Playland/PNE (Vancouver) Discussion Thread

[djcoastermark]

^Hope you had a happy pride. It looks like your Prime Minister did ! He even brought the wife and kids. So amazing!

[Evan-500]

Last nights Celebration of Light USA entry by Disney was AMAZING. So amazing to experience Disney fireworks at home!!

 

[fbvideonew]

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[Nrthwnd]

^^ Yes he did! And they were really happy to be here! And that's our Mayor Robertson beside Trudeau, in the

purple t-shirt. The thing is, past Vancouver Pride Parades have actually had a number of Prime Ministers

"To Be" (while they're campaigning during an election), so that was always cool, too. But this is definitely a

first for us - although Prime Minister Trudeau did attend the Toronto Pride Parade at the end of June, before us.

 

But hey, that's cool with me. And it was more fun than Gay Day at Playland! (which didn't happen this year)

[Nrthwnd]

B.C. Day At Playland

 

A nice sunny day at the park, today. Loads of families coming in. In a positive note (for me), a lot of these families had

very young children in tow, and a lot of strollers, too. So the thrill rides were not going to have very long queues, lol.

It's fun to see the entry gate this way now, with The Beast swinging high in the back, there. And mountains!

"Temporary Tattoos." Hmmmm. One of these years. (o;

I must admit, the PNE is really trying to get more landscaping in and around all those metal fences.

With less asphalt to walk on as well, though that should really be looked at, eventually.

Trivia Question: This is a Carousel. Not a Merry-Go-Round. Why is that?

Red train was rolling, today. A bit roughly too, I must admit.

Oooooooooo The Claw! Happy BC Day to all in BC! And beyond! (o:

[Nrthwnd]

you're a poster stalker!

 

Found another two Playland bus ads, in the Skytrain station downtown.

[djcoastermark]

Gotta admit, the ads are catchy . (and fun) Thanks for giving me a chuckle.

[Nrthwnd]

^ It makes me wonder, if other such sized parks like ours, do this 'kind' of paper advertising as well?

 

Whenever I see outside the larger theme parks and chains' city advertising, billboards etc,

it's usually a 'deal' accompanied by the new attraction, and how to save xx $.

Which is fine, but not that creative, to me.

 

PNE has always, in the past several years, made their adverts for Playland, look fun

and totally irreverent. And who doesn't love references to throwing up, huh?

This was one set of Playland advert sets, that actually got yanked, because of complaints about the one

on the far right. It looks fine to me. (o;

[Nrthwnd]

Paid a visit to Playland today, and the Skywheel was back in business after a week or so SBNO, so I got a couple

of shots of the last week of prepping for our annual fair, The PNE. I "traditionally" go to Playland the last day

I can ride the rides without paying for them, the next day. Opening Day of The Fair.

 

So, I'm sure by this Friday, everything will be in place, ready for the hordes that descend on The Fair.

 

www.pne.ca

You know The Fair is happening soon, when The Blue Fences go up.

At $1.75 per ticket, The Beast becomes a pricy ride.(o;

Red train running, today.

Not much going on where the Rib Fest will be. But that will change by Friday, I'm sure. (o:

The Scrambler has been moved to greener pastures.

Still a great view from The Wheel.

By this coming weekend, this path will be lined on both sides with a lot of

stalls/food trucks to get food, drinks...and wood carvings!

The ticket entrance for the nightly concert series at The PNE. I also took note of where

the food and drinks will be (black tent).

The Main Stage. Which is where I spent a few bucks for a reserved, closer seat, to see Culture Club on the 28th!

These pop up all around the midway.

Which is mainly for the other games' setup, including a LOT of gambling games (wheels, dice etc.).

Pretty.

[Nrthwnd]

It looks like everything is ready for tomorrow's Opening Day of our Pacific National Exhibition.

 

Or ---> The PNE WOO HOO!!!

 

I was there earlier today, and checked out, mostly from the Skywheel, how everything was, in preparation of

tomorrow's Opening Day.

 

One more ride on Coaster, before the price is jacked up at least $10 per ride on it. No matter. I get to ride it

all off-season, and one time at Fright Nights, so that's fine with me. And everybody else there can get hot

and bothered about prices, blah blah blah.

 

http://www.pne.ca

The games booths have popped up like they're mushrooms (mushrooms?) in the Playland PNE Midway.

And the GI-normous stuffies are all ready to be won... Eventually. (o;

Games of chance mixed with games of skill. And in the middle of all of this....

My Oasis in The Midway! Prices aren't that bad either, I remember from last year.

Time to get on The Wheel.

Two of the ride ops here at Playland and during the PNE.

Oh boy. Another Funhouse. And this looks like it's already about to fall down. Really scary!

With a quartet of tramps near by...

The Food Stand Mile is almost organized and lined up.

