There's a place I know in Ontario..... Everyone Loves Marineland!
Written: Aug 12 '09
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: The rides and the shows.
Cons: They need more water fountains/bathrooms. The bear exhibit it bad, do not like.
The Bottom Line: If you are in the Niagara Falls area, do not miss out on Marineland. Everyone loves Marineland!
|
|
|
| ronikaye's Full Review: Ontario |
I have the pleasure of living in Niagara Falls, Ontario, where there is so much to do and see. One of my favorite things to do here is visit Marineland. If you have seen the commercials on TV, you can NOT get the song out of your head! If you have not seen the commercials, check YouTube.
Marinleand is conveniently located to the downtown Niagara area, where most of the hotels are, making it easy to access for the tourists to the area. Marineland is seasonal, they are open from May-October. The weather in this area is rarely too hot or humid to enjoy being outdoors for the day. The admission is $39.95 for adults, $32.95 for the kids, children under the age of 5 are free. If you are going to be in town for a while, or if you live in the area, you can pay an extra $5 to upgrade your ticket to a season pass. Your picture is taken and fingerprints are scanned so you can not share your season pass with anyone.
Marineland has a sea lion and dolphin show that is a must see. They also have a killer whale "show" which is really nothing more than the whales splashing the tourists. You can feed the Beluga whales, but it costs. You can watch the Beluga feedings for free. Be sure if your little one wants to feed the Belugas, that you take them over and let them watch first. I paid for my 4 year old to feed the Belugas and she screamed and cried and would not go near them- money wasted! I can not remember specifically but I believe it was somewhere between $8-$12 dollars to feed them. You can also go down under and watch the whales swimming in their tanks. That is really neat to see.
There is a bear compound where there are several brown bears. You can pay to get a cup full of what looks like Corn Pops that you can stand and toss to the bears. They will beg. It is kind of pitiful- I do not think that this corn pop looking snack is healthy for the bears, and the water in the enclosure looked really nasty. I was not a big fan of that particular area, but we did get some cute pictures of the bears.
There is a nice deer park where you can pet and feed the deer. This is especially nice, and I was able to get some wonderful pictures of my daughter petting a baby deer- they are not afraid of you!
Now let's talk about the rides! Wow! There are some excellent rides for little children, some that are good for families, and some rocking good thrill rides for the adults. The Dragon Mountain ride is an absolute thrill! Totally fun. The topple tower looks simple and boring but it is actually fun too! I rode the Sky Screamer (which you can see from just about anywhere in the niagara region it is that tall!). I did not like the Sky Screamer, I should have known not to ride it, as it is one of those snatch up to the heavens and drop you sort of rides, and I do not like that sort of thing. Thrilling is fun, scared to death not so much. If you like the tower of terror and the like, you will love it. The view from the top is amazing, I would ride it again if they would hoist me up for the view and gently bring me back down elevator style!
I love the fact that there are so many rides that you can enjoy with small children. They sell frozen lemonade and frozen strawberry lemonade everywhere throughout the park, @5 dollars. You have to try one, they are excellent and one is enough for two people.
Another thing that I love about Marineland is you can bring in your own food and drinks. You can pack a huge picnic lunch or just fill a backpack with a few sandwiches and drinks. They do not require you eat their food. If you do not bring your own, be prepared to spend a pretty penny- even a simple hot dog and fries will run you about 8 dollars.
You can rent a buggy/stoller thing at the gate. They are expensive, @15 dollars for the day. If you are going to be a regular to the park, I suggest investing in a wagon of your own. If you are just visiting, and you have small children who are just out of stroller age- you might want to rent the wagon.
Parking is free at the park- get there early if you do not want to have to park a mile away! The prices in the gift shop are suprisingly low for theme park fare.
A few things that I do not love. If you bring water bottles, fill them up, and bring several as there are very few places in the park to refill them! This means lugging around a backpack with several full bottles of water.
If you bring a pic-nic in with you, you have a long walk back to your car to take the cooler- I have seen people tail gating in the parking lots as to avoid this. You can leave and come back in, just be sure to get your hand stamped!!
There are not alot of bathrooms, they could use at least another 3 sets in my opinion. Any time that it takes more than five minutes to walk to a bathroom, that is too far, and the ones that they have, although are pretty clean considering, are very crowded!
All in all, it is a very fun place to visit, something for everyone in the family to enjoy.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
ronikaye
|
|
Member: Roni Kaye
Location: Canada
Reviews written: 65
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
I am a 38 year old wife and mother of 3.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.