Guess what?

[PrincessInOz]

I wanna be at Disney on a Disney coaster

Me too...

 

[shushh]

Hiya Shushh,

Your dates for WDW are pretty much the same as what we would be considering for next year.

What love to see that crazy detailed table once it's done

Thanks for the heads up re the water park ticket pricing. We certainly wouldn't be going more than one day and so will just decide once there.

I look forward to hearing your feedback on MVMCP.

I would love to see the travel times table if you are happy to share.

I'm happy to tell you more about our previous 5 days in NYC. It was amazing and we saw lots of the "main tourist things" but we are now keen to do some other stuff.

Thanks for all of the answers.

I'd be more than happy to share the info! Just PM me your email address.

Would actually love to hear more about your dining experiences in NYC. We're keen to do the "main tourtist things" as well as it will the first time there for most of us. I remember that you took a bus tour? Do you remember how big/small the group was?

 

[ehsmum]

How exciting Ms.Shuttergirl!!

Enjoy the planning!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I'd be more than happy to share the info! Just PM me your email address.

Would actually love to hear more about your dining experiences in NYC. We're keen to do the "main tourtist things" as well as it will the first time there for most of us. I remember that you took a bus tour? Do you remember how big/small the group was?

I'm would love to share more about our 5 days in New York. The tour we did was INCREDIBLE!!!!! I spent months researching which tour company to go with read hundreds of reviews . I'm obsessive sometimes. We wanted a tour that would allow us to hit the "highlights" so that we could determine what things we might like to go back and spend longer at. We ended up going with www.allnewyorktours.com and chose this company for 3 reasons:-

1. It covered everything we wanted to see in 5 1/2 hours and the price was very competitive.

2. The tour had a smaller number of people than the larger companies. I can't remember exactly but it was a small bus with maybe approx. 25-30 people.

3. This is the main reason, every review I read talked about the amazing tour guides. People raved and raved and raved about the quality of local knowledge and useless facts combined with great sights.

I can honestly say this was one of the highlights of our whole holiday. We had travelled most of the day before (Vegas-LA-New York) and we were exhausted. My husband was NOT happy about having to get up early and be on a bus by 9am and for 5 hours none the less . He grumbled while we were waiting for the tour to begin and I was nervous how we were going to get through it, hahaha. Within a half hour DH turned to me and said how AMAZING the tour was and how much he was enjoying it. WHEW!!!!!!

We didn't not feel the need to go back to see any of the things on the tour, we definitely felt they gave good coverage. The only thing that we did go back to was Central Park but frankly you could spend days there and still not see all of that so that didn't surprise me. We were the only people with children on the tour and I thought the guide was extra attentive to them. IN fact because the tour numbers were so small everyone ended up being quite friendly by the end, it was a really great experience.

The highlight was the tour guides personal stories when we were at Ground Zero, very moving.

As for places we ate, we kept things fairly simple while there. We mainly stuck with Times Square. We ate at Bubba Gumps, hmmm yum, Planet Hollywood several times mainly because we had lunch there one day and they gave us a voucher for 20% off breakfast for the next day so we couldn't resist. The memorabilia was interesting and the food was good. ESPN Zone was lots of fun, esp because there was lots of exciting games on. Best place though was Ellen's Stardust Diner which a friend of ours had recommended. This is a not to be missed experience. Get there very early of you will be lining out the door. It is kind of like going to Arnold's from Happy Days and all of the wait staff get up and sing. Food could've been better but my advice is stick with burgers, they seemed to be the best. When we go back I may even have to eat here twice, it is beyond fun. We had breakky at the Majestic Cafe a couple of times, the food was hot, reasonably priced and tons of variety.

You MUST do a carriage ride around Central Park, it is not to be missed. Choose a nice carriage with a driver who is dressed for the part. Some of the drivers are just in normal clothes but we went with a guy in a fancy hat and coat because we figured he'd be more of a showman and we weren't disappointed. It actually wouldn't be a bad way to start off your visit to NYC, they are full of info and at $36 for around 15-20 minutes I thought it was good value.

Empire State Building is expensive and to be honest not worth the money. I read many reviews that say the Top of the Rock is better so maybe try that instead.

We went to FAO Schwartz and Toys R US and I have to say that FAO was a total highlight. Watching the kids dance on the huge piano from the movie Big brought a tear to my eye for some reason and my kids still talk about it.

We saw Mary Poppins on Broadway and it was awesome, worth every cent.

One arvo DH and DS were tired and grumpy so DD and I ditched them and hung out at Madame Tussauds which was so much fun. We laughed our heads off and got tons of silly photos.

