Detailed review by tartlette
tartlette(28)
Cardiff, United Kingdom98%
If you asked most people to name an attraction in Toronto then the CN Tower would probably come top of the list. It is an icon of the city and a massive tourist attraction. So is it worth all the hype?
HISTORY:
The CN Tower or Canadian National Tower is described as the 'Canadian Wonder of the World' and with good reason. The Tower was built in 1976 by Canadian National and was originally designed to be used for transmitting TV and radio signals. It was never intended to be a tourist attraction but what did they really expect? It is still used for its intended purpose but is also now a huge tourist attraction. Over 2 million people a year visit it.
FACTOIDS (!):
The Tower is the World's tallest building (well if you count the antenae which many don't!). If you're being fussy, I suppose its the tallest structure.
It is 553.33 metres or 1815ft and 5 inches tall.
At 342 metres or 1,122 ft there is a glass floor.
The SkyPod is the World's highest observation deck and is 447 metres or 1465 ft fromt he ground.
The top of the Tower, the antenae, was added by a helicopter bringing it into place.
That's enough factoids, you get the point that that this thing is extremely high!
LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY:
The only place that you can't see the Tower staring at you is when you're actually up the thing! Just look up in Toronto and there it is. It is actually located downtown on Front Street. It is next door to the Rogers Centre, or Skydome. We walked everywhere but if you are using public transport the Tower is about 5 minutes from Union Station using the Skywalk.
According to the Tower's website it is accessible for wheelchair users and there are various facilities in place such as lowered curbs and elevation devices. I can't comment personally as we did not use these but they seem to have everything available.
COST:
Here's where the shock came. I knew it was going to be expensive and the guide book did inform me that the 'Tower's main aim is to take your money' but it still came as a shock. There are lots of different packages available.
1. Total Tower Experience:
Look Out + Glass Floor + Skypod + Movie + Motion Simulator Ride
All Ages $31.99
2. Observation Experience:
Look Out + Glass Floor + Skypod:
Adult (13-64) $25.99
Senior (65+) $23.99
Children (4-12) $19.99
Look Out + Glass Floor only:
Adult (13-64) $21.49
Senior (65+) $19.49
Children (4-12) $14.49
3. Attractions Experience:
Look Out + Glass Floor + Motion Simulator Ride or Movie
Adult (13-64) $25.99
Senior (65+) $23.99
Children (4-12) $19.99
4. Individual Prices:
All ages:
Movie: $9
Motion simulator ride: $9
Skypod: $8.41
These prices don't include tax which adds around 13%. As you can see its not a cheap family attraction. I chose the Obsevation Experience. Make sure you plan ahead and don't add on extras when you get there as this is much more expensive. The Tower is also included in the Toronto CityPass but as we didn't want to see any of the other things included we didn't bother with this. I would certainly recommend the CityPass if you're in Toronto for a few days though.
THE EXPERIENCE:
I knew before leaving the UK that I definately wanted to go up the Tower. My boyfriend was not so convinced. He is petrified of heights and spent the first day in Toronto wondering whether he could face the dizzying heights of the Tower. His mind was made up when he found out that the lift goes up the outside of the Tower and has windows. Looking at me as if I was clearly insane for wanting to go up he muttered something about the Hockey Hall of Fame being close by and fled!
So I paid my money for the Observation Experience. The queue at the ticket counter was fairly short with only a couple of people ahead of me. I was then directed to another queue (you will see a pattern develop here) to wait to have my picture taken. This now seems to be a theme of most big tourist sights (we noticed this everywhere in North America). You stand against a green background while someone yells 'SMILE'. This would have been fine but as I was on my own it all seemed a little pointless.
I then proceeded to.....another queue. This time it was for security. Fair enough. The security consisted of what looked like airport scanners blowing air at you. How this picked anything up I don't know but it all looked very high tech! I then walked around the top of the shop where you can look down at all the souveniers they will try to trap you with later! Then another queue to get into the lift. The lift held about 12 people. There are 6 lifts so the queue did move. I did feel slightly like a sardine in the lift, they are quite small for the amount of people they put in them. It wasn't so bad though as you're only in the lift for 58 seconds (yes exactly 58). Now that distance in 58 seconds is quick (15 miles per hour) and it made my legs go a little jelly like. The fact that you can see out while the lift shoots up the outside of the building. The lifts did feel a little outdated and they rattled a little so again if you have a fear of heights then think carefully before handing over your money!
