Saturday, June 25, 2011

Doubletree Fallsview Resort & Spa, Niagara Falls - Hotel Review

The Doubletree Fallsview Resort & Spa in Niagara Falls, Canada is a perfect spot to spend your vacation in Niagara Falls.  While it is a little further away from the main tourist area than some of the other 4-star hotels in the area, it takes only about 10 minutes maximum to walk down to the falls from the hotel.  Even from that distance, if you have a room on one of the upper floors, you'll still get a nice view of the American Falls from your room, which is quite a nice sight to see when waking up in the morning.


The walk to the main tourist area either walks past gift shops and eateries or through a beautiful park and into the area that houses the Niagara Falls Skywheel. Both enjoyable walks.

The room itself is a standard 4-star quality room with comfortable beds and well-maintained by the housekeeping staff.  In our interactions with the front desk staff they were quite friendly and more than willing to continually give you free chocolate chip cookies throughout your stay.  The lobby has a lodge-like feel and is warm and inviting.  There is even a small art gallery open to the public on the first floor.


We did spend some time in the hot tub. The pool facilities were clean and the hot tub worked wonderfully.  Parking in front of the hotel was ample and was $12/day, which was reasonable compared to other locations in the Falls area.

I'd definitely recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Niagara Falls and would stay there again.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Mackenzie Heritage Printing Museum

On the drive from Niagara Falls to Niagara-on-the-Lake, make sure to make a stop at the Mackenzie Heritage Printing Museum. This restored home was the home of rebel newspaper publisher William Lyon Mackenzie.

The museum is very hands on, with one of the world's only remaining wooden printing presses on display, a working linotype machine, and a working press that visitors are encouraged to use to help make a poster.

While making the poster, visitors are also taught how to line type and learn the origin of why we call it "upper case" and "lower case."

Our tour guide also gave us some Canadian history and while we were touring the printing museum, other presses were being used to make posters and flyers.

This small museum is very interesting and intriguing; make sure this is one of your stops while you're visiting Niagara Falls. Teaching children, and yourself, about the history of Canada, Canada's newspaper history, and the history of printing, is made fun!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Skylon Tower




We chose to have dinner at the Skylon revolving restaurant for a number of reasons. Number one, it has the best bird's eye view of Niagara Falls and you get a free trip to the observation deck with dinner. Second, those little yellow bugs that go up and down are so cute! And third, the menu looked amazing!

They do an early dinner that has sittings at 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. with a prefixe menu that is offered all year. The prefixe menu includes a house salad, an entree and chocolate mousse.

During your dinner the restaurant rotates so you can see the falls from a birds eye view, as well as the town. The restaurant rotates about one full rotation an hour. As you spin, there are great little factoids on the side that tells you about what you are seeing, either past or present.

After dinner, head up to the observation decks to see the area again and take some photos, sans glass. The wait staff at the restaurant is very friendly and is more than willing to take photos of your group together if you ask.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Niagara Adventure Pass

The Niagara Adventure Pass is a great way for tourists visiting Niagara Falls to save some money during their stay.  For C$44.95 (plus tax) you'll be able to get a combined admission pass to the Maid of the Mist, Journey Behind The Falls, White Water Walk and Niagara's Fury.  In addition, you'll get unlimited access to the Niagara People Mover bus to get you to and from every attraction.  If you're planning on hitting up these attractions anyway, getting this pass in a no-brainer.  It can be bought both online at the link above, or at any of the attractions or Visitor's Centers around Niagara Falls.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Whirlpool Aero Car

Everyone comes to Niagara Falls to see the waterfalls, but how many people know that further up the river is a whirlpool?  Back in the early 1900's, this "aero car" was developed to allow visitors to get a bird's eye view of this phenomenon.  

While it isn't quite what I expected from seeing whirlpools in movies, it is still a sight that should be seen by anyone who makes a trip all the way to the Niagara region.  It is also easily reachable by the People Mover bus from the main Niagara Falls tourist area.

If you're someone who is scared of heights though, be forewarned that you may get a little queasy up here.  But be assured, this is perfectly safe and offers a nice view of the whirlpool.



Monday, June 20, 2011

White Water Walk


A couple of miles north of Niagara Falls is the White Water Walk (which can easily be reached by the People Mover bus that runs throughout the day through Niagara Parks).  Many people come to Niagara Falls to see the falls, but most don't realize that there are some extreme white water rapids further north on the river.  

These rapids are extremely dangerous to anyone who chooses to try and venture riding them, and many have died trying (hence, it isn't legally allowed anymore).  However, there is a pathway set up that you can enter to walk right next to the rapids to at least partially experience their power.  To get there, you'll take an elevator down from the main road and have the ability to walk a quarter of a mile next to the rapids.

If you're considering doing this attraction as well as the other popular ones in the area, I'd highly recommend getting the Niagara Falls Adventure Pass to save a few bucks.  It combines the price of this attraction, the Maid of the Mist, the Journey Behind The Falls and Niagara's Fury all into one.




Sunday, June 19, 2011

Maid Of The Mist


If there is one attraction that everyone knows of in Niagara Falls, it's the Maid of the Mist.  For over 100 years they have been taking daring travelers as close to falls as is safely allowed.  While long lines form to board the boat, the boat holds hundreds of people, so the line moves fast.  Be sure before you board that you secure your camera in some type of waterproofing as you will get soaked!

Once on board, try to get to the starboard (or right) side of the boat to get the closest and best view of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.  Most people intuitively try to avoid this side as you start off with the opposite side facing the American Falls, so it should be easy to secure a spot.

Not much else can be said about this boat ride in words, but from the pictures below, you'll see why it's well worth taking your time to do.

If you're considering doing this attraction as well as the other popular ones in the area, I'd highly recommend getting the Niagara Falls Adventure Pass to save a few bucks.  It combines the price of this attraction, the Journey Behind The Falls, the White Water Walk and Niagara's Fury all into one.