That's all I can think of for now, hope that helps.

 

[shushh]

Thank you for all the details!!! It is very helpful. We are staying at the NOvotel Times Square. We are quite keen on the bus tour as well with very similar reasons to you. Do you think it would be doable with 6 children ( aged 2,3,5,5,8,8)? There are 14 of us in total so hopefully we won't bother too many other people...

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Thank you for all the details!!! It is very helpful. We are staying at the NOvotel Times Square. We are quite keen on the bus tour as well with very similar reasons to you. Do you think it would be doable with 6 children ( aged 2,3,5,5,8,8)? There are 14 of us in total so hopefully we won't bother too many other people...

To be honest, I'm not sure how the 4 little ones would go. Our son was 7 and he did really well, and was quite interested but we sure had the Nintendo DS and Ipod at the ready just in case. There is alot of listening and trying to follow what the tour guide says. With such a large group, I think you would be better to organise a private tour with a company that offers that. You would probably all fit into a mini bus and then you could cater the tour specifically to your needs, although whether you would get a tour guide with as much knowledge would be debatable. I just think it would be less stressful for the little ones (and parents) . I've got a feeling that most tours had a minimum age on them, possibly 6??? I could be wrong but I think I remember reading that somewhere.

 

[queenie82]

Empire State Building is expensive and to be honest not worth the money. I read many reviews that say the Top of the Rock is better so maybe try that instead.

I completely disagree with this!!!
It is true that top of the rock is better (because you can see the Empire State Building from there )
But if you get the VERY good value Citi Pass it is included and so not at all expensive. http://www.citypass.com/new-york
To me the highlights of NYC are all included in the Citi Pass.
You get the MET (unmissable) and the actually very good Natural History Museum. [And if you have any fans of the Night at the Museum movie!!!]
The Top of the Rock is ALSO now included (which it wasn't when we went.)

The Circleline cruise is fantastic.
We always do the Upgrade to the 3-Hour Full Island Cruise which is a full circumnavigation Manhattan Island for an additional $4.
We have done all these attractions on both recent trips to NY and never get bored of them. The cruise is the best perspective you will get of NY. And rather than GOING to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty and spending hours queuing you cruise close to them so you can get GREAT photos of them.

We didn't do any tours. NYC is about the easiest city to get around yourself and we would just hop in a taxi to get from one end of the city to another. We were either a group of 3 or 4 and a trip from one end to the other would be $8-10. We would go to the relevant avenue cross street and then go say 34th to 80th.

It has become clear to me that Shuttergirl and I have completely different priorities (If anything is a waste of time and money it is the carriage ride)
So make what you will of my opinions in comparison.
[I completely respect your opinions Shuttergirl! It just facinates me how we are polar opposites when it comes to American Cities ]

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I completely disagree with this!!!
It is true that top of the rock is better (because you can see the Empire State Building from there )
But if you get the VERY good value Citi Pass it is included and so not at all expensive. http://www.citypass.com/new-york
To me the highlights of NYC are all included in the Citi Pass.
You get the MET (unmissable) and the actually very good Natural History Museum. [And if you have any fans of the Night at the Museum movie!!!]
The Top of the Rock is ALSO now included (which it wasn't when we went.)

The Circleline cruise is fantastic.
We always do the Upgrade to the 3-Hour Full Island Cruise which is a full circumnavigation Manhattan Island for an additional $4.
We have done all these attractions on both recent trips to NY and never get bored of them. The cruise is the best perspective you will get of NY. And rather than GOING to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty and spending hours queuing you cruise close to them so you can get GREAT photos of them.

We didn't do any tours. NYC is about the easiest city to get around yourself and we would just hop in a taxi to get from one end of the city to another. We were either a group of 3 or 4 and a trip from one end to the other would be $8-10. We would go to the relevant avenue cross street and then go say 34th to 80th.

It has become clear to me that Shuttergirl and I have completely different priorities (If anything is a waste of time and money it is the carriage ride)
So make what you will of my opinions in comparison.
[I completely respect your opinions Shuttergirl! It just facinates me how we are polar opposites when it comes to American Cities ]

Hmmm, how to respond to such an interesting post from you Queenie. Let me see...

I didn't do the Top of the Rock because my husband insisted on doing the Empire State Building, a kind of "when in Rome" thing for him. Whilst for the first minute or so it was great to have a look over Manhattan (I got some great pictures) I felt that it wasn't worth the expense, but I didn't get the Citi Pass which I agree does look like good value.

