by shaunandtrish

Durham, United Kingdom

September 10, 2005

The first thing you're confronted with is your choice of options, starting at $20 for your basic trip to the observation deck, a bit more if you want to go up a few more stories to Sky Pod, and options to buy 5-day tickets, which are a good value if you're staying a few days and plan to take in more of these attractions. After checking on the length of the queue (10 minutes at 2pm), we went for the basic observation deck option. We'd heard the Sky Pod wasn't worth the extra money.

These days you get searched whenever you go to attractions like this, as though you were catching a plane, and the CN Tower is no exception. So, we got in line, passed the checks, posed for the customary rip-off photo (which we didn't bother to even look at, never mind buy), and pretty soon were packed into the alarmingly swift (22mph apparently) lift to the observation deck.

I must say that views on a clear day are impressive, and there are a few ways to appreciate them at that level. First is a panorama, where you're hemmed safely in by windows on all sides, but there's also the famous glass floor that you can stand on and look down, which is actually quite hard to force yourself to do. At this level there's also a restaurant that I noted attracts some ropey reviews so we left it alone. Go down a flight of steps and the panorama is open-air, but you're hemmed in by mesh, so your photo-taking is a bit more restricted, but it gives you more of a "feel" for what it's like to be so high.

Anyway, there are great views in all directions, out over the lake and islands, city, etc., and that's about it I suppose. When you're ready to do something else, you stand in line for the next elevator down (every couple of minutes) and you're out directly into the reasonably priced and well-stocked souvenir shop.

The final delight is the elevator operator. In his defence, he must have to say it 200 times a day, but his spectacular mastery of the indifferent closing summary was something I could only wonder at.

Here's the website that gives you all the boring facts and statistics about the tower in two languages.

by FSO_Michael

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

August 21, 2005

Highlights:

1) When we first entered the lobby and told our son that it was called the CN Tower, he heard "cien" tower and asked if it was made out of 100 blocks. It looks like he actually is learning something in his kindergarten Spanish lessons!

2) The glass floor and observation deck, at 1,122 feet, were interesting, although I think I had hoped for more of a freefall sensation when viewing through the glass floor. For reasons that were obvious when I saw the glass floor, but didn't really think about in advance, the area that is actually glass is necessarily quite small.

3) The Skypod, at 1,465 feet, was amazing - I enjoyed the view from this area the best and got some interesting photos.

All in all, it's a great attraction to visit. Admittedly, though, it can get a little pricey for families. We paid for the Observation Experience (Look Out, Glass Floor, Skypod), and it cost roughly C$80 (or US$65). For a visit of less than an hour, it's not the best value in the city. But it was still worth it.

by panda2

California, California

April 29, 2005

Citypass includes this attraction.

Open daily 11am-7pm to the tower top.

Refer to CN Tower's website for current prices, which start at $19.99 for adult for basic lookout and glass floor, or $31.99 for their total tower experience which includes lookout, glass floor, skypod, movie, motion simulator ride (minimum height 107cm, or 42 inches.)

360 Restaurant hours available, call for reservations (416) 362-5411.

by Muchmor

Belleville, Ontario

May 18, 2004

When you enter the tower at ground level, you enter the ticket area. There were no queues when we visited as it was out of season and early in the day, however, there is plenty of evidence with ropes etc that the queues can get quite long. Once you have purchased your ticket you walk round the back to await the elevator. Again, we went straight through and were greeted by a guy dressed in white coat and looking every bit the mad professor. He put us into the elevator and went up with us himself, giving odd facts about the tower as we went. The glass fronted elevator is pretty fast at 15 miles per hour and takes just under a minute to reach the lookout level.

When you exit here you are left to your own devices, so you can take as long as you like to take in the views. The lookout covers a full 360 degrees, so you don’t miss any of the sights. Whilst we were in Toronto, we had kept an eye on the weather forecast, so chose a day with exceptionally good weather, so had excellent views. You can see the lake, the islands and of course the city itself. There is a café at this level too, so you can sip your coffee gazing out across the vastness of the Toronto skyline.

