Is the 2-Day Niagara Falls Pass Worth it?
We spent 48-hours putting the 2-Day Niagara Falls Pass offered by Niagara Parks in Niagara Falls, Canada, to the test. Attraction admissions in the pass include:
- Floral Showhouse
- Journey Behind the Falls
- Butterfly Conservatory
- Whirlpool Aero Car
- White Water Walk
To our pass, we added a guided tour of the Niagara Parks Power Station + Tunnel and the Voyage to the Falls boat ride by City Cruises. While riding a boat to Niagara’s Horseshoe Falls while donning a red* rain poncho has long been considered an essential part of the Niagara Falls tourist experience, Niagara Parks Power Station + Tunnel are new attractions. The Power Station opened its door to the public in 2021 and added the Tunnel part of the attraction on July 1st, 2022.
An essential element of vacation fun is dining out at area restaurants. We decided to try two restaurants with phenomenal views of the falls:
- Table Rock House Restaurant, located within the Table Rock House Visitor Center.
- The Revolving Dining Room of Skylon Tower.
Niagara Falls DAY ONE:
Cross the Border and Arrive at Table Rock Centre in Niagara Falls
Arrive at around 9:30 a.m. to find parking with ease and admire the Niagara Falls. Get ready to make your way indoors and over to the line beneath the Journey to the Falls sign at 10. The line may take 30-minutes to get through.
Table Rock House Restaurant
Located inside Table Rock Centre, on the second level, Table Rock House Restaurant opens at 11:30 a.m. most days. Their hours can vary by season. Make a reservation in advance for the best chance to get a table with a spectacular view of Niagara Falls. To improve our odds, I made our reservation for 11:30 a.m., right as they opened up. It worked out well for us!
Table Rock House Restaurant offers an upscale, yet reasonable farm-to-table menu with a nice range of items to satisfy various palates. Its quality far exceeded what we expected from a restaurant with the advantage of being in a tourist destination with views to rely on.
We started off with light, refreshing, just-right-for-summer drinks. I drank a Mint & Cucumber Gin Fizz, while Chris enjoyed a Sparkling Peach Lemonade Mocktail. For lunch, I gave the Vegan Power Bowl a try and was delighted by the variety of items in it: iceberg lettuce, roasted red pepper hummus, pickled beets, green beans, hemp seeds, vegetable spring rolls, and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. It was so filling! There was no need for any additional protein. Chris was just as happy with his Stuffed Ontario Chicken Breast. It was stuffed with Bright’s havarti and spinach, roasted garlic sauce was poured over it, a celery root potato mash and seasonal vegetables were served on the side.
Niagara Parks Floral Showhouse
The Floral Showhouse was only open on the first of our two days in Niagara Falls, so we decided to visit it first. Its location is also conveniently located a short walk from Table Rock Centre. It worked well to put it between lunch at Table Rock House Restaurant and The Power Station + Tunnel, because the latter is just a short walk from Floral Showhouse as well.
While admiring floral exhibits isn’t often a priority for my husband, I enjoy taking in their beauty and learning a bit about them whenever I have the chance. I loved that this was part of the pass, because it made it an automatic part of the adventure.
Be sure to check out their Life on Display miniature village collection! We both loved that and the little treehouses.
Niagara Parks Power Station + Tunnel
This was not part of the pass we purchased, though some options do include it. The standalone ticket for the Power Station + Tunnel was $28 when we went.
We went on the guided tour of the Power Station and highly recommend it. When we went it was an additional $10CAD (about $7.50 USD depending on the day’s exchange rate) and so worth it. We met our guide and the others on the tour outside of the gift shop. She was able to connect the exhibits together into a cohesive story with interesting insights that strengthened the experience.
After our guided tour was done, we went to The Tunnel experience. You take a glass paneled elevator 180-feet below ground and walk the 2,200-foot long tunnel to an observation deck at the edge of the river. It’s the perfect spot for watching Niagara City Cruises and Maid of the Mist boats approach Horseshoe Falls. The views are incredible.
End of Day 1
We ended Day 1 with dinner at Brasa Brazilian Steakhouse in the Hilton Niagara Falls / Fallsview Hotel that we were staying in. It was our weekly date night, so we didn’t take any pictures or jot down any notes about our food. I can tell you that we were SO FULL by the time we stopped eating and that the Caphirinas were going down quickly. If you love a Brazilian Steakhouse, this one is fantastic. If not, there are plenty of nearby options, including others in the Hilton.
After dinner, we enjoyed watching the fireworks from our hotel room. It was July 4th, so the fireworks were extra plentiful. Those, we broke our date night no recording rule for and shared them on Instagram.
