Marineland trip report
Bush The War Criminal
September 2, 2003
Long, detailed report but bottom-line summary is:
If you are within driving distance and can get the heavily discounted
tickets available for September, the crowd-free Marineland is worth a
visit.
With all the silly SARS paranoia this year, many people avoided
Ontario attractions unless there were special promotions or
discounts. I didn't have access to the C$14 Marineland tickets back
in June, so I took my family to a lot of great-value attractions
first: Ontario Place ($14, 50% off), CNE ($7, 30% off), Fantasy Fair
indoor amusement park ($5, 56% off), Toronto Blue Jays (7 games for
the price of 4), and numerous free community festivals (CHIN Picnic,
Burlington and Toronto RibFests, Burlington Children's Festival,
Brampton NittyGrittyBramaChingWingDing, Hamilton's "It's Your
Festival", Bloor West Village BIA Annual Community Festival, etc.).
As the summer was winding down, Marineland finally started offering
heavily discounted tickets for the month of September but only to
concierge services. I got mine from Eservus for $20/ticket, but later
found out that the concierge service of Scotia Plaza in downtown
Toronto was selling it for only $16, or 55% off the regular price of
$35.26 (for 10-59 years, including 7% GST). Unfortunately, you or
somebody you know has to work in the buildings in order to use their
concierge service.
Since the tickets were good for September 1-30, I debated between
going on September 1 and 2. Labour Day Monday was the last day that
Marineland would be open regular summer hours. Starting on September
2, admission booths open one hour later at 10:00 a.m. and close one
hour later at 5:00 p.m. Unlike other attractions such as African Lion
Safari, Marineland doesn't seem to lower their regular prices to the
general public after Labour Day. As it turned out, going after
September 1 is ideal as the park is relatively empty.
We followed the directions from http://www.marineland.com of staying
at the QEW (towards Buffalo) until the McLeod Road exit, while the
Internet directions provided by Yahoo! Maps (http://ca.maps.yahoo.com)
suggested turning to Highway 420 towards the bridge to the USA and
exiting at Stanley Avenue. The Marineland signs with a blue-coloured
whale on McLeod Road were small, but we found our way to the parking
lot. We noticed that there were many more empty parking spaces than
cars, so we knew that it wouldn't be crowded. Rather than parking at
the first available spot on the eastern part of the parking area
(outside the kiddie playground), it probably would have been better to
keep driving past the main entrance (and blue "exit" signs) and find a
closer spot in the western parking area. Unlike many attractions in
Toronto that charge $7.50-$17, parking was free.
It was good to have pre-purchased tickets as we bypassed the people
lining up to pay regular price. Upon entry, we weren't given any
brochures so I had to specifically ask the attendant for the
map/schedule. The show schedules will probably be the same for the
remainder of the month so I will list them below. Like most
attractions, the approximate length of the shows is frustratingly not
listed, but Marineland only had two shows anyway.
The Aquarium Theatre featuring training and educational sessions with
dolphins, sea lions and dolphins had five shows daily: 10:30 am, 12
noon, 2, 4 & 6:15 pm. The show was only around 15 minutes long. The
best place to enter the air-conditioned theatre is at the farther of
the two entrances (eastern entrance if you're looking at the map)
where there are less parked strollers and you will be able to find a
more central and closer seat. Two young volunteers were picked from
the audience and after interacting with the mammals, each was given a
dolphin inflatable. After the show, I brought my child for a closer
look at the dolphins who continued to interact with the poeple.
There was no announcement or signs that there was more to see in the
lower level, so almost all the visitors left the theatre and missed
the freshwater fish display. It was described in the map, but
obviously very few people bother to read the descriptions
word-for-word. If I wasn't the explorer-type, I wouldn't have
ventured down the dark unmarked stairs. Only a few people made it
underground, and I was able to take a nice picture of just my child
with a dolphin right behind her. There were many aquariums at the
back, but again there were no signs directing people that there was
more to see. We managed to see all the hidden fish displays, going
past several stairs and exits, going where very few visitors had gone
that day. As we were circling around, we came across only two people;
they were about to turn back from the "exit" sign then I told them to
keep going as there was a lot more to see. The "Hungry Lion
Restaurant & Patio" was closed, but I believe the "Hungry Bear
Restaurant and Beer Garden" was open.
