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Should bert post lots of pics of the falls in his trip report?  

37 members have voted

  1. 1. Should bert post lots of pics of the falls in his trip report?

    • Yes - I love seeing pics of the waterfalfluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo from many angles
      22
    • No - only need to see a few pics of the waterfalfluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo to get the idea
      15


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Great update!

 

I know exactly how you feel with all those laps on the kiddie credit. I had the same feeling on a local carnival's Dragon Wagon.

 

LOL. . no kidding!

 

thanks for the comment, glad you've enjoyed.

 

have one more small update (a few pics from Clifton Hill Ent. area on our final night), and then the trip is done

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So Marineland only runs Hurricane Cove in one direction? That kind of stinks. The ride is a Mack Sea Storm, and the boats are built to rotate 180 degrees. During the program, half the boats will swing backwards, then the other half will, then everyone goes backwards, and on some including the defunct version at Busch Gardens WIlliamsburg (pre Apollo's Chariot days), everyone faced the center of the ride going sideways! These rides are so much fun and I believe the only remaining example that actually runs as intended is at Carowinds. If you do a YouTube search for Happy Sailor ride, you'll get an idea of what this ride can really do on the European Fair circuit!

 

Thanks for the report. I haven't been to Marineland since 2005... maybe it's time for another visit.

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So Marineland only runs Hurricane Cove in one direction? That kind of stinks. The ride is a Mack Sea Storm, and the boats are built to rotate 180 degrees. During the program, half the boats will swing backwards, then the other half will, then everyone goes backwards, and on some including the defunct version at Busch Gardens WIlliamsburg (pre Apollo's Chariot days), everyone faced the center of the ride going sideways! These rides are so much fun and I believe the only remaining example that actually runs as intended is at Carowinds. If you do a YouTube search for Happy Sailor ride, you'll get an idea of what this ride can really do on the European Fair circuit!

 

Thanks for the report. I haven't been to Marineland since 2005... maybe it's time for another visit.

 

wow. .had no idea the boats were supposed to move around too.

 

to be honest tho, we loved it just as that Turtle/Kangaroo hybrid it's operating as.

 

and will actually be at Carowinds in about 6 weeks (no idea they have this ride, operating as intended). .will have to try this out there!

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Wrapping it up. . .

 

Day 3, Evening:

 

After relaxing in our room for a while, I started to lay out stuff to pack, for our return to Austin the next day

 

But it was only 7pm or so, and I told Nick that I knew he was tired, but it was our last day in Niagara Falls and so I wanted to get out and wander around a bit. I didn’t need to buy anything, as we had all our souveniers purchased. . .but we were staying just about 1 block from the Clifton Hills entertainment area – heck, we’d been watching the Ferris Wheel and the Dinosaur Mini Golf’s volcano from our room every night.

 

He wasn’t thrilled with the idea of me walking around alone (despite how safe the area seemed to be), and after I reminded him that we *had* to eat something for dinner anyways – since we hadn’t eaten a meal since breakfast at the hotel that morning . . . we got dressed and headed out for a stroll down Victoria street, towards the Ferris Wheel.

 

It's absolutely a tourist area – besides the Ferris Wheel, and the Mini Golf, there’s also multiple arcades, a bowling alley, several escape rooms (including a “zombie type” one, a mirror maze one, and a funhouse themed one), several spookhouses, and even a Ripley’s Believe it or Not, the upside-down house, and a couple of wax museums. There was also a really neat go-cart track, with gas powered go-karts that we had seen the corner of from our hotel, but hadn’t realized it was “Mario-Super-Kart” type, with the winding ramps (this apparently had opened recently, as it looked brand new and was doing brisk business). We stopped and watched it for a bit, and did a lot of looking at the attractions, but didn’t actually ride/do anything. . we just sight-seed. There’s a Pink Panther themed ‘swinging balloon” ride on top of a building over here too. . with apparently a view of the falls, but it didn’t seem to be open. (I’d seen some past reports that there used to be a WWF themed ARM Drop Tower here too.. but didn’t see any indication it ever existed now).

