Niagara Falls trip help....

[teCh0010]

Thanks for the input, MickeyHereWeCome! Much appreciated! Loved your pics--we have decided to do a lower floor room (floors 10-15) with a view of both falls. It's a splurge but we'll only be there one night. And honestly, I thought it would be more than $225. I'm kind of surprised it is 'only' that much because it's the week after 4th of July which is a very busy travel time--but we'll be there on a weeknight.

The plan is to arrive sometime around 4 in the afternoon. After a long day of driving we will probably head to the TGI Friday's in the hotel to eat, let the boys swim a bit, and then just relax in the room and take in the illuminated falls and fireworks. Then the next day we will hit the sights all day (Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, walk up to the falls on the American side) and head to a cheaper hotel before beginning more driving the next day.

The keg restaurant on the 9th floor of the hotel is a little pricey but the food and view are great. Lunch is cheaper than dinner.

 

[java]

Thanks for the input, MickeyHereWeCome! Much appreciated! Loved your pics--we have decided to do a lower floor room (floors 10-15) with a view of both falls. It's a splurge but we'll only be there one night. And honestly, I thought it would be more than $225. I'm kind of surprised it is 'only' that much because it's the week after 4th of July which is a very busy travel time--but we'll be there on a weeknight.

The plan is to arrive sometime around 4 in the afternoon. After a long day of driving we will probably head to the TGI Friday's in the hotel to eat, let the boys swim a bit, and then just relax in the room and take in the illuminated falls and fireworks. Then the next day we will hit the sights all day (Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, walk up to the falls on the American side) and head to a cheaper hotel before beginning more driving the next day.

Had a great time at that Hotel! Don't miss the managers evening cocktail party, when we were there they brought baby tigers from the casino show and walked around with them. My kids Loved that! There is a good pizza place about a block away from the hotel, the bellboy Dino,suggested it to us and it was great. Cheap and good.

We got an adventurer pass I think? Ours included the butterfly exhibit which we really wanted to do. We've been to others at the zoo but this was by far the best experience. Again kids loved it. The touristy area we felt was a huge rip off. But we did one attraction and ate at the Rainforest cafe as a treat.

We also had dinner one night out in Niagra on The Lake, which is about 20 minutes away. It was a beautiful town. We ate Chinese food outside, walked around the town and had a fun night. There will bea lot going on in the summer. Lots of free stuff! So be sure to google free concerts in Niagra around the time of your trip.

We splurged on the upper floor falls view room and loved every second of it. Falling asleep with the curtains open watching fireworks so close you felt
Ike you coul touch them, ah heaven. Have a great trip!

 

[MichelleinMaine]

I think the horseshoe fallsview would be perfectly lovely

What I would recommend is waiting until you get there and buy an Adventure Pass. As you mentioned the Maid of the Mist just by itself is around $40. The Adventure Pass is around $50 and you get tickets for Maid of the Mist, Journey behind the Falls, White water walk and Niagara Fury. You can easily fill 2 days just going around and getting these things done.

It also includes 2 days to the shuttle bus along the river (connecting all these places) as well as 1/2 price discounts for the whirlpool aerocar (which was neat), the butterfly house and I forget what else.

We were able to get the Adventure Pass at AAA stateside, for less than it would have been in Canada.

I would definately also do Cave of the Winds (walk down to the falls on the American side). Plan it on your way there/back- don't make a separate trip over the bridge/through customs as that can be a wait and eat up your time.

 

[2SiameseCats]

The Butterfly Conservatory is really neat and worth a stop. You can walk through it in about an hour if it's too crowded. They only let so many people in at a time. The Skylon Tower is worth a visit too. Splurge and eat in the restaurant--the view is amazing.

 

[Eeyore98]

I see on the website that the passes for Maid of the Mist, etc. are $45 for adults and $33 for children. Is it cheaper to get online or buy at the falls?

According to maidofthemist.com, tickets are $16.95 Canadian and $13.95 US per adult, and "the sale of Maid of the Mist tickets or vouchers over the Internet will not be permitted".

 

[vern]

sorry to hijack this thread but im trying to plan a trip for me and my 3 kids and im hoping someone would know what hotels on the u.s side have views of the falls. Or where would be a good place to veiw the illumination and fireworks?

 

[mjwheelerali]

Also consider going for a ride on the Niagara Falls SkyWheel. It is pretty neat.

If you're into water parks, the Fallsview Indoor Waterpark is a lot of fun too...Something different after doing a lot of walking around outside in Niagara!