With our tour we also did the cruise past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I agree that I think it is a waste of time lining up to go into the Statue of Liberty when the best views of her are from the water. We took the ferry over to Statten Island and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The taxis were definitely a quick way to get around, however my DH felt the taxi drivers were insane and he fear for our children's lives every time we hopped in one . Taxis also might not be an option for Shushh since they have little ones who will need child restraints.

It looks to me Queenie like we do agree on much of the above.

One other thing we agree on is that yes "we totally have different priorities" mainly because I am travelling with children and you are not. Of course you would approach any trip differently than I would. It is a completely different experience to travel with children and my focus would be on a million different things to what your focus would be.

The carriage ride for children is so much fun, it is something they don't get to do very often and I am positive other parents would agree with me. For just adults maybe it does lack a little something, I can't be sure.

I'm not wishing to get into a war with you on the subject here Queenie because I was just trying to give Shushh "my" opinion which she asked me for. But with that said, while you say you respect my opinions I have found that your comments can be quite rude and aggessive at times when people try to express an opinion different to your own. I think your knowledge of the US and esp Disney related stuff is incredible and I always value your information, however I think sometimes it is delivered with an acid tongue and as with email and texting, tone is often hard to convey in writing. I am sure this is not your intention though. I know you are just trying to give your input very generously.

So Shushh, make of all of this information what you will , with a crowd of 14 I am certain your priorities will differ vastly from Queenie's and my own. You are one brave woman to travel with such a tribe and I can't wait to hear how it all works out on your return. And I am desperate to hear about your Washington experiences so any info you can share about that would be wonderful.

 

[queenie82]

Hmmm, how to respond to such an interesting post from you Queenie. Let me see...

I didn't do the Top of the Rock because my husband insisted on doing the Empire State Building, a kind of "when in Rome" thing for him. Whilst for the first minute or so it was great to have a look over Manhattan (I got some great pictures) I felt that it wasn't worth the expense, but I didn't get the Citi Pass which I agree does look like good value.

With our tour we also did the cruise past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I agree that I think it is a waste of time lining up to go into the Statue of Liberty when the best views of her are from the water. We took the ferry over to Statten Island and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The taxis were definitely a quick way to get around, however my DH felt the taxi drivers were insane and he fear for our children's lives every time we hopped in one . Taxis also might not be an option for Shushh since they have little ones who will need child restraints.

It looks to me Queenie like we do agree on much of the above.

One other thing we agree on is that yes "we totally have different priorities" mainly because I am travelling with children and you are not. Of course you would approach any trip differently than I would. It is a completely different experience to travel with children and my focus would be on a million different things to what your focus would be.

The carriage ride for children is so much fun, it is something they don't get to do very often and I am positive other parents would agree with me. For just adults maybe it does lack a little something, I can't be sure.

I'm not wishing to get into a war with you on the subject here Queenie because I was just trying to give Shushh "my" opinion which she asked me for. But with that said, while you say you respect my opinions I have found that your comments can be quite rude and aggessive at times when people try to express an opinion different to your own. I think your knowledge of the US and esp Disney related stuff is incredible and I always value your information, however I think sometimes it is delivered with an acid tongue and as with email and texting, tone is often hard to convey in writing. I am sure this is not your intention though. I know you are just trying to give your input very generously.

So Shushh, make of all of this information what you will , with a crowd of 14 I am certain your priorities will differ vastly from Queenie's and my own. You are one brave woman to travel with such a tribe and I can't wait to hear how it all works out on your return. And I am desperate to hear about your Washington experiences so any info you can share about that would be wonderful.

My first trip to the US was as a 9 year old.
We did ALL these attractions (with exception to top of the rock which wasn't open and the cruise) when I was 9 and adored them
So please don't be condescending about what children might and might not like.
I am actually giving a child's AND adult's experience.
I went to museums and galleries in Paris, London, Amsterdam etc as a 9 year old.
I ADORED them all.

I find it curious that you choose to criticise my 'manner' in a very condescending and arrogant manner

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hey Shushh! Congratulations and commiserations on travelling with a tribe of 14!

My son has made 2 trips to NY. Once when he was 5 and the other when he was 7. Our activities on both trips were completely different.

• At 5, we spent more time in Toys R Us, FAO Schwartz, M&M Shop and in Central Park. We took him on the Staten Island ferry (which I think is still a quarter) and had a great time looking at Ellis Island and Liberty from a distance.
• At 7, we managed to get to one museum and he was more interested to spend time at Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and shopping down Fifth Avenue. We also managed to see a lot more of Central Park this trip as he was starting to show interest in music and was keen to go see the Lennon memorial and Strawberry Fields.