Mmmmm. Beer garden to the left. A great Poutine stand in the middle. And a couple of the 4 BBQ

companies vying for that gold statue and (I think), a bit of $$$ too. But our fave is this one...

MISTY MOUNTAIN! Great BBQ and we always get a couple of bottles of their sauce. Yum!!!

I see the Starflyer "Wannabe" is back. Our illustrious race track in behind it,

and ready to open tomorrow, as well as the rest of The Fair.

And it's still a purty view over there, from The Wheel.

Games tents, another covered arcade... and "my bar" .

This is 25' Celsius. With a bit of humidity thrown in.

I forgot whether they were going up - or coming down, lol.

Love the colour is this. Really nice to see this around The Midway.

Speaking of colour. They FINALLY put more effort into the paint job on the front of this thing,

instead of piling a bit more $$$ into what's inside of it. Still lame. But the kids love it.

And although this one looks like it needs a total paint over, I'm sure (and hoping) the lights package

all over it will look awesome, in the evening when Playland FINALLY gets to show off all its lights!

This and the two previous fun houses were already open today, so you could include these

in your day pass, today. Or my Season Pass. Which I did. (o;

A new up and down ride for families. Trouble already spotted: the whole thing

goes BACKWARDS!

And tomorrow, these gates will open, and sad Tilt-A-Whirl will whirl once more. Happy PNE Opening!

[Nrthwnd]

Opening Day was today, so here's a photo from my visit there,

with the rest of the photos (and the FOOD!) posted tomorrow.

 

Enjoy this saucy little 'hug'.

Whatever are they talking about? (o;

[Nrthwnd]

I went to the PNE yesterday, for the main purpose of checking out the entire fair, without doing too much that day,

and picking up my two week pass I bought online, a few months back. Turns out, I needn't have waited all that time

for the Fair to open, AND to wait for the "rope drop" when 11 am rolled around (opening time). Turns out they

weren't giving out plastic pass cards this year, and your online printed paper would serve as the entry ticket, all

during the Fair.

 

I was looking forward to getting that little piece of plastic again. But - no matter. As long as I don't lose

it, get it wet, tear it up, the online "ticket" will work.

 

There's a daily "parade" that happens a few times in the day, I got to check out, a little. It was really a big deal,

with a lot of choreography involved, with several small groups involved. As good as any Disney parade, I thought,

even without the floats Disney uses in theirs.

 

Here's the first set of photos I took, with the others to follow...

Main Entry Gate - very crowded for the 11am opening. I decided to pass this queue...

...and head to the north entry of the Fair. Also crowded, but not as much as the other one.

 

.

While waiting in the roped off area. This is the Illusionists Show playing nightly at The Fair.

And the SUPERdogs show (this year's it's called "Rock 'n' Roll Over!") that runs in the day time.

Once we got in and I found out there was no plastic pass this year, I started to look around.

And these are BIG chairs, I'd say!

Headed to the RIDESIDE Bar in Playland, got settled with a cider, and checked out the coupon book they

give away at every Fair, with discount coupons on food, games and merchandise. And a great little Fair map inside, too!

Taken from my RIDEside BAR seat. Looks much better at night all lit up. Like me, by then LOL.

Looking towards the front of the Fair from Playland. Busy, busy. The queue on the right was for getting ride tickets/passes.

Yay RIB FEST is OPEN!

The newbie of the four. Boss Hog's. Will try some on another day. But...

Here's David's and my fave of the bunch. Definitely getting some BBQ here, eventually.

OMG - there's a DARK RIDE this year!!! First time a dark ride's been here either in Playland OR the PNE,

for well over a decade! Hmmm. This was located directly opposite Rib Fest, too! Hmmm. "BOO & BBQ?" (o;

And just in case we all had forgotten what a "dark ride" actually was, there was a sign to explain. (o;

Actually, it's a really great info.sign that really does a nice job of "explaining it all," past and present.

Dinosaurs exhibit came back, with a few more of them.

I want to see these all lit at night. Would look more terrifying, I'd think.

Nom, nom, nom gimme your BBQ brisket!

The PNE Prize Home was open for touring through. And it's exactly what it looks like,

from this photo. I wasn't too impressed with it's design, as were those around me, in

the queue.

If you decide to home school your kids, they've recreated a school cloakroom for them!

Now, imagine Lake Okanagan beyond the bar-b-que here. (Where the house will eventually end up)

Best part of the Prize Home! Unfortunately, these do not come with the Prize Home. To be continued...

[djcoastermark]

The house looked ok, UNTIL, I saw that. We have a wine rack that holds 249 bottles, but that , in a home, looks like nirvana to me

[Nrthwnd]

^ Yeah, once our little tour group saw that wine rack, we decided to heck with the house,

"We Want The Wine Rack! We Want The Wine Rack!"

 

After touring the Prize Home, it was time to get something to eat. I decided to hit C-Lovers Fish & Chips.