Niagara Falls DAY 2
Voyage to the Falls Cruise with Niagara City Cruises
Being as close as we were to the might and majesty of Horseshoe Falls is a memory we will carry with us forever. There aren’t adequate words to describe it and pictures will never do the experience justice. Video probably does the best job. Have a look at our Voyage to the Falls. It may be the “touristy” thing to do, but it’s definitely not an experience to turn your nose up at – it’s absolutely worth the money and time.
Niagara Parks Journey Behind the Falls
I put Voyage to the Falls and Journey Behind the Falls as back-to-back experiences because I knew they were the most likely to get us drenched and require a change of clothes, and/or shoes. I was RIGHT! If you’d like to see for yourself, click here and here. After doing both, we went to the hotel to change and grab a quick bite to eat. Then, we took the Incline Railway (funicular) back down to Table Rock Visitor Centre to catch the super convenient WEGO bus that we rode to the remaining sites on our Niagara Falls adventure.
Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory
Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory is one of the largest glass-enclosed butterfly conservatories in North America. Over 2,000 butterflies flutter along the beautifully landscaped pathways.
This is a not-to-be-missed experience if you love butterflies! I felt positively transported and Chris enjoyed it despite himself. He tends to deny that butterflies and flowers are of any interest to him. Even if you just kind of like them, it’s worth a visit.
Travel Tip: Carry a yellow tote. Two butterflies adored mine and kept following me and my yellow, MetroCard tote around. Or, maybe wear rose-scented perfume. I was.
Niagara parks Whirlpool Aero Car
Whirlpool Aero Car has been transporting tourists across the Niagara River Gorge since 1916. It’s a well maintained antique that takes visitors 3,500 feet above a swirling natural whirlpool and Class 6 rapids (as in classified as extremely dangerous). The ride provided just the right amount of exhilaration. Everyone aboard was able to enjoy the same amazing views as the woman operating the ride made sure that we rotated.
Niagara Parks White Water Walk
Why spend the time walking along the rapids after viewing them from above? They are the fastest rapids in North America, the only ones on the entire continent with the distinction of being rated Class 6. Check out how strong they are in this clip.
It’s a pleasant walk with some interesting information given along the way and the bird watching is quite nice. Who have I even become? I never thought I’d love watching birds as much as I now do.
Dinner at Skylon Tower
When you book a table at Skylon Tower’s Revolving Dining Room, you get to enjoy the Ride-to-the-Top elevator and the observation decks for free. Plus, you get to sit in a dining room that rotates 360-degrees per hour and take in all the views that Niagara Falls, Ontario has to offer.
We had glasses of Cava Brut. Shared a bowl of French Onion Soup. I had the Filet Mignon Bearnaise. Chris had the New York Sirloin Steak. I had Pinot Noir Cave Springs. Chris had a Cabernet 13 Kings. Both wines are local to Ontario. At the end, we shared a Creme Brulee. Our food was delicious, the service attentive, and the ambiance remarkable. It was the perfect finish to our “weekend” in Niagara Falls.
Travel Tip: Look up when the sun is scheduled to set and book a bit before so that you can also enjoy the sky changing colors as you rotate around.
Did Getting The Niagara Falls Pass Save Us Money?
As I publish this, on September 18th of 2022, the following pricing is accurate. However, prices can change without notice, so be sure to check the niagaraparks.com site for the most up-to-date pricing information.
For $69 each, the Niagara Parks, Niagara Falls Pass includes:
- Journey Behind The Falls (Regular Price: $23.50 ea.)
- Butterfly Conservatory (Regular Price: $17.00 ea.)
- White Water Walk (Regular Price: $17.00 ea.)
- Whirlpool Aero Car (Regular Price: $17.00 ea.)
- Floral Showhouse (Regular Price: $7.00 ea.)
- 2-Days of Falls Incline Railway Pass (Regular Price: $6.19 ea./Day, $12.38 ea. for 2-Days)
- 2-Days WEGO Bus Pass (Regular Price: $15.00 ea. for 48-hours)
Using the pass saved us almost $40 ($39.88) each versus paying full price for all of the above.
We added on the Voyage to the Falls Boat Tour with Niagara City Cruises ($32.75 each) and the Niagara Parks Power Station + The Tunnel with the Guided Tour ($38.00 each).
*Red Ponchos are worn on Voyage to the Falls by Niagara City Cruises rides on the Canadian side. Blue Ponchos are worn on Maid of the Mist rides given from the American side of Niagara Falls.
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