Summer fun. Hopefully

[Frozen2014]

The Vaughn Mills outlet is literally across the street from Wonderland. We love going there. Definitely check it out, if only for the Disney outlet. There is also a huge Toys R Us and a Lego Discovery Centre. https://www.vaughanmills.com/

Vaughan Mills is a pretty good mall. But I thought I heard that the Disney stores are closing in Canada.

 

[starvenger]

Since we'll be at Wonderland, and staying in Vaghaun (sp?) a couple nights, I think there is a biggish mall there? Anything good? I haven't been to a mall in close to two years now... but since it'll be August that is almost back to school shopping time and might be fun if there are any good stores. Disney fans of course, but also kiddo loves sports so anything that sells Jersey's or really anything like that? I think I saw they have a Disney store (not sure if it's still open?) and a Lids which sells sports stuff.

There is a Hockey Life at Vaughan Mills if you're looking for hockey sweaters, as well as a Sport Chek, Under Armor, Reebok, Nike and Adidas.

 

[Silvermist999]

Vaughan Mills is a pretty good mall. But I thought I heard that the Disney stores are closing in Canada.

I heard the rumours too but so far nothing has been announced yet for the Ontario stores. I think the B.C. stores all closed today though.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Heading to Cavendish, PEI next Tuesday for five nights at KOA Cavendish! DD and I go with my parents and my sister's family who has a trailer there and my BIL and niece work there. Can't wait for movies under the stars and candy bar bingo! Oh, and cracking open a beer any time after 10am LOL "Island Time", ya know?

 

[bcwife76]

Well we finally have a plan for our August vacation since we had to cancel Mexico. We are road tripping again First stop is Fairmont Hot Springs in the Kootenays for two nights. And we splurged and are staying at the Fairmont resort there. Then it's on to Calgary via Banff. Doing to zoo in Calgary then going on to Drumheller. On the way back we will stay in Red Deer on Sylvan lake and then finally Salmon Arm back here in BC before getting back home. And because we won't have to isolate our youngest I can now buy tickets to the PNE so we can go the last weekend in August vs Labor Day weekend.

 

[juniorbugman]

Well we finally have a plan for our August vacation since we had to cancel Mexico. We are road tripping again First stop is Fairmont Hot Springs in the Kootenays for two nights. And we splurged and are staying at the Fairmont resort there. Then it's on to Calgary via Banff. Doing to zoo in Calgary then going on to Drumheller. On the way back we will stay in Red Deer on Sylvan lake and then finally Salmon Arm back here in BC before getting back home. And because we won't have to isolate our youngest I can now buy tickets to the PNE so we can go the last weekend in August vs Labor Day weekend.

A couple of years ago (okay 9 years ago) we did Calgary to Drumheller back to Calgary, then Banff Springs, Jasper then finally Edmonton. We too splurged and stayed at the Banff Springs Hotel for 3 nights. It is such a difference in area from Drumheller to Banff Springs. My sister wanted to tour Drumheller for her 50th birthday so my Mother and I went with her.
Have a great trip.

 

[Aladora]

Well we finally have a plan for our August vacation since we had to cancel Mexico. We are road tripping again First stop is Fairmont Hot Springs in the Kootenays for two nights. And we splurged and are staying at the Fairmont resort there. Then it's on to Calgary via Banff. Doing to zoo in Calgary then going on to Drumheller. On the way back we will stay in Red Deer on Sylvan lake and then finally Salmon Arm back here in BC before getting back home. And because we won't have to isolate our youngest I can now buy tickets to the PNE so we can go the last weekend in August vs Labor Day weekend.

If you guys are thinking about hitting Revelstoke, definitely stay at the Sutton Place if you can swing it. Tons of fun things to do and the hotel is amazing!

 

[bcwife76]

If you guys are thinking about hitting Revelstoke, definitely stay at the Sutton Place if you can swing it. Tons of fun things to do and the hotel is amazing!

I love Revelstoke, we were there last year on our way to Golden, it's such a cute little town. Unfortunately don't have time to stop over this year (though we may stop for lunch there).

 

[quandrea]

Everyone’s trips sound so fun! We’ve booked twelve nights in Newfoundland. Three nights in St John’s, four nights in Trinity/Bonavista, one night in Gander, enroute to Gros Morne, where we will spend four nights. I love Newfoundland and I can hardly wait!

 

[Jrb1979]

For those going to Wonderland soon they are now filling every seat on all rides. It does make a huge difference in wait times. As now the average wait is 20 minutes for most things.

