Before we left, we asked our KOA consultant/vacation planner what we should do. First mistake! Those people only live there, they do not usually visit the attractions. Admittedly, she said she hadn’t been there in awhile, that was apparent as soon as we arrived at the falls. She told us to skip all the pay parking and head to a certain church and park behind it – for free. There was a parking gate up. We were afraid to get trapped! We headed into the fray of all the other tourists all trying to compete for the best parking spot. We found a place that had parking spots where you must take a parking ticket. Zoom Zoom took a ticket, for a mere$10.00, and just like lemmings we followed the cars straight to the EXIT! We were so confused and felt used! On we went, though, because we couldn’t turn around! As we drove on, we passed a few more parking lots. We ended up in Parking lot #3 – as far as you can get from the falls! Zoom Zoom parked on the end under a lamp pole (another BIG mistake – birds like the lamp poles and Jethro was covered in POOP when we returned at the end of fun day!) A ticket booth/trolley stop was straight across from where we parked. We purchased Discovery Passes for $46.00 each. It got you into every attraction in the park. The BIGGEST and WORST thing that happened is the gal did not tell us to go to the Cave of the Winds right away and get a “time” to go down. We thought we just went when we were ready. We got lucky they still had time slots when we were “ready.” She gave us time slots for 4 hours later! 😊 6:08pm
Cave of the Winds – where we wanted to go and we needed a time!
First things first…don’t go on a Saturday! That euphoric feeling we had from the zoo in Cincinnati – gone! Everyone and their cousins, aunts, uncles, MIL, FIL, dogs, and hamsters were there! The bathrooms were crowded, the snack bars were crowded, the stairs, sidewalks, viewing areas, and everything in between! Cultural differences probably didn’t help either. We walk on the right side of the sidewalk, stairs, going out the doors, and just about anything else. Sometimes I felt as if I were swimming upstream or downstream. Other cultures do the exact opposite – we were always doing face offs. 😊 I just felt sorry for all of us because we do what we know which causes log jams.
Always a line for the women! 
Crowded 
Selling her craft 
More arts 
So crowded 
Observation Deck – tons of people 
Huddled around the Free Wifi 
They found a quiet place to eat 
Canada’s boat into the falls – stacked with people
It won’t matter the order you do “things” in as long as you go and get your Cave of the Winds time first! I cannot stress this. We didn’t even see it written anywhere to go get a time – so many sad faces. So many people didn’t get to experience this! If you have purchased a Discovery Pass, the park gets away with not refunding money for parts that never open or parts you didn’t redeem because your pass is good for 4 months. They just tell you to come back like it’s that easy!
The trolley runs constantly until 8:30pm and runs throughout the park, with the pass you have unlimited rides. If you stay on the trolley it is about a 40-minute roundtrip.
At the falls, be sure to have a good camera, plenty of space on your camera card and a few fully charged batteries. Zoom Zoom and I have been sharing his camera – it takes breathtakingly clear photos! We share because I take very different photos than he does! Hmm… imagine that!
This water is 3-5 feet deep here. 
The water is only 3-5 feet deep before the falls. 
Canada. 
See the rainbow? 
$8.50 
If you are wanting to step into Canada, like we did, all you need is your passport or passport card. Zoom Zoom and I only walked the Rainbow Bridge halfway to snap our photos in Canada and turned around. The customs line into Canada was very long so we chose not to put ourselves through it. On the return to the US, we entered the customs building and everyone waits in the entryway until called. The customs officer calls the next people in, askes what you did in Canada and sends you on your way.
One foot in the US and one in Canada! 
When it was finally time for us to go to the Cave of the Winds, we made “friends” with the group in front of us. Surprise! They were so kind to us, included us in their count so we could ride the elevator down with them, asked us to be in their group photo, stayed with us as we went through the different levels at the bottom of the falls (until we got to the “Hurricane Level”) and then one of them kept checking on me to see if I was ok.I’m surprised we didn’t exchange address and phone numbers! Zoom Zoom and I tried all the levels – it was so fun and COLD! The poncho they give you is like covering yourself with a napkin – we were soaked!
Lower Level 
Hurricane Level 
“Free” shoes everyone gets!
If you remember earlier the docks were flooded to the Maid of the Mist, we never made it on the boat. They did finally open it up, though!
Flooded dock 
Flooded dock 
Flooded dock 
Maid of the Mist – US boat 
Maid of the Mist – US boat 
Canada’s boat 
Canada’s boat 
Best view of the flooded dock.
We had to make a stop at the aquarium,it is part of your Discovery Pass. The aquarium isn’t very spacious. This is a place where we really felt the crowd! The good news…Zoom Zoom took some excellent photos of the sea life. The bad news…most of it wasn’t labeled, we had no idea what we were looking at! The best news…NO CLOWNS! (except for the Clownfish.)
Truly, you could use a few days here. It is a lot of walking and waiting. If we ever do come back, we will split it into 2 days. We didn’t make it to the Niagara Adventure Theater, the Made of the Mist, Three Sisters Island, or the casino!
All in all, go, put a bubble around yourself if you don’t like crowds. It is so breathtaking, special, unique and 7 miles shorter! If you don’t go soon it might be a whole millimeter shorter!