Niagara Falls Fun - Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls Canada

Niagara Falls on a Budget
With all the recent talk of fiscal restraint and budgets, I thought it would be timely to talk about families wanting to get away for a day or so, in a cost effective manner. You may want to print this post and bring it with you on your day of adventure in Niagara Falls.

Meal Planning
A little pre-planning saves you money. Plan for a day of multiple snacks rather than sitting down for one big meal. Pack a few bags of goodies, such as trail mix, nuts and dried fruit before you head out. Once on the road, take a slight detour to pick up some fresh Niagara tender fruits (eg. Peaches are currently in season), at one of many roadside stands. A small cooler bag or lunch bag in the car is all you will need (you will learn why soon).

Getting here
Before heading out, I highly recommended that you read this section on out how to get here and where to park. This will save you valuable time and money. Be sure to leave early, and plan to arrive at arround 10 AM.

If you’re traveling by car on the QEW towards Niagara Falls from either direction, do not take Hwy 420. Instead continue to McLeod Rd taking the McLeod Rd east exit (towards Marineland) and continue to Stanley Avenue. Turn left on Stanley and continue to Robinson St. (you will see a large Skywheel billboard) Turn right on Robinson and continue to the end of the road. Park in the lot on your left.

Once you are in the lot continue until you get as close to the Niagara Skywheel as possible and park. This route just saved you traveling through the heart of the city and heavy traffic. Parking in this lot can save you as much as $10 and puts you in the center of the Niagara Falls entertainment district, with easy access to the Parks, Falls and Clifton Hill.

Here is where the fun begins:
Pick up some Fun Passes at the Niagara Skywheel information booth. You get 5 attractions at $5 each plus Midway tokens. $24.95 for Adults and $19.95 for Kids. For a family of four, you can save over $95 (after tax) on your entertainment for the day!

Following this, take a stroll to the Rainbow Bridge just a short jaunt down Clifton Hill. Once you get on the bridge you will discover some of the best views of both the Canadian Horseshoe and American Falls. For just 50 cents each, you can walk out to the center of the Rainbow Bridge and get some amazing pictures. One foot in Canada and one in the USA. The Canadian and American Falls provide an amazing backdrop, along with the Canadian parklands and Niagara Skywheel nearby. Take your time and get some great pictures then simply walk back to Canada! Just make sure you have proper ID for everyone in your group. Your friends and family back home will wonder how you managed to get such interesting photos. You could also share these photos on Clifton Hill’s Facebook or Twitter pages!

On the way back to Clifton Hill, be sure to stop by Movieland Wax Museum, which is this first attraction you’ll see walking up the hill. This one of a kind attraction showcases the world’s most famous stars in wax! After mingling with the stars, recharge your batteries and grab some fresh cut fries or a soft ice cream at the nearby concessions.

There is still a lot left on your FUN PASS and you can start up again by testing your skills at the nearby Dinosaur Adventure Golf attraction. From here you can move onto the Niagara Skywheel, for breath taking views of the Falls and a chance to sit down and relax in the air conditioned gondolas. Next head off to the Midway for Ghost Blasters and the FX Ride Theatre for some thrills and action. Remember, you also have some Great Canadian Midway tokens to use throughout the 70,000 sq ft arcade. If your taste buds are itching for another quick snack head into Boston Pizza where you can play interactive games and split a small pizza. Cash in your winnings and get ready for the next part of your budget day in Niagara Falls.

Off to the Park

Head back to your car and drive back towards the Robinson street entrance where you started the day.

Park as close to the entrance as you can, but don’t exit the lot. At the foot of Robinson (in the turn around) there is a staircase and path that leads you down into the Niagara Parks called the Jolley Cut. Locals have used this for years and it is a well-kept secret. Grab your snacks and head on down to the Park (remember the cooler bag I told you to keep in the car?). You just saved up to $20 in parking! Enjoy your time in the park and when it is time to go, simply walk up Murray Street, cut through the Skylon Tower parking lot and you are right back at your car.

Heading Home
Retrace your route and you are on your way home after a unique and affordable day in Niagara Falls.

Let’s add up the cost of a full day of fun on a budget. 2 adult Fun Passes $49.90, 2 kids Fun Passes $39.90, snacks(ice cream or Fries and a drink) $15, Bridge toll for 4 people $2 ,an individual pizza shared with drinks for 4 people $25, parking $10-15. Your entire day cost under $150 for a family of 4.

Collapse of the Honeymoon Bridge, January 27th, 1938

Originally printed by Ran.org

Posted by joshua kahn russell in Freedom from Oil on September 15th, 2009

Rainforest Action Network drops Seventy-Foot Banner Over Niagara Falls to Welcome Prime Minister Harper to the U.S.
Banner: “Canadian Tar Sands Oil Undermines North America’s Clean Energy Future”

Before dawn this morning, a small team of climate activists rappelled from the US observation deck at Niagara Falls. Dangling hundreds of feet above the ground, they sent a special welcome message to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper ahead of his first official visit to the White House to push dirty Tar Sands oil.

