Vancouver decisions . . . Capilano Suspension Bridge/Park -vs- Grouse Mtn.

[kgwoozle]

I did the mine tour years and years ago, I think it was before they opened the museam. It was great. When I was there, a million years ago, there was a guy going through the tailings for gold. The mine had trace amounts of gold but not enough to be commercially viable.

I agree with a previous poster about Grandville Island, it's great to fit in if you can, but not enough to plan your visit around. It's full of great looking food that you can't take with you . It can also be nuts....

 

[xlxo]

Glad to know you liked the Lumberjack show on Grouse. I know it will be corny, but I'm almost sure my son will love it. (Maybe DH as well!)

Good for your mom!!

Lip service in Skagway's Red Onion will provide some balance.

 

[Disneyfriend]

I did the mine tour years and years ago, I think it was before they opened the museam. It was great. When I was there, a million years ago, there was a guy going through the tailings for gold. The mine had trace amounts of gold but not enough to be commercially viable.

I agree with a previous poster about Grandville Island, it's great to fit in if you can, but not enough to plan your visit around. It's full of great looking food that you can't take with you . It can also be nuts....

Really good to know you liked the mine tour. I love the idea of embracing the area's roots and trying to learn about the unique history of the area. I always try to do that when we visit a new place.

Starting to lean away from trying to fit in Granville Island. Not that I wouldn't love it, but just because something has to go off my overly-ambitious list! And I'm not so sure that the kids would be dying to tour it. Then again, who knows? Sometimes they surprise me!

 

[tobyroy]

Hello. We did the Alaska cruise when my boys were 10 and 13. We did the Fly over Canada the morning of embarkation and it worked out fine. We did GRouse mountain in the morning with breakfast with the bears and then took the bus to the Capilano Park. We enjoyed the break

 

[tobyroy]

Sorry I didn't finish my post. We did the breakfast with the bears and enjoyed it. WE also did the lumberjack show. WE did need to use a cab to get Tom Grouse Mountains because of the timing of breakfast. We then used the bus to get to capilano. My sister has bad knees and did ok taking it slow. She is bothered more by going down. THe next day we spent the day in Stanley Park. We loved Vancouver and the Alaskan cruise.

 

[xlxo]

Starting to lean away from trying to fit in Granville Island. Not that I wouldn't love it, but just because something has to go off my overly-ambitious list! And I'm not so sure that the kids would be dying to tour it. Then again, who knows? Sometimes they surprise me!

@Disneyfriend: What is your cruise date? In June.... there's daylight until 9:30pm.... this allows cruiser extra hours to cram in those extra tourist activities.

• Capilano is open til 8pm » discounts going after 5pm, but pay attention to the last shuttle times (6pm), otherwise you are taking public transit
• Fly over Canada is open til 9pm
• Most restaurants start shutting down around 9pm, but discuss with your hotels which ones are open much later.
• Of course.... you are free explore the street life later into the night.
• Granville Island is best visited when the public market is open. Typically till 7pm.

 

[Disneyfriend]

Sorry I didn't finish my post. We did the breakfast with the bears and enjoyed it. WE also did the lumberjack show. WE did need to use a cab to get Tom Grouse Mountains because of the timing of breakfast. We then used the bus to get to capilano. My sister has bad knees and did ok taking it slow. She is bothered more by going down. THe next day we spent the day in Stanley Park. We loved Vancouver and the Alaskan cruise.

Thanks for posting; our kids are similar ages, so your experience was especially helpful! Sounds like you did many of the same things I am planning/considering. Also good to know that doing Fly Over Canada on embarkation day worked well. I figured it would be a nice, manageable activity to help us pass the time before boarding . . . and we'd be right there!

 

[Disneyfriend]

@Disneyfriend: What is your cruise date? In June.... there's daylight until 9:30pm.... this allows cruiser extra hours to cram in those extra tourist activities.

• Capilano is open til 8pm » discounts going after 5pm, but pay attention to the last shuttle times (6pm), otherwise you are taking public transit
• Fly over Canada is open til 9pm
• Most restaurants start shutting down around 9pm, but discuss with your hotels which ones are open much later.
• Of course.... you are free explore the street life later into the night.
• Granville Island is best visited when the public market is open. Typically till 7pm.

We are cruising in mid July. Thanks for the reminder about extra daylight. Truthfully, though, I'm an early bird kind of a personality who turns into a pumpkin by 8-9 pm. Embarrassing but true!

I sincerely appreciate all the helpful questions and tips you have taken the time to make on this thread. Thank you!!

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts about mid-July....

• if I went again.... that would be the preferred time to go before the statistical August rains arrive.
• Sunrise is around 5:30am and sunset is about 9:15pm. Those extra hours allow time to explore the sights, tourist activities, or just exploring the parks.
• you are just missing the annual fireworks competition that starts on the 29th.

 

[Disneyfriend]

Thoughts about mid-July....

• if I went again.... that would be the preferred time to go before the statistical August rains arrive.
• Sunrise is around 5:30am and sunset is about 9:15pm. Those extra hours allow time to explore the sights, tourist activities, or just exploring the parks.
• you are just missing the annual fireworks competition that starts on the 29th.

Thank you. Will prepare for rain but keep my fingers crossed for some clear, sunnier days!

Fireworks would have been even more awesome!