They have been a mainstay at The Fair for several years, and I always heard good things about their

food. They did not disappoint. Light batter on the fish, great fries...it was very enjoyable. Along with a

nice cold beer in one of the other adult seating areas of The Fair. Very enjoyable indeed.

 

I also saw bits and pieces of The PNE's new daytime parade, which took place right in front of where I

was sitting. So I snapped a few photos, but will get a more thorough set of pix of this parade, when I'm

there again soon.

 

And after my fish and chips, I tried a new dessert item at The Fair: Deep Fried Coffee Balls, with a nice salty

caramel sauce all over them. And a nice iced cappuccino to go along with them, too.

 

Tasty salty balls, they were.

Food trucks and stalls everywhere at The Fair.

A "Future Home" on display.

Um.... yeah, okay. Seeing this on display, I now appreciated the Prize Home a lot more, heh.

Anyway, this was much more interesting, than what was inside.

C-Lovers at The Fair!

Halibut is always pricey, so I got the cod and chips. Very tasty. Lots of fries, too.

And I'm in another "no minors" area of The Fair, so I can enjoy a beer with my meal.

Flowers in bloom all over the fair grounds.

Oops. Forgot what this area was called. "Central Park Beer Garden" Works for me. (o;

The daily schedule hand out, which always has a map of The Fair on one side...

...And the schedule for all the shows and demonstrations happening for the day.

The new day time parade started up, while I was in the Beer Garden.

Canada Geese, eh?

Bicycles with stuff all over them.

This was either a bromance, or a same sex wedding. I wasn't too sure.

The parade ended, with stuff happening on the Festival Stage.

After the main meal - Salty (Caramel Coffee) Balls!

A nice way to finish the meal. And the Deep Fried Coffee Balls were good, too! (To be continued...)

Edited August 22, 2016 by Nrthwnd

[Philrad71]

^Hmmm...deep fried coffee balls. Now that is one unique twist on fair food!

 

Thanks for posting, Bill....looks like a good time. And I like the idea of a no minors area for beer consumption to give a little break to all of the hectic-ness of the fair.

[Nrthwnd]

^Yeah, I was so happy to find actually, four of these spots, spread out very nicely from one end of The Fair to the other!

 

~ RIDEside Bar in Playland.

~ the BIG Beer Garden, right beside Rib Fest.

~ this Central Park Beer Garden, where I ate.

~ and the Craft Beer Fest area, itself.

 

The Craft Beer Fest actually has a $10 Cover to enter, whether you drink any beer or not.

But the other three spots are just walk ins, no problem.

Just make sure you have your ID ready. Like myself.

 

And I shall partake of all of them, eventually.

What $10 Bucks (Cdn) gets ya at the PNE's Craft Beer Fest.

[Nrthwnd]

Finishing up my first day at the PNE, I checked out what was at "the front" of The Fair, as well as doing

my first visit to the PNE's annual BC Craft Beer Fest. Which was...a surprising disappointment. Because...

 

I remember last year we had to pay a cover of $10, but that came with 2 beer tickets, besides

our cute little 4 oz. "mug". Not so this year. Cover was $10, and all you got was the mug. Add to

that, the Tickets Sign above where you buy beer tickets showed that the tickets are $2 each. But they

went through the math for you, with signs for "5 for $10" and "10 for $20". Which clearly shows, you're

not saving any $ on buying more tickets at one time.

 

Woo hoo. I bought 5 tickets, used three of them, and will return to use up the rest, etc. But after this year's,

I've decided there really isn't much to this Beer Fest any more. There is beer available at the other three

spots at The Fair, so why bother with this again? And any new beers to try...well, I have a liquor store very

close to where I live, and they always have a huge selection of beers, both brand name and craft brew.

 

And with that, my Opening Day Visit to The Fair was done.

Here's where Alien Worlds & Androids Exhibit is. I will check that out, on another visit.

Retro Service vehicles were on display, at the PNE's Opening.

I like yellow.

And now, for something completely different...

I'm not into "haute couture" fashion. But still, these really looked amazing.

My favourite of the bunch. (o:

Gazing into The Light that is The PNE Marketplace.

I like this seller and their set up. And I might buy something, later on.

The lighted tchotchkes looked cool, too.

And now... Craft Beer Fest Time! Visit #1.

On Opening Day, there were 10 Beer stalls set up, this will change in the PNE's second week, too.

Miller St. has great radio commercials. So I had to try their lager. It was good.

Looking back the other way.

A fruit-based beverage. Like last year's citrus brew, I enjoyed this strawberry one.

And FUGGLES & WARLOCK is an awesome name for a beer company!

The golden ale of Red Truck's was very nice. I may go out and get a 6 pack of this!

After a few brews, I headed towards the exit. Passed by the Ghost Party fun house, which still

looked like it was going to fall apart, at any moment, That Devil-With-A-Cocktail, tho.... hmmm.

