NYC/SWA Question-- Quick, please!?

[Piecey]

BF has been wanting to go to NYC. So do I. He's treating me to Vegas, I just found an affordable DING for us to fly into Long Island. I thought I might treat us to a weekend in NYC.

I know you'd have to hop onto the train thingie in Long Island to take into Manhattan (I don't know what it's called)
but I am just wondering, from those who are experienced, is this itinerary would make any sense and be worth the effort?

Fly into Long Island and land at 1:05 PM Saturday.

Have a flight back out of Long Island on Monday at 4:25.

We don't want a LOT of time. More time to see the park, times square. He's never been, I have.

So how much time do you lose on the train? Is it worth it??

(BTW The Dings would be $330 for BOTH of us which is why I'm even thinking of doing this in the first place!)

 

[Piecey]

I also looked at taking an early morning flight Tuesday @ 8am.
We'd have to spend another night but depending on how much time the train takes, we could take the train into Long Island Monday night and spend the night?

Reaching desperately here,

 

[aprilmommy0205]

The train is called the Long Island Railroad. I am not sure how close to the airport it is, but it is probably at least a 90 minute trip to NYC. If you do a search under Long Island Railroad (LIRR) you should be able to get a schedule.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

You want to get to the Ronkonkoma Long Island Railroad station. They have an express train that will take you to Penn Station.

http://macarthurairport.com/pages/1transportation.shtml

There is shuttle service from MacArthur Airport to the nearby Ronkonkoma train station (you can also grab a cab - it is only about a 10-15 minute ride):

"Colonial Transportation of Long Island offers convenient shuttle service between MacArthur Airport and the Ronkonkoma train station (LIRR). The shuttle van departs the train station daily at 5:30am, then departs the airport on the hour and half-hour from 6:00am until 10:30pm. Curbside pick up at the airport is directly in front of baggage claim. The shuttle will pick up and drop off at the North Platform of the Ronkonkoma train station. The one-way fare is $5.00 per person. Cash and credit cards are accepted. All rates are subject to change without notice.The Suffolk County Bus Transit also offers hourly service to and from MacArthur Airport to the train station with the S-57 Bus except Sundays and(No service, New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas). The fare is $1.50.

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) offers frequent service to Penn Station in Manhattan from the Ronkonkoma train station The train ride is approximately one hour and 25 minutes.The train fare currently $6.50 (non-rush hour times) into the city will take you to Penn station which is located in Manhattan at 33rd street and 7th Avenue. From there you can get to your ultimate destination by subway or by taxi. "

You will find nearby hotels on this site too if you decide to stay. Keep in mind, MacArthur is not a very large airport so security lines, etc. are not as much of an issue as in some busier airports.

Here is the site to get the actual train schedules - they do change so check back just before your trip. Some trains will have you change at the Jamaica Station and some go direct (peak times).
http://lirr42.mta.info/


We take the train from Ronkonkoma to NYC all the time and the ride is fine.

Have fun!

 

[Piecey]

So it's a doable not crazy idea? : )

 

[5DisneyNuts]

Yes, very doable - check your dates and times on the train schedule link to see when you can get to the city and back to the Island on your specific dates. You will definitely have Saturday night and all day Sunday. You would also have Monday morning to check out the park and do some shopping before you head back out.

It's a bit of traveling, so give yourself enough time to make your return flight.

Also, the MacArthur site lists hotels in Woodbury and Melville - they are not close to the airport - about 20-30 minutes away. If you decide to stay, it would be a better idea to stay in one of the Islip hotels.

 

[Piecey]

Okay, so I did it! I booked the flights.

Now I gotta find a hotel that I can afford for the two nights in NYC! I'm so excited, thanks for the links and letting me know it was do-able!

BF is pretty excited, too!