 

yep, that's a pink panther balloon ride there on that building (Pic from right here at TPR, Canobie Coaster's "Credit Run" trip report)

 

Would have been fun to play the mini-golf, or to go-kart, or even ride the ferris wheel. . but truthfully, it had been a long day so when Nick declined to want to do any of the attractions (I didn’t even drag him into any stores!), I didn’t really fight him on it. Besides, we did have to eat something for dinner.

 

There are also a ton of restaurants here, in addition to the IHOP, Denny’s, and Hooters right next to our hotel, a short walk (down some steep-ish hills), brought us to not only fast food places (Burger King, Tim Horton’s steakhouse), and a ton of ice cream shops. .but also a Rainforest Café, and a Hard Rock Café.

 

Nick decided, I think based on the amount of walking, that we’d go to Rainforest Café, since I wanted a “sit down” place, and it was the first restaurant that caught my eye. . but looking at the menu, it was a bit expensive (expected, it IS a tourist place), and the food was a little too. . . fru-fru. The other option was the Hard Rock, that was a little further down the hill towards the falls. . but I knew they had more of the type of food Nick would eat (Hamburgers, sandwiches, etc. ). So in the entrance to Rainforest Café, we decided (I convinced him) to keep going down the hill, and we’d go to Hard Rock instead. Which would still be expensive, but at least we could get burgers.

 

One thing to note too is that this was a Wed evening, and there were SO many singer/songwriters sitting on the food/bar patios playing. It was really nice to be around that much music, even if the majority of them (at *least* 4) were singing U2 covers

 

Anyways, so we headed down to the bottom of the hill (me promising him that on the way back, we’d cut thru the Bowling Alley/Ferris Wheel area, as that was way less steep. . . since he still hadn’t brought his cane with him). . and we walked down to the Hard Rock Café Store (which is where the entrance to the restaurant is from outside the building). The Store clerk immediately pounced on us (CUSTOMERS), and I told her we were coming to eat, but if they had any KISS shirts I’d look, since I always try to get KISS shirts from the various Hard Rocks. She told me they did, and she would find them for me, after I told her we’d come back after we ate.

 

We went up the long staircase into the main restaurant (it turns out the main entrance is inside the fancy hotel there, and attached to the mall that also is attached to the other Casino in Niagara Falls). . . and it was meant to be, as what were we greeted by as soon as we came up the stairs into the Restaurant Lobby? An autographed Peter Criss Drumhead (KISS drummer). . .LOL. . meant to be!

 

They seated us immediately, although brought us way, way back into the restaurant . . as it was filled with at least 50 kids all in matching green shirts (school group?). . and past a large dining room that was being set up for what looked like a reception after a wedding? (who knew Hard Rock hosted these things??). So we get put way back in the last room, and seated at a table next to. . . . . .the bratty kid from MarineLand Gift Shop, and his Dad/Sister!! I S**t you not! I looked at Nick, and he just gave me a WoW look. . . .LOL. If you’ve been in a Hard Rock, you know the walls are covered with memorabilia, so while looking around, I happened to catch the Dad’s eye, and so said “oh, hi. We saw y’all earlier at MarineLand”. . and he responded with “oh? Funny” .. and that was pretty much the end of our scintillating conversation – I didn’t feel the need to engage to ask if they had enjoyed it or anything. . besides, they were being served as we sat down so were only next to us for about 10 minutes or so. And yes, the child continued his antics from earlier in the day: getting up a lot from the table to run around instead of eating, not really touching any of the food on his plate, but picking at his Dad’s food. . and then (what would have made me crazy) is when his Dad paid the bill, he immediately picked up the check sleeve, to see how expensive the meal was, while his Dad just sighed and focused on the little girl (who also didn’t eat much of her food). MY Dad would have spanked the crap out of me if I had behaved like that. .but oh well. It was a nice little reminder from the universe that I shouldn’t have been frustrated with the kid earlier in the day, since the universe put us next to each other at dinner time later. . a nice little, “SEE??? Not that bad”. . .LOL

 

This was also the most quiet Hard Rock I’ve ever been in! the usually blasting music, was more of a background sound that didn’t interfere with order taking, or anything. I even commented on that to the waiter, and he said they keep it at a level that people can talk. Maybe in the Canadian Hard Rocks, but certainly not in the USA ones I’ve been to! In Atlanta, I’ve never left a meal there without a sore throat from yelling over the music!