The "King Waldorf Theatre" featuring the above mammals plus a killer
whale had four shows daily: 11 am, 1, 3 & 5:15 pm. The best place to
enter is again at the farther of the two entrances (western entrance
if you're looking at the map). The best place to sit is at the very
centre within the first couple of rows. After you stake out your
seats, one of the adults can take the child down to take a closer look
at the killer whales before the show starts. The front centre area of
the pool is shallow for the killer whale to beach on, so if you do get
wet, it will be more likely from the human performers' water fight.
The ideal picture would be of your child just as the killer whale
beaches for a few seconds.
The show was around 30 minutes long. There was too much silly human
dialogue instead of more animal tricks. Only one killer whale
performed. I was disappointed that there was no direct audience
interaction, such as the whale tryint to kiss a pretty female
volunteer. While the show was nowhere as good as the Florida Sea
World show, it was still very entertaining for kids.
Marineland warns visitors to both theatres that people in the first
ten rows may get soaked, but it is more like only the first TWO rows.
My spouse is overprotective of our pre-schooler and she threatened to
go postal on me if we sat within the first few rows, but our child got
more wet from my spouse's spit while shouting than she would have from
the mammals' splashing!
The ideal time to arrive at Marineland is in time for the 10:30 am
show at the Aquarium Theatre. After that show, you can walk to the
western entrance of the neighbouring King Waldorf's Theatre to get
good seats for the 11 am show. After that show, you can walk back to
the Aquarium Theatre to take your time at the secret underwater
display. You will have more than enough time to go to all of the
attractions as much as you want. We were in the park for around 5
hours since 10:40 am, and drove to the nearby Niagara Falls after.
Even though the beluga and killer whales have a set schedule for the
"Friendship Cove" feeding and touching sessions, it is not listed on
the park brochure. I had to ask the Cove ticket attendant for the
times and wrote it down. The last sessions were 5:30 and 6:15 pm.
I hate it when parks charge high regular prices for all-inclusive
passes, then after you pay and enter, you find out undisclosed charges
for some attractions. Here are Marineland's misleading
revenue-generating schemes:
1) After a family has paid over $35 regular for admission, getting to
touch and feed a killer whale will cost another $5/ticket. If you
also want to do the same for the beluga whales, it will be another
$5/ticket. Nowhere in Marineland's brochures or website are these
hidden fees disclosed. Some parents waste money for the child, only
to find out that the child is too scared to feed or even touch the
mammal.
2) Marineland heavily promotes that "you'll feed fish, elk and even
touch and feed deer" but doesn't disclose anywhere that "you'll spend
a lot of money at the animal feed huts".
For over-indulgent parents, the cumulative cost of these undisclosed
fees will be almost as much as the cost of all the other attractions
combined! My pre-schooler is too young to know how to feed the
animals anyway. She was more interested in trying to jump on the lake
than feeding the fish! One nice lady gave my child a couple of fish
food pellets, but instead of giving them to the fish, my child tried
to eat them! As onlookers and I gasped in horror, I managed to stop
her from eating the food, but she started crying.
The infamous Sky Screamer is still not close to being ready. "The
world's highest triple tower ride" is more like "the world's slowest
ride to get constructed." The park brochure misleadingly claims that
"SKY SCREAMER OPENING SOON!!" as if we should go back this month or
next to try it out, but I confirmed with park employees that it won't
be ready until next year just like Arctic Cove. It is inexcusable
that the 2003 park brochures still shows both future attractions as if
they are open. Visitors were looking for these two attractions from
their map, only to be disappointed that the map is a lie and that the
long-promised attractions won't be ready for another year.
The Sky Screamer had all three towers constructed and a couple of
empty vehicles were being tested out. But getting the attraction
finished looks like many months away. Rather than redoing the
finishing touches after a harsh Canadian winter, the final paint and
theming will probably not be done until at least the spring. The
artist rendering on the map indicates that riders will have to climb a
winding path up the mountain as opposed to building a costly ride
before the ride. I think only the most energetic thrill-seekers (like
me) will want to take such a long trek up, and somebody is bound to
have a heart attack before or during the 450-foot ride (hopefully not
me!), which will result in a public relations nightmare.
