Another Canada Day question

I appreciate the information that I'm learning from previous posts about Vancouver. I feel like we're in the minority though because we are arriving Vancouver AFTER our southbound Alaska cruise and staying a couple of days. We arrive Friday, June 30th in the morning and check-in for our hotel, the Blue Horizon, isn't until 3 p.m. We leave on Sunday, our flight is at 2 p.m. We're planning on taking our luggage to the Blue Horizon to store until we can check-in since we'd like to start sightseeing right away. We want to rent bikes to tour Stanley Park, visit Granville Island, Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain and of course see the Canada Day fireworks. We've thought about using HOHO since it stops right in front of our hotel and seems like it would give us a wonderful tour of Vancouver. Now to my questions...Should we take the HOHO tour, visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain on Friday and leave Stanley Park and Granville Island for Saturday? I'm sure the crowds will be much different on Canada Day. Where should we view the fireworks and have a place to possibly sit?

Any input XLXO and Martincath? THANKS!

The problem with firework viewing is that the crowd this year will be bigger. Possibly just a little bigger, maybe a whole lot bigger - nobody knows. So a spot that might be a good one in normal years could end up packed, over and above the usual waves of popularity for the slightly obscure areas that word spreads about and suddenly get popular! I also hope you won't be too offended by me saying that some of the sneaky spots us locals know about I'm not going to spread word of, so that I keep being able to see the fireworks my taxes pay for;-)

The good news is that where the barge sits for Canada Day offers a vast array of possible viewpoints - from the Seawall all the way along to the first bit of Stanley Park, to the opposite shoreline of North Vancouver, and of course Canada Place itself which has lots of standing-around-on room (although I think they're taking over a big chunk for the paid seating, and it's also Ground Zero so the first place out-of-towners and suburbanites are likely to head toward). You could even walk partway over Lions Gate bridge (vehicles will not be allowed to stop, so your only option is to go on foot or bike). Move east along the shore from Canada Place and it gets industrial - with passes required for access. You'd have to go way beyond CenTerm almost out to Burnaby before the shore curves back out again enough for good viewing (it rises up a bit too, a few of the small parks out along here would have good views).

When you're cycling around, look for the big barge moored out in the water north of Canada Place - if you can see the barge itself, you'll be able to see all the kabooms even the low ones. Blue Horizon, depending which way your room faces, may actually be a good vantage point for you - their Mountain View rooms are very likely to let you see the display well.

If you want to claim a really good public spot, you'll need to sit there all day. Even the thrice-yearly Festival of Light nights see folks start filling up the good spots at breakfast time, and this is the one-and-only 150th birthday celebration! Since this would mean giving up a day of sightseeing, I think you have to set a realistic expectation that unless you buy a seat you'll be relegated to the less-than-ideal viewing areas if you just turn up for the show. Pretty much anywhere around downtown core on the Coal Harbour side will give you at least partial views though, so you'll definitely be able to take in the show while not having to fight your way into the packed crowds along the Seawall.

Seats in the restos with a view in the right direction - Carderos, Tap & Barrel etc. will be in huge demand, and based on prior fireworks events likely be offering only prebought price-bumped firework seating, maybe even prix fixe menus rather than their regular operations. The rotating restaurant of the Lookout could be a mixed blessing - about half the room will get some view as it rotates once per hour. If I was running the place I'd either crank up the speed so every table gets to see or else slow/stop the rotating and sell more and less expensive seats based on viewing quality.

Regardless though, unless you pay for a seat in a resto or official viewing zone you'll be standing - at best you'll be sat on grass or concrete somewhere and then when folks in front of you jump up you'll have to join them or see nothing.

I'm torn about whether to agree with your plan for sightseeing or not. If folks are coming downtown to do stuff at Canada Place, they won't be on Granville Island or in most of the park - but if they are making a day of it they're much more likely to hit these than the North Shore attractions. It's a toss-up which will actually work out better...

Capilano sucks even on relatively quiet days (for crowds - funneling them all over one bridge means there will always be crowded parts) so either early (first shuttle) or late (after 5pm) is the best time to visit for minimal crowds - since you disembark Fri and want to dump bags at hotel, that means you may find it impossible to beat your fellow pax to the bridge. Grouse handles crowds better, and has more activities running in the afternoon than early morning, so while it means paying to get between them hitting Cap first thing Saturday and Grouse after it may be your best plan to minimise crowds.

