Step by Step, slowly we turned!

Married a Canadian · June 7, 2018

Are the Go Karts open yet (at the top of Clifton hill)?

They advertised them up here as a sort of Supermariokart track (I suppose it is the spiral that does it), and I have to admit it looked pretty fun (we were there in April but it wasn't finished).

There has been a lot of building over the last couple of years, they are starting on a huge theatre to be attached to the Hilton Hotel, which will try to take some of the traffic away from the Fallsview Casino.

I don't know if you saw when you drove past the whirlpool, they have one of those treetop rope courses overlooking the gorge, that only opened last year, and required some immense stones to do the top level!

Glad you had a nice trip (surprised it was the Aussies giving trouble on the tour!, I used to live in Australia and didn't find them like that at all! Must have been a bad couple of days for them!!). Believe it or not, you have even "educated" us locals, I did not know about the clock hands on the floral clock and what they represented. That is a nice thing to know!

Hope you can get further north next time (Canada's Wonderland awaits). Great trip report.

Philrad71 · June 7, 2018

I definitely got some chuckles from your report on the overall weirdness that is Marineland, Bert.

It truly is a quirky park, but it's disappointing that it seemed to be hitting strides in the mid-80's into the early 90's and then...thud. They lengthened the time in putting in new rides and kept peddling the same commercials on local TV, which turned it into a tourist spot versus a place where local folks would want to go to. They unfortunately picked a new ride to install in 2007 that turned into a complete flop IE: the Huss Topple Tower.

That weird volcano thing on Dragon Mountain was really supposed to be a completed volcano with lava waterfalls and eruptions during the initial plans. Then the park seemingly fell on hard times and they halted construction to where the the volcano was only partially completed. They did do some work on it a few years ago, but it still doesn't match the original renderings that I recall seeing when the coaster was originally announced.

I know that you mentioned cringing when you drove by Fantasy Island, but I would actually go there versus Marineland any day of the week. They have been adding rides and attractions whereas Marineland is adding something once every ten years or so... not going to cut it in this day and age.

I do love the fact that Marineland has so much land and potential, but the condition of the park tells me that management basically is in it for the profit margin and cutting cost and could care less about enhancing the experience for guests by investing money into expanding the 1/2 mile sections of basically nothing.

We went about 7-8 years ago in the middle of summer on a weekend and it wasn't much more crowded than what I see in your report. Maybe a little more, but all the rides were walk-ons and the ride op's were so bored, they were practically begging people to ride and promising double-cycles (which I admit was cool).

Every year I wonder how long this place is going to hold on. I am almost surprised that CF hasn't bought the park and shut it down given the proximity to CW...ala Geauga Lake.

ThemeParkJunkie51290 · June 7, 2018

Awesome report! The park map does make it seem as if everything is close by, but actuality it's like hiking a long trail! Lol. I hate y'all didn't get a chance to experience the topple tower ride. I rode Timber Tower at Dollywood in 2007, and I found the ride to be very enjoyable.

Nrthwnd · June 7, 2018

^^ Yeah, I still have I guess what was called an announcemtn art concept of

what Dragon Mountain was supposed to look like, and where it went...

What was to be ~ but didn't....be. (o;

bert425 · June 7, 2018

Are the Go Karts open yet (at the top of Clifton hill)?

They advertised them up here as a sort of Supermariokart track (I suppose it is the spiral that does it), and I have to admit it looked pretty fun (we were there in April but it wasn't finished).

Yep. . less than one block away from our hotel (right next to the Ferris Wheel and the Dinosaur Golf.

we walked down there on our last evening, tho Nick didn't want to drive em (or ride the ferris wheel, or play the golf. . he was being a poop head. . LOL. . but at least he went walking with me and we grabbed dinner).

you go UP the spiral ramp, and there's a "hump" there which has great potential for airtime, but there was an employee up there flagging folks to slow down so as not to take that hump too fast.

they seemed super popular tho, while we were watching, the line never got shorter. . they seemed to have 3 lanes of cars (12 cars in each lane), and they run one lane for 5 minutes, while the next lane is getting loaded up/instructions given. Looks to be a mix of ~1/3rd solo driving cars, and 2/3rds two-seaters with driver/passenger.

gas powered. looked like fun.

There has been a lot of building over the last couple of years, they are starting on a huge theatre to be attached to the Hilton Hotel, which will try to take some of the traffic away from the Fallsview Casino.

I don't know if you saw when you drove past the whirlpool, they have one of those treetop rope courses overlooking the gorge, that only opened last year, and required some immense stones to do the top level!

yep, we were taken by it on the tour, and told the firemen up there use it for training!

it wasn't open when we passed by in the evening, but they said it gets a lot of "thrill seekers" climbing on it when it's open.

Glad you had a nice trip (surprised it was the Aussies giving trouble on the tour!, I used to live in Australia and didn't find them like that at all! Must have been a bad couple of days for them!!). Believe it or not, you have even "educated" us locals, I did not know about the clock hands on the floral clock and what they represented. That is a nice thing to know!

Hope you can get further north next time (Canada's Wonderland awaits). Great trip report.

thanks! still have the 2nd half of MarineLand. . will try to get it up by Friday (work has me slammed. . in a conference call right now).. but will try

the Aussies were only late every time. . LOL. they weren't really *trouble". .that was the family group on the 2nd tour (the non-Austrailians )

and see what you can learn by doing a Touristy thing? we learned on the tour . . hehe

my work has an office in Markham. . so who knows, if I stay here (I've been here for 13 years), maybe I'll take a trip to that factory.

bert425 · June 7, 2018

I definitely got some chuckles from your report on the overall weirdness that is Marineland, Bert.

It truly is a quirky park, but it's disappointing that it seemed to be hitting strides in the mid-80's into the early 90's and then...thud. They lengthened the time in putting in new rides and kept peddling the same commercials on local TV, which turned it into a tourist spot versus a place where local folks would want to go to. They unfortunately picked a new ride to install in 2007 that turned into a complete flop IE: the Huss Topple Tower.

That weird volcano thing on Dragon Mountain was really supposed to be a completed volcano with lava waterfalls and eruptions during the initial plans. Then the park seemingly fell on hard times and they halted construction to where the the volcano was only partially completed. They did do some work on it a few years ago, but it still doesn't match the original renderings that I recall seeing when the coaster was originally announced.

it really does look like nothing has been touched in decades. .but regardless, we had a great time, and everything (other than topple tower) was operating. I would recommend stopping here just for the rides (and the exercise).

I will note that unlike US parks (in particular Six Flags), we did not see one security officer the entire visit, nor did we go thru metal detectors, nor have bag checked -- they let us come in with full bottles of water (which I suppose is OK, since they have so many picnic areas). Just odd, but not "bad"

Older doesn't necessarily mean decrepit, or bad. . even tho things LOOKED old, there wasn't any peeling paint, or missing tiles/fencing, etc. . and the animal enclosures were very well done.

and nice to see they are adding that new Aviary Safari section. .shame they didn't finish the volcano thing. . it's so weird to go around inside what basically looks like a giant termite mound!

