**** Vancouver FAQ Thread **** A few updates in main post!

[GrtWtNorth]

we are only coming in the nite before the cruise. what would be an average cost for a dinner for 5 people (one being only 8 at the time) ? would figuring &10 per person for a meal be a good amount?

Just like WDW, Vancouver dining is more expensive. There's a huge variety of dining to choose from.
* Food court at Waterfront Centre (across the street from the Pan Pacific), which includes McDonald's. Fast food prices in Canada are typically 30-50% higher than US prices. (A Big Mac combo is ~ $7 + tax. ) In addition to McDonalds, this food court offers chinese, greek, sushi, tacos, sandwiches, and pizza.
* Dinner in restaurants in the Pan Pacific and neighboring hotels will have typical convention-hotel prices, with entres priced from $24-$38. (If you're shopping in this price range, may I suggest Carderos.)

Here are some of the nearby cheaper table service restaurants that I enjoy:
* The Old Spaghetti Factory, inexpensive combos (soup or salad, bread, pasta entre, ice cream and coffee for $9.50 to $13.95). Good ambiance. Darker lighting and less 'fake Italian' than Olive Garden. 10 minute walk from the Pan Pacific.
* Ricky's, adjacent to the foodcourt in Waterfront Centre. Ricky's is a local chain that specializes in burgers / sandwiches / comfort food. Entre prices are likely $13-$18.
* Steamworks is a distinguished brew pub that also serves great food, with more adventurous menu than Ricky's. Some sections of the venue are designated as lounge (no minors), but there is a big family-friendly dining room, patio, and cafe-style seating area. Entres are priced between $15-25. It's 7-minute walk from the Pan Pacific.

I quoted entre prices because they are the easiest to find on-line. Of course, drinks, appetizers, and desserts will add to your dining costs. Tax on meals increased to 12% (from 5%) as of July 1, 2010, which is a big shock to a lot of regular Vancouver diners. Expected gratuity for table service is 15-20%.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

1. how could we purchase (faresaver tickets) in advance if from the US?

If you know someone travelling to Vancouver before you, you could ask them to pick up a book of tickets for you. [I initially suggested sending a runner to 7-Eleven while you wait for your bags, but this won't work because you should go through customs as a group.] After you and your luggage are released, send a runner to 7-Eleven while everyone else takes a snack break or admires the massive sculpture, Spirit of Haida Gwaii, in the lobby of the international terminal. (This sculpture is important and unique -- it's on our $20 bill. There are three sculptures, each a different color - black in Canada's Embassy in Washington DC, green in the Vancouver airport, and white in Ottawa's Museum of Civilization.) The runner will have to go from the international terminal to the domestic terminal and down to the lower level where the 7-Eleven store is. It's not close - the route would be similar to sending someone from the entrance of Magic Kingdom to grab FastPasses for the Jungle Cruise. (Keep turning left and head down the stairs.) It's also a good idea to ensure your runner has cash (preferably Canadian) since most ticket vendors don't take credit for faresaver tickets.

2. to go from the airport to the vancouver canada place area is considered a 2 zone?

Yes, but as I mentioned in my previous post, you only need to pay a one-zone fare after 6:30 pm on weekdays or any time on weekends.

 

[BLTOH]

Just like WDW, Vancouver dining is more expensive. There's a huge variety of dining to choose from.
* Food court at Waterfront Centre (across the street from the Pan Pacific), which includes McDonald's. Fast food prices in Canada are typically 30-50% higher than US prices. (A Big Mac combo is ~ $7 + tax. ) In addition to McDonalds, this food court offers chinese, greek, sushi, tacos, sandwiches, and pizza.
* Dinner in restaurants in the Pan Pacific and neighboring hotels will have typical convention-hotel prices, with entres priced from $24-$38. (If you're shopping in this price range, may I suggest Carderos.)

Here are some of the nearby cheaper table service restaurants that I enjoy:
* The Old Spaghetti Factory, inexpensive combos (soup or salad, bread, pasta entre, ice cream and coffee for $9.50 to $13.95). Good ambiance. Darker lighting and less 'fake Italian' than Olive Garden. 10 minute walk from the Pan Pacific.
* Ricky's, adjacent to the foodcourt in Waterfront Centre. Ricky's is a local chain that specializes in burgers / sandwiches / comfort food. Entre prices are likely $13-$18.
* Steamworks is a distinguished brew pub that also serves great food, with more adventurous menu than Ricky's. Some sections of the venue are designated as lounge (no minors), but there is a big family-friendly dining room, patio, and cafe-style seating area. Entres are priced between $15-25. It's 7-minute walk from the Pan Pacific.

