Just returned from ABD NEW YORK DREAMS July 2016

Just returned home from our trip and thought I could share my insight to anyone else that booked this trip.
For starters we arrived 2 days before tour started and loved this. we ended up hiring MUSEUM HACK to tour us the Natural History Museum and was a lot of fun. Great walk thru Central Park to get here and yummy lunch at shake shack!

The manhatten club is really nicely located and the accomodations are HUGE! 2 bathrooms was incredible help. Super nice staff and our parking bill was completely covered by ABD.

As I said the pre arrival days for us were key. We did a lot! From shopping 5th Ave, museums, central park, saw Les Mis it was was great. Fantastic seats!

Ok now the ABD tour begins. I will be honest the first day is NOTHING you cannot do on your own - The Ride, 9-11, Top of World Trade Center and TriBeca Grill. All nice, all fun but nothing SPECIAL that you couldn't do. I was a little disappointed that we were not given guidance on the 9-11. We were given a map but I would have appreciated the guides pointing out a few obvious MUST SEES as we discovered those 20 minutes before we were due to board the bus. Reading a map only tells you where something is located not much else. Tribecca Grill was good but I was disappointed the menu was a fixed offering of 3 or 4 things. Food good and the owner spoke with us, etc. Nice day but not a WOW Day.

Day 2 - began crazy early for GMA! Little disappointed here b/c honestly this was going to be my highlight of the trip. i found it a little slow, the anchors didn't interact or say much, busy set, but very underwhelming. Looks more exciting on tv! Neat to see but nothing that I was in awe of. Next we went to Central Park to see SIA (I think that is how you spell it). I had no idea who she was but crowd was huge and DD seemed to think this was value add and hey concert in the park, great weather, packed place - nice time.

After this we went to harlem and the walking tour of Harlem was sort of odd. The Mr. harlem guy super nice but a large crowd of tourists following him around hearing about Harlem was just sort of odd. Red rooster for lunch was TERRIFIC! We then went to the Apollo Theatre to hear Billy Mitchell speak for a solid hour. What a gem. We so enjoyed this part of the tour, more than I expected. I thought GMA would be the highlight, not so. Very nice tour of place and his speech.

We were running late at this point and the optional Central Park became a 20 minute abbreviated excursion. I didn't care, as I said we were thru Central Park a lot earlier in the week.

Next up the teneament museum. Well true to living in the times, no AC in this building. Hot. INTERESTING and the food sampling afterwards was so cool. A real highlight for us for the trip!

Next day - Ellen's Diner.Just ok. it was nice the food was waiting for us when we arrived. Nothing that great. Amerstam Theatre tour was really nice. Props room was cool. We bowed out of the Dance Workshop. NYC was having a street fair so we opted to shop around a bit . There was around 5 hours of on your own time for everyone at this point. I wish ABD would have provided an optional activity here - museum hack at the MET? Row boats Central Park? I know we had several grandmas with grandchildren on the trip and I know they were a little overwhelmend with the 5 hour downtime. City can be intimidating for them etc. I wish ABD offered a choice....

Weekend ended with yummy appetizer party at the theater and incredible dead center 4th row back seats for Aladdin. Ideal. Cast came out at end to talk and this was very nice.

All in all - nice trip. best trip ever?> No. There is room for improvement on the trip. Filling in the deadtime a bit, making central park tour little longer, maybe losing the harlem walking tour etc. Because of the way I obtain gift cards, I pay for the trip completely with gift cards in which I receive a 22% discount on . This helped me rationalize the price a bit at 22% off. Meals were good. Guides super nice. Bus transportation perfect. With a city so big and Disney having so much pull I think a little more could be down to fill down time or make better use of the local tour experts.

All in all a GREAT way to see NYC but you really need a few add on days to see other things yourself. Hope that helps!