 

[5DisneyNuts]

You're welcome! I hope you have a great time. Here is another link that I found helpful even though I live in NY. Hotels costs have been pretty expensive and the link has some ideas and reviews. The thread is from the summer off the Families board so a lot may not pertain to what you want to do. Tripadvisor has a lot of good info on NYC hotels too.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1443688

What are your dates? One of the Broadway unions is on strike causing some of the shows to go dark. It is not expected to last too long as we are coming into the height of the Broadway tourist season and everyone is anxious to settle. If you are interested in seeing a show, you can check on which ones are not affected by the strike.

 

[Piecey]

We'll be there the 15-17th

So we'll have Sunday and Saturday nights.

I'm looking at the Super 8 in Times Square. It's prety $$ (about $685 w/ my corporate discount) but I think that for us only being there the two nights, it's location makes it worth it!!

..edited to ask..

Can anyone go ice skating in Rockefellar Center?

Thats one of the things I most definitely definitely want to do!

 

[5DisneyNuts]

Not familar with the hotel - sorry, but that is a great location. I'm guessing that is the price for 2 nights? (in NYC you can never be sure).

Yes, anyone can skate - get there as early as you can as it gets very crowded on the weekends and the line could be long. They don't take any advanced reservations. The 2007/2008 schedule is not out yet. You can rent skates there too.

 

[gigi1313]

not only is the trip from ronkonkoma (long island) to nyc "do-able" but it's actually commutable! i drove 40 mins each way to ronkonkoma and *then* took the train every day for a few years as my regular commute!!

personally i think it's a great plan! ENJOY!

 

[Piecey]

personally i think it's a great plan! ENJOY!

Thanks!! We're pretty excited. We were poking around looking at different things to do and he bought 9th row seats to see How The Grinch Stole Christmas on Broadway!! (Hopefully they're done striking by then!)


I'm so excited!

 

[NJRRK]

Check out what the Hotel Pennsylvania has available, it's literally right across the street from Penn Station, they have a very famous telephone number (212-PEnnsylvania 6-5000), that's 212-736-5000, there is also a toll-free number listed on the website. BUT make sure you reserve a renovated room. I just went on line and they have $239 per night + tax.

Sometimes you can get bargins on Fri-Sun stayson Manhattan hotels, but I'm not sure if they're available that close to Christmas.

Get your Radio City Christmas tickets now, it's very touristy, but even we do it every 2-3 years, and we're only 30 min west of NYC.

 

[LSchrow]

the LIRR trip isn't bad (did it daily for years, & every so often now ), & Islip airport is actually a pleasure to use.
the location of Penn station is great for doing tourist-y things.

if you get the chance, eat at carmine's ~ delicious food served family style, very reasonable. just try to go between the lunch/dinner crowds (forget anytime after 4PM)
http://www.carminesnyc.com/

if you have the time, take a walk in central park, check out the stores (tiffany's, Coach (& dooney, of course ), macy's, Disney, M&M's, etc).


have a great time!!

 

[Piecey]

the LIRR trip isn't bad (did it daily for years, & every so often now ), & Islip airport is actually a pleasure to use.
the location of Penn station is great for doing tourist-y things.

if you get the chance, eat at carmine's ~ delicious food served family style, very reasonable. just try to go between the lunch/dinner crowds (forget anytime after 4PM)
http://www.carminesnyc.com/

if you have the time, take a walk in central park, check out the stores (tiffany's, Coach (& dooney, of course ), macy's, Disney, M&M's, etc).


have a great time!!

OHhh thanks, we were talking about doing a sit-down type restaurant before we saw the Grinch on Sunday night. Looks like they have one right near there, awesome!
It's almost creepy how things fell into place, haha.

I booked the Portland Square Hotel. I checked with him before I did it, because I booked the type of room where we will share a bathroom, but you can't beat the price-- with taxes it's $390 for both nights!
We pretty much decided it was worth saving that much money to share a bathroom with someone for two nights and I read tripadvisor reviews and it seems as long as you're okay being cramped, it's a fine hotel!
Location is West 47t Street.