 

[UK-Simon]

Hi,

I live in Vancouver and worked up at grouse for a couple of years so am pretty familiar with the place. You should go there for sure. Every stereotype of Canada in one place! Grizzly bears, birds in motion, lumberjacks etc. Not sure how great breakfast is but the experience is probably neat. Although you don't need the breakfast to see the bears. You should absolutely take the peak chair to the top of the mountain- the views are breathtaking! You could also do a biplane tour too which is pretty neat. In my opinion the eye of the wind tour is a waste. In fact it's actually pretty shocking. They installed the wind turbine before having an agreement in place to put it into the grid, and it's been a disaster. They claim 20-30% of all power on Grouse is offset. Good luck! It never spins, and in fact I've heard when it does they use electricity to make it spin. Anyhow, just my 2 cents!

If you didn't want to cab it there you can walk to waterfront and take the seabus, followed by the 236 bus directly to Grouse for way cheaper than a cab. But be sure to check the schedule as I'm not sure if the bus will get you to Grouse early enough for the Breakfast. I did just look but summer transit schedules aren't out yet. But it would be $2.75 each so very reasonable.

Cap suspension bridge is on route to Grouse and the 236 bus stops right there both ways. If you did it on your way back from Grouse it would be worth a stop. There's not a ton to do for the $40 price tag, but you're on vacation and the views are really gorgeous. Some stairs around especially on their clifftop adventure but the bridge itself only has a few stairs. I say go for it!

Your land sea tour would be neat too. I've been up the sea to sky gondola. Again gorgeous views and some easy trails to wander. (and some less-so easy trails if that's your thing!) Something to consider if you want to save time and money, you could rent a car from DT Vancouver and use it to do your own tour up Sea2Sky. I'm sure it's cheaper for the car rental plus attractions vs Land and Sea, and gives you the ability to take it to Granville Island before dropping the car back at the rental office that night. It's very easy to navigate Vancouver/sea2sky if you have Google maps on your phone with a data plan or any kind of GPS.

Granville Island is neat. It's not a must do, but it's worth doing if you can squeeze it in.

As far as rain goes, it can rain in Vancouver anytime! But in general July and August are 75-85 degrees and sunny. Again no guarantees but Vancouver is typically beautiful in the summer.

Think that covers all everything for now. I've lived in Vancouver for over 10 years and it really is a world class city.

Enjoy your trip and happy to answer any more questions you may have!

 

[jdb in AZ]

DH has artificial knees so we were concerned about doing the suspension bridge. He was fine. We didn't climb around the trees, but he did fine on the cliff walk. The views were worth it.

We had lunch on Granville Island. It was pricey, but Vancouver is touristy so inflated prices are part of the deal.

 

[xlxo]

It was pricey,

Don't forget to give yourself a currency discount with the depressed currency.

 

[Disneyfriend]

Hi,

I live in Vancouver and worked up at grouse for a couple of years so am pretty familiar with the place. You should go there for sure. Every stereotype of Canada in one place! Grizzly bears, birds in motion, lumberjacks etc. Not sure how great breakfast is but the experience is probably neat. Although you don't need the breakfast to see the bears. You should absolutely take the peak chair to the top of the mountain- the views are breathtaking! You could also do a biplane tour too which is pretty neat. In my opinion the eye of the wind tour is a waste. In fact it's actually pretty shocking. They installed the wind turbine before having an agreement in place to put it into the grid, and it's been a disaster. They claim 20-30% of all power on Grouse is offset. Good luck! It never spins, and in fact I've heard when it does they use electricity to make it spin. Anyhow, just my 2 cents!

If you didn't want to cab it there you can walk to waterfront and take the seabus, followed by the 236 bus directly to Grouse for way cheaper than a cab. But be sure to check the schedule as I'm not sure if the bus will get you to Grouse early enough for the Breakfast. I did just look but summer transit schedules aren't out yet. But it would be $2.75 each so very reasonable.

Cap suspension bridge is on route to Grouse and the 236 bus stops right there both ways. If you did it on your way back from Grouse it would be worth a stop. There's not a ton to do for the $40 price tag, but you're on vacation and the views are really gorgeous. Some stairs around especially on their clifftop adventure but the bridge itself only has a few stairs. I say go for it!

Your land sea tour would be neat too. I've been up the sea to sky gondola. Again gorgeous views and some easy trails to wander. (and some less-so easy trails if that's your thing!) Something to consider if you want to save time and money, you could rent a car from DT Vancouver and use it to do your own tour up Sea2Sky. I'm sure it's cheaper for the car rental plus attractions vs Land and Sea, and gives you the ability to take it to Granville Island before dropping the car back at the rental office that night. It's very easy to navigate Vancouver/sea2sky if you have Google maps on your phone with a data plan or any kind of GPS.

Granville Island is neat. It's not a must do, but it's worth doing if you can squeeze it in.

As far as rain goes, it can rain in Vancouver anytime! But in general July and August are 75-85 degrees and sunny. Again no guarantees but Vancouver is typically beautiful in the summer.

Think that covers all everything for now. I've lived in Vancouver for over 10 years and it really is a world class city.

Enjoy your trip and happy to answer any more questions you may have!

Thank you *very* much for taking the time to give your perspective, Simon! What an interesting experience you must have had working on Grouse. Your fondness for your adopted city is obvious. . . . sincere thanks for all the food for thought you've given me!

 

[Disneyfriend]

DH has artificial knees so we were concerned about doing the suspension bridge. He was fine. We didn't climb around the trees, but he did fine on the cliff walk. The views were worth it.

We had lunch on Granville Island. It was pricey, but Vancouver is touristy so inflated prices are part of the deal.

Super helpful to know about your DH's experience ... thank you!

Ps ... I'm in Arizona too!