OT - NYC Trip! Help! (More help needed on page 2!)

[Wazzo]

Hi everybody!

My Mom and I are heading to NYC for a trip in July. What are some things we should definitely do? Shows? Restaurants? Shops?

Obviously we're Disney fans, so I'm leaning towards seeing "Mary Poppins", or any of the other Disney shows. What else should we think about? Are there any reliable ways to get discounted tickets?

I'm a great Disney planner, but NYC is leavning me feeling a bit overwhelmed!

Any input would be much appreciated!! TIA!

 

[Canadave]

Talk about good timing...we just got back from NYC a couple of hours ago....I will say that I do enjoy planning WDW trips sooooo much better than this trip to NYC...
you have to do a Broadway show (or two)...we saw Chicago It was great...don't know much about Mary Poppins, but we saw Beauty and the Beast and Lion King in Toronto and both are excellent (very Disney!)...I very highly recommend the TKTS booth for tickets (go to the Downtown booth)...They open at 11:00 am for that evening's shows (the Midtown booth opens at 2, I think, and it is VERY crowded)...we got our tickets to Chicago at half price ($240 U.S. for 4 tickets, as opposed to almost $480!!!)...not all shows have tickets available, but it certainly is worth the savings.
One of the funniest things about our trip is that we spent the most money at the World of Disney Store (3 floors by the way)...my daughters (14 & 18) were even excited about getting the photos with Peter Pan and Aladdin!
Hope you have fun in New York City...any questions, ask away.

 

[jeannief]

Two words - Canal Street. Enough said if you enjoy shopping faux.

 

[Wazzo]

I very highly recommend the TKTS booth for tickets (go to the Downtown booth)...They open at 11:00 am for that evening's shows (the Midtown booth opens at 2, I think, and it is VERY crowded)...we got our tickets to Chicago at half price ($240 U.S. for 4 tickets, as opposed to almost $480!!!)...not all shows have tickets available, but it certainly is worth the savings.

So you're taking a chance at what shows will be available? Maybe we'll buy one in advance, and then chance the rest!

One of the funniest things about our trip is that we spent the most money at the World of Disney Store (3 floors by the way)...my daughters (14 & 18) were even excited about getting the photos with Peter Pan and Aladdin!

I told my Mom about this store, and that I was the most excited to go there!!

Hope you have fun in New York City...any questions, ask away.

Any great restaurants??

Two words - Canal Street. Enough said if you enjoy shopping faux.

Thanks, this is a great tip!

 

[Valjean13]

Another option for cheap broadway tickets is getting rush tickets in the morning when the theatre box office opens. I did this for Chicago, and they only cost $20. Most shows have a sign at the box office telling you if they sell rush tickets and what time they go on sale. It's a great way to add another broadway show without spending a lot of money!
I highly suggest visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's huge, you can easily spend days there. And there's something for everyone - not just paintings, but musical instruments, antique furniture, pottery, etc.

 

[Aimerskoeh]

I went to NYC back in March for spring break, let me tell its just amazing.
You should definately do a broadway show...I seen Rent...it was wonderful. Mary Poppins was across the street from Rent, but we did not have time for two plays unfornately. I probably wouldn't chance getting tickets there, if there is one you really wanna see, I would just buy them in advance. I would also recommend Grayline tours 48 Hr hop-on-hop off tour...it takes you on loops of their NYC tours, and you get off and on as please for 48 hrs and it I believe it was $49 per person. It is much better than taking a cab to some tourism locations, it takes you to places such SoHo, Greenwich, WTC, Empire State Building, Macy's, China Town, etc...The frist day we just rode on the all the loop, seen everything from the top deck took a lot of pictures, and than on the 2nd day we went back and did all the things we wanted such as Empire State Building, Central Park,etc..the buses come to each stop about 15 min to 30 min depending on which loop. I would also do the Statue of Liberty Time pass into the statue if they still have the passes available, I would only do this if you have about 1/2 a day to spend there it takes longer to get through securitry there than it does in an airport, at least an hour, maybe an hr and half, and we had first time passes of the day. But it really is a site to see inside her.

