Trip to Rochester (back with brief report)

[biggroofy]

Planning for a long weekend getaway to US in August. Myself, DW, DD4, 11-month baby, and possibly the grandparents. With the baby we can't have long drives - max 3 hours after crossing the border in Niagara Falls (i.e. not as far as New York City).

Where can we go? I prefer places with some kid attractions to entertain my 4-year-old princess, and of course DW and my mom like shopping

 

[shoppgirl]

Hey Biggroofy! How was your other cross border shopping experience? I see that you are in need of another quick trip across. Have you thought about visiting Pennsylvania? There is another water park in Erie PA (about 2 hours from the border)called Splash Lagoon Water Park Resort (just google the name). It looks almost like Great Wolf! There is supposedly amazing shopping another hour south of Erie called Prime Outlets Grove City. We have friends that drive straight here for some great shopping (tax free!). I would do a search of things to do in Pennsylvania...it's a good alternative to New York.

 

[TraceyDisney2008]

Try googling the Strong Museum in Rochester it is great for kids.

 

[biggroofy]

Hey Biggroofy! How was your other cross border shopping experience? I see that you are in need of another quick trip across. Have you thought about visiting Pennsylvania? There is another water park in Erie PA (about 2 hours from the border)called Splash Lagoon Water Park Resort (just google the name). It looks almost like Great Wolf! There is supposedly amazing shopping another hour south of Erie called Prime Outlets Grove City. We have friends that drive straight here for some great shopping (tax free!). I would do a search of things to do in Pennsylvania...it's a good alternative to New York.

Hi Shoppgirl - our previous day trip went very well, that's why we wanted to do another one next month (but skipping Great Wolf Lodge this time) I posted a brief trip report in the old thread (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=26057322)

I will google on Pennsylvania. How long would the drive be? DW thinks that Sesame Place is there too.

 

[Hug the Mouse]

Try googling the Strong Museum in Rochester it is great for kids.

I second the Strong Museum of play in Rochester. We went last summer and the kids loved it. Constantly asking to go back. It's a real gem. The Sesame Street area is great.

http://www.museumofplay.com/index.html


About 45-60 minutes down the thruway are the Waterloo Outlets with lots of shopping.

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=9

It's a good destination that isn't too far, leaving you more time for fun and relaxation. Lot's of hotels around the Marketplace Mall, Target, Wal-Mart etc.

http://www.themarketplacemall.com/

Have fun!

 

[biggroofy]

Thanks!

Looks like our DD4 would love Strong Musuem of Play, and Rochester is only 3 hour drive from Toronto - doable

Should we stay in downtown Rochester hotels, or closer to Waterloo Outlets?

 

[biggroofy]

Also found this theme park - http://www.seabreeze.com/attractions.asp
Anyone been there before?

Looks like Strong Museum + Seabreeze + outlet shopping should keep the whole family busy for three days

 

[SandraC]

If you can push your drive a tiny bit farther, try Cedar Point for the amusement park.

Stay at the Kalahari Resort. IT IS GORGEOUS! Sandra

 

[Hug the Mouse]

Thanks!

Looks like our DD4 would love Strong Musuem of Play, and Rochester is only 3 hour drive from Toronto - doable

Should we stay in downtown Rochester hotels, or closer to Waterloo Outlets?

Last year we stayed in Henrietta, at Homewood Suites in the Marketplace Mall area. The hotel was close to the NYS Thruway and an easy 10-15 minute drive to the Strong Museum.

I was just planning our back to school shopping trip to Rochester(Henrietta) in August and found the rates at Homewood Suites are much higher this year vs. last ($260/nt vs $149/nt year ago) so I'm going to try Country Inn and Suites for $119/nt including breakfast.

We haven't been to Seabreeze, but have been to Darien Lake which is between Buffalo and Rochester. We haven't been there since it was sold by Six Flags so can't comment on if it's changed much. Last time there 3 years ago they had a lot of rides for young children and our kids (4,6,9 at the time) really enjoyed themselves. Smaller than Wonderland and less crowded on our visits.

Have Fun!

 

[biggroofy]

Thanks everyone! We have decided a 3-night trip to Rochester!

Day 1: Toronto -> Buffalo (Lunch at Walden Galleria) -> Rochester (The Marketplace)
Shall we take Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, Peace Bridge, or Rainbow Bridge? Last time we waited for 50 mins at Queenston-Lewiston Bridge on a weekday morning (11am)....

Day 2: Strong Museum of Play
Do you think we can spend most of the day there with DD4?

