Playland/PNE (Vancouver) Discussion Thread

Nrthwnd · August 18, 2018

Opening Day of The PNE!

I did a basic walk through of The Fair earlier today, checking to see what's what and what's where, etc.

Had myself a not-that-cheap beer in the Celebration Plaza Beer Garden. And started my Corn Dog Challenge,

with my first corn dog at Coaster Dogs, up by the entrance to Playland.

Here we go!

Marketplace - where everything you don't need, can be bought here. (o;

Lots of stuff past these trees.

The PNE Map.

There be Dragons in here! I'm going to check that out in a week or so.

Lots more stuff you don't need, outside as well.

Noted. And the Beer Fest beyond these gardens is no more, as the PNE is selling booze everywhere now!

The "Win A House!" house. I shall tour it another day.

Where POPnology is.

This I definitely want to take in, eventually.

But - not this. Unless they're jousting too. (o;

Best chicken and fries at The Fair, IMhO.

The Chicken.

Where the farm meets the city.

Celebration Plaza, with it's Beer Garden, a few rides...

...and the annual Ribs Fest! Three are here for us to enjoy.

The "Dole Whip" stands are also selling "Charcoal Swirl." Hmmm, interesting.

Going to check this out, on another visit.

My beer and my wristband I must wear in the Beer Garden.

View from where I'm sitting. (To Be Continued...)

Edited August 18, 2018 by Nrthwnd

Nrthwnd · August 18, 2018

More of Opening Day...

Entrance for Concert Series reserved seat ticket holders.

Meanwhile...

Hardly a soul there...for now. Later on it'll get real busy.

Gate C - for everybody else who doesn't have reserve seats to the Concert Series.

And Hells Gate isn't open yet, either.

Coaster Dogs is right by Coaster. Duh!

With a PinWheel coupon, this was $5 Cdn. Normally it would be $6.

Nice corn dog, I like it when the dog is more than the batter.

Only yellow train running at this time of the day.

Flats Mashup.

Haunted House ride in it's new location.

Looking back up the main walkway with tons of food stalls and trucks.

But if you turn left, you end up walking beside....

This. The Big Green Space in the PNE fairgrounds. Hardly anybody walks around this.

Very pleasant, soothing, and somewhat quiet around this.

Festival park, with free community group shows.

omg they painted the Canada Chairs!

And outdoor Marketplace.

As I head out of The Fair.

A rest stop, before heading home.

ytterbiumanalyst · August 18, 2018

Nice! Your fair gets the best food.

Nrthwnd · August 19, 2018

^ I totally agree. But for the most part, 85% of what's in the stalls and trucks, I can find on my own

in the city even when the PNE is going, like now. And a lot cheaper, usually. But that's my perk to

living close by.

So I really try and look for truly unusual foods there. Aside from that, I am on a fixed income, and

I can only afford so much "PNE food." So for this year, I am doing this Corn Dog Challenge, which

will only cost me $5-8 per basic corn dog. And I have the refill popcorn jug and refill drink container,

which = $2 total! So for the first week or so of this Fair, I am being thrifty in my food and booze buying,

till the following week, when a bit more $$$ comes in (yay). And then I go PNE FOOD CRAZY, bwah ah ah!

For the Challenge, I have so far found four places that sell the corned dog. The first I tried yesterday,

at Coaster Dogs, by Coaster itself. "And It was Good..." And I have found three more spots

that advertise The C.Dog. Two of them are photographed below (and will be patronized at least once

during The Fair). The fourth I know where it is, but haven't photographed it...yet.

EDIT: I did photograph the fourth darned place... at last year's PNE. So, here it is....Coco's!

Corn Dog King ~ Near the front (west end) of The Fair.

Chickys Chicken & Fries ~ Down the "Walkway of Food" (heading east). (o;

Coco's ~ Right opposite (sort of) The POPnology Exhibit. Will check both both of these on Tuesday. (o:

EDIT to add a 5th Corn Dog spot: $4 each, but half the size of...

