new york

[mrsboz]

Hi. We're thinking of going to NY. Does anyone know of any boards like these or any tips like where to stay, eat and how to get cheap tickets to plays or other sightseeing things? Would really appreciate your help. Thanking you in advance. Have a Disney Day!!!

 

[Lewisc]

Good source for hotels include PL, Hotwire and consolidators like quickbook.com

Sightseeing stuff
http://www.newyorkpass.com

or

http://citypass.net/cgi-bin/citypass/city_fly?mv_arg=ny&rand=8688

 

[summerrluvv]

There is a New York City travel board on AOL that is helpful. If you have AOL, go to keyword "travel"

I have used priceline and hotwire for hotel rooms in the city. Our most recent stay was a couple of months ago at the Stanhope Park Hyatt (VERY NICE!) on the Upper West Side for $139 a night. If you check out www.biddingfortravel.com, you can get some great bidding tips. The moderator over there has a tendency to be "nasty" to newbies though, so make sure you read the "rules" before you post anything

If you want to see a broadway show, www.broadwaybox.com has discount codes. I saw Wicked when it opened and it was awesome! I highly recommend it!!

 

[disneysteve]

Whenever we go to NYC overnite, we don't stay in the city. We stay just outside of the city in Secaucus or Weehawkin, NJ. Hotel prices are much more reasonable and you are only a short drive from the city. We just zip through the Lincoln Tunnel and park at the Port Authority. From there we either walk everywhere or ride the subway to where ever we want to go. You can park all day at the Port Authority for $20.

If you are looking for luxury, however, we have stayed at the Righa Royal in Manhattan which is an absolutely wonderful all-suite hotel. We spent our 10th anniversary there and I'd highly recommend it.

Keep in mind when looking at hotel rates in Manhattan that the hotels charge extra for parking and its not cheap. So don't be deceived by a seemingly reasonable hotel rate because you may need to add another $25/day or more for parking.

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by disneysteve
Whenever we go to NYC overnite, we don't stay in the city. We stay just outside of the city in Secaucus or Weehawkin, NJ. Hotel prices are much more reasonable and you are only a short drive from the city. We just zip through the Lincoln Tunnel and park at the Port Authority. From there we either walk everywhere or ride the subway to where ever we want to go. You can park all day at the Port Authority for $20.

If you are looking for luxury, however, we have stayed at the Righa Royal in Manhattan which is an absolutely wonderful all-suite hotel. We spent our 10th anniversary there and I'd highly recommend it.

Keep in mind when looking at hotel rates in Manhattan that the hotels charge extra for parking and its not cheap. So don't be deceived by a seemingly reasonable hotel rate because you may need to add another $25/day or more for parking.

No offense, but why would anyone come to NYC to visit but stay in NJ? That's just silly IMO. There are hundreds of reasonably priced hotels in the city and no need to deal with the traffic at the tunnels/bridges.

 

[minniemosa]

We stayed two times at Super 8 hotel.We search for information at tripadvisor.com.The comments of other people can help you.This hotel is greatly located,near Rockefeller center,is moderate (99.00 double occupancy)in December.Is a very clean hotel,includes breakfast.Is a must.

 

[jwfla422]

We just went 2 weeks ago for our 10th anniversary Had a great time!! We stayed at the Irish owned Fitzpatrick Grand Central Hotel and were upgraded to a suite. Very cozy and quiet room and a friendly hotel staff! Kinda reminded me of DISNEY!! believe it or not!! They have a really cute Irish Pub downstairs. We had some appetizers at happy hour which were delicious! Many of the guests were from the UK, I thought I was going to return home with a British accent instead of a NY accent!!

The location was quite accessible too. Grand Central station was right across the way so you can catch the subway to anywhere. Just beware of anyone wanting to help you through the turnstiles, my dh was swindled by a friendly man when he saw my dh was having trouble getting his ticket to work. The man actually switched tickets with my dh and we didn't realize it until we headed back to the hotel. We found out the ticket we had was from the day before!! So, remember it is "the city"...you still have to be very careful but all that aside it is quite an experience!

We went to Park Ave, Central Park, Rockerfeller Center and the Empire State Bldg observatory. They were all within walking distance. But, I gotta tell you, I think I did more walking in one day than I normally do in 2 in WDW!! There's a lot to see, just like being at WDW!!

Almost every restaurant we went to was great, from small cafes to popular family restaurants. This site has some great info:
http://www.cityspin.com/newyork/

ENJOY!!

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by summerrluvv
No offense, but why would anyone come to NYC to visit but stay in NJ? That's just silly IMO. There are hundreds of reasonably priced hotels in the city and no need to deal with the traffic at the tunnels/bridges.

No offense taken.

When we go to NYC, we generally spend the entire day on the go in the city. We go back to our hotel strictly to sleep. It usually only takes about 15-20 minutes to drive from Secaucus to the Port Authority so we really don't consider it a big deal. If we were traveling during the week at rush hour, then I wouldn't consider this option, but we go up on weekends and the traffic isn't an issue. A couple of times we used public transit to get into the city. From Weehawkin, there is a ferry that is kind of pricey but a nice trip. When we stayed at the Sheraton there, the ferry dock was right outside our hotel.

For the OP, if you will be going for more than a weekend, then staying in the city is probably a better option. I wasn't thinking along those lines since we never go during the week.

