NYC for Thanksgiving

[SettinSail]

We have a dream to attend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and decided to go for it this year. We are staying with friends who live near Newark, NJ.

I guess I should have gotten airfare much earlier than this. The price is almost 3 times what it would normally cost. So we are now considering driving up.

How bad is it to drive 95 on the Weds before Thanksgiving Day? We think we would start out Tuesday night and drive 1/2 way, spend the night in a hotel and then drive the other 1/2 on Weds morning. Then coming home, leave Sat night driving 1/2 way home, spend the night in a hotel and drive the other 1/2.

Does anyone know approx where half-way between Raleigh, NC and Newark is?

TIA!

 

[punkin]

We have a dream to attend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and decided to go for it this year. We are staying with friends who live near Newark, NJ.

I guess I should have gotten airfare much earlier than this. The price is almost 3 times what it would normally cost. So we are now considering driving up.

How bad is it to drive 95 on the Weds before Thanksgiving Day? We think we would start out Tuesday night and drive 1/2 way, spend the night in a hotel and then drive the other 1/2 on Weds morning. Then coming home, leave Sat night driving 1/2 way home, spend the night in a hotel and drive the other 1/2.

Does anyone know approx where half-way between Raleigh, NC and Newark is?

TIA!

My house.

Actually, I would try to get north of Washington DC by Tuesday night. You will then avoid the most horrendous of the traffic.

 

[Mary Anne]

Do you realize how crowded and a zoo the city is going to be during that time period? I work in Rockefeller Center and truly hate that time of the year. I'm not trying to discourage you but if you have visions of standing on 34th street watching the parade you are very mistaken. I assume you are staying in Newark. Don't plan on driving in, figure out what Public transportation will be easiest from there into Manhattan. You need to plan to be in the city standing SOMEWHERE along the parade route -- like way up in the 60's to 70th streets by 5 am in the morning.

Come see the tree and the city at the holiday season but why don't you consider coming for a few days between Christmas and New Years. Yes it will still be crowded but much more manageable crowds. You'll be able to see all the holiday windows, the tree at Rockefeller Center and Lincoln Center. All the holiday store windows.

 

[SettinSail]

My house.

THANKS, look for us around 11 PM!!! Seriously, thanks for the advice.

Do you realize how crowded and a zoo the city is going to be during that time period? I work in Rockefeller Center and truly hate that time of the year. I'm not trying to discourage you but if you have visions of standing on 34th street watching the parade you are very mistaken. I assume you are staying in Newark. Don't plan on driving in, figure out what Public transportation will be easiest from there into Manhattan. You need to plan to be in the city standing SOMEWHERE along the parade route -- like way up in the 60's to 70th streets by 5 am in the morning.

Come see the tree and the city at the holiday season but why don't you consider coming for a few days between Christmas and New Years. Yes it will still be crowded but much more manageable crowds. You'll be able to see all the holiday windows, the tree at Rockefeller Center and Lincoln Center. All the holiday store windows.

Thanks for the advice. We have been warned about this. Due to the school schedule, we are not out of school any days after Thanksgiving until Christmas and then the days between Cmas and New Years are all taken up by family visits and other plans.

 

[Mary Anne]

Well then have a great time.

 

[pezheadmeg]

Whatever you do, DO NOT ATTEMPT to drive in on Thanksgiving morning. It can be a zoo trying to get in to watch the parade. Your 2 best places to head to see the parade is on 7th, closer to Central Park South. Times Square can be 10 people deep, so if you want to watch there, get to your street spot by 6:30 at the latest.

I can say I've never actually sat and watched the parade from the street. I'm the crazy lady who is running backwards, dressed like the stay-puff marshmallow man, and yelling instructions to balloon handlers. If you want to get in to see the balloons being inflated get in early on that Wednesday. I did it one year, and that crowd was 8 times worse than the Fantasmic exodus.

 

[WVMomof3]

Is NYC crazy the whole week? We are planning our first visit that Sunday/Monday before thanksgiving, possibly staying till Tuesday. We thought we would be avoiding the crowds by going early.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

It's on my bucket list and involves paying the premium price on the hotel on the parade route. So that will be affordable in about 20-30 years.

I would say have a great time--but totally plan everything out. If you have small children, have plans A-Z. A friend of mind did this trip on a whim a year or two ago with small children. She offers tips and depsite the crowds, they had a good time. I will see if I can find her blog and PM it to you. I do think she stayed in the city though.

 

[Sagginit]

Do you realize how crowded and a zoo the city is going to be during that time period? I work in Rockefeller Center and truly hate that time of the year. I'm not trying to discourage you but if you have visions of standing on 34th street watching the parade you are very mistaken. I assume you are staying in Newark. Don't plan on driving in, figure out what Public transportation will be easiest from there into Manhattan. You need to plan to be in the city standing SOMEWHERE along the parade route -- like way up in the 60's to 70th streets by 5 am in the morning.