 

[azrivest]

Has anyone had experience renting cars in Canada this summer? I looked to book a 7-seater for a day trip in Quebec, and literally nothing is available for most of August. Did the rental companies also sell away their cars during the pandemic here?

 

[TommyJK]

For those going to Wonderland soon they are now filling every seat on all rides. It does make a huge difference in wait times. As now the average wait is 20 minutes for most things.

Hurray! It will litterally double throughput and should cut waits in half. Was worried about our upcoming visit and see-sawing back and forth on whether or not to splurge on FastPass

 

[Pumpkin1172]

Well we finally have a plan for our August vacation since we had to cancel Mexico. We are road tripping again First stop is Fairmont Hot Springs in the Kootenays for two nights. And we splurged and are staying at the Fairmont resort there. Then it's on to Calgary via Banff. Doing to zoo in Calgary then going on to Drumheller. On the way back we will stay in Red Deer on Sylvan lake and then finally Salmon Arm back here in BC before getting back home. And because we won't have to isolate our youngest I can now buy tickets to the PNE so we can go the last weekend in August vs Labor Day weekend.

That sounds like an amazing trip!!! Have fun. You have some amazing spots picked to visit.

I'm hoping to talk dh into a quick trip to Vancouver just the two of us for a long weekend for our anniversary.

 

[Etch]

Did the rental companies also sell away their cars during the pandemic here?

Yes. Most of them sold off large portions of their fleets due to decreased demand and to generate some cash flow during Covid. Now they're having trouble even purchasing new cars in large numbers as the supply is limited.

 

[TommyJK]

Yes. Most of them sold off large portions of their fleets due to decreased demand and to generate some cash flow during Covid. Now they're having trouble even purchasing new cars in large numbers as the supply is limited.

It's a part of a very interesting chain of events. I worked for a car retail company up until recently. Stock on new cars was diminished from the manufacturers due to the pandemic, so the dealerships leaned more heavily on selling pre-owned vehicles, so they were offering top dollar on Trade-ins, which incentivized places like car rental companies to sell their own vehicles back to dealerships because they were getting great value for them.

 

[quandrea]

Has anyone had experience renting cars in Canada this summer? I looked to book a 7-seater for a day trip in Quebec, and literally nothing is available for most of August. Did the rental companies also sell away their cars during the pandemic here?

We are renting in St John’s Newfoundland. I ended up going with a neighbourhood office rather than the airport. Cheaper and better availability. Most car rental offices at the airport were sold out. We will take a cab from the airport to our hotel and get our car the next day.

 

[kuhltiffany]

Drumheller is neat, but if you want real dinosaurs, I recommend Dinosaur Provincial Park, it's where all the bones and skeletons come from! https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/south/dinosaur-pp/

Well we finally have a plan for our August vacation since we had to cancel Mexico. We are road tripping again First stop is Fairmont Hot Springs in the Kootenays for two nights. And we splurged and are staying at the Fairmont resort there. Then it's on to Calgary via Banff. Doing to zoo in Calgary then going on to Drumheller. On the way back we will stay in Red Deer on Sylvan lake and then finally Salmon Arm back here in BC before getting back home. And because we won't have to isolate our youngest I can now buy tickets to the PNE so we can go the last weekend in August vs Labor Day weekend.

 

[bcwife76]

So, due to the ongoing wildfire situation in BC (getting worse by the day, certainly not getting better) we are scrapping our plans to go through the Kootenays and AB.

And now that our youngest can come back to Canada on a connecting flight from Mexico we are once again looking at booking Mexico. Yes, we like to change our minds a lot. Flight prices, of course, are higher than when we booked at the beginning of July. Sigh. And of course it's cheaper to fly through the US but we can't do that as we need a PCR test to enter Canada so it's not like we can take a 3 day detour through the US waiting for new test results.

 

[MamaLema]

For those going to Wonderland soon they are now filling every seat on all rides. It does make a huge difference in wait times. As now the average wait is 20 minutes for most things.

Great to know. My son went on the first day it was opened for season pass holders. He did 3 rides in 5 hours and hasn’t even booked to go again because he said ride capacity was ridiculously overboard. I will tell him to book and try again now.

 

[bcwife76]

Uh so I just did a thing......

Off to the Dominican Republic we go in just over 3 weeks Cases are fairly low and don't seem to be on the rise (they are on the rise in Mexico and not great). Vaccinations are also better there than Mexico (about half have one dose, 35% fully). The resort seems to be taking many covid precautions (more than the hotel we were booked at in Mexico) and the onsite PCR test is $79/person vs $150 in Mexico. So looks like our trip being cancelled was a good thing