So now I'm at the Look Out level. On this level there are toilets, water fountains, a shop and the Horizons Cafe There are also huge windows where you can admire the view. I have to say that I was bowled over by the view and I went up on a hazy day so it must be absolutely fantastic when its really clear. I could see all of Toronto laid out below me and loved spotting things which we had been to see. Apparently on a clear day you can see Niagara Falls but I don't know how often this happens. If you're in Toronto for a few days make sure you watch the local forcast to get the best day to go. A less hazy day may mean longer queues but I think that the difference in the views would be spectacular. There is also a photo area where they will take your picture against a screen and make it look like you are hanging onto the side of the Tower and other hillarious (!) things. This was not open, however, which I was surprised at as it was heaving and in the middle of summer. To my mind its only another way to make money out of you!
Having wandered around here for a while I made my way down the stairs to the glass floor area. Here you can stand on a reinforced glass floor and look at the ground below. They told us that this floor had been tested to withstand the weight of 6 hippos. Well, I'm not a hippo expert, but considering the amount of people clambering to get a space on the floor, that didn't seem that much to me!! Nevertheless, seeing all the kids jumping on it and thinking well if they can do it, I stood on the floor. Definately not one for the feint hearted! I did think it was in bad taste to have a big X marked on the ground directly below the glass floor but I don't think that this was intentional!! On the same level was the outside observation area. Although it was good to have this, to say I'd been outside at that height, it wasn't very good for the view as the mesh was very dense and made it difficult to see anything. Also on this floor were information boards telling you about the Tower, with pictures. This was interesting and I liked reading all the facts.
Making my way back up the stairs to the Look Out level I prepared to travel to the Sky Pod. Guess what, there was another queue! I waited for around 20 minutes. They did have ropes for the queue but they weren't nearly long enough for the amount of people so the Look Out was crowded with people just waiting to get up to the SkyPod. There weren't any staff to tell us where we should be queuing to cause the least inconvenience. I finally got the the lift, another sardine experience! This lift was slower and went inside the building so it wasn't so leg wobbling.
Coming out on this level there is a huge board over the lift telling you all about the SkyPod and how it is the highest observation level in the world. This level is the little bulge you see on the tower just before the white antenae begins. You then walk up one flight of stairs and out onto a deck. Again the views are fantastic, even better than the lower level. The windows here go right to floor level so you see in front and below at the same time which was great. This level was much smaller than the other one but did't feel that crowded considering the queue to get up there. I managed to find a quiet space to take a picture of myself up there (the pitfall of going up by myself - to look like an idiot!!). Then another badly organised queue, down the stairs to take the lift back down to the Look Out level.
To leave the Tower you need to go to the Glass Floor level. There were two queues available to join to get back down the Tower. Lovely. This queue was the longest of all the queues and took about half an hour. When you reach the bottom you have to walk through the shop to leave, surprise surprise! The shop was filled with the usual tourist bits and pieces, to do with the Tower and Canada in general. There were T-shirst, posters, postcards, magnets, model CN Towers and much much more. Needless to say this was all fairly pricey and most of it could be bought in other shops for a lot less money. You can also pick up the photo that they took of you right at the beginning (again for an astronomical price - I think around $20-25). As I was on my own in the picture I wasn't thinking about buying it anyway but at that price there was no way I would have bought it. The trouble is that they print all of them rather than having them on a computer so you are paying for all the photos that people don't want as well. This seems like a huge waste of paper and time to me.
Other things to do at the Tower include a simulator, a movie and a restaurant that revolves. I gave these a miss as they had taken enough of my money already! The movie is 15 minutes about the construction of the Tower. The simulator ride is Lego Racers, what this has to do with the Tower I have no idea but I expect its a good bet if you have children. The 360 Degree restaurant is supposed to be a gormet dining experience. The restaurant revolves every 72 minutes so you can enjoy the view of the whole city while eating. If you buy a main course then the ticket to the Look Out level is included, which makes it a lot cheaper than it first looks. It is open for lunch and dinner. A main course for dinner ranges from $34 to $110. That is a pricey view!! There are cheaper options such as set price menus and going for lunch instead of dinner. The fixed price dinner is $48 but the choice is small.
I didn't try the cafe at the Tower either (student on a budget!) as the prices were higher than they should have been. Take water with you as the queues are very long and I dread to think what they would have been like had it been a clearer day.
MY VERDICT:
You can't really go to Toronto without seeing this in my opinion. I you have a bad fear of heights then I can understand you running for the hills like my boyfriend because it is very high and is quite scary. Other than that though I would definately recommend this. The views are fantastic and its one of those places that I felt I had to go to just to say 'been there'. The major downside is the price. If you are in Toronto with a family then this is a huge chunk of money to spend on something that will only last at the most a couple of hours (well depending on those ever present queues!). I was slightly annoyed that there was no student discount. I took a book with me to read while in the queue and a bottle of water is also a must. Try to go on a clear day and it will be worth the money (but only just!). A definate recommendation.
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