 

Also amusing were the videos playing, that often seemed to not have much to do with the songs (and certainly not the original videos for some of the Queen, or Judas Priest songs they were playing). .the server also responded (when I queried) that “yeah, we have to use a lot of live or special made videos to play in here). . LOL

 

The food was really good – Nick had a BLT type sandwich w/ Onion ovals, and I had a Pulled Pork with a side of Poutine (hey, we’re in Canada, I’m gonna have Poutine). It was so much food, we couldn’t finish it, but we asked for to-go boxes. . something no one else seemed to be doing (I even said to Nick that you can tell the restaurant is attached to a fancy/expensive hotel, as folks are just wasting good food, and not caring about the cost). . .but yeah, we took our leftovers (and ate them in the airport the next day).

 

We finished up our meal, went back thru the restaurant (as they were starting to plate for the reception, so I think we timed it perfect that we were leaving as the large group was coming in), and went back down to the Hard Rock store. I had told the saleslady we’d look, so I waited for her to come out from the back – she had scattered the moment we came down, which I figured meant they didn’t have the KISS shirts she told me they had. And of course, they did not – tho she claimed they “must have JUST sold, since they were on the rack when her shift started”. . suuuuure. And the look of confusion when I said to her, “I’m surprised you didn’t mention the Peter Criss drum head at the top of the stairs, since I had asked you for KISS shirts, when we came in”. . told me she had absolutely no idea what band I had been asking about.

 

No worries tho. .we had leftovers, and were full, fat and happy. Stepping out from the Hard Rock tho, I realized how close we were to the edge of the Falls, as we had come out behind some gardens we had seen the prior day on the tour, while driving up Falls View. So although he protested a little bit, I dragged Nick across the street, so we could take a few “artsy” pics, and get one last really good view of the falls.

 

All in all, it had been an excellent trip.

 

It was starting to get dark, as we took our time walking back up to the hotel room, tossed our leftovers in the mini-fridge (for tomorrow), and started packing. Or I should say, I started packing. . LOL..I told Nick to just sit and watch TV, while I got everything ready to go for the next day’s flight.

 

We turned in fairly early, setting an 8am wake up, to ensure we had plenty of time to get across the border, make it to the airport, return the car, and catch our flight.

 

In the morning, we actually woke up before the alarm, and showered and checked out on the TV in the room, before heading down to the car. I had gotten very simple directions to the Rainbow Bridge the night before from the tour kiosk lady, and we were on our way. No wait at all to cross over the bridge, and tho the google directions were (again) confusing as all hell, at least was able to follow the signs and we were on our way to Buffalo. . on the American side this time.

 

This is when we hit the first rain of the entire trip. . skies just opened up and after a quick heavy shower, we had drizzle for much of the drive.

But other than this, we had had some perfect weather for our whole vacation, so I wasn’t gonna complain.

 

About 10 minutes past the Rainbow Bridge, we passed an Amusement Park, Fantasy Island. . although it wasn’t open for the day yet. Now, we could have stopped and just waited 40 minutes for it to open, grab a couple of rides, and still make our flight (and some folks have since said that we shouldn’t have judged it, and stopped). .but the truth is? It looked like a sketchy carnival from the freeway, and the wild mouse (painted hot pink) looked like it had seen some better days, and appeared to have peeling paint all over it.

 

So looking sketchy, and combined with Nick worrying about getting to the airport to return the car on time? We passed. . . besides, we had already gotten our ride fix the day before at MarineLand (or at least, *he* had)

 

So we continued on, and other than getting lost once (dear, if your job is to navigate, you need to tell me that we should take Exit 16, before we are actually PASSING Exit 16. . . yeah, so missed the turn, and had to backtrack a bit).. we made it to the airport and car return garage with no issue. We only used about 1/16th of a tank of gas too. . . so we likely COULD have gotten by with no rental car, tho it was still nice to have if we needed it.

 

We go the car returned, checked bags, and went thru security (forgetting the water in with the food, that they confiscated from Nick in his pre-check line). . . I went thru regular security line and (surprise) got chosen for additional pat-down. That wasn’t annoying, tho the guy at the end of the Xray scanner that STOOD THERE GETTING DRESSED while everyone else was stuck behind him waiting to get our stuff off the conveyor belt, was . . just a bit. We had plenty of time, so wasn’t an issue, but yeah. . be aware of those around you. . sheesh.