Edited August 23, 2018 by Nrthwnd

Nrthwnd · August 21, 2018

PNE's Gi-normous Green Space: Hastings Community Park & The Sanctuary

Today, I went to The Fair, with the intention of only doing two things: visiting the POPnology Exhibit, and then getting myself my second corn dog. At Coco's, up by POPnology and the Coliseum where both the big annual Superdogs Show happens, as well as the new Action Sports World Tour show. I may take in the Sport show later, as I have already seen the Superdogs show two times in past years. With that, all that really changes is the theme and sets/props. Fun for the family, though.

But before I did all that, I started at the Playland entrance to the Fair, and checked out what I could still get with my Ice Ball tickets. Fortunately, something I had my eyes on before, only had "one of them" left! Lucky me. So I played a few games, racked up some more tickets, and got my prize (to be shown later).

And then, after that, I headed back up to the front of The Fair, but bypassing all of the noise and food trucks/stalls, the many many people...and took a nice leisurely stroll through the area of the PNE, the city took back and made into Green Space...

A LOT OF GREEN SPACE. Walking through the Hastings Community Park, it's really amazing how little you hear the sounds of The Fair, while walking around the man-made pond, called The Sanctuary, there.

Today's entryway, into The PNE.

Got my Ice Ball prizes, and then started moving through Playland.

Red train running today.

Heading down thisaways...

Rainbow flags, yay!

Mists of The Zone. Loved these stall misters you could just walk through.

Normally, I could go this way, back into the main walkway of The Fair...

...but instead, I turned left, to go this way.

And arrived at The Sanctuary.

Other things to note.

Looking from the bridge.

So, where's the crowds?

All of the above, led to this 'boardwalk' walkway.

Nature Info. Board.

Reeds 'R Us.

Continuing on.

Hmmm. The Momiji Japanese Garden I will visit another time.

Here I am.

PNE people are over there, see?

I took the right pathway.

My exit out of the park.

But - one more pic of the pond, taken from the other side of it.

And out I go!

"Backstage PNE" (to be continued...)

Nrthwnd · August 21, 2018

~ POPnology and Corn Dog #2 ~

Everything that happens in technology can often be determined by pop culture in all it's forms. This exhibit shows a lot of what the world has come up with, in high tech and literally beyond. There's a lot to read for information, in this exhibit. But for the most part, there is a lot of stuff for the kids to enjoy and play with. As it should be.

Before I went into the Rollerland Bldg, I decided to have my next corn dog beforehand. Now, I realize that to do a really "professional" Corn Dog Challenge, I should be buying all the corn dogs at once, and then eat and compare. Unfortunately, my stomach and probably my wallet) couldn't take that much in hot dogs, corn bread batter...and mustard, lol. But one at a time will work for me. And Coco's was definitely a winner. The corn bread was thicker around the hot dog. And it just made the dog taste that much.....cornier!

So after two corn dogs tested, it's Coco's ahead of Coaster Dogs. For now.

What's this? What's this?

Awesome! We enjoyed last year's display, so we will definitely check it out in 2019.

More mists.

My $2 refill of root beer, I get here. Sadly, a lot of the drinks stands aren't supplying ice.

Then there's those sugar-lovin' bees to put up with. They don't hurt people. They just want the sweet stuff!

With a coupon, the corned dog was $5. Normally it's $6. A dollar saved IS a dollar saved. (o;

How to carry a corn dog with the condiments.

Nice thick and sweet corn bread batter around a very cooked hot dog. I enjoyed this one a lot.

And this sort of makes me a liar, when I said before "I enjoy more hot dog than batter."

Whatever. It was excellent. (o:

Other families taking a break.

Where to go...

A very serious history account of the Rollerland Bldg. and it's (then) useage.

Here we are!

Baxter was on a rest break.

Neee-cola!

Cupboards of whatnots and gadgets from the past and present.

Disney shout out!

The green mini-game on the middle shelf is a mini-Frogger game. And I still have the

Q-Bert mini-game. It still works too, after a few decades! (o:

Books, books, books. And Disneyland's retro House of The Future there! (To be continued...)