Come see the tree and the city at the holiday season but why don't you consider coming for a few days between Christmas and New Years. Yes it will still be crowded but much more manageable crowds. You'll be able to see all the holiday windows, the tree at Rockefeller Center and Lincoln Center. All the holiday store windows.

hi it looks like we are work neighbors! i am on madison in that area. love the tree but i hate that you cant walk in a two block radius around the rock at xmas time.

as for driving up plan to be past DC by rush hour, or drive after it. keep in mind also there is rush hour traffic in philly and heavy in the nyc area. it affects traffic both ways in NJ so don't think because you are driving towards the city at rush hour you will avoid it. if you come up the coastal route you may be able to stay in a shore area for cheap since its off season.

we did the parade last year and stood up near central park, not on the park side, on the other side. i think we waited like an hour. we had a pretty good view and saw a lot but we did not have kids. get in early and go as far up as you can, much less crowded. i think we were at least 8-10 blocks from Columbus circle. i heard that at Columbus circle the floats need to go faster b/c it gets windy there. keep in mind the balloons are pretty big, so while you may not see all the floats perfectly you can see snoopy very well. if i can figure out how to post photos to show i will. we took the path in from my brothers place in hoboken and left before it was over. by the time we got back the tv had basically caught up to where we left off and watched the rest on tv while getting the turkey started. IMO this was one of the easier big crowd things i have done. i did the tree lighting once, hated it, halloween in the village was a bust, and stpattys day is fun but crazy. also try to keep warm, it can get very cold waiting for hours.

if you do decide to come up a day or two early you can sight see in NYC. i did this two years ago, we saw the rockettes the day before thanksgiving and watched them setting up the parade stuff at macys and the tree at the rock.

 

[SettinSail]

Whatever you do, DO NOT ATTEMPT to drive in on Thanksgiving morning. It can be a zoo trying to get in to watch the parade. Your 2 best places to head to see the parade is on 7th, closer to Central Park South. Times Square can be 10 people deep, so if you want to watch there, get to your street spot by 6:30 at the latest.

I can say I've never actually sat and watched the parade from the street. I'm the crazy lady who is running backwards, dressed like the stay-puff marshmallow man, and yelling instructions to balloon handlers. If you want to get in to see the balloons being inflated get in early on that Wednesday. I did it one year, and that crowd was 8 times worse than the Fantasmic exodus.

Thanks for the advice and how cool that you are in charge of the ballon handlers We are planning to go to the baloon inflation Weds night too!

It's on my bucket list and involves paying the premium price on the hotel on the parade route. So that will be affordable in about 20-30 years.

I would say have a great time--but totally plan everything out. If you have small children, have plans A-Z. A friend of mind did this trip on a whim a year or two ago with small children. She offers tips and depsite the crowds, they had a good time. I will see if I can find her blog and PM it to you. I do think she stayed in the city though.

That would be great - thanks! We just have one older child (14). We plan to be in the city the better part of the 4 days we'll be there, just returning to Jersey to sleep...

 

[SettinSail]

hi it looks like we are work neighbors! i am on madison in that area. love the tree but i hate that you cant walk in a two block radius around the rock at xmas time.

as for driving up plan to be past DC by rush hour, or drive after it. keep in mind also there is rush hour traffic in philly and heavy in the nyc area. it affects traffic both ways in NJ so don't think because you are driving towards the city at rush hour you will avoid it. if you come up the coastal route you may be able to stay in a shore area for cheap since its off season.

we did the parade last year and stood up near central park, not on the park side, on the other side. i think we waited like an hour. we had a pretty good view and saw a lot but we did not have kids. get in early and go as far up as you can, much less crowded. i think we were at least 8-10 blocks from Columbus circle. i heard that at Columbus circle the floats need to go faster b/c it gets windy there. keep in mind the balloons are pretty big, so while you may not see all the floats perfectly you can see snoopy very well. if i can figure out how to post photos to show i will. we took the path in from my brothers place in hoboken and left before it was over. by the time we got back the tv had basically caught up to where we left off and watched the rest on tv while getting the turkey started. IMO this was one of the easier big crowd things i have done. i did the tree lighting once, hated it, halloween in the village was a bust, and stpattys day is fun but crazy. also try to keep warm, it can get very cold waiting for hours.

if you do decide to come up a day or two early you can sight see in NYC. i did this two years ago, we saw the rockettes the day before thanksgiving and watched them setting up the parade stuff at macys and the tree at the rock.

Wow, thanks this is great to know!

 

[Sagginit]

 

[SettinSail]

I it !!! Thanks for posting!