 

Then we went to the food court, bought drinks to replace what got confiscated (and bear claws for the plane), and sat and ate our Hard Rock leftovers. Just as good the next day.

 

Pretty uneventful day back, tho it was a long day, with two fairly long flights – the flight back went from Buffalo to Orlando, then two hour layover, before Orlando to Austin. . so we got back to Austin around 6:40 pm, after flying all day. . . . and right into the Texas heat. Bleh.

 

By the time we got to the car, paid the parking fee, and got home (Wendys’ drive thru for dinner), it was almost 9pm, so a quick shower and then into bed. Luckily had a few days before we both had to go back to work, since we needed to recuperate from the exhausting, but great trip.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Last set of pics:

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the new GoKart "Super Mario" track.

 

you go UP this portion, and if they hadn't had an employee at the top of the spiral telling folks to slow down? bet you could get some good airtime on that "bump area" up there.

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King Kong's butt.. hanging off Ripley's

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one of several Spookhouses in the area.

 

and yes, over the Burger King? that IS a giant Frankenstein's Monster eating a giant Whopper

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Bowling, and a ferris wheel. it's a very touristy area

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standing in front of the Rainforrest Cafe, looking down on the American falls (and the fairly steep hill)

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it was meant to be! what we saw upon climbing the stairs to the Hard Rock Cafe

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artsy shot, thru the garden gate, of the falls

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stepping thru the gate to the other side, for a glimpse of the American Falls

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awww. . our final picture in Niagara :(

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on the plane, headed back with my "old person" reading glasses.

 

(and yes, I DID wear my same shirt from the prior night, since I had only worn it out for the evening, after changing from MarineLand) :)

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I remember one of those, as far back as.....1962! They had a two-level go-kart track

at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair! And to this date, it's the only one I've ever ridden!

 

Glad to read your trip went so well for you, Bert!

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At the back, there's the go-kart track. 1962 Worlds Fair Archives.

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thanks Bill!

 

we really did have a wonderful time, even tho we ended up skipping a couple of things that (I think) would have been fun.

 

but hey, when you're traveling w/ spouse, you gotta make concessions (ie: pick your battles)

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Nice! We've got a go kart track just like that in Branson, and there isn't a person warning you to slow down. The airtime is real.

 

EDIT: Not my photo, but gives you an idea.

tracks.png

 

that is cool. . . not as many "bumps" as the Niagara one has, but if they aren't slowing you down at the top, I'll bet you do get some really great airtime!

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Great report!

 

There was also a really neat go-cart track, with gas powered go-karts that we had seen the corner of from our hotel, but hadn’t realized it was “Mario-Super-Kart” type, with the winding ramps (this apparently had opened recently, as it looked brand new and was doing brisk business). We stopped and watched it for a bit, and did a lot of looking at the attractions, but didn’t actually ride/do anything. . we just sight-seed. There’s a Pink Panther themed ‘swinging balloon” ride on top of a building over here too. . with apparently a view of the falls, but it didn’t seem to be open. (I’d seen some past reports that there used to be a WWF themed ARM Drop Tower here too.. but didn’t see any indication it ever existed now).

 

I actually don't know how good of a view that Pink Panther balloon ride has since it's blocked by the taller buildings next door. I did want to try it, but it has extremely limited hours.

 

As for the old WWE drop tower, Pile Driver, I rode it once back in 2010 or 2011. I wish it was an ARM tower. It was a Zamperla Z Force. The ascent wasn't all that forceful, but it did have a strong pop of air at the top and I got a double ride. I think it would have been better if it held you at the top if you could enjoy the view longer, but it was nice for what it was. I think a brewery is now in its place.

 

Glad to see that go kart track open! I love these crazy courses. Fun Spot has a similar one with a huge drop followed by a banked (yes banked) turn and another drop immediately after.

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I read through this entire thing on the plane the other day and it's wonderfully written. Glad you guys had fun!

 

(And it ate up like half the flight so that's a bonus too, lol)

 

LOL. . yeah, I can get bogged down in details.

