Niagara is disappointing (Niagara Falls)

Member Name: lynseya

Product:	Niagara Falls
Date:	01/06/01 (397 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The stunning falls

Disadvantages: Cheap resort, Tacky, Lost its cultural appeal

In 1999, I was living in the USA in Ohio. My older sister came to visit for my 18th birthday and took me to Niagara Falls.
We spent 3 days there, and although I enjoyed my vacation, and was mesmerised by the falls, the destination, resort, and hype certainly did not live up to expectations.

Oscar Wilde once said that Niagara Falls is the first dissapointment in every young American brides married life. I can see why.

The falls in themselves are stunning, of course, but it is clear that any magic and dignity that the small town of Niagara once had, has been washed away by the commercialised town of tack.

Niagara is awash with endless souvenir shops. It has the commercialism of Disney, without the fun of the rides. There is an entire street of bars and clubs and casinos and shops and cheap fun houses that makes the cultural traveller want to vomit. Some souvenir shops are also filled with sex-themed cheap gifts such as cards and keyrings and vibrators. Hardly the kind of thing a vacationing parent would want their child to pick up.

As Ontario drinking laws allow legal drinking at age 19, compared to 21 across the Falls in the States, weekend nights are filled with underage Americans with the sole purpose of getting drunk. Many Americans also come across to gamble in the large casino erected for the purpose of fulfilling the Americans desires.

Many of the hotels boast 'honeymoon suites' that consist of heart shaped red plastic baths that look like a reject from a bad American 70's porno.

Go to Niagara, see the wonder of the falls, take the boat tour and go up to tower, but for your own sake, avoid staying any longer than you have to, or the magic will be ruined.

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