Sorry - I'd love to be able to say Do X on Day Y and it will be most efficient, but I just don't know how much of a bump in numbers we'll have coming downtown due to the special circumstances this year.

Bike rental is easy at least - just price them up and Google map them from your hotel, and see which is cheapest that you can handle walking to and from. Generally the places right at the park, or right on the Seawall, gouge you the most - but EzeeRiders on Robson is in my experience the cheapest and it's actually very close to the park, just tucked into the tail end of Robbo instead of on the main Georgia/Denman intersection that's more visible to foot traffic. Also consider the new Boris Bikes which offer a whole day of riding for $7.50 (albeit only if you change bikes every 30min; you get billed $5 each extra 30min block until you lock the bike back up in a rack). If you plan to be moving around in short chunks then stopping it could be an incredible bargain compared to the traditional rental rates.

Thanks so much for your advice Martincath! I guess we'll stay away from the waterfront restaurants on Saturday night. It would be great to use our hotel room for viewing, seating with no crowds ;-) We will do our best to see as much of Vancouver as we can

I would most definitely be making an advance reso for dinner, even if you're eating at a sensible time and will be done well before the fireworks start. Forage would be my pick close to your hotel - just had another stellar meal there a couple of weeks back (a platter of bison prepared 6 different ways).

We arrive Friday, June 30th in the morning and check-in for our hotel, the Blue Horizon, isn't until 3 p.m. We leave on Sunday, our flight is at 2 p.m. We're planning on taking our luggage to the Blue Horizon to store until we can check-in since we'd like to start sightseeing right away. We want to rent bikes to tour Stanley Park, visit Granville Island, Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain and of course see the Canada Day fireworks. We've thought about using HOHO since it stops right in front of our hotel and seems like it would give us a wonderful tour of Vancouver. Now to my questions...Should we take the HOHO tour, visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain on Friday and leave Stanley Park and Granville Island for Saturday? I'm sure the crowds will be much different on Canada Day.

Thoughts....

• Friday June 30th is the better day to explore the Hop On when the roads are still open. Stanley Park and Granville Island is part of the Hop On route.
  
• Saturday July 1st will have road closures at the cruise terminal and likely around the Art Gallery for Cannibus Day. Capilano and Grouse will be very busy on this day, but you want to explore the Hop On when the roads are clear on Friday
  
  • I would get up early to rent a bike in the morning
    
  • 11am head over to catch the Grouse Mountain shuttle.
    
  • catch the Grouse return shuttle around 4:45pm or later and ask to be dropped off in front of the Capilano Suspension bridge to take advantage of the after 5pm discount.
    
  • Research where the Capilano and Grouse shuttles will be relocated with the cruise terminal road closures. Have the cab dispatch on speed dial..... if the shuttles and buses are too busy.... get a cab to maximize your valuable Vancouver port time.
    

  [*]Sunday July 2nd will have a Canada 150 parade. Parade route and start times are unclear. Hopefully your 9am cab ride to the airport will not be affected.

  [*]the weather gods are promising good weather for your time in Vancouver....

  http://www.accuweather.com/en/ca/vancouver/v5r/june-weather/53286

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The only thing I'm going to add about the fireworks..... bring a radio. Once you leave the cruise terminal, you will not be able to hear the music that goes with the fireworks.

Great advice, thanks again for your input!

As a volunteer for the Canada Day Parade I can tell you it will be an afternoon event - we are scheduled to be on site from 2 PM to 6 PM - have not heard that the route has changed from previous years - previously it started at Georgia and Broughton and headed east on Georgia to Burrard and then left down Burrard to deployment at Pender.

It is also my understanding that there will be fireworks on both nights.

Hope this helps and will update when I get more info about all the events helping the TRUE NORTH STRONG AND FREE celebrate it's 150 birthday as a nation.

Cheers!

Dennis

Is the Canada Day parade in addition to the "Canada 150" parade scheduled the following day?

I see on this link... it mentions a 4pm start.

http://www.canadaplace.ca/canada-150/

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