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Storybook Gardens / Niagara Falls

Well after all the drama that ensued at my place this week, me, my mom, and sister decided to go to London for the night. So we left at almost noon, and got to London around three thirty even though it should have only taken us two hours (I won't take the 401 which is one of the busiest highways around). The GPS was also retarded which made it take us longer to get there, and once we got there we realized it closed early and that we only had a bit over an hour there, which is actually pretty much all you need. Not a huge place, but it brought back some memories of when I was little! Here's some pictures:

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The entrance!

Then we went to the back of the park where they had all the play equipment..

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My sister was a bit scared so I went up with her..

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Unfortunately, I actually got stuck in one of the slides..

Then, we went to play on this cool net thing:

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And last thing we did in the play area was play on the pirate ship, where I, once again, became stuck.. But I was stuck in an opening that you're suppose to crawl through this time, not a slide.

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Then we ran to the maze!

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But not before taking a picture with the frogs!

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And taking pics in front of random things!

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They do have some storybook theming though, such as these characters:

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And this shoe:

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I took a picture of my mom and sister!

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Then me and Winter had our turn in front of the cat!

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They also have a few rides, such as a ferris wheel, a carousel, and a train, but we didn't go on any because my sister is a scardey and we didn't have time

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They have a water area, too

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Then the park closed, and we had no idea what to do. London is a big city, but every attraction is basically closed at five or earlier, so we were like, hey let's drive to Niagara Falls! So we did, but on the way, we picked up my cousin Bri, and her two kids!

After driving for hours and finally arriving at like, 10:30 at night, we drove past the lit up falls, and to our hotel room because the kids were tired. Clifton Hill looks great at night but no pictures turned out!

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Here is my sister, Winter, and my cousin, Raven:

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And here is the hotel which we got a GREAT deal on. $78 a night and it's RIGHT in the main part of Niagara Falls..

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Then we walked to Burger King which has a wicked exterior, where I ate French Toast Sticks <3

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So then we walked down Clifton Hill

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To the Maid of the Mist!

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Snapped this picture on the way out:

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And also a picture of this peachy peach-

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Then we made our way around Clifton Hill and did a few overpriced attractions:


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I LOVE the fun house here, you have to go in it for the slanty room.. It's soo trippy but you can't really see it in this picture:

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Here's my sis enjoying the fun house:

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Brick City, which I didn't go in:

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Guiness World Record Museum:

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Ripley's Believe it or Not museum:

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Of course I had to get some haunted house credits.. I got two :)

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Then.. I went on the most terrifying thing ever.. A ferris wheel:

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Here is my little cousin, Kylie, on the ferris wheel:

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And the view:

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Here is me, my mom, and sister on Clifton Hill:

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And all of us:

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Then we left for home around 3:30 and I made it back around 9 when again it should have only taken four hours :p .

Hope you enjoyed! We will be goin back soon and we are gonna do Niagara on the Lake as well, and probably Marineland too.
 

Ollie

CF Legend
Is the haunt there any good?
I love the outdoors of that Ripley's though. :D

Some nice photos and looks like you had a pretty good time.
 

premal944

Roller Poster
I went to Niagra falls last year but I didn't do anything on Clifton hill because we decided to go to Marineland. I'm might go back to toronto next year because I have a lot of family there.
 
Is the haunt there any good?
I love the outdoors of that Ripley's though.

Some nice photos and looks like you had a pretty good time.

Yes, the haunt is pretty cool there.. I did two, Haunted House and Dracula's Castle. Haunted House was mostly blackness and animatronics with no live actors so it was just okay. Dracula's Castle you got to pick your intensity and we picked the most intense one obviously.. And it was good. It had live actors and they actually get to touch you and stick things down your back in there.

And the exterior of the building IS really cool, that is one thing I love about Niagara is the outside of their buildings are all pretty neat. <3 the Burger King exterior.

I went to Niagra falls last year but I didn't do anything on Clifton hill because we decided to go to Marineland. I'm might go back to toronto next year because I have a lot of family there.

Clifton Hill is a bit of a tourist trap in all honesty.. The fun house is like, $7 a person, the 4Dtheatre is $16 for a CHILD.. So the way to go is you buy a fun pack where you pay $30 for 6 attractions. Maid of the Mist is decently priced though, and all I really recommend doing is Marineland, Maid of the Mist, Skylon tower, maybe a haunt or the maze (which was really fun, you go around the maze collecting letters and whoever spells maze first wins), and the ferris wheel. Ripley's museum is very cool too, better than the Guiness one.. But I don't think the wax museums are worth the price.
 

RCF

Strata Poster
Man that's the Niagara Falls I remember. The Ripley's Museum was pretty cool, and so was sitting in that guys chair. Sounded fun.
 

STC

Mega Poster
I love kitschy little parks like that, nice report!

The problem I have with Niagara Falls (having never been to be fair), is it looks like the imense natural beauty of the place is spoiled by the rather unsubtle and crass development, the tower blocks, casinos, observation wheels and yes, theme parks.

I can't really imagine it all stuck on the edge of the Grand Canyon. :p
 

peep

CF Legend
Wow, the exterior of that Ripley's museum is epic.


Not too keen on the rest of the area though, looks quite tacky IMHO.

Niagara Falls looks lovely though, one of the places I think I'd like to see in person one day.
 

CMonster

Giga Poster
Clifton Hill or whatever it's called looks a whole lot like International Drive here in Orlando. Tacky buildings, tourist traps, Ripley's... :p

Anyways, good report and nice pics. It would be fun to go there someday... How's the maid of the mist?
 