 

it's my style, man

 

 

glad you enjoyed, we really did have a great time. And for the most part, no fighting! (only minor squabbles).

as any old married couple would likely agree?. . minor squabbles is a "win" on a vacation

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Always a good read as a lot of things that you do are things I'd never do, so it's fun to see a different perspective. Thanks for the write up!

 

of course. Glad I showed some different perspectives, and I'd absolutely recommend a trip to Niagara Falls (tho stay on Canadian Side, *do* the options on the American Side). MarineLand was worth a visit for the WTF-ness of it. . but now that we've been, I don't feel the need to go back. certainly got my steps in tho. . LOL

 

we LOVE the tacky touristy things. . which is why I was a little disappointed we didn't partake in any of the Clifton Hill offerings (tho not much, we were tired). But I did enjoy walking thru and looking at stuff.

 

I'm a planner for a living, so I always try to cram in a LOT when we go on trips.

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So glad that you guys had a great time, along with great weather...which is usually iffy around here during this time of year!

 

thanks, yeah, we lucked out and no rain until leaving! not even any overcast until leaving!

 

been thinking about y'all. . how is Michael doing?

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well. . it ONLY took them 3 weeks (seriously, we got back on 5/29, which is when I ordered it). .but I finally got my Niagara Falls, USA shirt in the mail.

 

funny. . all 4 T-shirts I bought on this trip ended up being Grey or Blue/Grey.

 

still. . I like this design a lot, and glad I could get it online, since I didn't have time to shop on the USA side of the falls other than some magnets for co-workers.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Always a good read as a lot of things that you do are things I'd never do, so it's fun to see a different perspective. Thanks for the write up!

 

what kind of stuff? (curious minds wanna know).

 

i love the touristy trap kind of crap, so Nick gets dragged along . . .tho he ALWAYS ends up enjoying it.

 

heck, he even loved the Weeki Watchee mermaids in Tampa. . and we were (by far) the youngest ones there. . LOL. .we both bought T-shirts.

 

if only I could have gotten him into one of the Wax Museums in Niagara Falls - but with only 2 1/2 days, that battle wasn't worth fighting The upsidedown house looked pretty cool too.

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Hi Bert - I meant to send this out a few weeks ago, but for obvious reasons, I didn't have time. The owner of Marineland passed away on June 23rd...should be interesting to see what becomes of the park now.

 

Link

 

yeah, saw that.

 

I would suspect that a place like SeaWorld would want to scoop it up, just for the tank habitats. . and so much room for expansion.

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^ It will be interesting to see, that's for sure. Given all the flack that Sea World takes now, they probably wouldn't touch Marineland with a 10' pole.

 

I could definitely see the interest in perhaps acquiring/rescuing the marine life if the park gets sold, but I could almost see this turning into another Crystal Beach where the park is sold, torn down and condos built in it's place.

 

Hopefully not, because I would love nothing more than to see someone buy it and turn it into an actual theme park destination...but I feel that this might be a pipe dream at this point.

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They are still advertising Marineland on just about every commercial break at the moment "Everyone LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVES Mariiiiineland!!".

Once the summer holidays are done and dusted it will be interesting to see what happens.

The owners death got a brief mention in the news, but that was it....no speculation....no nothing!

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^ It will be interesting to see, that's for sure. Given all the flack that Sea World takes now, they probably wouldn't touch Marineland with a 10' pole.

 

I could definitely see the interest in perhaps acquiring/rescuing the marine life if the park gets sold, but I could almost see this turning into another Crystal Beach where the park is sold, torn down and condos built in it's place.

 

Hopefully not, because I would love nothing more than to see someone buy it and turn it into an actual theme park destination...but I feel that this might be a pipe dream at this point.

 

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/06/24/marineland-owner-john-holer-has-died-at-83.html

 

Diodati believes Marineland, a family-owned company, is now at a “crossroads.” It can continue as is or, given its size of about 1,000 acres, it can be sold to housing developers, currently buying up land in the region. Or it can be sold to, or transformed into, an amusement park without animals.

 

Over the years, some of the world’s biggest amusement companies have tried to buy it, but Holer refused to sell because the park was his life, said Diodati.

 

“I would love to see it continue as an amusement park without the animals,” he said.

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