My favourite ride (at least of the ones that are ready) is of course
Dragon Mountain, which is supposed to be the world's largest steel
rollercoaster. The mono-coloured stone theming are either unfinished
or just plain boring. My spouse thought that the unlabelled dragon
entrance was of a lion, and she asked how she can get to the lion
exhibit! The first turn in the cave entrance is dangerously too dark,
especially for people walking in from daylight; without warning, I
could not see a thing and I spread my arms to grab anything by the
side, only to be hurt by the unseen rock walls. Handrails or more
lights needs to be put in.
That's enough for now. If anybody has questions or comments, please
reply by posting (as my anti-spam email address won't work).
Iain Hendry
> 1) After a family has paid over $35 regular for admission, getting to
> touch and feed a killer whale will cost another $5/ticket.
That is insane. My respect for the park went down a *lot* if what you said
is true. This must be something new, as it's never been like this.
That makes me really mad!
> The Sky Screamer had all three towers constructed and a couple of
> empty vehicles were being tested out.
Do you mean they actually had the thing cycling?
Iain
Bush The War Criminal
> "Bush The War Criminal" <bu...@war.criminal> wrote:
> > 1) After a family has paid over $35 regular for admission, getting to
> > touch and feed a killer whale will cost another $5/ticket.
>
> That is insane. My respect for the park went down a *lot* if what you said
> is true. This must be something new, as it's never been like this.
> That makes me really mad!
Friendship (For a Fee!) Cove, there are no informational signs as
usual, but a park employee will start the sales pitch of the next
feeding sessions for the beluga and killer whales. You see a group of
people feeding the whales, but as you and your child try to join in,
an attendant will tell you that you need to buy a ticket. This has
been going on for at least this year as my friend had bought the $5
ticket early this season.
What's worse is that the long-promised aquariums will have the same
hidden extra charges. "Special contact areas will allow visitors to
have the chance to personally interact with some of the sea life such
as: dolphins, stingrays, starfish, etc."
> > The Sky Screamer had all three towers constructed and a couple of
> > empty vehicles were being tested out.
>
> Do you mean they actually had the thing cycling?
> Iain
construction-type pieces going up and down for a few seconds. They
were not the big vehicle platforms that you see in Marineland's
misleading ads. The triangular top is far from being finished and
there are no blue "Marineland" lettering on any side yet. I expect
the new target date to be February 31, 2005! ;-)
The following is my opinion of what Marineland needs to attract more
visitors:
1) Season pass. Marineland is one of the few major attractions that
doesn't have a season pass, which is important for early guranteed
cash flow and will encourage loyal repeat visitors from areas within
driving distance.
2) Water play area. Canada's Wonderland, Ontario Place, African Lion
Safari and Toronto Zoo know that a water play area is important to
attracting families and multiple visitors. There does not seem to be
any water parks in the Niagara Falls tourist area.
3) Need to keep up with the Clifton Hill attractions such as Marvel
Adventure City and 4-D theatres. Most Niagara Falls visitors end up
in the Clifton Hill tourist trap instead of Marineland.
Vivax
"Iain Hendry" <military...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:tGm5b.64922$kH3....@news02.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com...
Hownow
> > > 1) After a family has paid over $35 regular for admission, getting to
> > > touch and feed a killer whale will cost another $5/ticket.
The old carnie freak show gimmick -- an admission to the tent and an
extra charge inside for what folk really wanted to see.
Historically, Marineland has always stepped up its advertising in
Toronto after Labour Day when the prime season tails off. But like all
heel-of-the-season tourist attractions, many of the summer employees
have left and things tend to get cut back.
Prices often come down in the fall at summer tourist attractions but
generally not until September 15 and later.
I went a couple of times back when it first opened, and when there was
not a lot of concern about animals performing in shows, and training
methods were not as developed as they are today.
The show was much simpler then; no whale, for example.
But what struck me was that at the moments during the performance when
the two or four dolphins leaped out of the water together, and on cue
with the PA system patter, there was never a human performer in the
water with them. I speculated that they were giving them a jolt of
electricity to send them out of the water and high into the air.
- hm
SaraAB
>
> > 1) After a family has paid over $35 regular for admission, getting to
> > touch and feed a killer whale will cost another $5/ticket.