I know that you mentioned cringing when you drove by Fantasy Island, but I would actually go there versus Marineland any day of the week. They have been adding rides and attractions whereas Marineland is adding something once every ten years or so... not going to cut it in this day and age.

I do love the fact that Marineland has so much land and potential, but the condition of the park tells me that management basically is in it for the profit margin and cutting cost and could care less about enhancing the experience for guests by investing money into expanding the 1/2 mile sections of basically nothing.

We went about 7-8 years ago in the middle of summer on a weekend and it wasn't much more crowded than what I see in your report. Maybe a little more, but all the rides were walk-ons and the ride op's were so bored, they were practically begging people to ride and promising double-cycles (which I admit was cool).

Every year I wonder how long this place is going to hold on. I am almost surprised that CF hasn't bought the park and shut it down given the proximity to CW...ala Geauga Lake.

more than one Op told us the owner will never sell, he likes to keep the park as a hobby. So he's not in it for the profit, he's in it for his amusement. . so that would explain why he's not in any rush to update or add much new.

we'd never been, so for us, we had a wonderful time, and as a bonus, Nick would ride almost everything with me.

Looking at Fantasy Island, that's NOT the case (also true of Canada's Wonderland (and is same reason I went to Cedar Point last year without him, as he would ride almost nothing there, due to phobias or physical issues).. so I think we made the right decision, tho do wish we had stopped in for a ride on the woodie there.

oh well. . if we ever go back.

bert425 · June 7, 2018

Awesome report! The park map does make it seem as if everything is close by, but actuality it's like hiking a long trail! Lol. I hate y'all didn't get a chance to experience the topple tower ride. I rode Timber Tower at Dollywood in 2007, and I found the ride to be very enjoyable.

as you'll see when I get to part 2 (hopefully by Friday night). . we ended up skipping a few things towards the end of our visit (we really should have done the Tivoli wheel. . it was so cute!). . . but yeah, other than the Topple Tower, was able to ride everything I wanted to, and even got to try TWO new types of rides for me, and a re-ride on a type of ride I HATED at BGW, but loved it here when I gave it a try.

Glad you're enjoying the TR!

bert425 · June 7, 2018

^^ Yeah, I still have I guess what was called an announcemtn art concept of
what Dragon Mountain was supposed to look like, and where it went...

wow. . very interesting! Looks like the section that goes over the Buffalo pasture (or cow pasture) was originally planned to go over a mini version of Niagara Falls.

would have been cool.. but I could see that being super expensive!

in that concept art tho, the "volcano" is still open at the top, we can see the Helix inside.

thanks for sharing that, Bill

Canobie Coaster · June 7, 2018

Great report of Marineland! Your experience with Dragon Mountain basically captures my thoughts. The "dragon" you enter looks like a demon and that is the darkest queue I've ever seen. Honestly I think staying on the train is safer than stumbling through that thing

But it's such a unique ride that it's enjoyable and not too rough for an Arrow.

TBpony414 · June 7, 2018

Really great report, Bert! I love waterfalls, pictures, and lots of details/silly stories so keep up your super TR style! As I mentioned in our texts a few days ago I've never been to Niagara Falls or Canada but I am becoming more interested in making a trip up there after this.

you'd love Niagara Falls.. the Canadian side tourist area is beautiful and friendly (and they have go-karts, and dinosaur mini golf (with an "active" volcano that kept belching out fire all night . . we could see it from our window).

Dino mini golf, Super Mario go-karts, and a ropes course all nearby?! That is definitely right up our alley. Guess who is going to plan a trip to Canada, eh??!

bert425 · June 7, 2018

Great report of Marineland! Your experience with Dragon Mountain basically captures my thoughts. The "dragon" you enter looks like a demon and that is the darkest queue I've ever seen. Honestly I think staying on the train is safer than stumbling through that thing

But it's such a unique ride that it's enjoyable and not too rough for an Arrow.

Thanks.

it's so funny they made us walk around after 2 rides for "health" reasons. . I mean, we just walked well over a mile to GET to the coaster. . LOL

bert425 · June 7, 2018

Really great report, Bert! I love waterfalls, pictures, and lots of details/silly stories so keep up your super TR style! As I mentioned in our texts a few days ago I've never been to Niagara Falls or Canada but I am becoming more interested in making a trip up there after this.

you'd love Niagara Falls.. the Canadian side tourist area is beautiful and friendly (and they have go-karts, and dinosaur mini golf (with an "active" volcano that kept belching out fire all night . . we could see it from our window).

Dino mini golf, Super Mario go-karts, and a ropes course all nearby?! That is definitely right up our alley. Guess who is going to plan a trip to Canada, eh??!

the ropes course is a decent drive from Clifton Hill entertainment district. .but there's a ton of other fun stuff there (lots of spookhouses, and mirror maze kind of things) I have some pics from that from our last night there, coming up after I finish MarineLand.

I think you'd have a brilliant time there.

Canobie Coaster · June 8, 2018

Great report of Marineland! Your experience with Dragon Mountain basically captures my thoughts. The "dragon" you enter looks like a demon and that is the darkest queue I've ever seen. Honestly I think staying on the train is safer than stumbling through that thing

But it's such a unique ride that it's enjoyable and not too rough for an Arrow.

Thanks.

it's so funny they made us walk around after 2 rides for "health" reasons. . I mean, we just walked well over a mile to GET to the coaster. . LOL

Kings Dominion does the same thing with I305 and Sesame Place did it with Oscar's Wacky Taxi. Who would have ever thought a coaster from Sesame Place would be mentioned in the same breath with a giga.

Philrad71 · June 8, 2018

^^ Yeah, I still have I guess what was called an announcemtn art concept of
what Dragon Mountain was supposed to look like, and where it went...

I had that same brochure, Bill!

I remember showing it to my parents and saying "Look, the coaster goes all the way to Niagara Falls and comes back!"

That's interesting about the owner, Bert. Still seems like it would be a better business practice to try and beautify the park a little bit more, but I'm not a millionaire business owner, so who am I to question his decisions? Hehe.

richwoodrocket · June 8, 2018

Very detailed write up so far. I always find it interesting to hear other people's perspectives of touring Niagara Falls, given I live just outside Buffalo, and have been there more times than I can count. I remember going to Marineland as a kid. These pictures bring back a lot of memories. Thank you for sharing.

bert425 · June 8, 2018

Very detailed write up so far. I always find it interesting to hear other people's perspectives of touring Niagara Falls, given I live just outside Buffalo, and have been there more times than I can count. I remember going to Marineland as a kid. These pictures bring back a lot of memories. Thank you for sharing.

you're very welcome.

does it look exactly the same as when you were a kiddo? The park doesn't seem to change much over the years, but as 1st time visitors, we really liked it. . including all the WTF-ness of certain parts of it.

bert425 · June 8, 2018

sorry. . I type so much, MarineLand is gonna be in THREE parts, sorry. (trying not to overwhelm).

here's part 2:

Day 3, MarineLand (part 2 of 3):

So we sat down on the bench ready to log into Southwest Airlines for our check in for the next day’s flights. . . and there was no signal.

