Join me on an unforgettable family adventure at Niagara Falls, where we had an action-packed day trip that left us all in awe. We explored breathtaking natural wonders and indulged in boundless excitement. I’ll share our tips and tricks for spending one day in Niagara Falls with kids, ensuring that both kids and adults have a blast and create cherished memories to last a lifetime.
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If you’ve been following along with our stories, you already know that my husband and I absolutely LOVE adventure and spontaneity. It’s one of the many ways we keep our long-lasting relationship alive and well; which is a fantastic benefit of traveling that we absolutely adore.
My family was just sitting at the dining room table one afternoon when my husband looked up the driving time to Niagara Falls from our home in the Boston area. He found it was about 7 hours, so we decided right then and there to take a road trip with our kids up to Canada.
Everyone packed their road trip bags, and we were on the road within an hour. We knew we would only spend one day in Niagara Falls so we only needed a minimal amount of things.
The Overnight Drive To Niagara Falls
Finding A Hotel On Our Route
Since it was already late afternoon, we decided that we would drive for a few hours, find a hotel to spend the night, and finish the drive to Niagara Falls in the morning. To do this, I simply opened the map on my phone and scrolled ahead to where we would be in a few hours.
Then, I searched that area for hotels on our route. Once I found a couple choices, I opened Booking and reserved a room for the night. Super simple!
Keeping The Kids Occupied
We’re pretty much pros at road trips at this point, and this one went off without a hitch. My daughter had packed her own bag with various things to keep her occupied for the drive. I packed my son’s bag, and made sure we had plenty of good road trip snacks too. Here are the basic necessities each kid needs:
- A book
- A device of some sort with downloaded content
- Headphones
- A blanket
- A couple toys
- Protein-rich snacks – beef jerky, yogurt, peanut butter crackers, deli meat roll ups, cheese sticks, etc.
- Other snacks – fruit, veggie sticks, chips, goldfish, etc.
- Waters
We also played lots of car games. One of our favorites is seeing how many big trucks we can get to honk at us by giving them an arm pump. That one even seems to entertain the truckers!
Where Is Niagara Falls?
Niagara Falls sits on the border between New York, USA and Canada. You can visit either side, and each has its own unique perspective and activities. It’s about a two hour drive from Toronto to Niagara Falls, and it was about a 7 hour drive for us from Boston.
Crossing The Border Into Canada
We chose to visit the Canada side of Niagara Falls with the kids, so we crossed the border without incident (don’t forget your passports!) and made our way to our hotel.
The border officer that checked our passports asked us typical border crossing questions: How long are we staying, why are we going, where are we staying, etc. Fortunately I had already used the method I talked about earlier and found a hotel on the map and then reserved it on Booking, so we had no issues.
Where To Stay In Niagara Falls, Canada
Even though it’s a one-day trip, I strongly recommend spending the night in Canada before moving on. We chose to stay at The Falls Hotel & Inn. It’s a fantastic location to all the hustle and bustle of the area without being so close to it all that the noise keeps you up.
You can find your perfect hotel for the night here with Booking, like I did. There are many to choose from, and some even have amazing views of the Falls themselves.
Top Hotel Picks For One Day In Niagara Falls With Kids
We enjoyed our stay at The Falls Hotel & Inn, but we also would choose any of the below hotels to stay at as well.
The Hilton Niagara Falls / Fallsview Hotel & Suites is connected to the Fallsview Casino’s Entertainment Center and has choices between City View or Falls View rooms. It has an indoor pool, 3 on-site restaurants, and is within a 15 minute walk to all the top attractions in the area.
- Address: 6361 Fallsview Boulevard, L2G 3V9 Niagara Falls, Canada
- Phone: 1-905-354-7887
The Crown Plaza Hotel – Niagara Falls/Falls View is an upscale hotel nestled in the heart of Niagara Falls. It is connected to Casino Niagara and Fallsview Indoor Water Park and has room choices with spectacular views of the Falls.
- Address: 5685 Falls Avenue, L2E 6W7 Niagara Falls, Canada
- Phone: 1-905-374-4447
The Howard Johnson Plaza by Wyndham by the Falls has an excellent location and is perfect for families. It’s just an 8 minute walk to the Falls, and has a Denny’s, Pizza Hut Express, KFC Express, and Baskin Robbins.
