Niagara Falls New Years

[Woody]

We went with another couple to Niagara Falls, Ontario for New Years this year. We thought we would do something different since our kids are mostly grown up. We only stayed one night and didn't do much sight seeing.

The Hotel - We used reward points to stay at the Crown Plaza. The room was the smallest room I have ever seen in a hotel and was pretty dated. The doors and wallpaper etc had definitely seen better days. The ice machine wasn't even plugged in on our floor. Our view basically was the wall of the casino next door but if you turned and looked at an angle you could see the American Falls so it wasn't a total loss. The positive of the hotel if anything was the location. It was all connected to the Hard Rock (where we had dinner and drinks), the casino and there is a waterpark if you have kids. The staff were also very friendly and helpful.




The Casinos - There are two in town. Casino Niagara was connected to our hotel. It's really small with mostly slots and a few blackjack tables and roulette tables. It's clean and quiet but pretty small. We played a little slots and signed up for the rewards card which will be important later. We went to The Fallsview which is a full scale casino. It was packed to the nines and loud. I wanted to play Craps but they only had two tables and they were both $25 min which is over our heads so I lost a little playing video black jack. Nothing major.

Queen Victoria Park Concert and Fireworks - This was the reason why we went. Free concert in the park featuring Styx and Tom Cochrane with Red Rider. Both pretty big acts in the 70's and 80's. There wasn't a song played we didn't know the words to. The sound was a little shaky at times but we really enjoyed the music. Mr. Roboto and Lunatic Fringe. The beer tent was selling bottled beer for $8 or $10 Tall Boys. Of course we snuck a few in but really we could have put a case in my wife's bag because nobody was checking anything. The fireworks were pretty amazing. A large flame ball went up the side of the tower that we were standing under and exploded into the fireworks show. I was impressed. No drunken idiots or fights or anything. It was well organized. Strange right after midnight the park cleared out and Tom played a few more songs. It's was fun.



On a closing note. The hotel was charging $35 a day for parking on top of $15 a day for resort fees. We found out that if you get a players card and gamble a small amount like $40 then you get free parking. The hotel won't tell that. So we went to the front desk and got our money back and got the parking for free. I guess since we were going to gamble a bit anyways. My iPhone filled up and while I thought I was taking photos I wasn't.

[Jollymolly]

Very nice

[POPTOP]

Sounds like all in all it was a good trip. The falls are amazing.

[labsnewfy]

Yes the waterfall is beautiful sounds like the park concert and fireworks made it all worth the trip and smaller room.