With the range of children ages that you have with you, only you and the other adults will know what activities will be best for them and how long they can stay out for without getting tired. Every child will be different to their tastes and preferences.

We ate a lot around 9th Avenue/46th Street and into the Hell's Kitchen area. There are a number of good average restaurants/bars there and some of them catered for kids or modified their menus to suit our son. We also ate at breakfast cafe's/deli's off Time Square. We found that when we wandered off the main tourist drag, food in New York was incredibly cheaper. Most mornings we could get pancakes and juice for about $3.50; eggs and bacon and coffee for about $6. If your tastes run into bagels or oatmeal/porridge, we were getting bagel, cream cheese and coffee for $1.50 and oatmeal with fresh fruit for $2.

Have fun!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

My first trip to the US was as a 9 year old.
We did ALL these attractions (with exception to top of the rock which wasn't open and the cruise) when I was 9 and adored them
So please don't be condescending about what children might and might not like.
I am actually giving a child's AND adult's experience.
I went to museums and galleries in Paris, London, Amsterdam etc as a 9 year old.
I ADORED them all.

I find it curious that you choose to criticise my 'manner' in a very condescending and arrogant manner

You certainly are a well travelled individual, I am definitely not calling that into question. As I mentioned, I value your input immensely as I am so new to this travel thing and you have clearly seen and done many things.

I apologise if my tone came across that way, see what I mean about tone being hard to convey in writing.

Now can we get back to talking about me and my exciting and happy news about my upcoming trip

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm still feeling under the weather so apologies as I cannot remember whether there is one or not. We should probably start a New York thread....everyone can put down what they have done in NY so that we all have an information pool to draw from and work out what is most appropriate for our individual tastes.

Shuttergirl - I was at the post office yesterday...

And for anyone interested and also in the vein of "all about Me", I have started my TR (see my signature) and am trying to keep it at the top of the TR (yes, "I wanna be Popular" on the TR site so I would appreciate if you could post a response - good, bad, indifferent). I know Shuttergirl and aussietravellers have already made a visit....

Thanks!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Ahhhh, a voice of reason. Sounds like a great idea PrincessinOz. Someone else can start it, I've started enough threads lately .

Yay for the post office visit. I can't wait. Thanks so much.

Yes I have visited your trip report lots, and will keep enjoying the read. You are already very popular in my eyes lovely. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

So I'm feeling really pleased with the New York to Washington leg of our trip. The Amtrak train looks like a great option. At $147 each way total for our family of 4, I think under $300 is a good price to get us all down there and to see some scenery on the way. Plus the kids have never been on a long train ride so they will probably enjoy it. I've read somewhere I think that the food isn't that great so much remember to pack snacks for the kids.

It's the getting from NY to Canada part that I am struggling with. Flying is expensive after Christmas, I did some quick research and it was looking like being something like $1500-$1800 return. Ouch. Amtrak is an option at I think around $350 return all up which is great, however it's about 9 hours of travel each way so I'm concerned about losing so much time. The other option is to hire a car and drive which would still take ages but we could enjoy the scenery and spend some time in Boston and anywhere else that took our fancy. Problem with this option is neither of us are keen to drive in the US (I can hear you groaning Queenie ). And in fact I doubt whether hubby would do it, but he said he would be happy for me to. That would be right . To be honest, I'd be the calmer one of the two so I would be the best option. Just not sure if I want the pressure but maybe we would find it more rewarding. Don't know. I'm starting to feel that at this time of year the Canada thing is going to be too hard and maybe we should skip it.

What's Hawaii like in January )

 

[PrincessInOz]

So I'm feeling really pleased with the New York to Washington leg of our trip. The Amtrak train looks like a great option. At $147 each way total for our family of 4, I think under $300 is a good price to get us all down there and to see some scenery on the way. Plus the kids have never been on a long train ride so they will probably enjoy it. I've read somewhere I think that the food isn't that great so much remember to pack snacks for the kids.

It's the getting from NY to Canada part that I am struggling with. Flying is expensive after Christmas, I did some quick research and it was looking like being something like $1500-$1800 return. Ouch. Amtrak is an option at I think around $350 return all up which is great, however it's about 9 hours of travel each way so I'm concerned about losing so much time. The other option is to hire a car and drive which would still take ages but we could enjoy the scenery and spend some time in Boston and anywhere else that took our fancy. Problem with this option is neither of us are keen to drive in the US (I can hear you groaning Queenie ). And in fact I doubt whether hubby would do it, but he said he would be happy for me to. That would be right . To be honest, I'd be the calmer one of the two so I would be the best option. Just not sure if I want the pressure but maybe we would find it more rewarding. Don't know. I'm starting to feel that at this time of year the Canada thing is going to be too hard and maybe we should skip it.

