott fallsview and driving in to toronto for a day trip. cost wise, even with parking, it just seems to makes sense. are we crazy to consider this? are there plenty of garages like in other major cities? we are used to driving in cities and the parking costs that go along with it, and I'm wondering if we can even find some deals like we have when we have driven into nyc in the past. something to look into anyway! cn tower is the absolute must for us in toronto, and ds9 would probably like the hockey hall of fame. science center would be nice, especially since it would be free, and free also means we can go for a bit and not feel too obligated to stay long there. will definitley look into the gretsky restaurant

am really getting excited about this trip!

You drive north along the Niagara parkway and will hit the tram, butterflies and clock...all relatively close to each other.

There are lots of parking lot in downtown, but like NYC it's expensive. Something you could also consider is parking in one of the west end communities (like Oakville) and traveling into the city by GO Train (commuter train)

The Science Centre isn't downtown but about 20-30 min away, depending on traffic. If you limit yourself to the tower and Hockey Hall of Fame they are on the same street (Front St) and a few blocks apart. Gretsky's is also a short walk away.

 

[mtemm]

thanks BKMETV! the science center isn't really a must do for us, would prefer to see what there is to see downtown since we are limited time wise. if we miss it, well, it will give us a reason to come back someday! and as long as there is parking, we'll probably just drive straight in. time wise will probably make the most sense, and again, we are used to driving in boston/nyc/wash dc, so am guessing it won't be too different than that.

I am realizing how little I know about toronto. I think the most i know of it is the cn tower and the fact that property virgins is often filmed there and the home prices always surprise dh and I for some reason. lol.

 

[cabanafrau]

We had no idea until our trip last summer how much fun the Niagara State Park system on the American side is, or how beautiful the views are. They also offer a pass for the attractions on the American side & it is well worth it.

I would not care to stay or attempt to dine on the US side, but I have to say the park attractions are a nice change of pace if you're only used to doing the Canadian side.

We had excellent Italian food at the Four Brothers on the Canadian side -- traditional style old school Italian restaurant w/ red leather & heavy wood, kind of looks a bit deserted, but definitely worth it if you love Italian.

If heading out to Niagara on the Lake area & are a little adventurous about the selection, try the Pie Plate in Virgil. Small place, only slightly out of the way, uses local ingredients so the menu changes constantly. Great sandwiches & baked goods(to die for). DD got a pizza w/ artichoke & parmesan that came w/ scissors to cut it into slices. My mouth is watering just thinking about our meal there.

 

[focusondisney]

We are in Buffalo & used to take our kids to Toronto for vacations when they were kids. Toronto is wonderful with so much to do. I would rather do the Toronto attractions instead of a wax museum or mini golf in Niagara Falls, you could do those things anywhere.

The CNE (Canadian National Exhibition)is at the end of August in Toronto, on the waterfront. Think HUGE county / state fair type event. So if you're going in August, you might want to plan some time there, too.

Have fun planning!