I said to Nick. . OK, give me your phone, and I’ll try from the top of the Skyscreamer mountain (reasoning that it was the highest point in the park, so if there’s going to be signal for internet access, that was the place to try).

He wasn’t’ super thrilled with that idea, and so I pointed out that yes, it was a fairly long trek (up a fairly steep path) to get to Skyscreamer .. . .but the path *did* have handrails. So let’s give it a shot, and we would go slowly.

So off we went, slowly heading up the long spiral path to get to the top of the 150 ft mountain that Skyscreamer sits on. We stopped a few hundred feet up, and checked the phone, and viola! There was a slight signal, so we continued climbing. About 2/3rds of the way up, we had a fairly strong signal, and it was almost time to check in, so Nick stood on the side of the path in some shade from an overgrown bush (hanging on to the handrail) and I went ahead and checked us in for our flight. Score: A59 & A60 – so last two in the “A” group, but at least before “Family boarding” that happens between A & B, and has all the strollers/diaper bags filling up the overheads.

Once that was done, I asked Nick if he wanted to head back down to wait for me, but he decided that since we were already 2/3rds of the way up (and there were restrooms up there, per the Dragon Mountain operator), that he might as well finish the climb. . so we continued heading up.

When we finally got to the top of the path, it opened up onto a huge circle of concrete and bricks – with many, many picnic tables (both wood and stone), and tons and tons of weeds. Large open areas of just *nothing* on 2/3rds of the area, and I again was struck with the weirdness that we just had this long trek up here, and there’s basically 1 thrill ride, and toilets up here (a restaurant too, but that was not open, and per the park map doesn’t open until July). And *nothing* else.

I can’t stress enough how much wasted space and potential is up here. . . more than enough room for a carousel (which the park really should have) and at least 1 kiddie ride. Really, you have to figure a teen/adult will drag their whole family up here to ride Skyscreamer, why in the world not have at least a carousel there for the kiddos to ride while the adults do the big rides? Weird.

The whole area looked deserted, and this is really the spot where I said to Nick. .”wow.. like the Walking Dead up here. they could easily film here!” There was a pretty nice structure off to the right, with the restrooms, closed restaurant, and the queue and drop tower – completely deserted. And there were two MarineLand ops, just hanging out near the ride shooting the breeze. I asked them, “is it open?”. . as we had not seen it cycle at all. . to which they said “hey! You’re our VIP, our first rider today!”

So I handed Nick my stuff, and got in the queue, and they asked me which tower I wanted to ride. I told them I had heard one tower has a great view of Niagara Falls, and they pointed me to which tower, and which side to sit on. One guy sat back and let the other take lead (he was obviously training), and struggled a bit to get the “green light” on the OTS restraint – asking me several times if it was “OK” to push down, and even commenting that maybe I could suck in my belly (thanks. . like I hadn’t already felt fat. . LOL). But eventually, they got the green light (without me having to move to another seat), and they told me to enjoy my ride, and hang on to my camera if I pulled it out

And we were off. I’m not a big drop tower fan, but this was a really good one: Power shot about ½ way up to start with ,then a drop down bounce, before slowly bringing the car all the way up to the top. At the top, it holds for a good 15-20 seconds, allowing one to enjoy the absolutely Spectacular view of the Falls from way up high, before plummeting back down.

Absolutely took my breath away, and was well worth the effort to go up the path to this ride.

the ops asked me if I liked it, and offered if I wanted to ride again, but as stunning as the view and ride were, once was enough for me on a drop tower, so I thanked them and went to meet Nick who was resting at a nearby Picnic table.

9 out of 10 – in particular for the “hold” at the top that lets one enjoy the view.

Do I wish I had ridden again? Not really, tho I did like it. And the view was among the best of our entire trip.

Even with the permission of the ops, I chose not to take out my phone - as I didn’t even want to chance of it slipping out of my hands on a drop tower

besides, I can find pics online of the view from the top, such as this one:

But as noted, well worth the trek up to it, if you find yourself at this park.

Since we had made the trip up there, even tho I had ridden the 1 thing up there, we took 5-10 minutes, to take a restroom break, and walk around the top area to get some nice pics of the surrounding areas. From here, you can get some good shots of Dragon Mountain operating too, as well as overlook the new section they are building, see some of the rides “hidden” on the West side of the park, and spot the neon blue water in the Orca & Beluga tanks.

We also marveled at how desolate it seemed up there, and discussed with the ops how they should be cycling the ride even if no one is there, as folks likely weren’t making the walk up to the ride, as they weren’t sure it was open (I think we only saw it operating one other time while we were in the park) .. . tho one would think if it was closed, the bottom of the ramp would have been roped off?. . there’s no guarantee, and it really IS quite the walk up there. (with no other rides up there). . so yeah, doesn’t surprise me I was the first person up there, and it was close to 1pm.

Again tho.. spectacular view.

Going back down was easier than going up (of course), but we took our time and made use of the handrail for Nick, and before we knew it, were passing back by Magic Experience, and crossing the bridge (covered in bird poop), over the fish feeding pond.

there was another little kiosk on the “island” between the fish feeding pond bridges, and we stopped to refill our water bottle (most of the little kiosks had water fountains attached. . one really nice thing about this park), and talk to the lady selling the ice cream cones full of fish feed. We had a nice conversation with her, although we didn’t want to feed fish – some of which were very large Koi. I asked her about the lack of shade on her little “island”. . .and how it looked uncared for, and overgrown, and she too mentioned to me how the owner likes greenery of any kind, and in fact, what looked like just batches of weeds near her, had been trees that got knocked over by a major storm they had recently (I dunno how recent, since the weeds were pretty high), so the trees were cut down, and where the weeds are, are to flag the “stumps” so people don’t trip on them. Why not just plant new trees? I dunno.

. . . but very funny: after filling the water bottle and stopping at the front of the kiosk to chat, we heard a commotion behind us, and turned around and saw probably 200 birds, had landed on the ground behind us and were watching us! The little stinkers had put 2+2 and realized someone stopping at this place, likely means food (intended for the fish, but they eat it too obviously). It was real-life Finding Nemo “mine mine mine mine” (and explained all the bird poop on the bridges)

We all laughed about it, and the lady in the kiosk said, yeah, they DO that. . . LOL

We shooed them away, and told them we weren’t buying food (not that they understood us!), and we continued on our way across the bridge towards the 1st actual Marine life of day.. unless one counts Koi Fish, I suppose.

We crossed the 2nd bridge, and came to a fork in the road, with a sign pointing to “Arctic” cove, so we headed up that way (which is also the direction for the new Aviary Safari – they had the entrance path dug out (tho honestly, how could one tell? It was just wide, and overgrown on either side) with a small metal barrier up, keeping folks from wandering into the construction area). This new section is gonna be huge, once they have it done, and hopefully will have a lot of shade for the birds.. but right now they seem to just be working on the safari route, as it’s a giant field of dirt/bulldozers, with a giant oval path around it.

