Call Me Ajala

Per my last post about my trip to Niagara, I wanted to share with you the itinerary and the prices for my weekend trip to Niagara.

In my opinion, if you can go with multiple people, that saves a lot of cost.

Tracking costs

I use an app called Splitwise to track expenses and split costs among my friends and I. This has also proven helpful in my day-to-day affairs with other people. It calculates and splits inputted shared costs. I use the free option but the paid subscription has more features. Due to how infrequently I used the app, I could not justify the added expense.

Car rental

We rented a vehicle from Enterprise. It had the most cost-effective car rates including insurance. We rented it for 4 days and we paid about $370.

We rented an Airbnb as it was more cost-effective for our travel group. In summer, weekends are the first days to sell out and the nicer hotels closer to the falls are expensive. While I tend to prefer hotels, for this trip I was really happy with the Airbnb choice because of its proximity to the tourist area and the falls, the amenities it offered (the full apartment, a full kitchen, and air conditioning), and how it accommodated my travel group. For the 2 nights, we paid about $700.

Parking

Be sure to read the signs for parking in Niagara- For example, we saw a sign that said $5 for parking, but what we did not see was the “per hour” written in subscript. We ended up paying $20 for the full day and an extra $5 because we left and returned. The next day, we used the same parking and paid $15 for 3 hours. Parking ranges and changes during the day—the highest we saw was $36 for the full day per entry, and the cheapest was about $15 towards the end of the day.

Activities

There are a lot of activities to do, but not all of them are worth it to me. I will divide it into activities I did, those I considered, and those I did not consider but mention.

Activities I did.

• Observing the falls from the walkway is free.
• Movieland Wax Museum costs $12.99 per person. They had a deal of a $40 ticket pass for Movieland and 5 other activities around the area. Good for people who want to try multiple rides.
• Skylon Towers ride to the observation deck + the 3D/4D movie costs $24 per person.

Activities I considered.

• The Maid of the Mist boat ride costs about $43 per person.
• Speedway go karts cost about $5–$14 per person for 5 minutes of driving. The signage, for some reason, was showing $70 per person; that was why I ended up not doing it.
• The holographic zoo was $25 per section and it had about 4 sections. The pricing did not make sense to me, so I scratched it.

Activities I did not consider but will mention.

• Ziplining costs about $67 per person.

There were so many other activities—from regular arcade games and mini golf to roller coasters, Ferris wheels, and so on.

Food

We brought food with us for the trip, which helped save a lot of cost. We initially wanted to eat at a restaurant for our Friday dinner, but we had excess food so we pivoted and did an in-house movie night instead. We packed a main course, fruits, water and drinks, breakfast food, and snacks.

I bought ice cream because why not? Each time cost about $6.50. I bought from similar shops and got a vanilla and chocolate cone the first time and an orange-flavoured ice cream the second time.

Gifts and mementos

I got a really nice magnet from the gift shop for $6.  I also got shirts for my family and I from the non-touristy part of town. I got 3 cotton shirts on sale for $20. In the tourist centre gift shops, one shirt was going for $25 or above.

Clothing and shoes

I dressed very summery and carried comfortable walking shoes. I used a lot of sunscreen, wore my sunglasses, and had a face cap at all times except when it did not match my outfit (priorities). It was very warm, and the area near the water had a cool breeze that made walking very bearable. It got cooler in the evenings as well.

Thoughts on Niagara

• I am not a fan of roller coasters or boats in deep waters, so I may not be taking the Maid of the Mist on my own anytime soon.
•  I would go into the Hershey’s shop and try a few delicacies. I avoided it this time due to my lack of self-control per my sweet tooth. Maybe by the next trip I would have evolved.
• Accessibility should be prioritised in such a tourist-focused place. At Skylon Tower, the entrance ramp was not accurate and would be nearly impossible for self-propelled wheelchair users. The escalator is narrow, and the attendants at the counter do not inform you that the elevator is a special request. Only when you get to the escalator do you find a note that says- if you need the elevator for your wheelchair or your stroller, please go to the counter. A similar note at the counter would suffice, which would reduce the travel time for people. Additionally, the elevator is the same one that takes people to the observation deck, so if there is a line up, observation deck visitors are given priority over those who need to get from the basement level to the main floor.
•  The elevator at the basement level opens up at an angle in front of the female washrooms, like a last-minute addition. It created a tight space with all the foot traffic from the washrooms and the lines waiting for the elevator. Many were forced to carry the wheelchairs or strollers of their group members if they did not want to wait any longer. This would not be convenient for self-propelled wheelchair users or people pushing strollers alone.
• The movie location is way outside the building the attendants at the counter do not inform you. There has to be better communication and signage for information dissemination, especially at the Skylon Towers.

All in all, it was a lovely time. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!