Meant to reply to this yesterday, but thank you so much for taking the time to post your insights into the trip! It's great to have a report for one of the long weekend trips as there aren't many (recent ones especially). It sounds like you had a good time, but that maybe it wasn't the greatest value and/or with enough special touches? I've always wondered about the long weekend trips because that's how they kind of read to me from the itinerary. And 5 hours of downtime on a short trip like this seems ridiculous! I totally don't get that. The seats and experience at Aladdin sound cool though. Did your daughter go? What did she think?

CaliforniaGirl09 said:

Meant to reply to this yesterday, but thank you so much for taking the time to post your insights into the trip! It's great to have a report for one of the long weekend trips as there aren't many (recent ones especially). It sounds like you had a good time, but that maybe it wasn't the greatest value and/or with enough special touches? I've always wondered about the long weekend trips because that's how they kind of read to me from the itinerary. And 5 hours of downtime on a short trip like this seems ridiculous! I totally don't get that. The seats and experience at Aladdin sound cool though. Did your daughter go? What did she think?

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We absolutely had a great time but I am disappointed they took the Apollo theater off next years tour. That was excellent and a welcome surprise. I saw and experienced nyc in the most perfect way. I guess cost wise I compare it to backstage Magic which I feel you got more of but being that it was mostly disney owned my guess is the dollars stretched further there. Nyc is just expensive period. My dd17 went and enjoyed it very much. Her favorites were les mis which we saw in our own and Apollo and tenement experience. She appreciated Aladdin but not a favorite. We truly loved the trip but adding just that one activity on the downtime and maybe letting u in the club lounge on the final day for breakfast would have been great. Having said that I believe I am canceling the sAn Fran ABD and doing it ourselves next year. Would rather put the deposit on a longer adventure some other time

Thanks for sharing your TR! Apollo theater is off the itinerary??? Wow this was one of the highlights when we did it. I'd sooner see the Harlem walk gone over that. That was my least favorite activity. It was ... odd. Our Harlem tour was on a bus though because I think someone in the group had mobility issues. Our favorite things that trip besides the Aladdin performance were the Tenement museum and food sampling and the Apollo. DH and I did a duet of "Love is an Open Door" on stage. I can't sing so when else would I ever get to say, "I performed on stage at The Apollo." This was actually one of the ABDs I said I'd do again because I liked it so much.

scottmel said:

We absolutely had a great time but I am disappointed they took the Apollo theater off next years tour. That was excellent and a welcome surprise. I saw and experienced nyc in the most perfect way. I guess cost wise I compare it to backstage Magic which I feel you got more of but being that it was mostly disney owned my guess is the dollars stretched further there. Nyc is just expensive period. My dd17 went and enjoyed it very much. Her favorites were les mis which we saw in our own and Apollo and tenement experience. She appreciated Aladdin but not a favorite. We truly loved the trip but adding just that one activity on the downtime and maybe letting u in the club lounge on the final day for breakfast would have been great. Having said that I believe I am canceling the sAn Fran ABD and doing it ourselves next year. Would rather put the deposit on a longer adventure some other time

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Thanks for the clarification. Interesting that you compared it to Backstage Magic because I actually think that is one of the best value ABDs there is. When you add the cost of park tickets, hotels, VIP tours, etc, it felt like a good value. I think at one point I actually priced out all the things included in Backstage Magic, but I can't find it right now (and some of those things might have changed). Bummer about the Apollo! Wonder why they are eliminating it--sounds like one of the more fun "special" activities. Your comment about the SF trip pretty much sum up my feelings on the long weekend trips--I'd rather put the money toward a larger trip. But I am always tempted by them--they are intriguing! I hear you on NYC--we are planning a Hamilton weekend in Nov., and it's going to be an expensive weekend. Not ABD expensive, but expensive.

calypso726 said:

Thanks for sharing your TR! Apollo theater is off the itinerary??? Wow this was one of the highlights when we did it. I'd sooner see the Harlem walk gone over that. That was my least favorite activity. It was ... odd. Our Harlem tour was on a bus though because I think someone in the group had mobility issues. Our favorite things that trip besides the Aladdin performance were the Tenement museum and food sampling and the Apollo. DH and I did a duet of "Love is an Open Door" on stage. I can't sing so when else would I ever get to say, "I performed on stage at The Apollo." This was actually one of the ABDs I said I'd do again because I liked it so much.