Anyways, a quick peek at that, and we stepped up to the Arctic Cove tanks, where there was the most activity we had seen thus far today. There were at least a dozen trainers (and helpers) out, laying down towels on the concrete around the tank, and in the tanks were at least 10-15 Belugas! There were two tanks here, and both tanks had Belugas in them, but the workers seemed to only be laying towels down around the front tank.

it turned out the towels were to keep the hot concrete covered, so people could lean on them to feed and touch the Belugas – who seemed to know right away what the laying down of the towels meant, as they started coming right over to where they were laid down, and popped their heads out of the water, “posing”

Yep. . these animals are SUPER smart, and they knew exactly how to pose for a good picture. At least 5 or 6 couples were lead out and into the area right next to the tanks, and each of them got to feed the whales, touch them, and get photos taken with them.. and the Belugas were eating up the attention. Even when the people stepped away, they kept popping up from the water, so the trainers could rub them on their heads. I guess our timing was really good, as we got there right when they were doing this, and they only do it a few times thruout the day.

I was curious, so went to look at the photo-op booth (where they also sell the “experience”) and was really surprised that the cost was only ~$9 Canadian (so less than ~$7 American). I was so shocked at how inexpensive it was, I mentioned it to one of the folks behind the counter, and she said that they try to be a “teaching” park, so the owner wants to keep the costs down.

Really, in the USA? Seaworld would charge *way* more for this. .it was an excellent offering, and I could see someone who loved animals really taking advantage to get up and close with these lovely Mammals.

They asked me if we were interested in taking part, and tho the price was great, and I love Belugas, as noted earlier I was not in the mood to touch anything today – happy just to look (tho we did have a discussion about what they feel like (one of the ladies in the booth told me like a rubber ball), and how much they love to be touched.

again, it was so nice to see how happy and proud the employees were to be working, even if the park wasn’t too crowded. But since I didn’t want to touch, we thanked them for the conversation, and started to head out, when one of the ladies asked if we had gone down to the underground viewing.

we had not, as it’s not noted on the map. So she directed us to take a left just behind their booth and walk down the path. So we did. We were wondering if we were going the right way, as it really did kind of look like a maintenance path – and there actually IS a sign – but it’s kind of hidden from the main tanks, and we hadn’t noticed it when approaching the Arctic Cove area – so we followed the arrow on the sign and about 600 feet down the path came to an opening, and took a left into it.

WOW. .and absolutely gorgeous underground viewing area – that had NO ONE ELSE in it (other than some birds and cobwebs). It has large, rounded window-walls, and unobstructed views into the crystal blue water of the Beluga tanks. Just lovely, and we stayed down there for a good 10-15 minutes just watching these guys swim, and play, and fill the window (they saw us standing there, and kept coming over to pose for us too).

I hated to leave, especially since we had the viewing to ourselves with no distractions. . but as there’s no place to sit there, I knew Nick’s legs were needing a rest, so we headed out, and continued down the large sorta-circular path back around towards the front of the park.

As we had noticed the prior day, *everyone* seemed to be eating ice cream. . and I decided that since the pricing was so reasonable (and I wasn’t feeling bad about spending a little bit at the park, since I’d seen evidence of what the employees had been telling me about how they have been improving treatment of the animals).. that we'd share an Ice Cream waffle cone .. heh. . “share”. . I ate most, but Nick got a lick or two. The lady at the booth told me they would accept American, but then simply treated my dollars as if they were Canadian dollars (so she overcharged me). . but I didn’t want to make a stink, so just took my change (in Canadian), and we moved on.

Just around the corner up the path is where we found the 2nd “group” of rides in the park, as we came around the corner, right near the restrooms was SkyHawk, a HUSS Condor ride. There was a shaded bench right next to it, so we took a seat to rest, and watched Condor cycle with a Dad and his kid, while we ate the icecream.

No one else got in line while we finished up, so after determining that Nick didn’t want to ride (heights thing), I went ahead and got to the queue, and the operator got me right onto the ride – then sat and waited to see if anyone else would show up, so he didn’t cycle with just one person. A bit odd, as this was the only instance in the day where the operator wanted to wait, and he didn’t really want to chat either, so he basically just sat in the booth staring at me (I think he may have been special needs based on the brief conversation we did have when I walked up. .and that might explain why he wanted to wait if that’s how he was trained to operate the ride?). . . but no worries, I just sat in the car for about 7 minutes, waving to Nick and enjoying the views, and then he simply said “watch the gate” and the door of the car slid shut, and I was on my way. Nothing too exciting. It’s a Condor, and as I had already been on Skyscreamer, had been way higher up already, but the ride did give a very nice breeze, and I was able to spot several other rides all in that area if we continued up the path.

Of course, the moment the ride started cycling, a few folks came up and got in the queue – isn’t that interesting? If the rides move, people realize they are operating. . . who'd a thunk it?

5 out of 10 – it’s a Condor.. fun, but it is what it is

After my ride, we took a bathroom break, and tho the Restrooms are right there next to/behind SkyHawk, the entrance is actually around back after following a fairly long path (of course. . LOL. . “MarineLand, where you have to walk a mile even to pee”).

The plus is that while taking that long walk, saw tons of animals, including a few black squirrels playing in the trees, and what looked like a hedgehog, so got to see more living things.

We continued on the path, and really well hidden around the corner, the ride pad in the center of a grove of trees, and a facsimile of German Fairytale architecture for the queue, was the Wave Swinger. This is the only ride the whole day, where we didn’t ride alone (other than Dragon Mountain with the Ohio couple). Not only were there already 2-3 people already on the ride as we walked up, but before the operator – very gregarious and friendly, hooting and hollering that we were gonna have fun! – started the ride, at least 10 or so people - all from a large group passing by - joined us on the ride too. Although surrounded by the grove of trees, this pad was also directly in the sun (likely because of the time of day we rode the sun was mainly overhead). . but it made for some very interesting shadows, as the ride started up, with probably the best ride cycle I’ve ever had on a wave swinger. The central stalk lifted up pretty high in the air (Nick had sat on the inside seat, so the height was ok), before a STEEP tilting – which gave us some really good g’s as we swung up around, once the speed picked up.

There was no music – and it really seemed as if it *should* have some German music playing, as it was painted just like a typical Wave Swinger. . but the sounds of the bubbling tanks just beyond the trees, as well as nature was really nice. An added bonus is that some of the trees come awful close when you swing by, once the ride gets to it’s full height and tilts (“Leg-Choppers” ?). Wonderful long cycle too. . . and tho we got off after one turn, several folks stayed on to ride again.

8 1/2 out of 10 – probably the best ride I’ve ever had on a Wave Swinger

We got off Wave Swinger smiling, and around the next turn was Flying Dragon – a Flying Carpet type ride (I’d assume from Zierer, since the kiddie coaster in the park is from them too).

