Seeing as it PNE time in Vancouver and not all of our followers/readers are rich enough to buy a gate pass and a ride pass for their entire family, our latest Friday super-saver feature is a super cheap, almost-free alternative to the PNE.
And what is the excitement that can match the PNE? Why none other than a day on BC Transit! To make it really fun take your twin toddlers who have decided that they no longer like to ride in a stroller! Yippee! Hang-on for that ride!
If you really want to get your adrenalin flowing don’t buy a ticket before entering the fare-paid zone. Wowzer! If you have not paid and you see a couple of transit cops walking towards you with their trigger fingers itching and twitching to unleash the Taser on your fare-cheating ass … that gets your mojo moving!
For added fun, get on the Millenium Line at Lougheed Mall and ride it to Broadway/Commercial Drive station. Do this at 8am with your twin toddlers in the stroller and then transfer onto the Expo Line at Commercial Drive. This is so much like the line-up for the roller-coaster at the PNE, you won’t even think about the PNE.
Get off the Expo Line at the end of the line, Waterfront Station and I have been told that there is a set of extraordinarily long escalators in the Convention Centre that can add some more joy and bliss to the little ones’ day.
As if that is not enough fun and excitement for one day, you can scam your way onto the Seabus (just pretend you have a ticket and walk right on the Sea-Snapper like you own it) for a round-trip cruise to the North Shore. If it is a sunny day you can ask the crew if you can sit outside on the front of the Seabus. I strongly recommend asking before clambering out of the cabin though. Once outside and on the front deck of the Seabus it is pure bliss to feel that fresh salty air blasting you in the face.
Even though my super-saver idea is a super-fun alternative, if you do decide to go to the PNE, you can buy your tickets online ahead of time. After all, you cannot get mini-donuts or a Jimmy’s Lunch burger while on a BC Transit day. Whatever you choose, have fun and don’t get tasered.