Next we went down a few steps to the glass floor. Again this had construction work going on, so only half the floor was accessible, but as there weren’t too many people there, this was fine. You can of course take your own photos, but there is also a photographer on hand to take your photo with their specially set up camera, which looks from the ceiling down onto the glass floor. We had ours done and sat on the floor and 90 degree angles from each other so there was still a good view of the floor. They actually take a couple of shots and you can then view then on the computer screen and choose which one you want. You then get a ticket to pick then out from the gift shop when you leave. They cost CDN$19 each.

You exit once again via the elevator and come out, guess where, the gift shop. You can get some of the usual tat here, such as a 3D puzzle of the tower complete with flashing light on top, but they also have clothing, cards, etc. Well worth the visit.

by thestickman23

Saddle Brook, New Jersey

January 16, 2004

Now you have the choice to go down one level and see the glass floor. Now this is really cool - from here you can look straight down over 1,100 feet and see people on the streets. Many people lay down on the floor and have someone take a picture of them (I did it also). If I am not mistaken, the Outdoor Observatory is also on this floor. I recommend a windbreaker or sweater, depending on the time of year, because it gets a bit breezy up there. Don't worry, your kids can't fall out, because the Outdoor Observatory is all screened in.

Now if you have the guts to go to the Sky Pod, that is your next stop. You get back in the elevator and head back to the "Lookout," and from there you take the "Sky Pod Elevator" up another 33 stories. You are over 1400 feet high. I think it is the highest man-made observatory in the world!! There is another 360-degree view of the city from this level. If you stay still and concentrate, you can actually feel the tower swaying with the wind.

At the tower, they even have a couple of simulator rides and an arcade. I did not do either of these things. Along the way, you will learn interesting facts about the Tower and the city of Toronto. If you are hungry, there are a couple of places to eat in the tower, and of course there is a souvenir shop.

by michaelhudson

Jarrow, Tyne & Wear, United Kingdom

June 9, 2003

There were minimal queues when I visited the tower in late November but waiting times can be two hours and more during the peak summer months before you even reach the top. After buying the tickets a corridor runs around and above the gift shop level to the express lifts, stopping at a single file security checkpoint that looks like a standard airport metal detector but instead blows air out of six side ducts in order to reveal any hidden objects in your clothing. A bored-looking security guard glanced over my billowing jacket before gesturing in the direction of the lift.

Upon entering one of the six glass-fronted express lifts you are whizzed up the tower at a rate of 15 miles per hour. Operators provide commentary and answer questions -- "Has anybody ever vomited in here?" -- for the duration of the 58-second journey as skyscrapers slide into the lower distance and the ground disappears from view. When the doors open, you are 344 metres up and relieved.

There are four look out levels in the CN Tower. The lowest, the Glass Floor and Outdoor Observation Deck, is two metres lower than the Horizons Café and Indoor Observation Deck (where the first lift exits), down a flight of stairs. The 360 restaurant, which rotates once every 72-minutes, is directly above the Indoor Observation Deck, while the 447-metre high Skypod level is reached by taking a second lift – and joining another queue- from the Indoor Observation Deck. The basic ticket package includes the lower two floors only.

The signature view is of jutting skyscrapers positioned at varying angles, and all of different heights and designs. The TD Bank Tower, the reflective-black of the Toronto Dominion Centre, First Canadian Place and the twin towers of the Royal Bank Plaza stand out, confidently strutting upwards and outwards in a show of financial muscle filmed by thousands of camcorders each day. Just behind, the world's longest street, Yonge, appears intermittently in the gaps between buildings, passing the arched roof of the Eaton Centre and its three-storeys of shops and restaurants spread over 3,000,000 sq.ft. of shopping space at the start of its 1,190-mile journey through Ontario.

by PAPAGENA

Cork, Ireland, Germany

May 30, 2003

So when we finally arrived at the CN Tower, Morgan and David wanted to go up there to see the view by day, but I wasn't so sure if I really wanted to go up, since it really is very high and I am scared of heights. But somehow they convinced me and up we went. The high-speed glass elevator that goes up on the outside of the Tower took us up within 58 seconds to a height comparable to 100 building levels. I was really glad I went up there because the view is just amazing. Especially nice is the view over Lake Ontario and all the boats that seem so small from up there. They also have a section caled the glass floor -- the floor is actually made out of glass and you can walk on it. That is so freaky because it is just so high . . . (I know I repeat myself, but it is high). From the lookout and the glass floor, you can take another elevator that takes you even higher to the very top. That part is called the pot.