This ride has the 2nd highest height restriction in the park (at 52”). . .weird, until you realize that the two rides with the highest height restrictions are Magic Experience, and SkyHawk – both 54”. . . yeah. . not SkyScreamer, or Dragon Mountain, as those are both 48”. . . . yeah, weird.

I had ridden this type of ride only once before (at BGW) and I hated it at that time, but that could have been because I was heavier than and the waist restraint was extremely uncomfortable. I was determined to give this another shot, even if this one might be more intense, based on the height restriction. Nick didn’t want to ride, so he sat on a bench watching, and I went thru the queue, surprising the operator (who was reading a book – HA). He was reading Stephen King, so I asked him if he had gotten the new one that just got released (the Outsider). He hadn’t, but wanted to know all about it, as he secured me in the ride. I sat more towards the center, because he had told me every seat is a good seat on this ride. An yeah, this actually was pretty intense. The forces as it rocks you back and forth, then goes up over the top, stopping to hold over the top before continuing on the forceful swings. I really liked it. A couple walking by while I was on it, called up asking me if it was fun, and I told them yes, so they got in the queue for the next ride. This one was the shortest ride cycle of anything we rode, and tho I could have stayed on it again, once was enough, and I was happy I tried again, as I did like it this time. But once was enough for the moment. I thanked the operator, and he thanked me for the book suggestion, and we moved on up the giant path (still far away from the front of the park tho).

6 ½ out of 10 – the flying carpet type ride redeemed itself to me, way better than my prior ride on one of these.

End Part 2 – part 3 coming soon

Now, on to pics!

we've just started the climb to Skyscreamer in hopes of getting a signal. this is maybe 2/10th of the way up, looking back.. that flat area way down there, is where we left the main path to go up.

Looking up at what's ahead. Nick is making use of the handrail, but he's making it up there!

pausing to take a break, looking up at how far we still need to climb

looking the other way during our break, facing towards the front of the park. That orange roof way back on the left is the top of the Deer Park castle.

and we're here at the top. wait. . that's it? huh.

PLENTY of room up here for a carousel, or a small ride. . what the ??? weird.

but Skyscreamer looks well maintained

standing at the base looking up. Lovely day too

nicely themed queue, but it's up here by itself with NOTHING else (Nick is resting after the trek tho. . we just checked in for our flight based on the time on that clock). The restaurant at the other side of the ride is closed and stripped bare (but doesn't open until July. . so I *guess* that makes sense?

Nice view of downtown Niagara Falls Ontario. The "mist" in the center right, are the Horseshoe falls.

looking up just before getting on the ride. Despite being informed I COULD keep my phone out, I put it in my pocket.

Looking out towards the Horseshoe Rapids after my ride, while still on top of the Skyscreamer Mountain, as Nick takes a break.

LOL. . see? like walking dead filming location up there! it was nice..but deserted, and a bit overgrown (that's the restaurant on the left there)..

it's very photogenic.

(the ride too )

ooo. . nice view of Dragon Mountain from up here too. And because we were taking a break and waited while Nick rested, got the train actually running on the coaster in my pics.

and what's that down there? I see some pretty blue pools.

Belugas!

once we trekked back down the mountain, we went around the fish feeding pond, to head towards the whale pools.

timed it well. . as they are about to start the feeding/touching interactions, and the Belugas are all happily popping up to pose for pictures

but then we headed to the underground viewing, where I was just blown away. Just lovely, and so many Belugas playing in the large tank (there were a bunch in the tank on the other side too).

good idea of the curved large windows. . and we had the area to ourselves.

gorgeous creatures.

ooo. . a Condor . . . called SkyHawk here

sitting on a bench eating ice cream and watching it cycle for a Dad and his son.

my turn. . no one else in line tho

oooookay? we're gonna wait to see if anyone else comes to the line.

So might as well take an artsy picture

and a selfie

and Nick took one of me too, while I'm on the ride.

As Robb says: Wheeeeeeeee

I didn't step back far enough after our ride to capture how lovely the setting for this wave swinger is. Surrounded by trees, and extends pretty high with some forceful swings that have you almost hitting the tree limbs.

liked this way better than the one I rode a few years ago.

I will try it again in a couple of months at BGW, and see if I like it there too now.

we're about to go into Arctic Cove, but you can see on the map where the new Aviary Safari entrance is gonna be

ThemeParkJunkie51290 · June 8, 2018

WONDERFUL!!! And I just love the pool with the Beluga whales! I will say this: MARINELAND HAS SUCH MUCH POTENTIAL IT'S RIDICULOUS! I'm sure they do okay, but I'm sure they'll be second to Canada's Wonderland if they step their game up just a little. But oh well. I still want to visit this park though.

DBru · June 9, 2018

I’ve always been fascinated by Marineland, but haven’t ever visited Niagara with a group that is willing to check it out. Hopefully someday soon I can make it to this funky park though!

ALSO, I rode one of those Magic Experience flat rides at Walibi Holland a couple weeks ago!!! I had never seen one and had no idea what it does, so I was completely surprised by the 5 minute ride cycle where the ride seemed to do 20 different maneuvers! Lol. We LOVED it! Definitely one of my favorite flats and glad to know more of these exist!

anonymouscactus · June 9, 2018

Late to the party but awesome reports, just read through the whole thread! Still need to go to the full site to view photos so I will do that later. Thanks for taking the time to write this up! Always great to see an outsiders view.

"What made me think of mentioning this here, is that Cave of the Winds is *very* much done like a Theme Park Ride, except the photo op is before they usher you into a small holding room (ie: museum) in groups of 60 or so, and then the theater doors open, and the whole group goes in to fill in wooden benches – and we see a great multi-media presentation about Niagara Falls, and how the famous folks of the time banded together to lobby the State to buy the land along the gorge back from private citizens, so they could bulldoze all he ugly factories that had sprung up around the falls, and restore it to its natural beauty. It’s a pretty interesting 10 minute or so film, with lots of multiple screens, paintings, animatronics, lighting. . just very well done."

That must be new? I've been several times over the years and never went into a theatre for Cave Of The Winds. I'll probably go back this year since it's such a great attraction.

Edit: just saw all the photos! So cute!! Awesome report and pics, can't wait to read the completion.

bert425 · June 9, 2018

I’ve always been fascinated by Marineland, but haven’t ever visited Niagara with a group that is willing to check it out. Hopefully someday soon I can make it to this funky park though!

ALSO, I rode one of those Magic Experience flat rides at Walibi Holland a couple weeks ago!!! I had never seen one and had no idea what it does, so I was completely surprised by the 5 minute ride cycle where the ride seemed to do 20 different maneuvers! Lol. We LOVED it! Definitely one of my favorite flats and glad to know more of these exist!

just for Dragon Mountain, it's worth a visit, I'd say. tho as I noted, Skyscreamer was excellent, and it really is possibly the best ever ride I've had on a Wave Swinger.

yep, Magic Experience was fun, and weird. I think I described it as: Tilt-a-Whirl cars on a Troika chassis, with Octopus operating system.

bert425 · June 9, 2018

Late to the party but awesome reports, just read through the whole thread! Still need to go to the full site to view photos so I will do that later. Thanks for taking the time to write this up! Always great to see an outsiders view.