What's Hawaii like in January )

Hawaii is nice in January.

I did the train ride from Montreal to New York and it ends up being 11 hours. Part of the track is one way and the Amtrak sits at the junction and waits for the freight train coming down in the opposite direction. If the freight train is late, they sit there and wait.

Driving in the US is not as scary as it seems. You will end up with an automatic car and will just have to remember to drive on the right side of the road. After a while, it becomes second nature.

An alternative to consider is to take the Amtrak to Boston. The trip is about 3 - 4 hours and quite reasonably priced. Then you could drive out of Boston into New England (cold time of year) and head into Canada. Depends on how much time you have and how big the snow drifts could be....

Or wait to see what deals the airlines comes up with closer to the time.

 

[aussietravellers]

What's Hawaii like in January )

Hawaii is lovely in January. Not that I have been in January in a long time, I think maybe 30 years I have been many many times to Hawaii and I absolutely LOVE it there, but in recent years it's been Sept/Oct , June/July, and May times. But from what I remember (and I do remember well) from January, we were there from just before Christmas and the weather was beautiful. We were by the pool and beach every day, I remember the Hot Dogs that we would eat by the pool and the earthquake that woke us in the middle of the night. But weather wise it is nice.

 

[queenie82]

What's Hawaii like in January )

FANTASTIC!
I love Hawaii
Spent a week in Maui in January and had a BLAST
Weather was perfect and there is so much to do.
Didn't like Waikiki area at all. Very much like tacky gold coast cavill mall. There are designer shops but it is all so bleh...
Can't WAIT for the new DVC to go in though! It is in a beautiful part of Oahu.
I really want to visit Kauai too....that is where Stitch lives when he isn't on the mainland

 

[aussietravellers]

FANTASTIC!
Didn't like Waikiki area at all. Very much like tacky gold coast cavill mall. There are designer shops but it is all so bleh...
Can't WAIT for the new DVC to go in though! It is in a beautiful part of Oahu.
I really want to visit Kauai too....that is where Stitch lives when he isn't on the mainland

See we LOVE Waikiki! I have been going there since I was about 5 and gosh it has changed over the years but I still love it. The shopping at Ala Moana is fantastic. Yes there is some tackiness to it , but that's Waikiki, the ABC stores every 5 metres (thats can exaggeration), but still love walking at night for a gelati in Lewers street and seeing the street performers. The International Market Place is still exactly the same as it was when I was 5. I still remember going there and getting a snowcone with all of the different colours!

Anyway we don't find it anything like Surfers Paradise aside from the fact that they are both on the beach with highrises. The atmosphere is completely different, the smell is different, the people are different, the shopping is different. Even the beaches are different, you don't see people floating out in the water in Surfers in plastic donuts or on lilos and the wavers are much larger in Surfers.

 

[shushh]

PrincessInOz, queenie82 and PrincessInOz, thanks for the extra info re NY. Details are always handy. Travelling with 7 children...brave? stupid? time will tell!

Our 3 children are relatively well trained at "travel". We try to prime the older 2 so the places we visit have more meaning but kids are kids. Concentration spans only last so long! We're realistic enough to know what is reasonably doable so knowing more details about what we're planning to do certainly makes a difference. I'm truly grateful for the open sharing of info on the boards.

Ms. Shuttergirl will definitely share info re Washington DC. We're also catching the train from NYC to DC. Glad of the 25% deal they're having at the moment. Total for family of 5 is only $147. Bargain I say.

PrincessInOz, I really enjoyed reading your TR so far! I'm going back now to read your PTR!

As for Hawaii, it is on our very long "to-go" list...

 

[Travel Mum]

Hi everyone,

I'm so thrilled to find this post because I'm in the beginning stages of planning our holiday to WDW next October 2011. It seems so long away and so it's so great to see someone else is planning a trip far in advance too!

We are a family of five with 3 daughters aged 12, 9 and 5. We took our girls to Disneyland/DCA for their first time 3 years ago but, since I've been to Disneyland heaps of times before, I want us to try WDW next Disney trip.

I'm a Disney addict and agree planning is at least half the fun! I'm a Kiwi but, since there is no area for New Zealanders, do you mind if I join you Aussies?

How exciting!!!!