Fall is my favorite time of year, it’s right up there with Summer, Winter and Spring! Yes I love every season for so many reasons but that’s another blog post!

Fall is fantastic for the colorful leaves, the blustery days (which I think I started to like thanks to Winnie the Pooh) and of course the pumpkins and Halloween festivities. It’s also the time of year that I tend to buy all of my annual passes for different attractions and thins to do around town. I’m not really a fan of all of my passes expiring at the same time but it really is the only way i can keep track of what is expiring and when! So every Fall in the month of October I evaluate which passes we used the most, which passes were a colossal waste of time and money and which passes we are must haves for the year to come. All of my annual passes are expiring in November and December so it’s time to figure out what we want to keep and what we don’t and consider some of the options we haven’t tried out yet.

Here are my top 5 MUST HAVE passes for the coming year:

1- The Greater Vancouver Zoo

We have been members at the Greater Vancouver Zoo since my son was born. It was a great place for our mommy group to meet and walk and it gave the babies something to look at as well. It is a membership that is renewed every year without hesitation and it grows with your child and your family. We love our Zoo pass and get a ton of use out of it. If you make it out to the Greater Vancouver Zoo just twice in the year you hve the membership it pays for itself. The pass includes the Train ride and Parking plus your admission. Pricing depends on the age of your kids (kids 2 & under are FREE) and the size of your family  but for a family of 4 to go to the Zoo for the day, park and go on the train it will cost in the neighborhood of $100.00 for ONE VISIT! Compare that to the Annual Family membership (for 2 Adults & 3 Children) which includes parking and train rides for everyone the $182.550 price tag for an entire year of visits to the Zoo plus a long list of other membership benefit that can be viewed here, an Annual Membership to the Greater Vancouver Zoo is well worth the money! The beauty of the membership is if you only have an hour to spend at the zoo it’s okay because you didn’t spend $100.00 to get in the gates!

2- Science World

Science World is an amazing place to spend the day, and you really can spend the entire day there! It is ever changing and offers so many things to see and do. The interactive displays will entertain for hours on end and the Kidspace area is one of my favorite places to spend an hour o two! One of the best things about Science Worlds Annual Memberships is that they offer both a “You & Me” pass plus a “Family” pass, there aren’t many places that recognize single parents so the benefit of being able to buy an annual pass without having to pay extra for additional people is a bonus! They also offer the option to purchase a 1 or 2 year pass and the ability to purchase and renew on-line. There is a long list of member benefits but the best ones i think are the members only events, advance Omnimax tickets and early openings on weekends and holidays for members only. We had the chance to attend the members only evening when Science World launched their Extreme Dinosaurs exhibit and it was really cool to be the first ones to see the display and to be ale to attend the event with smaller crowds.Like the Zoo membership if you are able to get out to Science World twice int he year that you hold the pass you will get more than your moneys worth. For a Family of 4 to go to Science World it will cost just over $80.00 and that is just to get in the front door, a Family Pass will run you $140 for the year and that gets 2 Adults and up to 4 children in the doors plus significantly reduced rates on the Omnimax shows and a slough of other membership benefits! The “You & Me” Pass is $90 for one year. I think the membership price is well worth it just to get into the Members Only events!