"What made me think of mentioning this here, is that Cave of the Winds is *very* much done like a Theme Park Ride, except the photo op is before they usher you into a small holding room (ie: museum) in groups of 60 or so, and then the theater doors open, and the whole group goes in to fill in wooden benches – and we see a great multi-media presentation about Niagara Falls, and how the famous folks of the time banded together to lobby the State to buy the land along the gorge back from private citizens, so they could bulldoze all he ugly factories that had sprung up around the falls, and restore it to its natural beauty. It’s a pretty interesting 10 minute or so film, with lots of multiple screens, paintings, animatronics, lighting. . just very well done."

That must be new? I've been several times over the years and never went into a theatre for Cave Of The Winds. I'll probably go back this year since it's such a great attraction.

Edit: just saw all the photos! So cute!! Awesome report and pics, can't wait to read the completion.

Thanks, really appreciate the kind words.

the Film at cave of the winds, is after the little museum, just before you go to the room to get your sandals.

not sure how new it is, but it must be relatively new, since we had to go back outside and across the main walkway to get to the elevators, so it likely wasn't originally planned that way?

bert425 · June 10, 2018

Day 3, MarineLand (part 3 of 3):

So we continued up the wide path, and came across an opening that actually had rides on either side, facing each other across the walkway – shocking, I know!

we went to the one on the right first, Hurricane Cove, and although (as everything else had been) it looked deserted and SBNO (standing but not operating), there was an Operator sitting on a bench in the little booth and he said he was open.

As the ride wasn’t cycling, we weren’t quite sure what exactly it did, and I’ve never been on this type of ride either (not even sure whom the manufacturer or ride type actually is).

But the queue was the longest of the flat rides, so I asked the operator if that long queue ever fills up? He said that on busier days, this ride has the longerst lines. Hmmmm.

Ok, so we each chose our own “boats”, and the ride slowly started to rotate, going up and down on the track. Then it started picking up speed. THEN we started giggling, and laughing like idiots. I had a huge smile on my face the whole time. It’s as if someone took the classic Turtle Ride, crossed it with the classic Kangaroo Ride, and then ran it like a Matterhorn ride. Absolutely amazing, for something that looks so. . . . harmless. Great, great fun, and if it hadn’t made me just a wee bit dizzy, would have immediately gotten back in line for it.

8 ½ out of 10 – so much fun, and only didn’t score higher from me, because it made me a little dizzy.

Still giggling, we exited the ride, and headed across the path to Ocean Odyssey, the park’s Dumbo type ride – even down to the “cars” resting in water - but themed to the water, with the central support structure as a giant octopus, and the “cars” as submarines (some of which had spinning propellers on the back). The operator was very laid back, and in a long Canadian Drawl “wheelcumed” us aboard (I joked to Nick he was a Canuck Hippie). It was pretty much what I was expecting (a Dumbo , or Aladdin’s Carpet ride) tho the cars actually did get pretty high (higher than I thought they would), and it was fun going up and down. Poor Nick had chosen a car that didn’t want to go up . . .the operator after the ride drawled “sawrrry boot thet”. . so I stood off to the side, chatting w/ the operator about the warm day, and Nick re-rode, this time moving into the car I had ridden in, so he could go up.

LOL, so Nick rode Ocean Odyssey twice.

7 out of 10 – a basic “family” ride, but the theming was so good on it, I’ll give it a 7.

We continued on our way back towards the front of the park, again marveling at how much walking there is between things.. we barely saw any other people, tho it was now in the afternoon, and the paths seemed to just stretch forever. . but eventually we came upon a sign for “Friendship Cove”, so we took the right, and found ourselves facing a couple more giant tanks.

Unlike the tanks in Arctic Cove, there was no feeding or touching going on here, just us, and the Trainers/care-takers, watching over another tank full of 12-15 Belugas.

We stood and watched for a moment (I *told* you I love Belugas, LOL), and then I asked one of the staff if the tank in the back had Belugas in it as well, and she said, “oh no, that’s our Orca”. . so Nick and I walked around to the back tank, and got to see a beautiful Orca swimming alone in the crystal blue water. There was a caretaker, standing back there too (I liked very much that the tanks had knowledgeable employees around them, to answer any questions), and I asked her about the whale, as I was surprised that there was only one Orca in the tank?

She told me yes, that this Orca (who’s name I can’t recall) was the only one at the Park, and had been born at MarineLand, and had been here all her life. She told me the Orca really seemed to prefer being alone, and that over the years they had attempted to bring in Males to mate with her, but she simply had shown no interest, so after years of trying, they simply gave up (she mentioned they had “returned” the last Orca on loan to a park in Florida, but I didn’t press to ask if this was the one that SeaWorld had to sue them to get back. . . ).

So, since MarineLand is her home, they just plan on her being the last Orca they have, and have been moving to focus on more rescue and raising of the Belugas on site.

Regardless, tho this Orca was wonderful to watch as she played in the tank with some rubber rings (the caretaker was tossing), and kept her active.

I asked if these tanks had underwater viewing as well, and the answer was “yes” and they directed us where to go (another sorta hidden path), and once again, we were the only people down there – tho while we were down there viewing, a maintenance guy did come in to change a lightbulb, and I asked him if the underwater viewing is always this empty, to which he said “usually.. people don’t know it’s an option”

So if you go? It’s an Option, you should take advantage of as you can get some great views of these fantastic creatures

We hung out down here watching the Belugas, and the Orca for a little bit, but as with earlier there’s no place to sit, so after a bit we headed back up rested on a bench for a moment, and then back out onto the main path.

I could tell feet were starting to give way, as we had been in the park and walking around for at least 5 hours at this point, so we started walking a bit slower (did I mention that Nick can be a stubborn poopy-head and had absolutely REFUSED to bring his cane with him.. that I had made him pack for the trip, just for MarineLand? ) , and eventually came back to the path where it had forked way earlier this morning, near the Deer Park Castle.

I considered for a brief moment, looping back to the right - to get at least one more ride on Dragon Mountain, as the path did branch off in that direction – but seriously, that was approx.. 1 – 1 ½ miles additional walking, and I knew Nick couldn’t do it (since we’d then have to come all the way back after). . so rather than be greedy, we just continued to the left, towards the front of the park.

We came back to the sign from earlier this morning that said “Family” rides, and took the right, and followed the path as it looped around behind the Hungry Bear Restaurant into a section that has most of the smaller rides grouped together, near the front of the park.

They have an adorable Tivoli Wheel (that only goes up about 20 feet or so) and I teased Nick about riding it with me, since it’s a small height. And to his credit, he was willing, but first we had to sit down on a bench and rest after all the walking we had just done from Friendship Cove (really, it was about 15-20 minutes to walk from Friendship Cove to the Tivoli wheel).