Day 3: Seabreeze Amusement Park, Waterloo Premium Outlets

Day 4: Rochester -> Return home (Toronto)
Any place for us to stop for a break (lunch, washroom, diaper change, etc)?

 

[angelkk]

It's a good destination that isn't too far, leaving you more time for fun and relaxation. Lot's of hotels around the Marketplace Mall, Target, Wal-Mart etc.

http://www.themarketplacemall.com/

Have fun!

Hi, for those who visited Rochester before, how would you compare The marketplace mall to Eastview Mall?

We are also planning a trip (may leave on Civic holiday Mon, hoping traffic not too bad to US), most likely we will stay in Hampton Inn, Victor.

 

[Hug the Mouse]

Thanks everyone! We have decided a 3-night trip to Rochester!

Day 1: Toronto -> Buffalo (Lunch at Walden Galleria) -> Rochester (The Marketplace)
Shall we take Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, Peace Bridge, or Rainbow Bridge? Last time we waited for 50 mins at Queenston-Lewiston Bridge on a weekday morning (11am)....

Day 2: Strong Museum of Play
Do you think we can spend most of the day there with DD4?

Day 3: Seabreeze Amusement Park, Waterloo Premium Outlets

Day 4: Rochester -> Return home (Toronto)
Any place for us to stop for a break (lunch, washroom, diaper change, etc)?

We usually cross the Rainbow Bridge. We've rarely had a wait and if there is a line you can't beat the view!! Get on the Robert Moses Parkway and that takes you to the bridge to Grand Island (I-190), then 290, then 90.

We visited the Strong Museum on a Sunday last year and spent the entire 5 hours it was open. That was about the right amount of time for my crew. Think most days the Museum opens at 10am, closes at 5pm.

Have fun!

 

[shoppgirl]

Thanks everyone! We have decided a 3-night trip to Rochester!

Day 1: Toronto -> Buffalo (Lunch at Walden Galleria) -> Rochester (The Marketplace)
Shall we take Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, Peace Bridge, or Rainbow Bridge? Last time we waited for 50 mins at Queenston-Lewiston Bridge on a weekday morning (11am)....

Day 2: Strong Museum of Play
Do you think we can spend most of the day there with DD4?

Day 3: Seabreeze Amusement Park, Waterloo Premium Outlets

Day 4: Rochester -> Return home (Toronto)

Any place for us to stop for a break (lunch, washroom, diaper change, etc)?

I would stop off at the Fashion Outlets at Niagara Falls for a stop between Rochester and Toronto. You can do more shopping and have a great lunch at Honey's. We always eat at this restaurant (located in a stand alone building but within the parking lot area of the outlets) for great wings and pizza.

Have a great time. I would love to hear about the Strong Museum. I think it would be a great place for my girls too!

 

[biggroofy]

Thank you shoppgirl & HugTheMouse

Now plans slightly changed. Unable to book Homewood Suites - now we will stay in Pittsford. We may skip Walden Galleria and Market Place, and spend the time in Eastview Mall instead. Any comments?

For sure will post a trip report on Strong Museum of Play

P.S. DD4 watched Jon & Kate plus 8 on TLC last night, and kept bugging me to Pennsylvania - Crayola Factory, Sesame Place I said let's see how she behave in this short trip (actually would have to save money for our 2009 WDW trip ~ but seems WDW is cutting lots of activities now)

 

[biggroofy]

Thank you everyone Back from Rochester! Our trip to Rochester was great, Del Monte is a very nice hotel!

Didn't visit Walden Galleria on Day 1 as planned. - instead we stop by Charlie the Butcher to pick a few Beef on the Weck (Yum!) then continue on I-90. Spent 4 hours in Waterloo Outlets, everyone got something except me. Dinner was crappy - BK at food court - kids were too hungry and we couldn't drive back to Pittsford.

Day 2 - Rainy day - did not have a chance to walk around Pittsford. Spent 6 hours in Strong Museum of Play, DD4 loves it! It has a even better play supermarket than Ontario Science Center! Left museum around 5pm and spent another 2-3 hours in Eastview Mall, Victor. I got a 11% discount card (as an International Visitor) and the sales person suggested me to apply for Macy Credit Card to get an extra 20% off on top for first 2 days. Not sure how she did that - I just gave her my driver license and a credit card - then my temporary account is ready in 3 minutes! I paid off the balance by cash before I left Macy's (she claimed that 20% will be credited in my statement, so I paid the total spending x 0.8 to settle my account). That's a total of 31% saving! Cool!

