'Niagara Takes Flight'

A few months ago I was browsing Niagara Falls, Ontario tourist attractions looking for something, anything, interesting.

“Niagara Takes Flight” caught my eye because I had neither seen nor heard of it. It opened in August at a cost of $25 million, a virtual reality simulator designed to give the full Niagara Experience.

I emailed Parks Canada and asked if the Express could visit the attraction because as a journalist and tour guide I never received a press release or saw news coverage.

The response from the affable communications person was one of wonder. How had the tour guide community as well as American consumers, not heard? She offered free tickets so we could check it out.

Given our busy schedules, I pushed it out until last Friday. Beth and I crossed the Rainbow Bridge, parked at the Table Rock lot, $36 Canadian. And walked to Table Rock Center. The day was frigid but everything outdoors was ice-coated and beautiful.

Inside, the ticket taker looked at my printed reservation and had to call for help before apologizing, in a decidedly Canadian way, and ushering us into the attraction. It would have been $29 Canadian per person without media credentials.

The first room takes about 8 minutes and includes the Hodeenosaunee creation story as well as other details about the people of the longhouse,  mother earth and the seed savers. My only quarrel was that it said she brought dandelions to her people. Dandelions are a European native. Beans, squash, maple seeds, even sunchokes I get, not dandelions.

The second room was about the development of the city of Niagara Falls and hydroelectric. After that short visit, we were ushered into another room where we stowed our coats and climbed into seats with belts. There were about 15 people there. We were secured and the entire platform spun to give the sense of augmented reality with shaking, mist, even floral fragrances, a 3D experience flying over the Falls, going into the water, seeing site along the gorge

Part of the narrator’s story was how Parks Niagara is tasked with protecting the beauty of this place.

There’s the rub – the river, on the Canadian side, is all about cars and honky tonk, with a road rimming the edge almost all the way to the Spanish Aerocar and Whirlpool.

As a tour guide and advocate of all things Niagara, USA, I am fond of looking at Niagara Falls, Ontario.

I gesture at Niagara Falls, Ontario.

“The sprawl over there is what happens when you are 90 minutes from the 4th largest city in North America,” I say. Everybody gets New York and LA. Sometimes people know Toronto. What’s the other one?”

No one ever gets it.

“The only thing that is better over there is the view of all 3 waterfalls. You can’t get that in the states. It will cost you $36 to park. They also have the Power Portal museum which celebrates Nikola Tesla in a way we should have in New York.

“Not only is it expensive to park, they even charge you $20 to take a walk along the Whirlpool Rapids.”

Then I point out to people that they can park free by the Schoellkopf Elevator, at Whirlpool or Devils Hole and take a walk. Heck, if your knees and lungs are up for it, you can even walk down the stairs to the upper rapids. Oh sure, you won’t have a fancy boardwalk, but you won’t have to pay $20 or be crowded by lots of visitors.

Oh yeah. Mexico City.