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| - I've been heading to the CNE for a lot of reasons. It's been a tradition with my family to wind down the summer with a visit or two to the CNE. (But even tradition has it's faults.) Here's a list of the good and the bad reasons to the CNE.
The Good:
- The Food: You have classic carnival food (cotton candy, funnel cakes, waffles & ice cream, pizza in a cone), along with different "ethic" food. This year is a bit better, as the CNE features gourmet food trucks and heart attack inducing foods like deep fried oreos and the Cronut burger (Yes, I know people got food poisoning - it's hard to process food safely at rocket speed!). They even have a ribfest location, featuring some of the companies who won awards for smoking and grilling that cut of meat! The food vendors are a bit spaced out, although - don't expect to see all the food vendors inside the food building. Two of the vendors I always visit are the Tiny Tims (fried balls of dough - think Timbits straight outta the oil, and dusted with flavour powder!), and any pizza booth.
- The Staff: Generally, there are two kinds of staff members for the CNE. You have the private vendors (individuals who have rented a space to sell you something), and the general staff that the CNE hires. The CNE hires mostly younger individuals - the kids who are working part-time and will head back to school right after they work. The staff is excellent and provides wonderful service. (Ask them a question, and they will happily answer or guide you in the right directin.)
- The Shows: On any given day, you can see an ice show, an air show (ow, it's loud), tribute bands (Elvis anyone?), oldie but goodie singers (Petula Clark, Frankie Avalon, The Platters...the list just goes on), and random comedians/stage acts. You'd find something for the whole family here! Just get to the venue 30 minutes before the posted showtimes - the lineup's a bitch. The farm/animal petting zoo is pretty cool for younger kids, and also features some free games and activities for 'em.
* My parents and I caught an interesting act today in the International Stage. A Filipino cultural act, with songs and dancing from different eras of development. The acts here are always solid and well trained! This group did a great job with the costumes, props and drumming.
The Bad:
- The Rides: I'm a huge scaredy kitty when it comes to rides, but the variety of rides here sucks. I know, it's a temporary setup, but the company that does these rides kind of lacks. There's always the thrill rides (eg. the Zipper, the Gravition, the Polar Express), but there's a lack of really good rollercoasters and haunted houses. Plus, the fact that the CNE no longer sells the "Play All Day" pass and relies on selling tickets to the rides...it sucks.
* Also - the "new" alpine ride is way smaller than the original. The original was a huge building stuck near where BMO Fields and another building near the International Trade Center. It was a huge ride, and took you a couple of storeys in the air. (My dad refused to ride it, and always met my mother and I at the other end!) It was massive and impressive, and you could see the entire grounds at once in the air. The new one...just looks like a ski lift gone wrong.
- The Lineups: Yes, I know the CNE serves a metric shit ton of people. Getting a table or a seat in the food building is a pain, and also trying on the nerves. There are always crowds of people and even going to the bathroom is a pain.
- Parking: You could pay The Ex $30 to park in their covered parking garage, or park outside the grounds for a bit less. The best bet? Take the Bathurst streetcar directly down to the grounds.
- The Prices: As I said, I've been going for a long while (since I was 6 or 7), and these prices have slowly been going up. It's a (sticker?) shock to see a bag of Tiny Tims for five dollars, and a carnival game that costs $5 per play. I remember in my youth (I'm 29, see?) that those exact same games cost $1 or fifty cents to play. Admission also costs $16 now, up from $10 in my youth.
Advice:
- Bring sunscreen, a jacket (yes, it gets bitterly cold at night - and try getting stuck on a fenris wheel with a friend with no jacket...achoo!), and a refillable water bottle. You'd thank me later.
- Buy tickets in advance. Tickets are sold a couple weeks before opening day, and you save a couple of bucks and also save the hassle of lining up for your tixs. Just walk on in!
- If buying stuff from the vendors, wait until the last weekend (August 31 - September 2), they are much more willing to haggle!
- It's a great place for tourists or a date. Many a night was spent courting some random pretty girl from my school.
**** We also saw Daleks (Dreadnaughts/Imperial), but I have no foggy idea what they were doing in an exhibit called "The History of the Future"...maybe the Daleks are our future?
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