>
> That is insane. My respect for the park went down a *lot* if what you said
> is true. This must be something new, as it's never been like this.
i believe this is for the new beluga whale exhibits or whatever, when
we used to go to marineland when i was a kid i dont think you could
touch the whales, they never did have this before, i havent been to
marineland in a very long time though, in the commercials it makes it
look like everyone can touch the whales for free,(wouldnt it be nice
if a park did something NICE for kids for once?) i didnt suspect there
was a hidden fee involved, the least they could do is print the fees
and attractions in the brochure for people to reference, so they will
expect charges, this is just as bad, or worse than a six flags park
(and like you said most kids wont even actually touch the whale, they
will be too scared, they mostly just want to look at the whale up
close)
the flyer we recieved in a local paper advertises sky screamer as
opening in may of 2003 i believe, what a joke, i feel sorry for all
the people that came out to see that this ride isnt even open yet, the
reason it hasnt opened yet is because of permits and stuff, much like
the drop tower on clifton hill didnt open, they acted like it would
open right away but it wont until next season, the wnycc even had ert
time scheduled on sky screamer for the labor day event, but that
obviously never happened due to the tower never opening
John Sterling
> water with them. I speculated that they were giving them a jolt of
> electricity to send them out of the water and high into the air.
I've heard that marineland does not treat their animals very well. Is there
any truth to this? I would never support a place that did anything cruel
to the animals just to get them to perform.
Dave Althoff Jr
: But what struck me was that at the moments during the performance when
: the two or four dolphins leaped out of the water together, and on cue
: with the PA system patter, there was never a human performer in the
: water with them. I speculated that they were giving them a jolt of
: electricity to send them out of the water and high into the air.
Most shows use audible or subaudible (well, audible to marine mammals!)
cues for the stunts. That's what all that annoying whistling is about
when you see a show at Sea World...but electronic signals can also be
used, piped in through an underwater speaker.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
--
/-\ _ *** Respect rides. They do not respect you. ***
/XXX\ /X\ /X\_ _ /X\__ _ _ _____
/XXXXX\ /XXX\ _/XXXX\_ /X\ /XXXXX\ /X\ /X\ /XXXXX
_/XXXXXXX\__/XXXXX\/XXXXXXXX\_/XXX\_/XXXXXXX\__/XXX\_/XXX\_/\_/XXXXXX
Hownow
<dal...@gcfn.org> wrote:
> Hownow (how...@cogeco.ca) wrote:
>
> : But what struck me was that at the moments during the performance when
> : the two or four dolphins leaped out of the water together, and on cue
> : with the PA system patter, there was never a human performer in the
> : water with them. I speculated that they were giving them a jolt of
> : electricity to send them out of the water and high into the air.
>
> Most shows use audible or subaudible (well, audible to marine mammals!)
> cues for the stunts. That's what all that annoying whistling is about
> when you see a show at Sea World...but electronic signals can also be
> used, piped in through an underwater speaker.
>
> --Dave Althoff, Jr.
I'm glad to hear that.
As I said my visits were some time around 1970.
It was just curious to me that at those exact times the human
performers were not in the pool.
Animal abuse was once fairly common in the entertainment business.
I remember seeing the Diving Horse for which handlers prodded it up a
spiral ramp and out onto the platorm and the horse dove off into a pool
of water however many feet it was below.
It did not really dive, though.
The platform was hinged, the lever pulled and the horse sort of slid
down and plunged off.
That was at the Calgary Stampede.
It's banned now.
Richard Bornstein
is the only one that i truly felt Ripped Off. I will never go there again.
"Bush The War Criminal" <bu...@war.criminal> wrote in message
news:3F55A7C9...@war.criminal...
Bush The Gulf War Criminal
Exactly two years later on September 2, 2005
Having obtained a huge discount for this Labour Day weekend for only
$21, I returned to Marineland. Unfortunately, Marineland's misleading
practices have worsened.
"Friendship For a Fee" Cove have skyrocketed by 80% since I last went
so parents will now have to pay the undisclosed fee of $9 just to have
their child pet and feed a killer whale for 60 seconds or less. The
only way I would pay that surprise fee is if I could feed Marineland's
marketing manager to the killer whale! ;-)
Arctic Cove is the separate area for the white beluga whales since
last year. The "friendship fee" here has jumped up by 40% since two
years ago to $7 now.