Edited August 22, 2018 by Nrthwnd

Nrthwnd · August 22, 2018

The POPnology Exhibit in the Rollerland Bldg. at The PNE.

Continuing on...

Whoa! ... What to do with all those extra tools you have lying around the house.

This was very impressive, this was.

Everything 3D printed, but the tires.

This sure beats popsicle sticks, hmm?

Back From It's Future.

Another Disney shout out!

You want robots? We got robots!

More stuff for the kids to play with. And after all that....

...You get dumped into the Gift Shop. Good exhibit. I want to visit it again, later on.

The two daily shows happening in the Coliseum. I might check out the Sports World Tour.

An annual visit to the BCAA stall, got me a little bottle of hand sanitizer. FREE! (o:

What's this? Ooooo this looks interesting.

Prices are on par with everything else at The Fair, so I will have one of these, on a visit next week.

My Ice Ball prizes - a stop light lamp and 3 squishy donuts!

Where I put it, with my other prizes from Ice Ball: my Neon Bar Sign...and a glass plate from long, long ago.

bert425 · August 22, 2018

that's an interesting display they have set up, thanks for the pictures of it.

Nrthwnd · August 22, 2018

^ Most welcome, Bert! I do what I can to make the PNE interesting, as they work hard to make sure the gp come back again and again.

And now......~ Street Of Dreams ~

Cars trucks cars...and more cars! I took photos of every customized car and truck there. So this posting will be in several parts, to be sure.

And I got my third corn dog to enjoy, at Chicky's Chicken & Fries (I want to say "Chicky & Pete's" but that's another franchise ).

This one was another good one, especially for the corn bread batter around the dog. So to put them in preferred order, for now....

Coco's

Chicky's

Coaster Dogs

And I found a fifth spot that sells corn dogs! But on closer inspection....well....you'll see what I mean by "appetizer-like."

I guess Tim Horton's is a Big Sponsor of The Fair, today.

Past the GI-normous coffee cup, I am heading thataways. Towards the Coliseum Entry of The Fair.

Marketplace peek-a-boo.

Temperature noted.

This is where the Beer Festival used to be. What they are doing, I had no idea, and I didn't ask.

Part of the Italian Gardens.

Coliseum Entrance!

I will!

Pretty PNE themed lockers.

Some interesting things to get 'dipped,' there.

Here we go.

But first.....

...a shout out to our Canadian Armed Forces, also on display at The Fair.

First of the bunch.

I forgot to take a pic of this jaguar's sign. My bad.

Hello there!

What a gorgeous combo!

The car, yeah, sure....

Information.

Here's lookin' at me! More to come!

I LOVE the Trailer!

Edited August 23, 2018 by Nrthwnd

Nrthwnd · August 22, 2018

More cars and trucks on the Street Of Dreams ...

This looks just wrong.

More to come...

Nrthwnd · August 22, 2018

More of the same...

Love it, LOL!

The Cars version of "Alien".

Car stuff.

And that's it! (o:

Edited August 23, 2018 by Nrthwnd

Nrthwnd · August 23, 2018

After taking all the photos of these cars and trucks, it was time to get my corn dog, some iced tea for a buck, and check out The Fair

for any other places that sell the Corned Dog. And I found one! It was at the corner of Playland. And it was cheapest of the bunch: $4!

But then I took a closer look and saw that if I wanted to try one... well, I better order 2.

A reminder.

I found out what the flavour was of this new soft serve. Won't reveal it till I buy one and taste it for myself. (o;

Orbiter in orbit.

Bumper cars #2.

Checking out this spot for their "featured flavour" candy floss, if they had one this year.

And, they did! (o:

The Wine Chalet wasn't too busy. I later found out, Wednesdays are usually the quietest times

at The Fair i.e. No Crowds. But there was still a lot of haze in the air, from forest fires up north,

so that may have something to do with the crowd size as well.

Where I am.

Cute for $5.

You want scarves??? We Got SCARVES!

Two flying flat rides.

No corn dogs here, at the Playland White Spot....spot.