I quoted entre prices because they are the easiest to find on-line. Of course, drinks, appetizers, and desserts will add to your dining costs. Tax on meals increased to 12% (from 5%) as of July 1, 2010, which is a big shock to a lot of regular Vancouver diners. Expected gratuity for table service is 15-20%.

ok so i must up my budget for dinner that night as we are not fast food type people. we prefer the sit down good meals. dd will be in seventh heaven if she can convince grandpaw to go to the spaghetti factory as thats her favorite meal. thanks a bunch for all this information.

 

[BLTOH]

If you know someone travelling to Vancouver before you, you could ask them to pick up a book of tickets for you. [I initially suggested sending a runner to 7-Eleven while you wait for your bags, but this won't work because you should go through customs as a group.] After you and your luggage are released, send a runner to 7-Eleven while everyone else takes a snack break or admires the massive sculpture, Spirit of Haida Gwaii, in the lobby of the international terminal. (This sculpture is important and unique -- it's on our $20 bill. There are three sculptures, each a different color - black in Canada's Embassy in Washington DC, green in the Vancouver airport, and white in Ottawa's Museum of Civilization.) The runner will have to go from the international terminal to the domestic terminal and down to the lower level where the 7-Eleven store is. It's not close - the route would be similar to sending someone from the entrance of Magic Kingdom to grab FastPasses for the Jungle Cruise. (Keep turning left and head down the stairs.) It's also a good idea to ensure your runner has cash (preferably Canadian) since most ticket vendors don't take credit for faresaver tickets.


Yes, but as I mentioned in my previous post, you only need to pay a one-zone fare after 6:30 pm on weekdays or any time on weekends.

so 7-eleven is the only place to get the faresaver cards in the airport? its no big deal to me either way as long as i am prepared. and yes i made note of the 6:30 pm however, if i remember correctly the time frames we are looking at for flights are all during the weekdays and before the 6:30 time frame. anything later would be putting us getting into vancouver at midnight and we don't want that.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

so 7-eleven is the only place to get the faresaver cards in the airport?

To the best of my knowledge, yes. The other airport shops tend to sell stuff very similar to what's sold in the Canada pavilion at Epcot (creative, but not useful). Canadians are great at perpetuating our own stereotypes.

 

[Anjelica]

Slowly but surely getting things booked, etc. but I am having difficulty finding out which car rental company, if folks have used one, I can drop off close to Canada Place (or has a free shuttle) if I rent from the states. Any ideas?

 

[BLTOH]

Ok after talking to dh about the faresaver card he said he knows someone in canada close to that area who could probably get us one and mail it to us. my next question is

How far in advanced can these be purchsed? Are they time sensitive?

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Slowly but surely getting things booked, etc. but I am having difficulty finding out which car rental company, if folks have used one, I can drop off close to Canada Place (or has a free shuttle) if I rent from the states. Any ideas?

According to the port's web site:
"Rental car kiosks are only available at Canada Place. They include: Avis, Budget, and National. There are no rental car kiosks at Ballantyne. Passengers need to pre-arrange pick-up or drop-off with the rental company in advance."

Most major car companies have rental locations at the port, at a nearby hotel, or another downtown location (within a few blocks of the port). When you search for a car rental, just ensure that you specify the different pick-up (SEATAC airport?) and drop-off (999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC or nearby) locations. Travelocity's car rental search tool is useful for finding companies that allow cross-boarder drop-offs (I can't comment on their rates).

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Ok after talking to dh about the faresaver card he said he knows someone in canada close to that area who could probably get us one and mail it to us. my next question is

How far in advanced can these be purchsed? Are they time sensitive?

The tickets don't expire, so you can buy them in advance without worries. My only caution to you is that the tickets have a magnetic stripe, so treat them like a credit card so they don't get demagnetized.

Note: Unlike many public transit systems, Vancouver's Skytrain is fully automated. There are no staff operating ticket booths or drivers on the trains. Skytrain operations staff, maintenance staff, or transit police will periodically check each station, but they might not be there when you need them.

 

[Anjelica]

I may have missed this but do we know roughly when folks can get to the port/line up to start checking in? I'm getting ready to reserve my rental car and want to drop it off early but not "to" early.

Do we know what time the ship gets back into port?

 

[BLTOH]

I may have missed this but do we know roughly when folks can get to the port/line up to start checking in? I'm getting ready to reserve my rental car and want to drop it off early but not "to" early.

Do we know what time the ship gets back into port?

when i called Disney to ask such info they said that check in will start around 10am and embarkation will start around 1pm and all aboard was around 3pm. on the last day coming back debarkation on the paper says 8am.

 

[LWatson]

Thank you for this info. We found it cheaper to fly into Seattle w/ SWA from BNA and then take the Amtrak over thanks to this!!!!!!!

 

[poohj80]

Thank you for this info. We found it cheaper to fly into Seattle w/ SWA from BNA and then take the Amtrak over thanks to this!!!!!!!

That's exactly what we plan to do next year (from BNA as well ;-).

