Playland (PNE) Vancouver Discussion Thread

^ Huh. And it's Italian-made, too. I was hoping it would be more North American-made, but that's okay.

And some where, in those two photos, I am among the other riders, since they took a lot of photos during

it's first run, which I was on.

So, maybe they'll have it (continually) running, starting this weekend!

The listing looks good with the other rides.

^ Huh. And it's Italian-made, too. I was hoping it would be more North American-made, but that's okay.

And some where, in those two photos, I am among the other riders, since they took a lot of photos during

it's first run, which I was on.

 

So, maybe they'll have it (continually) running, starting this weekend!

Yes, it is a Flying Carousel model manufactured by Zamperla. The theming of the Sea To Sky Swinger looks great! It is definitely quite unique!

Oh sweet! Silver Dollar City had the same model, and it's one of our favourite rides there. You'll enjoy this. Zamperla has a hit-or-miss reputation, but this is one of the rides they do really well.

Yes, it is a Flying Carousel model manufactured by Zamperla. The theming of the Sea To Sky Swinger looks great! It is definitely quite unique!

I checked the Zamperla page, and that gallery could use a photo of our Swinger in there, now. It would definitely stand out from the other, more traditionally themed and decorated, swingers. And in BLUE, too!

p.s. And I hope I hope I hope it's going to be open and running, tomorrow.

Nope. Wasn't open today. Along with a few other flats and an upcharge.

And a capsule machine got my dollar without giving me The Prize! Grrrr.

Going back tomorrow, with continued hope. And I'll post some photos, later on.

And on The Very Next Day...

Such a difference in crowds! Almost half of how many were there yesterday. Coaster was "almost" a walk on, and I ended up being the Single Rider (with no queue for it) filling a seat on three rides, that they needed for their Minimum Riders requirement (it's 12 out of 16 riders). The other two rides (I rode 5 times today) were spent longer in the queue, but that was just fine. Compared to my two rides yesterday, this was eeeee-zy.

I tried the capsule machine again with no prize return. So I told one of the games people about it, they told me to head up to Customer Services. I did so, told them, they made a note of it being broken, and I got my $2 back (included the dollar I lost yesterday). And thanked me, for letting them know. Such nice people.

So here's two day's worth of photos. Enjoy.

And the *&*^#@!&*+ Sea-To-Sky Swinger was still down, as well as those other three flats. Hmmph.

A very busy Coaster queue, yesterday.

Prizes in the Quarters Arcade.

Ice Ball tickets I'm going to get counted and save.

La Ticket Eater. I ended up with over 300 tickets counted. I get a paper receipt,

that's good until the end of October's "Fright Nights"! Awesome. (o:

Today's Fudge: Birthday Cake. And Saturday was done.

Playland Does Tropical. And they ARE real palm trees. Truth!

AtmosFEAR has it's own Special Event Tent. Sweet.

Twin Pirates Sharknado? Arrrrr......

Line ups for a music festival, I think

The Twins.

Where the Festival was happening. On the PNE Summer Concerts stage.

Poor seat C5.

Sunday - Walking to the park from my car - Little League game going on.

And the locals do NOT want them parking in their paid-for "Residents Only" block.

Bad Capsule Machine. But I got my $ back. (o:

Are these clouds "head choppers"? i.e. The Twins are beheaded!

And so, Saturday's visit ends, with 5 rides on Coaster. Total rides so far: 25.

(Of my goal of riding Coaster 66 times ~my age~ before the start of this year's PNE.)

Nope. Wasn't open today. Along with a few other flats and an upcharge.

 

And a capsule machine got my dollar without giving me The Prize! Grrrr.

 

Going back tomorrow, with continued hope. And I'll post some photos, later on.

I’m shocked at how bad Saturday was! Some big ticket rides downs and the new one still...

Also that line was for the sold out Billy Eilish concert.

^ Ah, I thought (after posting) that it was all for one of the other concerts they advertise and run there, in non-PNE time, heh. And yeah, I will be pleasantly happy IF everything is running by the time they operate "daily" with the park - starting Friday, June 14th. I still think a lot of the down time for some flats, is due to there just not being enough staff to run everything. Most teens/young adults I know, are still in school a bit longer, here. And not really out of school until the end of June. So that's possible with one or two of the flats. They just need more ride ops, that's all.

Retro Playland - we used to have a Gyro Tower at the front of the park. Great scenic views, all round. And a sky ride which ran behind it, from Playland to the other side of the PNE grounds. Photo from Vancouver Archives.

Busy BUSY day today at the park. Real busy. I mean, even a long line at the West Coast Wheel which isn't very often. I'm going back tomorrow, while our Italian Day is happening on The Drive (where we live two blocks away from) and hope the crowds are a lot lighter. They should all be on Commercial Drive, lol.

