So we're back. Bonus was that my sister and her kids were able to drive up from NJ and meet us at Niagara.

@Niagara, we just did the normal typical touristy stuff with the Adventure Pass Classic:
- Hornblower Cruise (formally Maid of the Mist, still that on the US side)
- Walk Behind the Falls
- Niagara's Fury
- White Water Walk

Boat ride definitely worth it. Niagara's Fury was interesting and the kids liked it. The White Water Walk was okay at best. A bit out of the way, random Buddhist temple across the street to kill some time, a hotel across the street, but really nothing else. The walk itself was pretty short and not all that interesting after having seen the waterfall. Also went to Niagara Glen (great suggestion!), which was better - natural trails, similar rapids (although not CLASS 6 OOH!!), not touristy, and free. There is a Wego stop there (see below). Walk Behind the Falls was not interesting to actually be behind the falls in those little tunnels, but the balcony/platform next to the falls was really neat.

We got the Wego bus pass for 2 days with the adventure pass. Useful for the rides from our hotel (Doubletree) and to the attractions.

That Clifton Hills tourist trap area is one to avoid, if you can help it. We went there twice to eat fast food, but otherwise didn't step foot in there. Random arcades, fun/haunted houses, minigolf, etc. It's like a painfully overpriced kiddy Las Vegas and I hated it.

The illuminated falls are really pretty, and we also saw the fireworks Wednesday night. Very cool, although pretty short.

We then went to Toronto and, again, did basic touristy things that the kids enjoyed, like the Aquarium and Zoo. Zoo was actually pretty good and decent-sized (right before, we visited Riverside Farm - that was a 20-30 min diversion before heading to the zoo). My 10 yo and I love the zoo, so we took our time. Baby animals are out now, although they may be sleeping. Pandas should be seen at the end of the day (last showing was 530 and we go there at 510). The queues/stanchions set up are ridiculously long, but we had literally no wait. Heard the lines were 2+ hours in the middle of the day. Canadian Domain is a serious hike from the African area. You may get lucky and get a ride on a golf cart from a zoo employee (he was giving a lot of rides), but if you walk, it's strenuous. They do have baby lynxes there, though. Not that worth the hike, imo. We pretty much spent the whole day there. We did do dinner in Chinatown (short walk from our hotel downtown) and drove out to Barque near High Park one night. If you want pretty good bbq in a totally non-touristy joint, I highly suggest reservations. We waited about 45 minutes as walk-ins. Ugh. Almost not worth it, but food was pretty good.

Aquarium was almost exactly 2 hours since you pretty much follow a path through. A bit pricey for what it is, but not bad. We skipped CN Tower and other downtown attractions. Wish we had time to take the ferry out to Warde's Island and beaches, but we were pretty tired of walking after all those days.

If we had more time, I'd want to hit the beach, the museum, Science Centre, and some of the other suggestions above (thanks Antonio, Emma, sofasurfer, et al).