by MSJ

Forest, Virginia

October 12, 2002

The tower has a revolving 360 degree restaurant that has an award-winning wine list and fantastic view. There is also an arcade with exciting rides located in the Tower's base.

by funandsun

Danville, Indiana

May 16, 2002

by Uncle Travelling Matt

Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland

March 16, 2002

But up close the CN Tower looks tired and weary, as if the never-ending procession of snap-happy tourists over the years - all eager for that perfect view - has left the Tower itself in need of a holiday. The weather-beaten grey of its slim, stone walls and the fading paint on the exterior of its main observation floor only add to the Tower's dejected look. I'm afraid there is no other way of saying it: the CN Tower looks depressed.

Not that the Tower's operators haven’t done everything in their power to try to disguise this fact, though. From the glossy, glitzy brochures on sale at the kiosks inside the main entrance, to the eleven-foot tall plastic moose at the back door, the Tower - like so many other tourist attractions across the globe - is a slave to commercialism. Even the walkway to the elevator looks down onto a sunken mall, stock-full of official CN Tower merchandise.

But let's get down to brass tacks and talk value for money. Is the CN Tower experience worth the price tag attached? Well, yes and no. Certainly the views are fantastic and well worth paying to see, but what spoils the experience is - once again - the owners' greed for money. Not content with charging visitors the initial entrance fee (see below) Tower staff then force visitors to stop on their way to the lifts and have their photographs taken in front of an "I've Been to the CN Tower" backdrop and banner. The obvious hope is that some of the visitors might then wish to pick up a copy of the photograph on their way out; for an appropriate fee, of course. And there is no escaping the sunken mall, either: when coming back down again from the observation levels, once the views have been seen, the lifts open out into the heart of the mall. Tourists, still wide eyed in wonder at the magnificence of the views they have just seen, immediately start to salivate at the sight of the official merchandise, like Pavlov's dogs on the ding of the lift bell.

The views from the observation levels, however, are incredible. There are two observation floors to the CN Tower - the main one, 346 metres up (which costs $16 to get to), and a higher one, another 100 metres further up still, (which is an additional $5.50 to get to). Now let's face it and be honest with ourselves for a moment: if we're already looking out of a window 346 metres in the air - already far higher than any other building in the city - what more are we going to see from another 100 metres higher up? Certainly nothing that is worth paying another $5.50 for, that's for sure. Be content - pay your $16 and go to the first level; everything you'll want to see can be seen perfectly from there. And what actually is there to see on the observation levels? Well, apart from the magnificence of the 360-degree views of Toronto, including a spectacular panorama of Toronto Bay's Islands and of Lake Ontario, there is the infamous glass floor. Don’t be fooled by thinking it's only a bit of fun, either: it is terrifying! I saw kids leap onto the glass from several feet away, then bounce up and down on it to test the glass' strength, while grown men and women inched across it's edges in fear for their lives. I have to admit, it really does take a leap of faith to stride onto the glass floor. Standing on it, looking down to where the ground should be and seeing nothing but the Tower's thin sides curving sharply away beneath you, and the distant ground 346 metres below, is enough to loosen even the tightest of sphincters.

There is also the Revolving Restaurant too, of course. Making one full revolution every 72 minutes, it allows diners to see Toronto from above, while nibbling a light meal at the same time. The food is obviously a bit on the expensive side, but you had guessed that already, right?

So what am I telling you? Should you go up the CN Tower? Yes, I think you should. But don’t expect it to be a life changing experience. The views are amazing, but prices are high, staff are pushy, crowds will make things cramped and you may come away with an overall contempt for commercialism.

If you don't mind these things, you'll probably love the CN Tower. If you do then you may - like I did - find the entire experience just a little bit disappointing.

Address: 301 Front Street West.
Opening Times: Jan-Apr 9am to 10pm; May-Dec 8am to 11pm.
Cost: Observation Floor $16 (seniors $14, children $11) Skypod: $5.50 extra.

Visit the CN Tower on-line at:

www.cntower.ca