Coaster was a 30-40 minute wait, today. Long waits all over, and several flats were still down...

But I did manage to finally get my Baby T-Rex today, with my total of Ice Ball tickets win!

Happy Italian Day! and other weekend stuff...

Today is when our main shopping street (Commercial Drive), which is two blocks away from us, becomes a No-Cars Zone for several blocks. Italian Day runs from noon to 8. We keep Stella inside, since parking in the area is at a premium so people are driving (and walking) around everywhere.

And on this day I usually go to Playland. Away from the crowds, ending up at (today) a really nice day there, with not as many people as yesterday. Sweet! That gave me the chance to get three rides on Coaster. Which was enough. And just to be casual around the place, without feeling crowded in.

And yesterday, I finally got my Ice Ball Tickets' prize. Cost me 400 tickets, but what the heck. It's Playland!

And Woo Hoo!, they finally marked that capsule machine as "Out of Order." I feel better about that.

Here's the pix from both days' visits....

SATURDAY: Purple train today.

Very crowded, looking back from the station.

What's this? What's this? Middle red car is now "purple-ized."

Birthday Unicorns.

"Arrrrrrrrr I's pretty in pink, mateys!"

A burb.

Rich people live up there on the hill. British Properties it's called. "Money, money money...."

The deal with this Arcade is... the private operator of it, ended his contract with the PNE, and didn't renew it.

So, there's an empty building waiting.....darkridedarkride...... for something..... darkridedarkride. (o;

Home with my new Ice Balls prize... Baby T-Rex! And dollar popcorn, of course. And Saturday ends here.

SUNDAY: On the way to my bus stop, I saw this in an alley. HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! by the way. (o:

An actual Italian food store, Bosa Foods, is off The Drive, but that doesn't stop them

from setting up their own booth, etc. Great!

Art. Nice Art.

What's also happening this weekend. Which is why they don't run one any more

at the PNE. And have the open drinking policy in two separate areas, Fairgrounds & Playland itself,

at The Fair now. Progre$$. But if you still want a "Craft Beer Fest", this one's ending today!

Not that crowded, from first look.

And look who's finally running!

KC's on the move.

BC Beer Festival, up thataways.

Finally.

No thank you!

Happy Italian Day! and other weekend stuff...

 

Today is when our main shopping street (Commercial Drive), which is two blocks away from us, becomes a No-Cars Zone for several blocks. Italian Day runs from noon to 8. We keep Stella inside, since parking in the area is at a premium so people are driving (and walking) around everywhere.

 

And on this day I usually go to Playland. Away from the crowds, ending up at (today) a really nice day there, with not as many people as yesterday. Sweet! That gave me the chance to get three rides on Coaster. Which was enough. And just to be casual around the place, without feeling crowded in.

 

And yesterday, I finally got my Ice Ball Tickets' prize. Cost me 400 tickets, but what the heck. It's Playland!

And Woo Hoo!, they finally marked that capsule machine as "Out of Order." I feel better about that.

 

Here's the pix from both days' visits....

I assume no Wave swinger still?

Yup.

Yeah, at this point in time, if it isn't running, I'm not mentioning it again.

Listening to awesome off-Brdwy version of what's now on

Broadway! But sadly, no Best Musical TONY nomination.

Great score. Truth! (o: Happy TONYs Night!!!

Just found out, the four night Playland Nights in July, open to Adults Only,

have a VIP Ticket Pkg. available...that I might get myself.

And to get this VIP Ticket, you choose which themed night you buy it for.

Yep, the four nights are being themed, all quite different from each other.

Go to https://www.pne.ca/playland-nights/ and find out more about it.

EDIT TO ADD: By the way, they're advertising this VIP ticket allowing "FastPass type access" on you guessed it, the Sea-to-Sky Swinger. So, I hope they get their act together, and get this thing running. Continually. They've got a month to do it.

EDIT to my previous EDIT: I broke down and just bought my NEON PARTY Playland Night

ticket for July 5th! Surely, I have something(s) to wear that glows under black light? Here's hoping.

Neon Party ~ Graffiti Night ~ Party Hats ~ Mystics & Magic Nights...one theme each Friday night. (o: Mmmmm Lust.

My ticket to Playland Nights - NEON

And, because it's Pride Month, here's the stuff about "Out At The Fair Day" in late August!

~ Out at the Fair Day - Thursday, August 29, 11am - Late ~

https://www.pne.ca/ways-to-save/

Purchase Pride socks from the Vancouver Pride Society at their events or at the Hastings & Renfrew gate and get into the PNE Fair free! All proceeds benefit the VANCOUVER PRIDE SOCIETY.