- Address:5905 Victoria Avenue, L2G 3L8 Niagara Falls, Canada
- Phone: 1-800-440-5912
The Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Niagara Falls is right in the heart of the city, placing you just moments from all the top attractions in the area. It’s perfect for families, and even includes breakfast.
- Address: 5525 Victoria Avenue, L2G 3L3 Niagara Falls, Canada
- Phone: +1 905-374-6040
Seeing Niagara Falls
Since we only had one day in Niagara Falls, we knew we needed to prioritize our day. After we parked our car at our hotel, we walked a few minutes down the street to see the Falls. It did not disappoint!
My husband and I have seen many, many waterfalls over the years, like in Iceland for example, or when we went to the Diamond Falls in St. Lucia, but these were just breathtaking.
There are 3 waterfalls to see; 2 on the American side and 1 on the Canadian side. The view from the Canadian side far surpasses the view from New York, which we knew and is why we came to the Canadian side in the first place.
American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls
American Falls is the second largest of the three waterfalls. It’s about 830 feet wide and 180 feet tall. Watching the water flow over the side and cascade down onto the rocks below is truly a sight to behold.
Bridal Veil Falls is the small waterfall to the right of American Falls. It’s only about 56 feet wide and has a much shorter distance to the rocks below.
Together, these two magnificent waterfalls provide a stunning panorama, showcasing the raw power and delicate elegance of nature in perfect harmony.
Horseshoe Falls
Horseshoe Falls is simply stunning. It spans approximately 2,700 feet across and drops about 167 feet down.
There’s nothing like seeing this sheer force of nature just doing its thing. With its majestic curved shape and the sheer power of the cascading water, this iconic waterfall stands as a testament to nature’s awe-inspiring beauty.
Depending on the time of day and weather conditions, rainbows frequently arch over the falls, creating the most picturesque scenes you can imagine. Watching the kids take in this natural wonder was amazing for us as parents.
The Clifton Hill Fun Pass
There are quite a few attractions that you can combine in one pass to save money. We chose to purchase the Clifton Hill Fun Pass, to be able to experience 6 attractions that our kids would enjoy.
There are many, many attractions that you can experience in Niagara Falls, and quite a few package deals that you can purchase. This one was the best fit for us, for our one day in Niagara Falls with the kids.
We experienced everything included with this pass, with the exception of the mini golf. By the end of the night the kids were just too tired to bother. So we gave our passes to another family of 4 we noticed who had kids around our kids’ ages, and told them to enjoy the mini golf.
Included Attractions:
- Niagara SkyWheel
- Movieland Wax Museum
- Zombie Attack Interactive Ride
- Cosmic Coaster
- Ghostblasters Interactive Ride
- Dinosaur Mini Golf OR Wizards Mini Golf
Cost (in CDN): $35 for adults, $23 for children (age 3+)
Niagara SkyWheel
After we spent some time at the Falls, we went into the Welcome Centre. We wandered around all the shops a little bit and enjoyed ice creams. We knew that we wanted to check out the giant ferris wheel, so that was our next stop.
The Niagara Falls SkyWheel is a towering 175-foot high ferris wheel that gives you the most exhilarating view of the Falls. You are completely enclosed while on this ride, so there’s no risk of you or the kids falling out.
The view is incredible. You have an amazing vantage point while in the SkyWheel, and can see American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and Horseshoe Falls with ease. You also get to see the volcano at the Dinosaur Mini Golf erupt!
Cost Without the Fun Pass (in CDN): $15 for adults, $7 for children
Movieland Wax Museum
The wax museum is full of a whole bunch of mostly recognizable celebrity wax sculptures. Some are very good, and some you look at like “THAT’S who that is supposed to be?!”
We’re big Marvel fans in our house, so my kids loved seeing all the Marvel characters the most. Some of the other actors and actresses were from movies my kids (and even my husband and I) have never seen, but we still knew who they were.
It was fun walking through and seeing the different characters. We enjoyed trying to figure out who they were without looking at the name plates. Most of the time we could get it right. At the end there’s a scary section that was too much for my 4 year old but that my daughter and I enjoyed.
There’s a very loud and obnoxious alarm sound that rings frequently. It was extremely annoying and it appeared to be happening whenever someone in the building touched one of the sculptures. It really took away from the enjoyment and they should either do away with that alarm or put the sculptures out of arm’s reach.