The area was completely deserted, but from our perch on the bench, we chatted with the Tivoli Wheel operator, and she told that there actually had been some folks around, but we timed it well, as they had all gone to the show in the “King Waldorf Stadium”.

while we were resting, the park started shuffling employees around in this section, so the lady we had been talking to, moved from the Tivoli Wheel over to the Lady Bug coaster (a Zierer oval coaster, with some nice little “bumps” and outward banks). We had been enjoying chatting with her, and said it’s too bad she wasn’t on the prior ride anymore, since we wanted to ride with her. . and she said “come ride this, adults can ride, you just need to each sit in your own car”. . . so we got in the queue for the Lady Bug coaster (me in Front Row!), and she told us “it goes around 4 times, but who knows? Maybe you’ll go around double”. . LOL. . and then she released the manual brake and sent us on our way.

Sure enough, she sent us thru 8 times (which really is about 2 times too many, as some of the little bumps weren’t doing my back many favors by the 6th lap!).

We exited the coaster car, and we talked a bit about the weeds growing all thru the center of the oval, and how it would be really nice to put a clock, or some topiary there – something besides weeds. And this is the lady that told us they had mowed it just a few weeks ago, but she guessed they had missed the roots, as all the weeds came back (and also added that the owner likes anything green, so he’s fine with it looking overgrown). Ok, shrug. Still think it would look way better with a topiary, or small version of the flower clock in the center of the oval. Still, a cute little kiddie coaster, and for what it is, was fun to ride and the conversation was enjoyable.

3 out of 10 – a basic “kiddie” coaster, which would have actually gotten a 4 ½ from me if we hadn’t gone around 8 times.

Across from the LadyBug coaster is the Space Avenger – basically a small scale Astro Orbiter, but on the ground. I had had enough spinning rides by this point (besides, we had ridden the park’s Dumbo ride a little while ago, and this is very similar), but offered to watch if Nick wanted to ride. But he had no interest in it.

I still don’t really understand why there is a rocket themed ride sitting in the middle of MarineLand. . but ok, I guess one could say the same thing about the LadyBug coaster. . LOL

So we skipped Space Avenger, and the next two rides in this section are true kiddie rides: Boat Carousel (small boats in a giant bathtub going around), and Orca Screamer (a kid size version of the Skyscreamer drop tower). . . tho I teased Nick and the operator told him he could ride, he passed on Orca Screamer, and we didn’t even try to squeeze our adult butts in the Boat Carousel.

Also right here was a kid sized version of a Troika, called Bumble Bee. .that was supposedly themed to a King Bee, standing on a giant Honeycomb, but it didn’t look like that to me! I said to the operator at Orca Screamer “why is the bee standing on a pineapple?”. . to which she responded “oh my! That’s all I can see now” and started laughing. There actually was a small family that walked up to this ride while we were standing contemplating it, and we watched it cycle, but ultimately decided that it did not look like it would do anything for us other than make us dizzy, so while we enjoyed watching it, we did not ride it (yeah, we were starting to poop out by this time from all the walking. . . ).

The last ride in the park (and in this area) is Viking Adventure. . basically a disc-O but with a pirate ship in the center instead of a circular seating. I’ve still never ridden a disc-O (remember, not a big fan of spinning rides). Plus, the operator warned us that we would not want to ride it “right now” as it has no shade and the sun was out baking the ride. She said that she had to stop the prior ride because a child was crying as the seat was so hot.

So spinning, and burning hot seats? Ok, good enough reasons for us to not bother with it.

LOL. . so in the “Family Rides” section of the park. . where there are 7 smaller rides all next to each other. . we only rode ONE. Oh well, we had already had our ride fun on the bigger rides in the back of the park. Tho again, I do regret forgetting to backtrack to the Tivoli Wheel. . we totally forgot after getting off the LadyBug coaster!

We knew the only thing left that we really wanted to do in the park was the Aquarium (which is advertised everywhere as “Air Conditioned”. . . I guess with everyone continuing to tell us how hot the day was, that an air conditioned area is a big deal). So we continued heading towards the park entrance (since the Aquarium is right at the front gates). We didn’t really have any interest in the show, that had started at ~3, and the next showing wasn’t until 5:15.

As we passed by the large seating area for Hungry Bear (no one was sitting, or eating. . but then again, it was almost 3:30 pm, and the park wasn’t crowded. (but the food lines *were* open). It was actually quite a nice setting. Lots of trees and some shade – the most shade we had seen over any picnic table area in the whole park.

There was also (inexplicably) a giant throne. Maybe when the park gets busier, the “mascot” Walrus, King Waldorf (whom the stadium is named after) comes and sits in this throne for meet and greets? Who knows???

but I do love me a giant throne (as pics of me from Disney/Cedar Point/Fiesta Texas can attest). .so you bet I got my butt in there for a picture

The show in the King Waldorf Stadium was still going on, so we peeked in and saw dolphins doing flips, as well as Beluga’s arching out of the water. We heard there were seals and the titular Walrus in this show too.. but as we didn’t have interest in watching animals “perform in a show” and had seen dophins last year in Tampa, and in the Curacao aquarium on our cruise a couple of years ago. . we didn’t worry about missing too much.

I still had the Canadian change the lady had given me from the ice cream, and since the park had impressed me, we decided to go into the gift shop to look around. Of course, we timed it right as the show let out (the gift shop is in the base of the stadium), but since it hadn’t been a crowded day, maybe only 40 or so folks came from the show into the gift shop. We looked around – and it’s a large gift shop – and the vast majority of the offerings were things we weren’t interested in – lots of logo shirts, with the Beluga/Orca on them, but mostly in really funky colors. I did see a couple of things I thought were cute, but mainly we just had to keep moving around because there was one little boy, maybe 7, there with is Dad and little Sister, and regardless of what we started to look at the little kid would cut in front of us and grab it.

The Dad was focused on the little girl, and the boy was running rampant thru the store, just being a brat. He was misbehaving so bad, I even sighed to one of the sales ladies – THAT is why I don’t have kids..sheesh.

eventually, we got away from him, and I found a shirt featuring Dragon Mountain that I really liked, in a good color (tho Nick says you really can’t tell what it is), but it was cheap, and I liked it, *and* I had some Canadian $$ to get rid of before we left the next day. So tho I hadn’t planned on spending any additional money at MarineLand, I did end up buying this shirt, and two magnets that we liked.

We went ahead over to the Aquarium Dome (Air-Conditioned!!!. . but the doors were propped open, didn’t seem cooler in there to me, not that we were all that overheated anyways, tho we had gotten pretty sweaty from all the walking). It looked like no Aquarium as I would define it: to the left were large restrooms, and what looked like a shut down cafeteria. (no idea if this was once a food service place (it’s not noted as such on the park map), or maybe it’s an Employee break area (that wasn’t open since it was late afternoon?). . or maybe just catering kitchens for the picnic area (for corporate events?). . who knows. .it was just blocked off with metal gates.

Straight ahead was a large “stadium” with lots of seats, surrounding a large tank, that had some Harbor Seals playing in it.