Only sweet doughy stuff, here.

Wow! This guy won a Bag of Plastic in the Arcade!

Pizza Pizza just has that... and chicken chicken as well.

They've got sweet pots (past the fudge) to keep the bees busy and away from the soda dispensers. Hope it's working.

Is there such a thing as a Cod Dog? No such thing here.

Wall of The Small.

Soon, soon. I shall return.

Testing, testing.

Waiting, waiting. I assume it later (finally) opened for the crowd.

Random shot with banana leaf.

...Then I found this place at the NW corner of Playland.

What's this? What's this? Corn dogs? For $4 each???

Then I took a look. A bit...uh... short, I thought. Maybe I'll get two, eventually. (o;

What's playing tonight. I didn't even know they were still together.

My destination for today's C-dog.

Ready to enjoy this one.

And it was good, too. As good as Coco's but "not quite". Still, better than Coaster Dogs'.

Teaching kids to cast a fly.

On August 30th, when the LGBTQ+2 community shows up, this will be interesting to see:

A fruit, drinking a fruit, from a fruit! I <3 my community. And I hope a lot of them show up! (o:

Too - much - sugar HERE!

Then I found this. Hmmm. Maybe I'll try one of them (mmm meatballs) next week.

See you on Friday!

The WIN A HOUSE! house. I did not go in. I did not want to, really. Too too modern for moi.

Note the fake grass? Wouldn't want that anyway.

Yay Coco's! You're still in front of the corn dog pack!

Edited August 23, 2018 by Nrthwnd

bert425 · August 23, 2018

cool that you get to go so often, Bill!

nice pics.

Nrthwnd · August 23, 2018

^ Well, it helps I turned 65 this year. That done, the two week+ Elders' Pass for The Fair cost me $42 Cdn.

For a one day entry it would have cost me $7 per visit. So I needed to visit The Fair at least....6 times to make it work, lol.

It's a great deal if you're a local, elder or younger. All you have to do is visit The Fair at least 7 times, and you're golden.

Then any visits after that would be BONUS visits, lol! So I worked out a plan to visit all of the special events and exhibits there,

but one at a time per visit, which allows me to make multiple visits. So far, so good! I'm up to four, so Friday and next weeks'

3 or 4 visits should be golden! Not to mention, I'll then have The $$$ to buy some truly Only-At-The-Fair kind of food!

P.S. Also, by next week......damn the root beer and/or coke dollar refills! I'm ready for some hard HARD LIQUOR and/or

cocktails, to enjoy the final days of this annual Fair. See me at the Ride Side Bar for future communication...

Definitely on my To-Eat List, next week. (o;

Also... maybe something from here...for dessert, right? But...chocolate dipped....jalapenos? Eep.

"I will visit thee by The Wed-ness Day." Eh, I tried.

ytterbiumanalyst · August 23, 2018

Mmm...chocolate dipped jalapeños.

Nrthwnd · August 23, 2018

^ I know, that's the one that's got my interest. I'm just not that good with really OMG HOT! jalapenos.

Who knows? These might be "a bit milder" for the general public at The Fair. I'll find out, eventually.

If I do buy and eat one, I will accept the (probable) Fire-In-My-Chocolatey-Mouth, and think of you, Andrew.

Tomorrow, I am seeing this at 3 pm.... followed by enjoying Corn Dog #4, a drink....

...and then seeing this at 4:30...... and this PNE Day will be done!

Nrthwnd · August 25, 2018

Live Jousting, "Action Sports", Another Corn Dog....and Betty

When I picked up the daily schedule for today's Fair shows, I was sad to find out that the Knights of Valor were not jousting at 3pm.

A Draft Horse Show was scheduled in it's place. So I thought "oh well," and headed up to the Side Car Bar in Playland, to kill some time

(i.e drink) before eating, and before the Extreme Sports World Tour happened, at 4:30. Two beers later, and several shots of people with their

Arcade Games Unicorn wins, I headed to the Agrodome to get at least a few shots of the horses....

