New York City

[CruiseBoundnKY]

I need help. We are going to NYC for just a day in early December.

We want to see the 9-11 memorial, the Disney store and anything else site wise we can fit in. I would love to see Carlos's bakery but don't know if it's possible.

Can someone tell me the best way to get where I want to go?

What is the best bus is we do a dbl decker tour and best pricing for just a day trip?

Food, we want pizza and normal food. I've heard it's ridiculous. Please give me ideas.

Does the Disney store sell any NYC merchandise or just the usual?

All I really want is a t shirt but is there anything I should see/do/etc.

I'm clueless. The bus drops us off at 8 on a Saturday morning in Rockefeller center and picks up at 11pm.

Thanks!!!

 

[artesian]

I need help. We are going to NYC for just a day in early December.

We want to see the 9-11 memorial, the Disney store and anything else site wise we can fit in. I would love to see Carlos's bakery but don't know if it's possible.

Can someone tell me the best way to get where I want to go?

What is the best bus is we do a dbl decker tour and best pricing for just a day trip?

Food, we want pizza and normal food. I've heard it's ridiculous. Please give me ideas.

Does the Disney store sell any NYC merchandise or just the usual?

All I really want is a t shirt but is there anything I should see/do/etc.

I'm clueless. The bus drops us off at 8 on a Saturday morning in Rockefeller center and picks up at 11pm.

Thanks!!!

I'd pass on the disney store in times sq. World of disney was some much better back in the day but this store is like and other. You would fine a little ny themed stuff but not worth a special trip.

Carlos is in Hoboken across the river. Easiest possible way to get there would be the path train from the 34th St station. You could walk it up to the bakery from there.

If you go downtown to see the memorial I would venture to one of two pizzerias. Lomabardis or Johns. Both are a cab ride from the WTC but either is well worth the trip.

 

[KellyNY]

I need help. We are going to NYC for just a day in early December.

We want to see the 9-11 memorial, the Disney store and anything else site wise we can fit in. I would love to see Carlos's bakery but don't know if it's possible.

Can someone tell me the best way to get where I want to go?

What is the best bus is we do a dbl decker tour and best pricing for just a day trip?

Food, we want pizza and normal food. I've heard it's ridiculous. Please give me ideas.

Does the Disney store sell any NYC merchandise or just the usual?

All I really want is a t shirt but is there anything I should see/do/etc.

I'm clueless. The bus drops us off at 8 on a Saturday morning in Rockefeller center and picks up at 11pm.

Thanks!!!

Forget about Carlos Bakery. It is in NJ which will take you about hour to get there but this is not the problem. There is a huge line every single day like for at least an hour or even more, just not worth it. Last year we went there on my BDay, drove from Brooklyn, stood for 40 min, line hardly moved in July heat and just gave up. Do not forget that you will not get a cake, pastries you can get anywhere and not worse then his. and without wasting half day.

As for touring NYC, I would get on one of the buses next to Empire State Building, few hours tour and you will get to go to the roof. I do not know prices, sorry. Whatever you want to see, make sure you see Christmas tree at night, very beautiful. There are also bus tours to Brooklyn, we have some streets where people go wild with decoration, amazing, we go every year, I mean we drive, but I saw tour buses.

Have fun!

 

[ZiPaD3doDAH]

I need help. We are going to NYC for just a day in early December.

We want to see the 9-11 memorial, the Disney store and anything else site wise we can fit in. I would love to see Carlos's bakery but don't know if it's possible.

Can someone tell me the best way to get where I want to go?

What is the best bus is we do a dbl decker tour and best pricing for just a day trip?

Food, we want pizza and normal food. I've heard it's ridiculous. Please give me ideas.

Does the Disney store sell any NYC merchandise or just the usual?

All I really want is a t shirt but is there anything I should see/do/etc.

I'm clueless. The bus drops us off at 8 on a Saturday morning in Rockefeller center and picks up at 11pm.

Thanks!!!

Seeing that you only have a day you will have to decide whether to hang out at Times Square (disney store), and do the 9/11 memorial. Or do 9/11 memorial and Carlos's Bakery.

I hear the lines at the bakery are crazy (some people spend 5 hours in line) so It really can take up half of your day.

I did a double decker bus last month, you can take the Downtown route which gives you a nice overview of the city such as Times Square, the Empire State Building, Battery Park, etc. I think it came out to $43 a day pp. You can find people handing out brochures with information right in back of the famous red steps/ discount tickets booth). very easy to spot.

And Battery Park is about 5 minute walking to the 9/11 memorial site so you just walk there. and then when you're ready, get back on the bus (comes every 10 minutes from where it last dropped you off) and back you go to Times Square.

I suggest as soon as you get there to get the bus to the 9/11 memorial. My sister took it around 8:30-9am and said it was smooth sailing since there is no traffic and it was very quick to get to the memorial.