And Slush Zone stalls have the right idea, for the heat. Crowds developed around their misters.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Nrthwnd

[Nrthwnd]

I downloaded a rather better looking map of the PNE Grounds, which shows you all the green space there is, that

used to be PNE buildings. The neighborhood got their 'park' for better or worse. And the PNE now provides

an interesting challenge to me....

 

How to make each visit to The Fair different and workable without backtracking too much, etc. etc?

In other words, I am now planning a repeat visit, it like I was visiting any theme park chain

like Disney, Universal, Happy Valley, etc.

 

So here's the map, and "My Challenge," to find new ways (and routes) to enjoy my re-visits to the PNE.

 

 

Ooops. Forgot to add. I'm going to "seek out Androids and Other Worldly Creatures" tonight. And a hot dog.

My objective tonight - first, eat these

children... (but Spare that Purple Bear!!!)

and THEN get those Fresh Cut Fries!

Edited August 23, 2016 by Nrthwnd

[Philrad71]

^ Wow, that sucks about the craft beer fest, Bill.

 

At least for the Beer & BBQ event at CP, you got like an overflowing 16 oz cup of Valravn beer with your entrance fee!

[Nrthwnd]

^ Yeah. I'm sure and know a few other alcohol-based events/parties have that in mind

with a ticket for entry. One free drink/beer included, at least.

 

Not so, here this year. And there's more to note and compare from last year's set up.

But I will wait until the fair has ended

View from a tented (shade) tall bar tables area. PNE 2015 Beer Fest. Not so, this year's.

[Nrthwnd]

I decided to again, use one of my many TPR Tour bags, for my multiple visits to The PNE.

I used another one last summer to great effect, and it proved very useful on all my visits.

Big enough to hold my popcorn bucket for it's refills, and roomy enough to hold things like

tickets and maps, eyeglasses and etc.

The Bag, since Opening Day last weekend.

My little buddy "Dino" is from a games win, last summer.

My newest I <3 Dr.Who button, bought in the Marketplace.

[Nrthwnd]

PNE Visit #2 ~ Tuesday. Aug.23rd ~ Dogs, Fries & Bots!

 

Decided to start samplng the various corn dogs being offered around the grounds.

And a fries spot that I've wanted to try, since they first set up in Playland.

Came in through the Playland entry gate.

Purple and yellow trains were running today.

Speaking of "Ride Tickets"....

What they cost. Online a bit cheaper. But not much. They also have a "Twilight Pass."

Which is $30 (Cdn) and sold after 9pm. You can use it, till they close The Fair up. Around midnight. (;

My corn dog, from last year's Coaster Corn Dogs stall.

My view from the table and bench.

Good stuff! The dog was well cooked and still juicy. Nice cornbread, as well.

Immediately get the fries! And head to an "events area" which is plainly open to the

public, when a group isn't using the area. Massive Quiet Space HERE! Great getaway.

The fires, alas, were not great. They didn't have guacamole for the Mexican one,

so I passed, and got this "Baconned" bunch. Not great. Most fries were ends and

more cooked than they should be. A miss for this one.

View from the Big Free Space!

I found out that BEER is being sold outside of the Beer fest, and this is one of my fave

beers. So ---AWESOME And I also found out, you have the entire Plaza Gardens space,

to move around with your alcohol. And not just staying in the Beer Garden only. COOL!

A bit tipsy are we?

The mini-Star Flyer.

Dessert and a drink. A repeat. Great soft serve with yogurt in it. And SPRINKLESSS!!!

This is where I found the mini donuts popsicles were being sold! Neato.

So, after all the food, it was time to check this out. No lines anywhere to get in. Easy walk in.

Oooooooo. And this leads to......? (To be continued...)

[djcoastermark]

^ you Tease.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Thanks, Bill! I always enjoy reading the PNE fair coverage. We don't have a great local fair where I live. I totally approve of deep fried coffee.

[KingOfNynex2003]

at PNE today and found a Coca Cola Freestyle booth which I've wanted to try for years but have never seen any in Canada, got the collectors cup because I want to try as many combinations as I can, and for lunch I had the Mac & Cheese stuffed burger, it was alright, nothing too spectacular but still good, oh and I tried getting onto The Beast again, didn't get on it but I'm about 1" away from it locking for me, which I can hopefully do by Fright Nights.

[KingOfNynex2003]

at PNE today and found a Coca Cola Freestyle booth which I've wanted to try for years but have never seen any in Canada, got the collectors cup because I want to try as many combinations as I can, and for lunch I had the Mac & Cheese stuffed burger, it was alright, nothing too spectacular but still good, oh and I tried getting onto The Beast again, didn't get on it but I'm about 1" away from it locking for me, which I can hopefully do by Fright Nights.