...SURPRISE! The Knights of Valor was in fact, going on, so I caught the last 15 minutes or so of this, with what shots I could take of the jousting.

Then, on to getting my 4th corn dog of The Fair, something to drink, and taking my time before the Action Sports Show happened...

On the way to my bus stop, I saw this.

Couldn't resist taking a couple of shots of this sweet little trailer.

Hmmm. Wonder if they know their electronic sign isn't working?

I decided to just "glide through" the Marketplace.

When I entered the bldg, this is how I first saw it all.

Stuff to my right.

Stuff to my left.

Everything is Everywhere!

Looking back to the front, and where I began.

Where To Next?

Celtic dancing happening on the Festival Park stage.

I was pleasantly surprised how vacant the bigger drinking areas were. Now that the PNE allows alcohol

to be carried throughout the Fair (except in Playland where the one bar is there), people aren't sticking

to just sitting in one spot with their drink. More seating for me! (o:

Noted. But there's the Side Car Bar up in there, which is where I was headed.

My view from the Bar.

Red Coaster train running today.

People photographing family Fairgoers.

Me and Stella....

...and the Side Car Bar all to myself!

The yellow Coaster train's running, too.

Meanwhile. Down again. And Hell's Gate looked pretty non-operative, too. (To be continued...)

Edited August 26, 2018 by Nrthwnd

SoCalJasonland · August 25, 2018

I wish they would let me back in Canada. PNE looks fun.

Nrthwnd · August 25, 2018

The Knights of Valor show was pretty simple. You watched a couple of "knights" have a go at each other, trying to get points and/or knocking the opponent off of their horse for more points. That actually happened once, which looked, and sounded, pretty painful. But the fallen knight got back up on his horse, and kept going. He didn't win this match, but you had to give him credit for trying.

After the jousting was done, I headed over to "Corn Dog KIng," for my daily corned dog. Got some root beer ($2 refills), but then discovered they had posted "Afternoon Specials" for beer and wine at the Plaza Gardens area. "Nuts to the root beer" I thought, and got myself a "trashy beer", heh. The beer tasted of grapefruit, which wasn't too back, but I don't think I'd order one again. The corn dog was very nice, good thick batter around the dog, which was sweet cornmeal done right. So for the four I've had so far, here's the order of perference...

Coco's

Corn Dog King

Chicky's

Coaster Dogs

And after this, I then headed to the Coliseum for the Extreme Sports World Tour...

Speaking of jousting....this looked like a triple play. But they were all polite and didn't try to bumper car each other.

Lots and lots of stuffies.

Unicorn #1

Unicorn #2.

This carney was very entertaining to watch and listen to.

This means we could take our drinks anywhere, past this sign.

Remember this stall?...

....with these special Corn Dogs? Turns out they couldn't sell them. PNE has their own corn dog stands,

and wouldn't allow these people to sell their special dogs. That was sad to find out. Mmm meatball corn dog!

Here it is!

The set up for the jousting.

The Host.

....with the Very Long Hair.

Lances.

Yessir, that is a mighty long head of hair! And his beard was about as long, too!

Charging at each other.

Contact.

Another run at each other.

This is very fuzzy, but it does show a knight being felled (felled?) off his horse. Ouch.

Got back up again, back on his horse, and ready to go again! He eventually lost the match.

The Host of KoV, getting photos taken and autographs done.

The winning knight.

Proof that drinking at this year's PNE is all over the grounds.

Finally. Corn Dog #4, here.

Looks nice. The stick was a bit short, so the whole thing was a touch "top-heavy," prone to falling off it's stick.

Delish. Still not as OMG as Coco's but slightly above Chicky's.

Hmmm. A Trashy Panda Beer? Why not!

Tasted of grapefruit, mainly. And they had a Special that afternoon, so it cost me only $5 Cdn.

And this is Betty, who busses around the immediate area. Sweet young woman, very interested in

chatting about everybody's day there at The Fair, me included. I liked her and hope to run into her

again, in a week or so, when I return. (To be continued...)