The Disney NYC store has lots of NYC t-shirts, plushes, vinylmations, etc. Has a good load of NYC themed merchandise.

About 3 blocks from the Disney Store/ Times Square is a great little pizza place called Little Italy on 55 W 45TH ST. Reallllly good pizza, great location 'cause it's right next to TS, and pretty cheap! (2 cheese slices, 2 coke cans, 3 garlic rolls for $10)

If you have extra time you can hang out in TS (so much to see!), go to the massive Toys R Us, go to central park for a bit, there is a Ripley's Believe it or not and a madame tussauds in the center of TS as well.

Have fun!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

You need a visitor's pass now to see the memorial and they assign times. Here is the link. I learned the hard way as you can see NOTHING without the passes. You can go in the little museum/store for free.

https://www.911memorial.org/visitor-passes

 

[ntink]

I would recommend Top of the Rock http://www.topoftherocknyc.com/ The view can't be beat and this is where the bus will drop you off. We also enjoyed the NBC studio tour which is right there also.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Do a search of these boards; there is a thread regarding visiting NYC at least once a week. You'll find lots of good info. I also suggest purchasing a good guidebook.

I cannot imagine why you would want to waste any time during such a short visit waiting in line at a bakery in NJ.

The 911 Memorial is worth a visit, but as stated, you need advance reservations. The museum still isn't open, and will not be for quite a while, so you can see everything at the site pretty quickly.

There are many, many reasonable dining options. Check out Yelp reviews; they can be very helpful.

 

[minnierocks]

We visited for the first time in May and here is my two cents. Get online now and see if there is any availability to see the 9/11 Memorial and do that first thing in the morning. Do not use the double decker for transportation, it will take forever and you do not have that kind of time. Take a taxi or the subway...It was very easy to do. Then spend the rest of your day in Times Square. If you are going to be there in the evening, then I highly recommend the double decker night tour...it was fantastic!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I have to disagree. Don't spend your one day in NYC only in Times Square! Maybe hang out there for an hour at most. There are far more interesting sites.

 

[HappyHaunts999]

As others have said, it is not worth the time to go to Jersey to go to Carlos. If you really want to try it, they have a little stand at the discovery exhibit. You do not have to pay to get to it and you can try some of there things. Make sure you see the tree and the window decorations.

 

[CruiseBoundnKY]

Thanks guys!

What about, what all is there to do within walking distance of our drop off?

The earliest I can get 9-11 tix is 130, what could we do from morning til then that is close by where we are going?

 

[shoney]

Have you set a budget for the day? we have spent well over $1000 in a day and as little as $100...just depends on what we are doing.

After the bus drops you off, you could go to the top of the rock. Then see the tree and then walk around to see the department store window displays. (that area gets sooooo crowded at xmas time...I would do it early in the day!)

by then it should be lunch time. Grab a slice of pizza if you want something cheap.

You can be downtown by 1pm. Use the subway...much quicker way to travel.


What else are you interested in seeing?

 

[savannie]

I've only been to New York once, so I am by no means an expert, but I did plan a trip for 8 of my friends and myself a few years ago. Everyone agreed it was a great trip and we saw so much in only 4 days, so here's a few things I learned.

1. Take the subway. We tried every other type of transportation and the subway was the best, by far. It was not scary at all (except very late at night) and it was quite cheap. You do need to know how to use it before you go, though. We didn't know that there are two entrances for each train--one goes north and one goes south. Took a couple of trips down the stairs to figure that out. I have the WORST sense of direction, but even I figured out the subway system. Super simple to understand. But get a map because you can't possibly understand what the conductor is saying over the speaker.
2. The food was not expensive at all, IMO. Pizza was about $2.50 a slice (big slice) and canned drinks were $1. We ate at full service restaurants a few times, too, and they were normal prices (about $15/person). I think Serendipity was a bit more because I ordered hot chocolate, of course.
3. We looked into doing a double decker bus and ultimately decided that it was not going to work for us. It was going to take too much time and didn't stop at the places we wanted to go. I would suggest doing what we did and just planning out your day yourself. Then map it. We used Google maps on our phones. It has a feature that gives you walking directions. It was always dead on.
4. 9/11 is near Century 21, which is a really awesome store that sells discounted designer clothing. If you like to shop then that's a really fun thing to do while you're there.
5. We got the Explorer pass to get discounts on attractions. We picked places we wanted to go and they were included in the price of the pass ($75). One was Top of the Rock (awesome. Everyone advised it was better than Empire State Building, and I can't imagine that they were wrong. It was so pretty and there's an awesome room at the top). We also did a TV/movie bus tour, but that would take too long for just a day trip. The last thing was the NBC Studio Tour, which was really cool. We were even offered free tickets to the Jimmy Kimmel show that afternoon, but we had to catch our plane.

My biggest tip would be to plan, plan, plan. I think that's the secret to making the most of any short trip--just plan it out! But then be flexible once you get there or you won't have any fun.