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| - The EX as it's also known has been going on for over 130 years but it's never the same every year but just a little different each time. If you haven't gone for say 10 years it will be much more different than the last time but these days there are some fundamentals that still remain.
Compared to how it used to be when I was a kid there are some differences that are more noticeable. With the large convention space of the Direct Energy centre much of the international pavillions are now merged with other commercial almost infomercial type spaces. There are flea market type commercial spaces in there as well.
The Better Living Centre building is now the farm and animals building. The old Arts and Crafts Building is now not even a part of it anymore where they now have Medieval Times by the Dufferin Gates. Arts and Crafts are now in what used to be the Queen Elizabeth Building.
Where Exhibition Stadium was roughly in the past it has just about been displaced by what is now BMO field, home of Toronto FC. The Food Building remains as one of the buildings where it's original purpose has stayed true.
TTC's 511 Exhibition street car from Bathurst will drop you off right by the eastern side of the Food Building but the entrance back in is closer to the west side of Ricoh Coliseum. The 509 Harbourfront street car also goes to the Exhibition loop.
Price of admission was rather a lot this year, 18 dollars for general admission (adults) without ride passes. The food on the midway is expensive but it's that carnie type food like corndogs, ice cream, roasted corn, candy apples etc. There are much better deals and variety of food to be found in the Food Building. The Food Building is generally packed and seating is at a premium. Your best bet is to wait for somebody that looks like their done and take their spot when they leave. There are dozens of places to select from and it may be actually more comfortable to take the food outside and get a breeze because the Food Building is VERY congested and the ventilation in there isn't the greatest.
There are some places to have a drink (beer garden type areas), rib vendors that circuit various ribfests, a temporary casino and a lot of things to see.
Besides the midway ride tickets cost, the breakdown from what I remember seeing this year was as follows, 4 tickets for 5 dollars, 22 tickets for 22 dollars and 55 tickets for 55 dollars. Basically as long as you're buying 22 it's a dollar a ticket. Most rides even walk through fun house type rides are 5 tickets. This can add up pretty fast. Not many of these rides I'd trust and rides wise there's more exciting rides that I've seen in dedicated amusement parks like Wonderland.
The Farm building (Better Living Centre) is a nice and safe bet for the kids. There's plenty to do in this building besides just see animals and everything in this building is free from playing rubber duckie racing, collecting farm goods for a ribbon, riding tiny farm equipment around a track etc.
The CNE has not really changed in say the past 5 years or so from what I can remember but it has changed a lot since I was small. These days it seems to be much more commercialized and more like a flea market as opposed to seeing new things or getting free food as it was decades ago. It's still a big Toronto tradition every summer though and while it's not very affordable if you spend a major amount of time in the Midway, there's still plenty to get a look at and you don't have to spend a lot to see it all.
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