What: Thunder Falls Buffet
Where: Seneca Niagara Casino
How Much: Around $20 per person

Thunder Falls Buffet, located in the Seneca Niagara Casino out the front area near the Bus Lobby is a treat for the entire family. Fast lines and good food, although can be rather pricey, even with a players card. Great selection including asian, italian and southern. Great pizza, great salad and desert bar. If you have youngsters, you can eat at the buffet because it is located outside of the casino (you don’t have to walk through the casino to get to it).

One thing we don’t like is the reservation process. If you go on a busy Saturday evening, you have to get a reservation ticket which tells you when to come back and stand in line. If you are going to be standing in line anyways, what is the difference when you stand there?

300 Parkside Ave
Buffalo, NY 14214
(716) 837-3900
www.buffalozoo.org

A short 20 minute drive from Niagara Falls is the Buffalo Zoo. At 23.5 acre the Buffalo Zoo is the third oldest zoo in the United States. It was established in 1875. You will find tigers, elephants, lizards, frogs and many more animals.  The Buffalo Zoo Hours are:July 1 - August 31 10:00am - 5:00pm
September 1 - June 30 10:00am - 4:00pm
*grounds remain open 1 hour after gates close.

The Admission Fees are:

Children 23 months and under: FREE

Children (2-14): $6.00

Full Time Students: $7.00 (up to age 22 with valid school id)

Adults: $9.50

Seniors (63+): $7.00

The zoo has seasonal shows including keeper talks, puppet shows, animal contact and much more. For a hands-on animal experience, explore the Children’s Zoo. Recently renovated, the petting zoo enhances everyone’s zoo experience by giving them an opportunity to touch the animals inside the exhibits. You will get up close and personal with animals such as the Zoo’s Ossabaw Island pigs, Karakul sheep and silly chickens. Don’t miss the chance to get up close to a lorikeet or listen to the Sardinian donkeys bray. The Children’s Zoo also features seasonal outdoor animal demonstrations, interactive stations, a well-stocked vegetable garden and a suspended bridge over a peaceful pond. During the warmer months, walk through Lorikeet Landing, a open-air aviary where exotic birds fly freely around you, and feed right out your hand! It’s a great way to round out your visit to the Children’s Zoo!

The Zoo also offers a “Zootique” for souvenirs and gifts for all occasions. The zoo also has a concession stand and porcelain museum on site.

If you don’t have a car, check out Magic Mist Limousine service, they can take you to the zoo for the day for a very reasonable price from your hotel in Niagara Falls USA or Niagara Falls Canada. Their link is on the blogroll on this website.

I like to keep on top of the trends and things to do and see around Niagara Falls. When I am surfing around message boards and other places on the internet, I come across a lot of people and postings saying that there is just not that much to do in Niagara Falls outside of the Falls, and sometimes people will just come for a day. HOW WRONG THEY ARE! So today, I am going to start a new category here on the Niagara Falls Visitors Guide and name it “More to Niagara”. I am going to focus on the region, not just Niagara Falls. When I say region, I mean Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Toronto and everything in between. I will cover  as much as I can.

I am going to introduce to you things to do and places to go that are within just an hour drive of Niagara Falls, so if you are staying here for more then one day you can discover our region and go home and tell everyone what a great time you had when you visited the Niagara area. I hope you enjoy it – and please feel free to post a comment anywhere on this blog so I know there are actually people reading- well, I know you are out there since this website is already getting over 1,000 unique visitors a month in it’s third month of existence; so don’t be shy and SPEAK UP about your experiences here, we would all love to hear about them!

The Rainforest Café is located on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls Canada. There can be extensive waits to get into the restaurant during summer season due to the nature of the place. It is a jungle themed restaurant with animated elephants, gorillas and other jungle inhabitants. There is also a shark tank (yes with live sharks) and of course a gift store for you to spend more money.

It is very dark inside with shows every 10 minutes or so where all the jungle beasties come alive. It is a nice feature for the kids. Food quality is just OK and prices are moderate to expensive. Plan on spending upwards of $100 Canadian or more for a family of four people with elephant appetites after walking around all day. If you go there knowing you will spend at least $100, there will not be any surprises when the bill comes to your table. Otherwise pack the antacid for the stomach ache you’ll get after realizing how expensive it really was. Something has to feed all of those elephants I guess.

We have been there a few times, but each time we go, I become less and less impressed with the food quality; in fact we have decided it’s not worth it for us to go anymore because of the prices.

I recommend you don’t sit in the bar area next to the “rain storm” because the mist that is expelled is not controlled and floats all over the bar area, and seems to float right towards your face which gets rather annoying and proceeds to lay condensation all over the table of diners. We had to move tables because it was that bad – if it  means you have to wait an extra 10 minutes NOT to sit at a table in the bar area – wait the extra 10 minutes.  This can be asking a lot sometimes because we literally waited about an hour to get into the restaurant one visit while entertaining out of town guests.

Overall, it is a neat place to go if you have never been to a Rain Forest Café, but if you have been to another location elsewhere, you are probably not missing much.  But hey, you are on a Niagara Falls vacation, right?

Feel free to post your experiences, good or bad with this restaurant. Just click the Comments link below this post.

As I rode past the casino today on my way to work, I could not help but notice the big blank space along John B. Daly Blvd where the old Niagara Splash Park once was. The Pizza Hut on the corner has also disappeared. Meanwhile, on the other side of the hotel the old Holiday Inn is just about all down. One thing I have to admit about the Seneca Nation is they don’t mess around when it comes to development. It leaves one to wonder what is going to come up in it’s place. It is rumored to be a state of the art entertainment complex with more gaming space and more hotels on the land.

4946 Clifton Hill
Niagara Falls, ON, Canada
(905) 358-4793

Hours of Operation: The wheel is open year-round with hours adjusted according to the season - just give them a call at the number above!

Gondola Info:

Number of enclosed Gondolas - 42
Max passengers per Gondola - 6
Gondola loading - 6 simultaneously

SkyWheel Info:

Height: 53 meters tall (over 175′)
Ride duration: 10 minutes.
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes Costs: Around $10 Adult, $6 Child - here is a tip - look for $1 or more off coupons in the tourist brochures in your hotel!