 

[mrsboz]

Thank you all for your postings. I don't have AOL. It sounds like that would be helpful. Having never been to New York it is difficult to try to pick a hotel since we don't know if it is a nice section of city or within walking distance to things that we would like to see. These boards are wonderful helping plan our disney trip too bad they didn't have one to New York. Thanks again for your help.

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by mrsboz
Thank you all for your postings. I don't have AOL. It sounds like that would be helpful. Having never been to New York it is difficult to try to pick a hotel since we don't know if it is a nice section of city or within walking distance to things that we would like to see. These boards are wonderful helping plan our disney trip too bad they didn't have one to New York. Thanks again for your help.

Times Sq is a good place to stay for a first timer. There are a lot of nice hotels in that area. I have stayed at the Hilton Times Sq and it was nice and was around $120 on hotwire. I have also stayed at the Millenium Broadway in Times sq and that was nice as well. I would stay away from the Grand Hyatt at Grand Central Station. I have had 2 bad stays with them. Seriously check out the bidding for travel website and you will get some great tips!!

 

[jwfla422]

mrsboz I was thinking the same thing when we were planning our NYC trip. I've never been there (until our recent past trip) and dh hasn't been there in years so we were pretty much newbies at it!

Luckily I have a cousin who lives there who gave me some pointers and we were going for a get together so our hotel choice was pretty much taken care of (that's another story in itself)...

But it's funny because when we first discussed going the first thing that popped in my mind was the DIS...wonder if there's any info about going to NYC, ha ha ha!

Oh and we stayed in NJ too!! Actually on the last night we were up there!! That was so we could spend time with family (who live in NH) and then we flew out of Newark the next day.

 

[cbbi]

I found the discussion boards on fodors.com very very helpful in planning our family trip to NYC. Also has a nice search function. Not as nicely organized into categories as the DIS but some very helpful folks there. Have a great time!

 

[bigbabyblues]

I went to NYC two summers ago with a group from my church, and one thing we did was go to Shakespeare in the Park. It was a FREE play in the park, it wasn't Broadway of course, but it did have several well-known actors/actresses (Zach Braff from Scrubs, Kristen Johnston, Christopher Lloyd, Julia Stiles, and several others). The play we saw was TWELFTH NIGHT. The only thing was that we had to go to the park in the morning and wait in line to get the tickets, but as I said, it was FREE, and it was worth it!

We really enjoyed that, not sure if it's something you'd be interested in, but I thought I'd share.

 

[Cora]

We stayed at the New York Hilton. Wonderful location (2 blocks from Central Park, around the corner from Radio City and Rockefeller Center). If you can get club level do it. Rooms are much larger and you have access to the club lounge (continental breakfast, snacks all day, bottled water, non-alc beverages, appetizers at night). We paid $175/nite and it was great.


Also, I saw someone post the link to the New York Pass. This is great. It gives you a subway pass for 7 consecutive days, almost all the admissions for the sights you would want to see are included in the cost of the pass and there are many food discounts with the pass. We figured it out just visiting 3 places paid for the cost of the pass.
Cora

 

[scootron]

DH and I went last summer and stayed about a block off of Times Square at a smaller hotel called Amsterdam Court. Got a great rate on Hotels.com. Look around and you'll find deals. Passporter has a New York book and (I think) a New York board. You'll have a great time.

 

[JerzeeGirl4Disney]

mrsboz,

Feel free to email me if you have any questions or want maps, touring info etc. I am in the city 4 days a week and keep an apartment on the upper east side as well. Manhattan is my second home and will be happy to help you in any way I can.

 

[mrsboz]

Thank you all so much. I am much impressed with your information. Thinking about going to NY is like planning a Disney trip. So much information - so many things to do. . . . Thank you.

 

[skiwee1]

We've been to NYC twice since November and are going back in September. We just love it there and can't wait to go again. The first time we stayed at City Club which is in Time Square. It is an overpriced boutique hotel. My closets at home are bigger then the room we paid $300 for! The last trip we stayed at the Drake. Not as centrally located as it closer to Central Park. The Drake was beautiful but we really like the hustle and bustle of Times Square. The September trip we are staying at the Marriott Marquis. It is right there in Times Square. The first time we went to used Greyline tour buses. We really liked them. You pay for a 48 hour pass and you get to tour uptown, downtown and a night tour. You get to hop on and off as much as you like to see the sites more to your liking. It was a double decker so be sure to sit up top if you want to see everything. We found on our last trip that taking a cab was much easier then figuring out the subway. We did do the subway once just to do it but perferred taxiing everywhere. I can't imagine staying outside the city when visiting NYC. You can waste a lot of time getting back and forth to your hotel. Gosh it takes at least 10 minutes just to get from one end of Manhattan to the other! LOL!

 

[DWhittles]

I'm born and raised in NYC! My husband, son, Basset Hound and myself now live across the river in Hoboken.
I know there is a TON to do and see in the city but if you want a small really nice break from the fast paced NY, I recommend hopping on the PATH train and coming to visit Hoboken.
The main drag is called Washington street and is lined with wonderful Italian Bakeries and independentley owned stores that carry some stuff you won't find anyplace else.
Hoboken also has tons of great places to eat and parks and one of the nicest views of Manhattan from the Prominade you will ever ever see!
If you want more info on anything in NY or visiting Hoboken, please drop me a line.
Diana

 

[cbbi]

mrsboz - just fyi - noticed there is a discussion on the board at fodors tonight listed as "ways to inexpensively experience New York"