Myself with last year's socks. Wonder if there's a new version this year? Hope so.

The rainbow socks will, I assume, maintain their "rainbow design", heh. (o;

First weekday the park was open, today. And the crowd was bigger than I expected. Definitely a few organizations had brought groups there for the day. And although I tried to ride Coaster more than once, the queue just kept building up before I even got off that first ride. And the wait in the current heat and humidity for a 2nd ride wasn't worth it, for myself.

So one ride on Coaster, one ride on Bug Whirled, and one ride on the Wheel.

No popcorn, Ice Ball games.....or fudge, today.

I'll be back on Sunday.

P.S. "Playland Open Daily" means it's open only from 10 am to 3 pm Mon-Fri.

Weekends are still longer hours. Till July. http://www.pne.ca

Now Open Daily. But....not that *^!&*@ Swinger!

The Beast is back in action.

For all you chain lift nerds.

Ooooh, wonder what's happening here?

omg The Ride Side Bar is open!

Alas, not the bar itself, but just the seating area for a private event.

Still ~ Not ~ Sold ~ Yet.

Revelation is running again, too. Pardon my fuzzy focus.

And....A bad selfie, taken on the Carousel. And Friday's visit is over.

And for this weekend time between park visit postings...

Here's the other selfie I tried to be....uh...creative with.

Well, I tried. And there was crap on that mirror, too.

Off of my PNE Gate Pass ticket. Which is good for the whole two week Fair. (o:

Happy Dad's Day! ~ And testing, testing, testing...

Well, I am really convinced that Sundays are the days (for now) to get a number of good rides on Coaster, and not deal with crowds. Until 2 pm...ish. I was told that rock concerts happen around 2 pm on the PNE Concert Stage. And it gets real slammed around that time, I was told by ride ops. So with that in mind, I didn't stay past 1 pm or so.

But - the crowd was so light I got 7 rides on Coaster! And I could've gotten more, but having ridden practically every seat in the train (except the back one - won't go near that), I called it enough, for the day.

And The Swinger was testing, testing, testing, and more testing today! I spoke with the operator, and it seems they're having probs with slowing it down better, and lowering it faster, for unloading. I must admit, when I got that one ride in on Opening Day, it was ooooh soooo sloooow in getting us back to the ground. Freeky slow.

Anyway, Dads and Pops and Fathers everywhere, treating their kids

(and other family members) to a day at The Park. Good for them!

At first I thought there were actual riders on it.

But then I see... Lucky water dummies.

Yellow going up.

Yellow going down.

It was really quiet and not that crowded while I was there.

Meanwhile...

AFTS: Artsy Fartsy Testing Shot. And my Sunday there is done!

A Windy Wednesday and.....It's Open and Swinging!!!

Got into the park just after 1 pm, knowing it closes at 3. Lots of groups and organization's youngsters running and running around. And the Coaster train appeared down when I got into the queue for it. Maintenance was looking all over it, the queue was growing, and I decided to check back later.

I turn around and OMG! Swinger is Open and running! With real people on it!!! So I got in line for the next ride, got a lot of photos taken, and then enjoyed a really fast (still) swings ride. But it definitely slowed down easier and lowered to the ground much faster, than my first ride on opening day.

So I rode it once, and got back to Coaster, and everything was running again. In fact, after my third time on it, the queue was down so much by then, it was easy for four or more rides after that. But I stopped at three and 'noted' this for other weekday visits.

Also, on my third ride on Coaster, I looked down towards the Corkscrew and noted banners across the fencing in front of it. So when I was about to leave the park, I headed over to Corkscrew and checked the banners out....

P.S. What wind there was from time to time, and there were a few strong gusts, caused them to stop running AtmosFEAR for the day. But all the other flats were open, except AF and Gladiator.

Purple train's down for awhile. Will check back later.

What's this? What's this???

Actual Real Life PEOPLE on Swinger?

Wheee!

Running again.

And still running!

Not many games opened at this time, due to lack of players. So no Ice Ball for me today. )o:

Nice lights.

Ooooooo signage!

"Making Way for Some Thing Exciting" ... But first, they gotta sell Corkscrew! (o;

A Grey Cloudy Weekend...And Swinger Lights Up!

Yesterday was very busy, as usual. Lots of groups and school outings there. It was busy enough that I got only 1 single ride on Coaster. Which was fine. And the lighting package on Swinger was on, and looked great against the grey cloudy sky. Can't wait to see it run, when it's actually dark out. And I'll get to do that on the first Playland Nights (of 4) I'm attending, Friday July 5th. https://www.pne.ca/playland-nights/

Today was much better, although it started "dripping" from the clouds, just before I left the park. And I discovered a new Quarters Game, that definitely beat Ice Ball, when it came to giving out prize tickets! I was impressed. So I will probably split my quarters between Ice Ball and this one, from now on.

