13 Vancouver Attractions That Disappeared, From Expo 86 to Old Playland Rides
Vancouver has a habit of building something big and then letting it go. A world’s fair took over False Creek for six months in 1986 and then mostly vanished. Stanley Park kept polar bears until 1997. BC Place sat under a puffed-up fabric roof for almost three decades.
Some of these places left nothing behind. Others ended up in odd spots: a theme park in England, an amusement park in Missouri, a riverbank in Maple Ridge. A few left traces you can still walk up to.
This covers what each place was, why it went away, where the pieces landed and what’s still worth seeing. Expo 86 comes first, then Playland, then the older losses around the city.
13. The McBarge (Fraser River, Maple Ridge)
Where: False Creek in 1986. Now partly sunk in the Fraser River at Maple Ridge.
When: Open during Expo 86. Capsized March 2025.
Cost: N/A (no public access)
Getting there: No public access. Private industrial waterfront.
McDonald’s ran a floating restaurant during Expo on a 57-metre barge moored in False Creek. It was officially the Friendship 500. Everyone else called it the McBarge.
It never reopened after the fair. It had a few homes after the fair and was later moved to the Fraser River at Maple Ridge. In March 2025 it capsized. As of late 2025 it was still lying on its side in the river at Maple Ridge.
There’s no public access. The barge sits on a working industrial waterfront, and Transport Canada was leading the response to the capsizing.
Don’t try to reach it by boat or on foot. The waterfront around it is private, and a half-sunk hull is no place to poke around. Old photos are the safer way to see it.
12. World’s Largest Hockey Stick (Duncan)
Where: Expo 86 Canada Pavilion, then Cowichan Community Centre, Duncan
When: In Duncan from 1988 until it was dismantled Aug. 21, 2024
Cost: N/A
Getting there: Gone. Duncan is on Vancouver Island, reached by BC Ferries.
Canada’s federal government commissioned a giant hockey stick for the Canada Pavilion at Expo 86. It suited a country that liked to be known for hockey.
After the fair it crossed to Vancouver Island. From May 21, 1988, it was mounted on the side of the Cowichan Community Centre in Duncan, where it became a roadside landmark for decades. Removal crews took it down on August 21, 2024.
Duncan is a BC Ferries trip away from the mainland. The stick is gone, so there’s nothing to see but the building.
If you pass the Cowichan Community Centre in Duncan, the stick that stood outside it since 1988 is no longer there.
| Expo attraction | Where it went | Status in the research |
|---|---|---|
| Pavilion modules | A Delta industrial park | Sheltering businesses |
| Expo Centre | Stayed on False Creek as Science World | Still standing |
| Monorail | Alton Towers, England | Shuttles visitors from the car parks to the entrance |
| Scream Machine | Six Flags St. Louis, renamed Ninja | Still at the park, renamed Mid America Adventure in Aug. 2026 |
| McBarge | Burrard Inlet, then the Fraser River at Maple Ridge | Capsized March 2025. On its side as of late 2025. |
| World’s Largest Hockey Stick | Cowichan Community Centre, Duncan | Dismantled Aug. 21, 2024 |
11. The Expo 86 monorail (now at Alton Towers, England)
Where: Expo grounds, False Creek (now at Alton Towers, England)
When: Ran during Expo 86, May to Oct. 1986
Cost: N/A
Getting there: Nothing left to visit in Vancouver
The monorail looped 5.4 kilometres through the fair. The ride took 20 minutes and carried 10.5 million passengers over the crowds. For a lot of visitors it was the best way to see the whole site at once.
It didn’t stay. After the fair it was sold to Alton Towers, a theme park in England. It now shuttles visitors between the car parks and the park entrance there.
There’s nothing left of it to visit in Vancouver.
If you ever find yourself at Alton Towers, you can still ride the same system that once ran over False Creek.
10. The Scream Machine roller coaster (now near St. Louis)
Where: Expo grounds, False Creek (moved to the St. Louis area)
When: Operated at Expo 86. Later moved to Missouri.
Cost: N/A
Getting there: Nothing left to visit in Vancouver
The Scream Machine was a looping coaster and one of the fair’s big thrill rides. The name told you what to expect.
After Expo it was sold to Six Flags St. Louis and renamed Ninja. It opened there as Ninja on April 8, 1989, and it’s still part of the park’s Studio Backlot area. The park was renamed Mid America Adventure on Aug. 27, 2026.
Check the park’s 2027 operating calendar before you plan a trip around it.
9. The English Bay piers (West End)
Where: English Bay Beach, West End
When: Two piers between 1907 and 1958. The first was demolished in 1939, per city archives.
Cost: N/A
Getting there: English Bay Beach
English Bay had two piers between 1907 and 1958. The first one had a glassed-in pavilion at the end. Live dance bands played there on summer evenings.
City archives say that first pier was demolished in 1939. Other sources, including Vancouver Is Awesome and the City of Vancouver’s English Bay walk page, give 1938.
Nothing of it remains on the sand at English Bay Beach. What’s left is the view.