3- Vancouver Maritime Museum

The Vancouver Maritime Museum was an attraction I had heard a lot about but never really gave it a second thought until a friend of mine told me that they had been going to the Museum for months on a regular basis and spending hours there playing and discovering all things Maritime from the past, present and future! I have to admit I was skeptical even the first time we went to the Vancouver Maritime Museum when we first walked in I was less than impressed with the displays and was a little bit unsure how my friends could possibly have entertained their kids there for hours! They had the old RCMP ship the St. Roch open and available to explore but that really didn’t take up much time. We were at the museum for about 15 minutes and I was done, and disappointed until one of the lovely volunteers asked my son if he had been to the Children’s Discovery Centre yet. Discovery Centre??? My ears perked up and she pointed us down a long corridor lined with model ships and various shipping nostalgia. Once we were in the Children’s Discovery Centre my whole outlook changed! It was amazing! A wooden pirate ship complete with costumes and props for pretend play, an entire room of interactive displays and drawers full of materials to enjoy and learn from. It was amazing and we were actually there for hours. It was fun and entertaining and 100% worth the price of the admission. Kids under 5 are FREE so if you have young ones they will get in for FREE (maximum 2 kids for every paying adult) adults are $11.00 and a family will cost $30 for a single admission. If you sign on as a member you become a voting member of the Vancouver Maritime Museum Society, get FREE parking, and access to all of the great exhibits year round PLUS lots more. (View all the Membership Benefits here.) A single adult membership is $40 or a Family membership is $60. The membership will pay for itself in less than 2 visits and trust me once you experience the Vancouver Maritime Museum once you will be going back time and time again!

4- H.R. MacMillan Space Centre

I have fond memories of the HR MacMillan Space Centre going back to when I was a child and we visited the Planetarium on school field trips. It was one of my favorite times of the year, our annual class trip to the Planetarium. I still love going and especially enjoy discovering and learning right along side my future Astronaut. (He always wants to be an Astronaut after a visit to the Space Centre!) The annual pass to the Space Centre is a great companion to the Vancouver Maritime Museum Pass as they are right next door to each other and the Space Centre closes before the Maritime Museum, it makes a great day trip! The shows presented throughout the day in the Planetarium and the Multi Media Presentations and Demos in the Groundstation Canada Theatre will keep everyone entertained and mesmerized by the activity and make up of our Solar System. The Annual Pass to the HR MacMillan Space Centre will cost in the neighborhood of $90.00 for a Family and $60 for a 2-person pass, it includes discounts on Cosmic Space Camps, Birthday Parties and Museum of Vancouver admission, which is right int he same building so another perk! Children under 5 are FREE so you may be able to get away with an individual membership for  while at $35.00 for the year.

5- Capilano Suspension Bridge

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is an amazing mecca of outdoor wonders and BC history.  This has been a favorite attraction of mine since I was a kid when we used to take out of town visitors to see this amazing bridge across the canyon. It was a special occasion thing that we did as a family and usually only when we had out of town visitors. The park has grown and added so much to its list of attractions and reasons to visit including the newest addition Cliffwalk. I have yet to try it out but we adore the Treetops Adventure, the Story Centre, the guided tours and of course walking the Suspension Bridge. It’s nice to get outside and enjoy nature and the beauty of one of Vancouver’s most popular attractions. Kids under 6 are FREE and when you pay for your daily admission ticket its good for the entire year! $32.95 for an adult will give you access to the Suspension Bridge and all it has to offer for an entire year, PLUS access to special events and a slough of discounts while you’re visiting. There aren’t many annual memberships that can be obtained for under $40 for an entire year and this particular membership is one that every BC Resident should have!

I am a huge fan of several attractions all over BC and am guilty of buying the Annual Pass for almost every single one of them at one time or another, I can’t help myself! When I take the kids somewhere and they enjoy themselves and I leave happy and headache free I tend to want to go back as much as they do. I am an Annual Pass addict and am sure to have more than just the 5 listed above in my possession at any given time so here are a few of my runners up! Go out and enjoy the great things our city and Province has to offer and tell us what your favorite attraction is!  We’d love to hear from you!

Runners Up:

Vancouver Aquarium

Honey Bee Centre

Fort Langley Historic Site (they offer daily or seasonal passes)

Canadian Museum of Flight

Hells Gate Airtram (a bit of a drive but worth it!)

Power House at Stave Falls (a Seasonal Pass if well worth the money!)

I could go on forever! Be sure to check out our Attractions section in the Directory to find more things to do with the family and if they offer an annual pass, I probably have it already so let me know if you get one too and we can plan a meet-up!