 

[Rat-a-too-ee]

Thank you for this info. We found it cheaper to fly into Seattle w/ SWA from BNA and then take the Amtrak over thanks to this!!!!!!!

Agreed, I just number crunched it and international flights are so expensive! We will be flying into Seattle as well.

 

[BLTOH]

Agreed, I just number crunched it and international flights are so expensive! We will be flying into Seattle as well.

we went thru the same thing and ended up deciding to fly directly into vancouver as when the time frames of the amtrak and everything else was factored in it was the same price. i found aircanada to be the cheapest airline to fly from the us to canada if anyone is interested. i looked directly at their website for my prices.

 

[tanyaewa]

BLTOH - there are certainly some upsides to arriving directly into Vancouver.
To the OPs - It may save a few $ to fly into SEA but there are defintely some costs associated wth the time & expense of shuttling up to Vancouver. Whenever I fly into the US to go on vacation I weigh the options of flying out of YVR or SEA and unless it's +/- $150 per person it's cheaper to go through Vancouver when all is said & done

 

[BLTOH]

BLTOH - there are certainly some upsides to arriving directly into Vancouver.
To the OPs - It may save a few $ to fly into SEA but there are defintely some costs associated wth the time & expense of shuttling up to Vancouver. Whenever I fly into the US to go on vacation I weigh the options of flying out of YVR or SEA and unless it's +/- $150 per person it's cheaper to go through Vancouver when all is said & done

Yeah, we are liking the simplicty of it all.fly in grab the train system there to downtown and check into hotel. with 5 of us traveling booking hotels,food, transportaion, and amtrak and how many days would be needed to do this without getting stressed out from trying to hit time schedules was a headache when we was looking at seattle. the only thing we aren't overly fond of right now is the times of the flights but its a minor thing and have adapted around it so no harm.

we only have a couple other things we need to hash out like where we can store our luggage since we will have a 10pm flight home and all day to kill. and how we will handle doing the faresaver card once we get to the airport. we are trying to get ahold of a few people we know from canada to see how close they are to possibly get us one and mail it to us if we send them the money. but we may just rent a car the day we are to leave to check out the sites and not worry about the farsaver card going. need to weigh the pros of cons of it all the and prices of rental for 5 of us plus luggage for a day.

i do have a question though... we have an option of a 11:30am flight..we won't disembark till 8am and will have to use the rail system back to the terminal. aircanada requires your luggage to be checked at least 60 mins prior to the flight. is that a feasible flight or would we be pushing it? we are considering just to do the later flight and not have to risk missing the flight but it also gives a 3 hour layover in toronto.

 

[gduvall]

Disney web site says 12:00 noon or after. We have booked a 12:00 noon flight. If we don't make that flight, we would have to wait until the next day, since we're flying to east coast. When flying out of Orlando, DCL says no earlier than 1:00pm. Which you can easily make. So hopefully the 12:00 noon time has some cushion build in. I would think if you get off the ship shortly after they clear customs, you should be able to make. But that's purely speculation.

 

[BLTOH]

Disney web site says 12:00 noon or after.

well guess we are going to just wait and go out the next day now. my parents don't really care to fly over nite which is fine with me. other then the 11:30am flight the next one going out is 10pm and nothing in between so now i am on a hunt for a fairly cheap hotel near the airport.
Any suggestions out there?? prefer something $100 or less

 

[GrtWtNorth]

i do have a question though... we have an option of a 11:30am flight..we won't disembark till 8am and will have to use the rail system back to the terminal. aircanada requires your luggage to be checked at least 60 mins prior to the flight. is that a feasible flight or would we be pushing it? we are considering just to do the later flight and not have to risk missing the flight but it also gives a 3 hour layover in toronto.

You're going to have to move fast, but it's possible.

8:00 disembark
8:30 exit customs with your luggage (customs might be faster, but don't count on it), walk to Canada Line Waterfront Station.
8:45 catch Canada Line train to YVR station
9:30 arrive at airport.
9:50 Walk to domestic terminal, and check in at Air Canada counter.
10:00 Go through Canadian flight security (Canadian rules: shoes stay on - security needs your boarding pass only, no ID)
10:15 Arrive at your gate, with about an hour to spare before boarding begins.
11:15 Begin boarding (Canadian rules: Airline staff must see your boarding pass and government-issued photo ID).

FYI, your ordeal isn't over once you're on the plane. Expect to spend an hour of your layover in Toronto collecting your luggage, transferring terminals, and going through the US-bound passenger and luggage screening process. You basically go through US customs and immigration at the Toronto airport, prior to departure. This way, most flights from Canadian cities to US cities are treated like US domestic flights, and passengers are not required to go through customs and immigration upon landing on US soil. This also means that you will have to go through the US flight screening and boarding (US rules: shoes off for security, security staff need to see your boarding pass and photo ID, but airline staff at the gate only need to see your boarding pass).