Dinner was great - Bonefish in Eastview Mall. Wanted to dine at Bonefish earlier this year when we visited Orlando but missed.

Day 3 - Wegmans @ Pittsford - very cool supermarket! I found my favorite Starbuck Iced Expresso (packs of four) there! Even cheaper than Walmart & Target! Lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, good food too. Then we headed off to The Marketplace mall, Target, and Walmart.

Finally we stopped again in Buffalo (Charlie the Butcher) to pick up another "Beef on the Weck" then headed home via Rainbow Bridge on Saturday evening

 

[annrae]

Hi, for those who visited Rochester before, how would you compare The marketplace mall to Eastview Mall?

We are also planning a trip (may leave on Civic holiday Mon, hoping traffic not too bad to US), most likely we will stay in Hampton Inn, Victor.

The Hampton Inn in Victor is very nice and very close to Eastview Mall. I prefer shopping at Eastview versus Marketplace. Have a great trip!

 

[Hug the Mouse]

Glad to hear you had a good trip!

We may have been down there the same weekend.
...big downfall to Waterloo Outlets is lack of good dining, the little food court is limited in choice and very busy/crowded
...my boys enjoyed the new Clifford and Berenstain Bears exhibits at Strong Museum, they were really well done, it's really pleasurable watching kids having so much fun playing
...we drove through Pittsford late in the afternoon with 5 hungry bodies, so we didn't stop, but it looked interesting---we'll have to plan for it next year (plus I wouldn't mind checking out Bills camp)
...we could have spent several more days poking around, Rochester is a really nice city, so easy to get around the expressways lined with trees and greenery (vs. the concrete and industrial parks of the GTA)...

I'll have to check out the Del Monte hotel

 

[biggroofy]

Hello Hug the Mouse,

We were there Aug 7-9. Unable to book Homewood, and someone from tripadvisor.com suggested Renaissance Del Monte Lodge in Pittsford. It is just 13 min drive to Strong.

How was CountryInn & Suites? I would like to hear your comments, especially compared with Homewood. Although Del Monte is nice, DW still prefers a suite (i.e. will full kitchen, microwave, and fridge) than a hotel room.

DD4 likes Clifford and Berenstain Bears exhibits too, especially the kitchen and restaurant part. Surprisingly, she was not too interested in the Sesame Street section.

Glad to hear you had a good trip!

We may have been down there the same weekend.
...big downfall to Waterloo Outlets is lack of good dining, the little food court is limited in choice and very busy/crowded
...my boys enjoyed the new Clifford and Berenstain Bears exhibits at Strong Museum, they were really well done, it's really pleasurable watching kids having so much fun playing
...we drove through Pittsford late in the afternoon with 5 hungry bodies, so we didn't stop, but it looked interesting---we'll have to plan for it next year (plus I wouldn't mind checking out Bills camp)
...we could have spent several more days poking around, Rochester is a really nice city, so easy to get around the expressways lined with trees and greenery (vs. the concrete and industrial parks of the GTA)...

I'll have to check out the Del Monte hotel

 

[encinc]

How was CountryInn & Suites? I would like to hear your comments, especially compared with Homewood. Although Del Monte is nice, DW still prefers a suite (i.e. will full kitchen, microwave, and fridge) than a hotel room.

I'm interested in this too! We're planning a trip to Rochester in the near future (we're considering Labour Day weekend, but I'm not sure if we want to deal with the border on a long weekend). We definitely want a suite, and we're trying to decide between the Homewood Suites and the CountryInn & Suites.

 

[Hug the Mouse]

We were there Aug 8-10th.

The Country Inn and Suites in Brighton was just OK. After staying at another Country Inn in WV earlier this year, I wasn't as impressed with this one.

Very small lobby, small breakfast area, one elevator for 4 floors. The room layout was odd. Enter the room to a sink area, tub and toilet in room behind door, 2 beds and flat screen TV ahead. I was freaking out wondering what happened to the pullout?!?! It was around the corner(the room is an "L" shape) with the mini fridge and microwave, a doorless, windowless area with another Sharp flat screen. The lack of a door had the 2 TV's competing with each other as they were only 6 feet apart.

On the plus side the property was well maintained, lots of parking, and Fridays across the parking lot. 5 minutes north of Marketplace, 10 minutes from Strong.

Given the choice, I'd stay at Homewood Suites Henrietta first. Full kitchen, door on bedroom, bigger lobby, better breakfast, easier to find, nicer room.