Now there is no ‘show’ listed on the park guide here, and no signs explaining what the heck was going on there, so I have to assume that at one point MarineLand had a seal show, but as they have moved away from the animal shows in response to some of the controversies, they simply shut down this show, but didn’t remove the seating. Weird.

There were some stairs going down below the theater seating, with an arrow saying “exit”. . . and I had no idea, but went head down anyways, to realize that the bottom of the tank was done as giant “view” windows, so we could watch the seals from below. That was pretty neat, and took a few pictures, then noticed that around the outer edge, there was a sign that said “Aquarium” with an arrow. Following the arrow along the curve of the Aquarium Dome, there were 4 tanks, with some basic (tho large) fish. Nothing tropical, or exotic. .just 4 tanks of large, grey fish. I was like. . WTF?

Then we came to some roped off steps (so it looks like at one point in the past, the Aquarium Dome / show , had an entrance from the parking lot, and wasn’t included as part of the general park?).. and past those – leading back around to where we started – were another 4 tanks, also with some large, but still grey, fish. The giant Catfish were interesting enough that I took a picture of them. .but otherwise, as an “Aquarium?”. . this was disappointing.

My disappointment improved tho, as when we came back up the stairs to the entrance, our impeccable timing kicked in.

3-4 caretakers had come out with buckets of fish, and the seals (3 harbor seals, and one giant Grey Seal), came up right to the edge of the tank to mug for the fish-treats, and to allow for some wonderful picture opportunities. We were the only ones there, and hadn’t been there when they came out, so I think it was simply feeding time, and we lucked out (tho a few other folks did come over when they saw what was going on, to get pics too).

I asked one of the caretakers if they were all the same type of seal (again, no signs were up) and he said, “no Delphine is a Grey Seal”..but he understood why I asked, and laughed, when I noted that yes . . she is much bigger, but maybe she just eats more? He also confirmed my suspicion that the Aquarium Dome used to be used for shows, but now it houses the retired seals. (and said if we wanted to see Seals or Sea Lions performing, we could catch the 5:15 show in the stadium. But that these guys are retired).

The seals totally reminded me of my late baby girl, Roxxi, as she was completely blind with cataracts, and one of the older seals was also blind. But they were so cute, really just adorable animals. It made me a little sad, thinking of Roxxi (we had to put her down last November), but we still stood and watched them feed the seals until they were out of fish-treats, and then the Grey Seal went back to the rear of the tank (it only had come out for food, which is why I thought it might just be a fat one), and the harbor seals played in the tank.

And with that, and it being just about 4:40, meaning we had spent just about 6 ½ hours at MarineLand, we were ready to head out, and get our shoes off and get off our feet and relax for a bit back.

One additional weird thing about MarineLand (just one? LOL): There seem to be NO lights in the park.

I thought it was really strange that they note on the map, and in the “rules” that the park closes at Dusk, and “if you are in line for a ride when it begins to get dark, you may not be allowed to ride it”. I didn’t understand, as most of the rides seem to have great lighting packages included (including lots of colored bulbs on Magic Experience, and on SkyHawk). . . but then I realized, there are no street lamps, or overhead lights, or anything to illuminate the paths! If you are in the back of the park, and it gets dark? It would be just like getting lost in the woods with no flashlight (tho nowadays, I guess everyone could use their cellphones as flashlights).

But that would explain why they say the rides all close at dusk.. so guests can find their way out of the park.

it was a pretty shocking realization that there weren’t any lights on the large paths. . . as I said. . . “weird”

Anyways.. . so we exited the Aquarium, went out the exit gate right next door. Of course, stopping to talk to the gate clerks, who asked us how our day went – and again we heard about the owner liking lots of greenery, and how he enjoys keeping the park as a single owner (and apparently walks the property sometimes), and how excited they are about the new section of the park and they hope they see us again soon. etc. etc. .

Getting out of the parking lot is a little weird too (of course). . They have you follow to the left only, all the way around the side of the park, and way around to near the back, where it dumps you out on a street that’s only 1 turn away crossing into the Clifton Hill area. Really, I think from leaving the front gate, until we parked back at our Hotel, was less than 5 minutes.

So we got up to the room, stripped off our shoes/socks, and sweaty shirts, and relaxed for a bit. But it was our last night in Niagara Falls, I didn’t want to just sit in the room, and pack. So I told Nick to relax for an hour or two, and then I wanted to go do something

On to the pics:

this ride gets a unique sign, the others are all "carved wood". . hmmm. . wonder what makes this special?

never really seen a ride like this, not sure what it was gonna do, but man was it FUN.

yeah. .it's a dumbo clone. .but look! the center is an Octopus!

wheeee

Nick's submarine wouldn't go up, so we swapped cars after our ride, and he moved into the one I had been riding in

wheeeeee!

it's now in the afternoon, and headed back towards the front of the park.

Still really dead, but LOOK! people! two other people!

MarineLand's one Orca. . she really seemed to be enjoying herself in the tank, and interacting with her caretaker

doing backflips, and playing.

going into the underwater viewing, can get some great pics, and again we were the only ones down here.

just beautiful.

the front tank has more Belugas

NOTED

(we didn't see any leaks. .but this made me laugh).

DUH-DUH. . . DUH-DUH. . .wait. . wrong animal.

but it's like watching "Tentacles" tho. . .there were two Orca's in that. . . or even watching "Orca". . you know, that bad movie where Bo Derek gets her leg bitten by an Orca?

it's really nice down here, and they seem to keep it well maintained, tho it's obviously from decades ago when first set up.

liked these two big "fact" signs, down in this viewing area. . the other one with just the Belugas doesn't have these.

tho a bench down here along the back wall would be nice.

and we're walking. I'm smiling. . but so much walking.

Starting to slow down a bit as we are moving

oh. . we're back at the split near the Deer Park. . should we go back to Dragon Mountain? (I really do want to, but it's SO far away).

Ok. . .won't be greedy, we'll continue back towards the front gates, and the "family" rides

Like LadyBug Coaster

whee!!!!

this is before we went around 8 times, so still big smiles.

the food area at Hungry Bear is really lovely. . but no one was eating.

A combination of "lack of crowd" and "not lunchtime" I'd think. The prices seemed reasonable, even if the food was standard Burgers/Hot Dogs/Pizza themepark options.

but oh yes. . I'll stop to pose in a throne.

Sorry, Bill, and Boldy!. . . .

LOL. .but at least they sell Beer in the park.

I have a friend who's a huge Mermaid fan. . so took this pic to send to her of a shirt (that I didn't buy)

in the Gift Shop, they have this blanket for sale. . . no interest in that,but I loved that most of the animals in the blanket we hadn't seen (yet) that day, and we never did see any of those colorful fish.

from the underground viewing of the Seals in the Aquarium Dome

the only fish I thought were interesting enough to take a picture of in the "Aquarium". .which strangely all the tanks had a green tint. That tint didn't help with the fish all looking "gray" anyways.

Big ol catfish tho.