Bring an old photo to compare. The Sylvia Hotel shows up in many of the archival shots, which makes it easy to line up where the pier once stood.
8. Music Express and Crazy Beach Party (Playland, Hastings Park)
Where: Playland, Hastings Park
When: Retired 2022
Cost: N/A
Getting there: Playland at Hastings Park, East Hastings Street
These two were millennial-era favourites. If you grew up going to the PNE in the 1990s or 2000s, you probably rode at least one.
Both were retired in 2022. They went out together, which is part of why people still bring them up as a pair.
If you miss Crazy Beach Party, The Beast is the ride people tend to compare it to. Check Playland’s ride list before you go, since the lineup changes.
7. The Revelation and the Drop Zone (Playland, Hastings Park)
Where: Playland, Hastings Park, East Vancouver
When: Closure announced early 2023
Cost: N/A
Getting there: Playland at Hastings Park, East Hastings Street
The Revelation was a giant spinning arm ride. The Drop Zone was its neighbour on Playland’s thrill row. Both had a following.
In early 2023 the PNE announced both would close. The space went to Playland’s new launch coaster, ThunderVolt.
Playland is at Hastings Park on East Hastings Street. It’s between seasons right now, and 2027 dates and prices aren’t posted yet.
Not everything from that era left. The Hellevator drop tower is still on Playland’s current ride list.
6. The Corkscrew roller coaster (Playland, Hastings Park)
Where: Playland, Hastings Park
When: Did not return for the 2019 season
Cost: N/A
Getting there: Playland at Hastings Park, East Hastings Street
The Corkscrew was Playland’s steel coaster. For years it was the looping counterpart to the old wooden one.
It didn’t return for the 2019 season, and it was later removed for good. Its footprint became the area Playland planned to expand from.
That’s the part worth knowing when you visit. The PNE said the Corkscrew sat on a large footprint that was the spot from which Playland would expand northwards, with the space meant as a launching point for new attractions. That expansion arrived as ThunderVolt, which opened in July 2024 on the old Corkscrew, Drop Zone and Revelation sites.
5. Plaza of Nations glass canopy (False Creek North)
Where: Pacific Boulevard, False Creek North
When: Built 1986. Glass roof demolished 2007.
Cost: N/A (site slated for redevelopment)
Getting there: False Creek seawall beside BC Place. Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain station is nearby.
During Expo this was the BC Pavilion. It was built around an outdoor amphitheatre under a big glass roof, and it was one of the fair’s central gathering spaces.
The roof is the interesting part. It was designed to last about 10 months. It stayed up for two decades. Crews finally took it down in 2007.
The site is on Pacific Boulevard, beside BC Place on the False Creek seawall. Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain station is nearby. There’s no building to go inside, but the Expo-era flag poles still line the waterfront; in June 2026 they flew the flags of all 48 FIFA World Cup nations.
Stand on the seawall below BC Place and look across the old plaza site. Try to picture an amphitheatre under glass, full of people, in the summer of 1986.
4. Happyland and the Giant Dipper (Hastings Park)
Where: Hastings Park, East Vancouver
When: Giant Dipper 1925 to 1948. Wooden Coaster from 1958 to today.
Cost: Wooden Coaster needs Playland admission. 2027 prices aren’t posted yet.
Getting there: Hastings Park, East Hastings Street
Long before Playland, there was Happyland. The PNE’s first amusement park opened in East Park at Hastings Park in 1926. Its big draw was the Giant Dipper coaster, a top attraction on the midway from 1925.
The Dipper lost out to horse racing. In 1948 it was demolished to make room for an extension of the Hastings racetrack.
Ten years later came its replacement. Playland’s Wooden Roller Coaster, designed by Carl Phare, opened in 1958. It has outlasted every other change at the park, and it’s still standing.
Right now Playland’s ride list shows the Wooden Coaster as currently not in operation. Riding it takes Playland admission, and 2027 prices aren’t posted yet. The PNE calls it Playland’s most historic attraction, and it was named an ACE Roller Coaster Landmark in 2009.
3. BC Place’s air-supported dome (downtown Vancouver)
Where: BC Place, downtown Vancouver on False Creek
When: 1983 to 2010
Cost: N/A
Getting there: Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain station
BC Place opened in 1983 under an inflated fabric roof. Air pumped by 16 giant fans held it up. From a distance it looked like a white marshmallow sitting on False Creek.
Air roofs have a weakness. On January 5, 2007, snow tore the fabric and the roof deflated unexpectedly. It was the first unplanned deflation since the stadium opened.
The roof came down for the last time on May 4, 2010. Today’s retractable roof replaced it.
Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain station is the closest stop. For the best comparison, stand on the Cambie Bridge and hold up a 1980s photo of the white dome against today’s cable-supported crown.
2. Stanley Park Zoo and its polar bears (Stanley Park)
Where: Stanley Park, on Avison Way just south of the Vancouver Aquarium
When: Closed 1997
Cost: Free
Getting there: Stanley Park, on Avison Way just south of the Vancouver Aquarium
Stanley Park had a zoo for decades. The polar bears were the star attraction.