The admission fee has also increased well above the inflation rate to
over $41 now. Marineland shamefully does not disclose its prices in
any of its marketing materials. The website and ticket booth only
shows the lower pre-tax price, so you are already over-budget by the
time the cashier reveals how much the total price actually is.
Marineland's worst non-disclosure scam for me this year was that the
killer whales are no longer performing. Marineland's misleading TV
ads still shows the whales jumping in the stadium. The killer whale
show is usually the highlight of a Marineland visit, so the stadium
show without them was very disappointing. When I asked employees what
happened to the killer whales, they claimed that the whales will
permanently be at "Friendship for a fee" Cove and will not return to
performing. I guess Marineland would rather use them to rip off
parents for $540 per hour of being fed and petted by children.
The "Marine Mammal Training & Educational Session" at the Aquarium
Dome seemed even more lame than before. Many families were so bored
that they left soon after the session started. The trainers tried to
get them to stay and when they kept leaving, the trainers told them to
exit at the back so they would stop blocking the view of the remaining
victims. Just like the last time, there were no signs or
announcements about the displays on the lower level, so only a small
fraction of the audience went underground.
My spouse was unimpressed by Marineland last time and refused to
return. I was alone with my preschooler so I was unable to go on the
Sky Screamer, Dragon Mountain, Hurricane Cove, Flying Dragon and Magic
rides. We did go on the Sky Hawk and Kandu's Twister rides. I was
thinking of climbing the "Heart Attack" mountain at Sky Screamer
anyway, but the washroom and other facilities were closed there so I
decided to skip to the next washroom at the Deer Park.
The Wave Swinger ride has surprisingly been dismantled. Again,
Marineland should have disclosed this in the website, park entrance,
etc.
We walked to the far corner of Marineland, only to see no animals in
the elk, buffalo and red deer areas! I wished Marineland or the
family walking back would have been nice enough to inform us so we
wouldn't have made our feet more sore for nothing. As we took the
long walk back, we told the approaching people that there was nothing
to see in the area.
It was only in the children's ride area that Marineland managed to
have a pleasant suprise. There was a new ride, kind of a mini drop
zone ride that was the most thrilling ride in the kids' area. There
were also two more rides being tested: a twisting ship and a bumble
bee ride. All three new rides have a thrill factor unlike the
carousel and ferris wheel kiddie rides.
Surprisingly, we stayed for almost seven hours without running out of
things to do. Unfortunately, Marineland failed to disclose the
closing time. A lot of people were disappointed at the end when we
were all refused enty to any more rides. Without any adequate
warning, Marineland decided to close before 8 PM when it was not even
dark yet.
Marineland offers a season pass upgrade for $5 if you were suckered in
to pay regular price for admission. For a discount admission, the
upgrade costs $15. Unfortunately, unlike Wonderland, there is not
enough compelling attractions at Marineland that is worth the drive to
go to more than once a year. If they have the same offer next season
with the three new rides, I will consider buying it as long as they
stop their deceptive scams.
In conclusion, never go to Marineland for the regular price unless
they stop their misleading practices. If you manage to have access to
a good discount, it may be good-value fun for a family with one or
more kids younger than five as long as you are aware of the misleading
gimmicks. Our TOTAL cost for two people for the whole day was only
$21 as we refused to be suckered in with Marineland's profit schemes.
We also brought our own food instead of paying for overpriced junk
food.
If you agree that Marineland needs to improve their practices, you can
contact:
Marineland, Marketing/Group Sales Department
8375 Stanley Avenue,
Niagara Falls Ontario,
Canada L2E 6X8
E-mail: mark...@MarinelandCanada.com
905-356-9565 (no toll-free number!)
steelforce
> In conclusion, never go to Marineland for the regular price unless
> they stop their misleading practices. If you manage to have access to
> a good discount, it may be good-value fun for a family with one or
> more kids younger than five as long as you are aware of the misleading
> gimmicks. Our TOTAL cost for two people for the whole day was only
> $21 as we refused to be suckered in with Marineland's profit schemes.
> We also brought our own food instead of paying for overpriced junk
> food.
>
> If you agree that Marineland needs to improve their practices, you can
> contact:
> Marineland, Marketing/Group Sales Department
gotta love people looking for a good time at a park they hate....