Emmett

Giga Poster
Nice report Taylor. I was surprised to see all those attractions situated so close to the Niagara Falls as I thought the falls were in the middle of nowhere out in the countryside. It looks like a mini Vegas.

I guess its because they need to provide a bit more to the tourists to encourage them to stay in the area.
 
I love kitschy little parks like that, nice report!

The problem I have with Niagara Falls (having never been to be fair), is it looks like the imense natural beauty of the place is spoiled by the rather unsubtle and crass development, the tower blocks, casinos, observation wheels and yes, theme parks.

I can't really imagine it all stuck on the edge of the Grand Canyon.

Haha, well, I think some of the falls are man made (artificially shaped or something) if I'm not mistaken so I might not call it 100% NATURAL beauty but, I do know what you mean. However, I kind of like the mix of the nice natural-ness and then the built up city around it.. It provides a good contrast.

Wow, the exterior of that Ripley's museum is epic.


Not too keen on the rest of the area though, looks quite tacky IMHO.

VERY tacky, but damn, that's what I love about Clifton Hill :p . All the exteriors and everything are just so tacky and colourful that it's hard not to like 'em.

It would be fun to go there someday... How's the maid of the mist?

Yah, if you're going there one day make sure it's for two days. We've been there before so we didn't do everything, but there's also like, Niagara on the Lake (a cute little old-style street which is quite the contrast to Clifton Hill), Skylon Tower, Marineland, and then a lot of other like, attractios we didn't do that time like going behind the falls which is pretty cool, and some other things on Clifton Hill..

Nice report Taylor. I was surprised to see all those attractions situated so close to the Niagara Falls as I thought the falls were in the middle of nowhere out in the countryside. It looks like a mini Vegas.

Noo, most certainly NOT the middle of the countryside! Right next to Buffalo, NY, and like fourty minutes away from Toronto. If you go like, from Niagara Falls and into the direction where I live (so, more to Southwestern Canada) then you hit a lot of small towns outside the area, but it is by no means in a secluded place!

Thanks for responding guys :)
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
Can't believe how dead Clifton Hill was when you were there compared to when we've been there. We still haven't done any of the wax museums, even though Aidan wanted to do the Famous Criminals one last year (he changed his mind when we went back a few days ago).
We also did Dracula's haunted house (scariest intensity) & the women behind us asked for the least intense level, but they weren't offering it that day. :lol:
We also did the Dinosaur mini golf behind the Ripley's, which was fun. Have you done Galaxy mini golf, the indoor glow-in-the-dark one?
And you didn't do the Pile Driver drop tower. :( It's not that good actually, but I managed to talk the operator in letting me go again (for that price they should always let you go twice anyway :wink: )
 
^ We left our hotel at like eight or nine in the morning before anything was open, so some of the pictures were when everyone was probably in still having breakfast or something! Plus, we were one of the first in line for Maid of the Mist which gets HUGE lines so we got lucky. It got busier later on.

But yeah I don't really do the wax museums, I don't really dig 'em. Ripley's is kinda cool but the Guiness thing isn't that great. I did the dino golf when I was just a little wee one though, aww! Never the glow in the dark one, but I do have pictures of the cool glow in the dark dragon.

Pile Driver was closed this time.. It was open back a few years ago but I never bothered. Stuff on Clifton Hill is a bit too expensive! How much did it run for a go on it?
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
It was $9 Canadian! That's why I was so glad that the ride ops gave me an extra go. That & the fact that I missed the launch on my first POV. :wink:
 
^ LOL what a joke. Did you see the prices for the Spongebob 4D show? It waslike $17 for under 12 and like, 20 for adults! Ridiculous!

But yeah, as much as I like rides, I would NOT pay nine bucks to ride a drop tower thing.
 

RCF

Strata Poster
East Coast(er) General said:
Can't believe how dead Clifton Hill was when you were there compared to when we've been there. We still haven't done any of the wax museums, even though Aidan wanted to do the Famous Criminals one last year (he changed his mind when we went back a few days ago).
We also did Dracula's haunted house (scariest intensity) & the women behind us asked for the least intense level, but they weren't offering it that day. :lol:
We also did the Dinosaur mini golf behind the Ripley's, which was fun. Have you done Galaxy mini golf, the indoor glow-in-the-dark one?
And you didn't do the Pile Driver drop tower. :( It's not that good actually, but I managed to talk the operator in letting me go again (for that price they should always let you go twice anyway :wink: )

Shoot, when I went after a freaking 12-14 hour drive we got there about 8 o'clock and it was PACKED. That's when we just went to eat and just go to the falls (which are WAAAAYYY better during the day) then we went back to the hotel room. Next day we just chilled, and later that night is when we went to some of the wax museums, and the Ripley's museum and almost went to Madame Tussauds. Then the next day it was off to CP. :--D
 
^ Dang, packed? So I guess I got pretty lucky when I went then. Crowds definitely picked up but it still wasn't even that bad. The falls are also so not better in the day, they look absolutely awesome at night!
 

RCF

Strata Poster
^ I think the view of the falls is nice because of the lights, but the beauty of it is easier to see during the day.
 
^ Oh yah, for sure. I actually like the way Niagara Falls looks at night, with everything on Clifton Hill lit up and everything. I wish we would've walked down it at night, but the youngins were tired so we hit the hay :p .
 
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