Cost Without the Fun Pass (in CDN): $13 for adults, $7 for children
Zombie Attack Interactive Ride
For this attraction, you sit in a stationary seat that shakes and vibrates according to what you’re seeing on the screen in front of you. You wear 3D glasses and you have a gun that you aim at the screen and shoot the zombies as they come into the frame. It’s a lot of fun. They even list everybody’s scores from highest to lowest, and you can see where you rank for the day.
Cost Without the Fun Pass (in CDN): $10 for adults, $6 for children
Cosmic Coaster
This is another stationary chair that moves and vibrates in relation to what’s happening on the screen in front of you. You go on a virtual roller coaster through space, and the motion of the chair makes you feel like you’re actually on a coaster. If you don’t want the jarring motion from the chair, you can keep your chair motionless by simply not buckling the seatbelt.
Cost Without the Fun Pass (in CDN): $7 for adults, $5 for children
Ghostblasters Interactive Ride
This is an actual ride, where you go through the various rooms. You have a gun and you need to shoot the targets on all the ghosts, skeletons and other creepy things. You can see your score on the dashboard in front of you. It’s a fun experience for all ages.
Cost Without the Fun Pass (in CDN): $5 per person
Dinosaur Mini Golf or Wizards Mini Golf
The last attraction on this pass is one of two mini golf locations. You can choose between the Dinosaur Mini Golf near the SkyWheel or the Wizards Mini Golf a bit down the street.
Cost Without the Fun Pass (in CDN): $12 for adults, $7 for children
Other Activities For One Day In Niagara Falls With Kids
Along with the activities that were included in the fun pass above, we did a number of other fun activities in the area. There’s tons to do. A lot of it is pretty kitschy but there’s also tons of non-kitschy stuff that we just didn’t have time for.
Note: The lines for many of the big items (like the zipline and boat rides) were extremely long and we didn’t want to waste time waiting in them when we only had one day in Niagara Falls. Purchasing these tickets in advance would be the most logical choice, which we didn’t do as this was such a spontaneous trip.
The Fun House
The Fun House is exactly what it says – a fun house. There are spinning wheels and moving floors, and an entire room designed like a pirate ship that’s tilted on its side. There are interactive games like Fruit Ninja and floor Air Hockey, and a room filled with gigantic bouncy balls. It was a fun experience that both the kids really enjoyed!
The Haunted House
My daughter and I decided to try out the haunted house. She’s a big fan of scary movies and being scared so it was right up her alley. It was dark, and creepy, and something my son would have been terrified of, so he and my husband did the fun house again instead.
It has all the typical features of haunted houses; coffins, skeletons, creepy noises, and lots of darkness. If you’re into being creeped out, it’s worth going through.
The Maze Of Mirrors
The Maze of Mirrors was another fun activity that the kids absolutely loved. My son thought it was hilarious seeing himself everywhere he looked. We let our daughter lead the way and it was hysterical watching her try to figure out whether she was seeing a reflection or the actual path.
When you enter they have you put on a pair of gloves so that you don’t leave fingerprints all over the mirrors. This is fantastic because it actually makes it tough to tell what’s a mirror and what’s not. It was easily the best mirror maze I’ve ever been in.
There’s a mirror maze to start, then you have a section with a couple of rooms that you make your way through, and then there’s a second mirror maze before you exit. It’s quite well done in my opinion.
Arcades
There are at least two different arcades in the area. One of which you go into when you do the Cosmic Coaster. The other one is over near the SkyWheel. They have all the usual assortment of games, and is sure to be a great source of entertainment.
Restaurants
There are TONS of places to get food in the area. There’s a Rainforest Cafe, which we went to, and although the ambiance is a cool experience, the food and service leave much to be desired. There are also numerous pizza places, Indian restaurants, bar and grille types, and many recognizable fast food joints.
There is definitely something for everyone in Niagara Falls as far as food choices go.
Conclusion
Overall, I thought our one day in Niagara Falls was excellent. I would have loved to take one of the boat rides to the Falls, but the lines were insanely long and we didn’t want to waste what little time we had. Next time I would absolutely purchase tickets for one of the boat rides in advance so that we could get up close and personal with the Falls.
If you plan on spending one day in Niagara falls with kids or without kids, rest assured that there’s tons to do to keep you occupied. You definitely won’t be bored, or find yourself with nothing to do. You could easily spend a few days here and still not experience everything.
Niagara Falls would also be a fantastic mini trip to give someone you love as a gift. We have other fantastic recommendations for travel gifts for Dads and travel gifts for Mom that you should definitely check out.