Yesterday, it took me 40 minutes to get my one ride on Coaster.

Oooooo.....

Pretty.

My fave "chariot" on Gladiator, still down for a few weeks, now.

They've now built a sturdier, more permanent shelter for those White Spot "Triple O" Burger eaters.

Today, behind that coaster.....hardly any queue at all!

A reminder.

AtmosFEAR's Event Tent is being used today.

With burgers!

There's a rainbow in her hair. Sort of.

Hardly anyone here at all, today.

Best ~ Reverse Curve ~ Ever!

Hot, Hot, Hot ~ And Then Some, Today.

Quick hour at the park today. Very VERY warm for June, truth! Got one ride

(almost a 40 min.wait, again) on Coaster, with massive groups today,

and a very nice, cool ride on The Wheel. And played some quarters games.

And noted four flats down, this visit. Including The Beast and Beach Party...again.

And took five pix. Enjoy.

Purple, purple.

Busy, busy.

What's this? What's this? (beside the Climbing Wall)

The metal box is turning into A POPCORN SERVER BOX!

The Twins.

Extra Pic! I later went to my Belgian Fries and had an "okay" Garden Burger (=brown rice + corn/spices).

Meet my new Quarter Games Best Friend...

PLINKO! I spent just one dollar in quarters today, and got 80 Prize Tickets!

Way more than I get in three games of Ice Ball ($1 each game). (o:

More photos to follow, after Monday's visit.

A nice quiet easy ride, until the thing went full tilt on the LOUD calliope music, in the midst of a busy Saturday.

"And then there was the day I forgot my camera..."

Yeah, the above says it all about today. Idiot bear. So, here's the photos (what few there are) of my visit on Saturday. And for the record, today was literally half the crowd it was on Saturday. I got five rides on Coaster and could have stayed there through the (HOT HOT HOT) afternoon for more rides. But five was enough for me, for now. Another chance will come along, soon enough I am sure.

And I also forgot to get myself one of them Beaver Tails

(an oblong-shaped funnel cake) for today...because it was Canada Day of course!

Happy 152nd Birthday, Canada!

(And I'll try to remember, NOT to forget The *(%GRR#@s Camera next visit.)

This was Saturday. But today was literally a "walk in". (o;

More permanent wood structures for the gp.

Still running today, too.

Happy

243rd Birthday

U.S.A!

A few shots, taken yesterday at the park.

Curvy!

I'll post more later today, but here's a first look at how I did the Neon Party night, at Playland Nights, last night.

The ONLY place where they had black lights!

Before My Playland Nights night happened...

I spent less than a couple of hours at Playland, before leaving the park and finding something to eat. Originally the park was set to close at 6pm, but for some reason the drips and drops coming down from time to time equalled "inclement weather" to them, so they decided to close an hour early. 5pm. Fair enough.

I did get four rides on Coaster and a quick tour around the park, so I could see what they were doing for their first Playland Nights night. Not much revealed until after I came back for the evening. I did notice that the special cocktails they were selling were over $12 each. But with 2oz of booze in each one, I guess it was a reasonable price. However, I decided to play it safe with my drinking, and stuck with good old Stella Artois for the night.

Got another couple of rides on Coaster, which my Fastpass (incl. with the "VIP Experience") and one on AtmosFEAR, although at night, it makes the speed of the thing even more.....uh.... scary? Once was enough on that. And a ride on Hellevator, which was a drop tower for the evening.

Photos taken before Playland closed for further setup...

On the way to the bus stop.

Pretty.

More pretty.

Playland entrance around 4pm.

Yeah, well. Turned out they did decide to close early. An hour early.

A bar set up beside Coaster.

Ooooo gambling! Not to be unfortunately. This was being set up for our annual fair, in August.

One of our national cable providers getting in on the action.

My old standby (during the PNE) the Ride Side Bar would be open, tonight.

I thought this was going to be a performers change tent. Turned out to be something else, most enjoyable.

One of the DJ booths around the park.

The Chairs got repainted! In Neon Colours. Themed for the coming evening.

This was to be the VIP tent.

Another one of the bars.

Very VERY sweet cocktails offered. 2 oz of liquor in'em. Not a bad price. But I chose Stella instead, all night.

What I wanted to get, but didn't. Instead...

Where I found eats and drinks.

I had a nice Monte Cristo sandwich, and a couple of lagers before heading back to the park.