And wine tours of Niagara-on-the-Lake...beautiful to just go to check out the quaint little town with its flowers (especially in the summer months).

If you're planning in advance, sign-up for the dealfind coupons for that area...almost one or twice a month, Embassy Suites will offer a promotion of some sort. Great place to stay...breakfast is REALLY good!

 

[snowy76]

We are driving from West Virginia and hubs wants to see the baseball hall of fame too.

Since no one else responded to this bit... you should know that Niagara Falls to Cooperstown is a four and a half hour drive. Not close at all.

Toronto is within and hour and a half or so. Maybe your DH would want to go to a Blue Jays game instead? There's a million things to do in TO.

 

[Eeyore98]

sorry to hijack this thread but im trying to plan a trip for me and my 3 kids and im hoping someone would know what hotels on the u.s side have views of the falls. Or where would be a good place to veiw the illumination and fireworks?

There are no hotels on the US side with views of the falls. The way they are laid out geographically kinda prevents that.

The American Falls is directly parallel to the border, so the only good view of it is from Canada. The Horseshoe Falls lies between Canada and Goat Island, which is US land but it is part of Niagara Falls State Park and is protected as a national historic landmark, so there are no hotels there.

See this map - the US is on the right hand side, awkwardly placed for any good views of the falls. All the green land on both sides is either an American or a Canadian national park.

If you've ever seen the short-lived TV show "Wonderfalls" which is set at Niagara, it is filmed entirely from the Canadian side and they just pretend it's New York, for the same reasons.

 

[tazdeb]

We did the exact trip your planning last August except we're from Chicago. The drive from NF to Cooperstown was not bad, we left the Embassy suites at about 8am and were in Cooperstown by 2pm. There is a delay crossing back to the U. S. which ate up a lot of time. Cooperstown is a very neat town right on a lake with a quaint main street with a lot of baseball releated shops and bar/resturants. There is also an upscale hotel on the lake that has an outdoor resturant that we ate lunch at. The hall of fame is a must see for any baseball fan and will take most of a day to see. Be sure to ask for a year-long membership when you pay as it is actualy cheaper for a family. We stayed at the Cooperstown holiday inn and it is a nice place with an indoor pool and free breakfast. Make sure your husband goes into the batting cages behind the hall of fame by Doubleday field. They have machines that throw curves, knucklers, sliders and 95mph fastballs. As other people have mentioned Niagra Falls is a great place to spend 2 or 3 days, BUT it is expensive to eat there so be prepared. Also nobody has mentioned it but parking at the Embassy suites costs $25 a day. Oh, one other thing.....the Embasy suites will have things like game tokens, bottled water etc...in your room, these things will be charged to your bill if you use them or not. If you didn't use them be sure to check your bill and say so at checkout to have it removed from your bill. Have a great trip.

 

[paysensmom]

Since no one else responded to this bit... you should know that Niagara Falls to Cooperstown is a four and a half hour drive. Not close at all.

Toronto is within and hour and a half or so. Maybe your DH would want to go to a Blue Jays game instead? There's a million things to do in TO.

I know it is four hours away. The thing is, my husband does not want to go to Niagara Falls. He said it is just a bunch of water and not worth the time or money
Anyway, he wants to see the baseball hall of fame and it only adds four hours to our trip. Niagara Falls is about 8 hours from our house and the baseball hall of fame is about 8 hours from our house as well. Just a different route!
I don't really want to go, but want him to look forward to something We plan to do a few days in Toronto and a night or two at Niagara and then heading to Cooperstown and back home. Unless we find something else along the way to add in

Any other ideas?

 

[strmtroopr96]

sorry to hijack this thread but im trying to plan a trip for me and my 3 kids and im hoping someone would know what hotels on the u.s side have views of the falls. Or where would be a good place to veiw the illumination and fireworks?

In August 2010, we took our girls to Niagara Falls for a few days and only stayed on the American Side. We stayed at the Quality Hotel & Suites at the Falls which is part of the Choice Hotels. On past trips we have stayed at a hotel right across from the Casino but liked this hotel better because we were right across from the State Park and the Falls. The other hotel as well as the Casino were an additional 2 blocks away.

Our room was on the 3rd floor I think and while we didn't have a view of the actual Falls, we did have a nice view of the Canadian skyline and could also see the mist above the Falls. It wasn't the fanciest place but it had everything we needed and we had no complaints.

http://www.qualityinn.com/hotel-nia...sstate=&type=&sradius=&sstate_country=&scity=