Not that he’s feeling so welcome anyway. Obama limited the meeting to just one hour. While some have called it a slap in the face, Aides say Harper will turn the other cheek. “The economy, and the clean-energy dialogue,” one aide told the Globe and Mail, “will dominate the discussions.” Obama needed to dodge controversy over oil imports from Canada’s tar sands in the midst of the Climate Legislation debate. Harper needed a story to go with his photo-op. (more…)

Originally printed in the Review

Harper tours Niagara
PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN STOP?
Posted By RAY SPITERI , REVIEW STAFF WRITER

With the possibility of a federal election this fall, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a campaign- like stop in Niagara Thursday, visiting three locations his government has poured millions of dollars into recently.

Harper joined Niagara Falls MP Rob Nicholson in touring the construction site of the new Niagara Convention and Civic Centre, the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and the Shaw Festival Theatre. (more…)

Originally printed in the Review

Higher dollar, lower bridge tolls
Stronger loonie causes Niagara Falls Bridge Commission to adjust tolls
Posted By Review Staff

The cost in Canadian currency of crossing the international bridges in Niagara Falls is coming down as the loonie goes up. The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission announced Thursday the toll will drop to C$3.75 from $4.00, effective Aug. 1. The U.S. toll rate will remain unchanged at US$3.25. The commission, which owns the Rainbow, Queenston-Lewiston, and Whirlpool bridges, made the adjustment based on the exchange rate between Canadian and American currencies, chairwoman Norma Higgs announced in a press release. (more…)

Printed by the Review

Peace Bridge site of Canada’s biggest RIDE spotcheck
Posted By ALISON LANGLEY , REVIEW STAFF WRITER

Cross-border shoppers and football fans returning to Canada at the Peace Bridge Sunday were met by an army of police in what is being called the largest single RIDE checkpoint in Canada.

One by one, vehicles crossing the bridge were stopped by members from six law enforcement agencies. (more...)

Source: CNW

Attention News Editors:
NEXUS Enrolment Centre opens in Niagara Falls, NY

NIAGARA FALLS, NY, Sept. 2 /CNW Telbec/ – The Honourable Rob Nicholson,
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, on behalf of the Minister
of Public Safety, the Honourable Stockwell Day, today officially opened the
joint Canada-United States NEXUS Enrolment Centre in Niagara Falls, NY.
“The new enrolment centre will make it more convenient for residents in
the Niagara region to apply to the program,” said Minister Nicholson. “With
trusted traveller programs like NEXUS, our government is taking action to
facilitate the smooth flow of legitimate trade and travel while securing our
border.”
NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and
Border Protection program that is designed to simplify border crossings for
pre-approved travellers. In the land mode, NEXUS members can use NEXUS lanes
at various locations when travelling across the Canada-U.S. border.
There are currently 16 land border crossings that offer NEXUS and the
program is also available in the air and marine modes.
The NEXUS card is also an accepted alternative document to the passport
under the U.S. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, when travelling to the
United States in the air (at designated sites), and by land and marine modes.
For more information, please visit the NEXUS Web site at www.nexus.gc.ca.

For further information: Mélisa Leclerc, Office of the Honourable
Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, (613) 991-2863; Media Relations,
Canada Border Services Agency, (613) 957-6500

Printed from the Review

Border officials remind travelers to make sure they have proper documents when crossing the border
Posted By ALISON LANGLEY

BUFFALO, NY- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is reminding travelers planning cross border trips this weekend to make sure they have proper documents.

Also, prepare for heavy traffic as Monday marks the Civic Holiday and Toronto’s Carabana Carnival Parade takes place on Saturday.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection will staff all available primary lanes commensurate with arriving traffic, and will maintain staffing in those lanes until traffic subsides” said Buffalo Port Director Joseph Wilson.

Up-to-date local border traffic conditions can be viewed at www.cbp.gov, cbsa-asfc.gc.ca, nittec.org, niagarafallsbridges.com, or by calling the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission’s toll free number at 1-800-715-6722. (more…)

Printed from the Review

Bridge commission manager resigns
Posted By COREY LAROCQUE REVIEW STAFF WRITER

Tom Garlock, the general manager of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, left the organization’s top job Monday. The commission is calling it a retirement, but the 56-year-old manager’s abrupt departure took effect at the end of the day Monday and there’s no one immediately replacing him as manager.

“Tom retired from the commission yesterday,” Janice Thomson, the chairwoman of the eight-member commission said Tuesday.

“There will be a regular search to replace him as a general manager. In the interim, we have a very strong staff,” said Thomson, who is the head of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce. Thomson would not elaborate on the change because it’s a personnel matter. (more…)

Printed by the Review

BUSY BRIDGE GETS BOOST
Feds provide $62 million for plaza overhaul
Posted By BY RAY SPITERI REVIEW STAFF WRITER

A major overhaul of the Canadian plaza at the Queenston- Lewiston Bridge -the first such undertaking in close to half a century -got a big boost from Ottawa Wednesday.

Niagara Falls MP Rob Nicholson announced the federal government will kick in $62 million to assist the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission with the final half of a $130-million project aimed at making one of Canada’s busiest border crossings more efficient.

Bridge commission general manager Tom Garlock said the changes are geared toward improving bridge operations in an ever-changing tourism and trade industry.

“This crossing represents thousands of jobs for people in eastern Canada. It’s billions of dollars of trade,” he said. (more…)