Opinion turned against keeping them. Vancouver voters chose to phase out the zoo in a 1994 referendum. It closed for good in 1997, when the last polar bear, Tuk, died.
This is one of the few losses you can still stand in front of. The concrete bear pit is still there, just south of the Vancouver Aquarium. So is a plaque telling visitors the polar bears were gifted to the city.
The pit is small and bare by today’s standards. That’s the point. It explains the 1994 vote better than any argument could.
1. The Expo 86 pavilion grounds (False Creek)
Where: North and east shore of False Creek, downtown Vancouver
When: Expo ran May 2 to Oct. 13, 1986. Pavilions were removed after the fair.
Cost: Free to walk the former grounds along the seawall
Getting there: Main Street-Science World SkyTrain station, then west on the False Creek seawall
From May 2 to October 13, 1986, the north and east shore of False Creek was a world’s fair. National, provincial and corporate pavilions filled the site. More than 22 million visitors came through.
Most of it was never built to last. Many pavilions were prefab modules, designed to be taken apart and used again. Some of those modules now shelter businesses in a Delta industrial park. The fair’s Expo Centre stayed put. You know it as Science World, and it’s one of the most visible pieces of the fair left in the city.
Getting there is easy. Main Street-Science World SkyTrain station sits next to the dome. Walking the former grounds along the seawall is free.
Start at Science World and walk west along the seawall toward BC Place. Most of the old fairground is now towers and parks. That’s exactly why the fair is so hard to picture today.
Traces you can still see
- Science World, the old Expo Centre, at the east end of False Creek.
- The polar bear pit and its plaque near the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park.
- Playland’s 1958 Wooden Roller Coaster at Hastings Park, currently listed as not in operation.
- The empty wall at the Cowichan Community Centre in Duncan, where the hockey stick hung.
- Farther afield, the monorail at Alton Towers in England and, Ninja at Mid America Adventure (formerly Six Flags St. Louis) near St. Louis.
When to go
The False Creek and Stanley Park stops are outdoor walks you can do any time you’d normally hit the seawall. Playland is a different story. Its 2026 run ended with Fright Nights, which opened October 7, and it’s now between seasons. 2027 dates and prices aren’t posted yet, so check the PNE site before you plan around the Wooden Coaster.
What to bring
- Old photos, printed or on your phone. They do most of the work at English Bay, BC Place and the Plaza of Nations site.
- Comfortable shoes for the seawall stretch from Science World to BC Place.
- Layers and a rain shell. You’ll be standing outside on the water for a while.
Getting there
- Expo grounds: Main Street-Science World SkyTrain station, then walk west on the False Creek seawall.
- Plaza of Nations site and BC Place: Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain station.
- Playland: Hastings Park on East Hastings Street.
- Polar bear pit: Stanley Park, near the Vancouver Aquarium and Lumberman’s Arch.
- Duncan: on Vancouver Island, by BC Ferries.
Safety and etiquette
The McBarge is a partly sunk wreck on private industrial waterfront in Maple Ridge, and Transport Canada was leading the response. Don’t approach it by land or water. The Plaza of Nations land is slated for redevelopment, so stick to the public seawall. Everywhere else, go prepared for wet weather and treat the old sites like any other public space.
Most of what Vancouver built for fun didn’t survive. The fair packed up, the zoo closed, the piers came down and the roof deflated. The pieces that did last ended up in Delta, England and Missouri (Duncan’s giant hockey stick held on until 2024), or in the case of the McBarge, on its side in the Fraser. Start at Science World, walk the seawall with an old photo in your pocket, and the city’s missing attractions get a lot easier to picture.
Get the weekend plan in your inbox. Burrard Bulletin is a free email on what’s actually on from Vancouver to Whistler. Sign up here.
Photo credits
- HellsgatePlayland.JPG by ThePointblank, CC BY-SA 3.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- EnterprisePlayland.JPG by ThePointblank, CC BY-SA 3.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- Playland-entrance.jpg by Arnold C, Attribution (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- ScramblerPlayland.JPG by ThePointblank, CC BY-SA 3.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- Expo 86 1.jpg by Colin Rose from Montreal, Canada, CC BY 2.0 (resized; cropped for the featured image). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- Plaza of Nations.jpg by unknown, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- Expo 86 – monorail.jpg by Colin Rose, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- Ninja (Six Flags St. Louis) 2.jpg by Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- McBarge front.jpg by Taz, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- Worlds Largest Hockey Stick (5696860977).jpg by Doug Hay, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- RevelationPlayland.JPG by ThePointblank, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- CorkscrewPlayland.JPG by ThePointblank, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- Music ExpressPlayland.JPG by ThePointblank, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- TheCoasterPlayland.JPG by ThePointblank, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- Vancouver false creek.jpg by unknown, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- Old Stanley Park Zoo Bear Enclosure.jpg by colink. from Vancouver, CC BY-SA 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
- English Bay Pier, 1917.jpg by Gowen, Frank, Public domain (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