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I thought you'd done a trip report a while back! I was actually going to re-read it. Too fun about the duet, but bummer that it's off now. I'll have to go see what they are doing instead.

CaliforniaGirl09 said:

Interesting that you compared it to Backstage Magic because I actually think that is one of the best value ABDs there is. When you add the cost of park tickets, hotels, VIP tours, etc, it felt like a good value

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Oh I agree. I don't think I was clear. I felt BSM was a MUCH BETTER value...I compared NYC to this and I feel it fell short on the dollar comparison against the BSM trip. BSM excellent value. NYC just so costly...

calypso726 said:

Thanks for sharing your TR! Apollo theater is off the itinerary??? Wow this was one of the highlights when we did it. I'd sooner see the Harlem walk gone over that. That was my least favorite activity. It was ... odd. Our Harlem tour was on a bus though because I think someone in the group had mobility issues. Our favorite things that trip besides the Aladdin performance were the Tenement museum and food sampling and the Apollo. DH and I did a duet of "Love is an Open Door" on stage. I can't sing so when else would I ever get to say, "I performed on stage at The Apollo." This was actually one of the ABDs I said I'd do again because I liked it so much.

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Oh we had BOTH in Harlem. Walking and bus. Bus I was ok with but honestly picture 30 tourists walking thru harlem on foot with Mr. Harlem blasting music and everyone looking. Seriously. It was just odd. THAT should have left NOT Apollo theatre which was a highlight for us too!!

calypso726 said:

Thanks for sharing your TR! Apollo theater is off the itinerary??? Wow this was one of the highlights when we did it. I'd sooner see the Harlem walk gone over that. That was my least favorite activity. It was ... odd. Our Harlem tour was on a bus though because I think someone in the group had mobility issues. Our favorite things that trip besides the Aladdin performance were the Tenement museum and food sampling and the Apollo. DH and I did a duet of "Love is an Open Door" on stage. I can't sing so when else would I ever get to say, "I performed on stage at The Apollo." This was actually one of the ABDs I said I'd do again because I liked it so much.

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And LOL YOU were the one that put me over the edge to do the trip. I loved your trip report and had you not convinced me to do it, I would have waited until next summer to visit NYC and then missed Les Mis as it closes in August 2016!! And I would have missed Apollo! But reading your report had me excited and I booked shortly after so THANKS!!!

scottmel said:

And LOL YOU were the one that put me over the edge to do the trip. I loved your trip report and had you not convinced me to do it, I would have waited until next summer to visit NYC and then missed Les Mis as it closes in August 2016!! And I would have missed Apollo! But reading your report had me excited and I booked shortly after so THANKS!!!

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Hahaha! You're welcome Glad you got to experience it the way we did. I am so glad to read how much better you liked BSM than the NY trip. We loved the NY trip but haven't done the BSM one yet but plan to in the next couple of years. So far I've only heard good things!

Thanks for the TR! Um, so how do you get DGC at 22% off?! :-D

Imagineer5 said:

Thanks for the TR! Um, so how do you get DGC at 22% off?! :-D

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WElllll.....I live on the east coast and get gift cards when my local grocery store/gas station has double fuel perks. I can accumulate as much fuel perks as desired and can basically fill up tanks upon tanks of gas for FREE! so when it is double it equates to 12 percent off. My visa is 3% and sometimes 5% off gas stations so far my savings is around 15-17 percent off. Important to note I am buying TARGET gift cards as I then order Disney gift cards off the target site and when you have a red card it takes another 5% off eventhough you are paying with giftcard. So now sayings is 20-22 percent. THEN I deposit these gift cards into a Disney vacation account earning 2% rebate. So I save anywhere from 22-24 percent per gift card. VERY VERY NICE.

