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| - Three hours and forty-five minutes. That was our total time visiting the CN Tower, and that was on a Wednesday. And that was with a CityPass, which evidently does not help get through the line any faster (we asked).
CN Tower is the textbook definition of something that you do just because it's a landmark in a city. CN Tower suffers the fate of defining a city's skyline, so being IN the tower does not allow you to see the tower. It's like the Space Needle in Seattle; pictures from the tower don't allow the tower to be in the pictures. And regarding pictures, they just aren't that interesting here because the rest of city, from up high, isn't particularly scenic.
However, the point of visiting isn't to get lost in your phone (except during the part where you're standing in line for 80 percent of the visit). Attempting to see as far as Niagara Falls and Rochester, New York is apparently possible, on a clear day. We wouldn't know, though, because by the time we entered the line and got up top, it was dusk and visibility was decreased. Plus, who cares about Rochester? And you know a better way to see Niagara Falls? Go visit Niagara Falls.
The draw to the CN Tower is that it's the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere. I recommend going on up past the observation deck to the SkyPod (which is an extra $12 per person, or $6 with the CityPass) because it's less crowded, and a little more tense (because it's in a smaller space). The tower is also one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, which is cool. Regarding the thing where you get strapped to the tower and lean off of it, yeah, have fun with that.
I got caught up in thinking that we should visit during the day, in order to see far away. But from looking at pictures at night, maybe consider a nighttime visit. Plus, lines are significantly shorter at night, apparently. The visit itself can be very tiresome, and the view wasn't worth THAT long of a wait. But the tower itself is nifty, and the gift shop here is about the only gift shop in history I thought was actually good.
I wouldn't necessarily not recommend it, but you honestly won't be missing out if you don't do it. For better views, take a ferry to Centre Island and get some awesome skyline shots from there.
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