 

[mjkacmom]

Just keep in mind that the day before Thanksgiving, and the Saturday/Sunday after Thanksgiving, are some of the most heavily travelled days of the year, especially on I95/NJ Turnpike. On weekdays, do not be anywhere near DC/Baltimore, Philly, or near NYC/Newark airport. We left Philadelphia on the Saturday night after Thanksgiving, driving back to the Newark area, and there was an 8 mile backup on the Turnpike, both ways. What stinks about this road is you can go 10 miles or so before the next exit. Any way you can wait until Monday to go back? Or I think there is another way up here, that takes you through Pennsylvania? I95 can be a horror.

 

[Mary Anne]

Is NYC crazy the whole week? We are planning our first visit that Sunday/Monday before thanksgiving, possibly staying till Tuesday. We thought we would be avoiding the crowds by going early.

Monday will not be too bad; Tuesday you will see a difference -- and personally, I try NOT to work the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

 

[MaleficentRN]

Do you have EZ Pass in NC? What a blessing it has been for me when traveling 95! The tolls can eat up travel time, especially in DE for some reason. Always huge backups there, even on a Sunday night in March.

 

[Lucky4me]

We did it once and once was plenty! Now we watch and say-aren't we lucky we don't have to be there?

Seriously, if you do this, definitely get to your friends house early on Wednesday if possible. Maybe drive straight through from NC on Tuesday.
I think if I was ever to do it again, I'd do it this way-
Train into Manhattan Wednesday morning from wherever I parked my car, (for you, your friends house) Book a Hotwire hotel for Wednesday night. Right now, 4 stars are coming up $175 for midtown, which is not a bad price. Go to dinner/do some sight seeing Wednesday afternoon/evening. Leave the hotel early enough Thursday morning to get a good spot. Have the hotel hold my overnight bag. (or get a late checkout) When parade is over, collect my bag and take the train back to wherever I left my car.

I was staying in an apartment on the West side a few years ago, near Times Square. I tried to see the Roc tree about ten times between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So many nights I walked by. Not once was the crowd small enough where I could get close enough to take some good photos. I went at all different times of day, right up until 11pm. It made Disney World on the 4th of July look like a ghost town. People aren't as nice there as they are in Disney either.

 

[katrina1122]

It's nuts all week as all the bands/performers are in town early. Plus on Wed night you can go see them blowing up the big balloons for the parade.

We went in one time for that and it was so crowded walking back to Penn Station to take NJ Transit back into NJ we called DH's uncle in the Fashion distirct and asked to stay with him. We ran to a drug store for a few supplies and spent the night. We walked to the parade route at 5:30 am and were already 4 rows back in the crowd on Times Square (this was near his apt). It's a blast though, if it's not cold. It wasn't when we did it, we were only wearing fall jackets. NYC gets super super windy and if it's cold you are going to feel it. If you know someone with window access along the route do that. I was born on Tgiving so for my 12th(?) bday which was tgiving again my uncle took us in by train/subway (never ever drive in) and we stood 5 floors up in his sister's office window. It was so cold that day but we were toasty warm, plus we could open the window and touch some of the balloons as they went by.

Now, I'm not saying don't go if it's cold. I stood along the inaguaration root for Clinton in the cold and then again for triple the hours for Obama in the ridiculous cold (10 degrees when we found our spot). It can be done, but be prepared for it. Extra warm socks since you can't move around much your toes go numb. A blanket to wrap around you to block the wind from going up coat sleeves, etc. Something kinda cushy (newspapers work) to stand on. Keeps the bottom of your feet warmer and the cement doesn't feel as hard so fast. Don't bring a chair to wait in, you'll never use it.

The Macy's parade is fun, just be prepared for massive crowds and cold windy weather. Don't expect to do touristy things, everyone will be doing them.

 

[caborst]

I will be a dissenting opinion and say that driving in Thursday morning is not bad. That is if you are going in at 4 or 5 am which is what you need to do. You can reserve a parking spot in a garage beforehand, just stay west of the parade and up north. Park the car and walk over a few blocks. Getting in early is the key, bring a blanket/chair and stop at Dunkin Donuts before you go.

 

[FergieTCat]

It's on my bucket list and involves paying the premium price on the hotel on the parade route. So that will be affordable in about 20-30 years.

I would say have a great time--but totally plan everything out. If you have small children, have plans A-Z. A friend of mind did this trip on a whim a year or two ago with small children. She offers tips and depsite the crowds, they had a good time. I will see if I can find her blog and PM it to you. I do think she stayed in the city though.

I've seen the parade in person and have stood in Times Square on New Year's Eve. Of course, both were over 20 years ago, when I was much younger and much sturdier.

There are trains from Newark to NYC. That will be much cheaper than driving and parking.