Nrthwnd · August 25, 2018

When I think of Action Sports, just bicycles and skate boards in competition, does not come to mind. Well, that's what this was all about. With a 12 foot high u-shaped....uh.... running track (?). They went back and forth, and back and forth, and.... you know how this worked. It was alright, but honestly, I could see a lot more of this happening around town at skateboard parks already in use. But the high flying stuff was pretty awesome to watch. And when they announced you could come down to the floor, up to the fences....the mobs of kids running down there, was like free candy had been offered, lol. I went down there myself, eventually, to try and get some closer shots of the action.

And after it was all over, in a 1/2 hour's time, I headed home.

P.S. If you haven't come across this couple's AWESOME tour (ODDventure) through my home town, including Playland, here...

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=76179

It's a great TR, and I am glad they finally got to ride Coaster, on the slimmest of chances it was running, their final day there. Whew!

So that's what goes into a White Spot Burger! (o;

Ooooo pretty.

The Host.

Unicorn #3, on the bus, heading home.

Nrthwnd · August 27, 2018

For everyone who is planning to go to The PNE this Thursday......

Out at The Fair Day – Thurs. August 30, 11am – Late

"Purchase Pride socks at the Fair Gate at Hastings & Renfrew streets, and get into the Fair for FREE! ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE VANCOUVER PRIDE SOCIETY."

We love it, that you buy a pair of socks to get Free Admission, lol! http://www.pne.ca

And there's a big drag show in conjunction with the Dueling Pianos act (remember them

at SF-Magic Mountain?) in the evening (7-8pm). Will probably be packed for that!

PLUS! Jann Arden is the headliner at that night's Concert Series performance!

Performance during Gay Day @ Playland ~ 2013 ~ (o:

Nrthwnd · August 30, 2018

~ Exploring Farm Country @The PNE ~

Today's Fair visit, was just to the Farm Buildings that have been on the PNE grounds as long as I can remember them. Everything associated with Farm Life is here, including how to grow stuff, milk stuff, and hammering metal into horseshoes and hearts. The Clydesdale horses are here, as well as guinea pigs, too. And the cows and the pigs, ponies and hens. The kids go crazy seeing all this "wild life" around them, and the parents are glad they don't have to pay extra for it...except $7 for the pony rides. And $3 to feed the race pigs. And various overpriced items in the Farm Country "Store." It's all here!

Sorry ma'am, I'm looking for the Forum Cafe...

And here it is.

Got myself a nice beef panini, along with a hard lemonade. Both were great.

Entertainment while I eat.

Can't miss all the Farm Buildings.

Noted. Hand washing is advised everywhere in here, no matter what you touch.

First horsey of the day!

Little guy was just standing there. I think it was pissed off at something.

"Yeah, I'm a big sonofabitch!"

The rest of the 'herd.'

Where jousting armor goes to rest.

Monster Milking Machine.

New born calves. Six weeks old.

Very quiet stables here.

Llamas? Well, why not?

Noted. (o:

(To be continued...)

Nrthwnd · August 30, 2018

The first thing I watched was the Honey Extraction Demo. It was basically taking the honey filled racks, scraping off as much wax as possible, then loading them into a device that spun the honey out of the racks, and eventually into a collecting jar underneath. Refinement of the honey would come later.

Next was the always popular, annual Pig Races at the PNE. It was three races: the first one with ducks (why are ducks in a pig race?), then a freeforall race with some "untrained" piggies, and then The Big Matchup, helped along by two young volunteers from the audience. And our side (We're Number 2!) won the race! It was fun to watch, and everybody gets a kick out of it.

Finally, I took in a Blacksmithing Demo which for the first 1/2 hour or so was used to clean a young horse's hooves and trim it's 'nails.' All with explanations about how to keep a horse calm, and not letting it get spooked. After all that, then there was a demo, taking a piece of metal and eventually shaping it into a heart. I thought this demo would be more than just what it was, but it was a nice break from the noise and such outside of the barns.

After all the demos and races, I got myself a "gourmet hot dog" a couple of cheap beers (Happy Hour between 3 and 5!), and after consuming that..... to home.