scottmel said:

WElllll.....I live on the east coast and get gift cards when my local grocery store/gas station has double fuel perks. I can accumulate as much fuel perks as desired and can basically fill up tanks upon tanks of gas for FREE! so when it is double it equates to 12 percent off. My visa is 3% and sometimes 5% off gas stations so far my savings is around 15-17 percent off. Important to note I am buying TARGET gift cards as I then order Disney gift cards off the target site and when you have a red card it takes another 5% off eventhough you are paying with giftcard. So now sayings is 20-22 percent. THEN I deposit these gift cards into a Disney vacation account earning 2% rebate. So I save anywhere from 22-24 percent per gift card. VERY VERY NICE.

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Nicely done! Which store grocery offers fuel perks? We do a version of that. We will purchase Target gift cards for 5 miles per dollar and then the Disney gift cards online through Target for the 5% off and then load to DVA for the extra 2%. I could figure a hack that works in fuel and 5 miles for points that can be transferred to airlines that would be awesome!

calypso726 said:

Nicely done! Which store grocery offers fuel perks? We do a version of that. We will purchase Target gift cards for 5 miles per dollar and then the Disney gift cards online through Target for the 5% off and then load to DVA for the extra 2%. I could figure a hack that works in fuel and 5 miles for points that can be transferred to airlines that would be awesome!

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Thanks! Giant Eagle which is in PA and Ohio. I know Krogers does it too but I heard they cap at 1.00 per gallon. with Giant eagle it is unlimited with 30 gallon fill ups at a time so it really really adds up. I do same thing with southwest too getting airfare usually free b/c of credit card openings etc. but this year will need to pay for two of us. But 22 percent off helps! I want to get VIP to Universal Hollywood tickets and sadly target does NOT sell universal so my savings is reduced to 17 percent for these...

scottmel said:

Thanks! Giant Eagle which is in PA and Ohio. I know Krogers does it too but I heard they cap at 1.00 per gallon. with Giant eagle it is unlimited with 30 gallon fill ups at a time so it really really adds up. I do same thing with southwest too getting airfare usually free b/c of credit card openings etc. but this year will need to pay for two of us. But 22 percent off helps! I want to get VIP to Universal Hollywood tickets and sadly target does NOT sell universal so my savings is reduced to 17 percent for these...

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Thanks for sharing. I don't think we have any of those in south Florida. Publix is the main grocery store in our area. Witj Whole Foods we can get their gift cards for 5 miles per dollar. No fuel perks at either Publix or Whole Foods that I know of though.

Sorry to intrude but do you have Winn Dixie that far South (we're in P'cola)? They do some sort of Fuel Perks program but I'm always losing my darn card.

Safeway has three stores in Florida and is just rolling out its fuel rewards program there, but I'm not sure if any of the stores are near you, Calypso.

tink1970 said:

Sorry to intrude but do you have Winn Dixie that far South (we're in P'cola)? They do some sort of Fuel Perks program but I'm always losing my darn card.

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Calfan said:

Safeway has three stores in Florida and is just rolling out its fuel rewards program there, but I'm not sure if any of the stores are near you, Calypso.

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Looks like we have one of each within 15 miles. Thanks!

Does the tour see the Metropolitan Museum

No but I hired museum hack on my own and we loved natural history museum. Museum hack does met as well and I personally think this would be great optional activity to be offered during down time. But you visit no Museums besides 911 with Abd

Wow. I think ABD needs to give me a call and I'll arrange a better tour! lol Living 30 minutes away has us very spoiled, but I am a little surprised with the highlights of this Adventure. Ellen's Stardust is such a tourist trap, IMHO. It's like going to Carmine's and thinking you hit an authentic NY Italian restaurant.

I would love the backstage tour and special seats at Aladdin and I think I'd love the Apollo Theatre visit. The rest - sounds under-impressive.