Jaunted Winter Olympics Embed: What Everyone is Waiting For

February 22, 2010 at 3:50 PM | by TuijaSeipell | Comments (3)

The 2010 Winter Olympics are finally here and the Jaunted Embeds are on the scene. All throughout the games we are going to be providing you first-hand observations and tips from a Vancouver local. Tuija Seipell is a Vancouver-based writer and a dual citizen of both Finland and Canada--so she is bound to get a medal or two right? You can follow her on Twitter here, or just follow the Vancouver 2010 Olympics tag.

The final week of the 2010 Winter Olympics has begun and crowds are reaching peak numbers. There is a line-up for everything. One of the longest has been the six-plus-hour wait for the 30-second zip across Robson Square. Amazingly, everyone says it is worth the wait, and that they had fun in the line-up.

Another consistent queue has been to the Olympic superstore at The Bay that sells the official Olympic merchandise. People have waited on average for 1.5 hours to get in the store and another hour or two to get through the checkouts and out. Some have arrived at 6 a.m. for the 9 a.m. store opening.

Luckily, The Bay learned from this and the Olympic superstore is now open 24 hours a day Friday to Sunday and 9 a.m. until midnight during the week. Vanoc says it has surpassed all expectations in Olympic merchandise sales and estimates that the $1.5 million it lost when it had to cancel the standing-room tickets for most events at Cypress Mountain, will be recovered though unexpectedly high merchandise sales.

The biggest deal, of course, have been the 2010 Olympics Red Mittens ($10), of which three million pairs will be sold. Even Oprah gave away 300 pairs on her show!

Yet another place with constant line-ups has been the outdoor Olympic Cauldron. The organizers have now opened up a viewing platform � for which the line-up is about an hour or more � open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This line-up is well worth it and as you wait, the views of the Olympic rings and the floatplane docks at Coal Harbour are beautiful.

When you reach the platform, you not only see the cauldron but you also feel the heat from the flames and hear their powerful whooshing sound. At the viewing platform, the Olympic Flame transforms from a merely visual image into a physical experience.

[Photos: Tuija Seipell/Ted Topping]

Comments (3)

Return to » Jaunted Winter Olympics Embed: What Everyone is Waiting For

You don't need to line up for hours to get into the Olympic Store on the main floor of the Bay. You can instead go in the store (through another entrance) and take the elevator or escalator to the 5th floor where they have all the same items for sale. Difference is there is no line up in the Olympic Store on the 5th floor :)

Have they changed it?Last time I was on the 5th floor, they had a limited selection of the Olympic Superstore merchandise and a complete selection of the merchandise from several participating countries. So definitely not the same as the first-floor.

If you enter The Bay from Pacific Centre Shopping Mall (ground level) and head to the 5th Floor you will not find any line-up barriers except when you go to pay for your merchandise. Only one cash register so a long line-up to pay. They have lots of Canada merchandise too, tons of hockey shirts. They were setting up a big Russian display on Monday, tons of new merchandise . . . looked great!

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