 

[minnie56]

Was not our first trip but was for 2 in our travelling party so we did a lot of the sights again anyways.

We did the Staten Island Ferry to the Statue of Liberty. If you want to go inside the Statue, get there early as they sell out by mid morning of that days tickets including admission to the Statue. Then we did Ellis Island which was most interesting. From there, we walked to the Financial District and Wall St and just poked around. Carried on to Soho where the shopping is lots of fun as well as this little bakery called 'Magnolia Bakery' that serves the BEST pastel coloured cupcakes you will ever eat! We then walked to Mulberry St in Little Italy and had yet another fabulous, family style meal. The best Italian food and more than you'll ever eat!!! Walked the 50+ blks back to our hotel to walk all this indulgence off!

We did Ground Zero as well this day..which is now in the midst of being re-born and building well on it's way.

Grand Central is cool, great historical building...Empire State Bldg, be sure to take the Audio tour, invaluable. Sunday Brunch at 'Tavern on the Green' was delightful..sat outside and the walk through the park is lovely as always. From there, we did the Museum of Natural History which is amazing...

Serendipity...as in the Movie...good food and the BEST Sundaes ever! Make reservations...make reservations everywhere in fact.

Did 2 plays..Mary Poppins which we booked ahead of time and Legally Blonde which we got tickets for at TKTS on the 'day of' half price. Lots of fun..recommend.

Sooooo much to see and do. No 2 trips to NYC are ever the same. Great restaurants..one of our faves is Mr Chow..very $$$$ tho. Dining experience...
Do a Deli lunch..we did the Carnegie Deli but share. The Sandwiches and portions are HUGE. Tasty Delight Ice cream..many locations...11 calories. Yum
Disney Store 5th Ave, fun as expected. Tiffany, Cartier, Barnies, Bergdorfs and on and on. Go to the chocolate diner in Saks on 5th. Reminds me of Lucy and Ethel in the Chocolate Factory episode. You sit at the counter whilst little chocolate morsels pass by in front of you under little glass domes on a converyer belt. Cute..and yummy

Have a great time!!! It's a great city.

 

[minnie56]

Have done Canal St tooooo many times...can be fun. But really, it's junk and very seedy. VERY!

 

[Canadave]

Canal Street!...remember that I said I had two teenage daughters?...of course we had to do "the purse run"

As far as TKTS go, they have a LOT of shows available, and yes, you do run the chance of the one you want not being available....but for the difference of a couple hundred dollars, it was worth it to us...and as mentioned earlier, maybe book one in advance and go to another show with tickets through TKTS...can't go to too many Broadway shows, ya know

minnie56...correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Staten Island Ferry only goes BY the Statue of Liberty Islands...I think it is the Circle Line ferries that go to Liberty Island and Ellis Island...and be prepared to WAIT in lines...you have to get a special pass at the ticket booth to get INTO the Statue of Liberty....and the number of passes available are limited...Note: if the sign on the ticket booth says there are no more passes available, still ask...when we did, she took the sign down and said that some are now available???.

 

[minnie56]

Canal Street!...remember that I said I had two teenage daughters?...of course we had to do "the purse run"

As far as TKTS go, they have a LOT of shows available, and yes, you do run the chance of the one you want not being available....but for the difference of a couple hundred dollars, it was worth it to us...and as mentioned earlier, maybe book one in advance and go to another show with tickets through TKTS...can't go to too many Broadway shows, ya know

minnie56...correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Staten Island Ferry only goes BY the Statue of Liberty Islands...I think it is the Circle Line ferries that go to Liberty Island and Ellis Island...and be prepared to WAIT in lines...you have to get a special pass at the ticket booth to get INTO the Statue of Liberty....and the number of passes available are limited...Note: if the sign on the ticket booth says there are no more passes available, still ask...when we did, she took the sign down and said that some are now available???.

Yes, you could indeed be correct. Might well have been the Circle Line Ferry...we couldn't get the passes to enter the SOL but went and walked all around anyways. We lined up for about 45 mins to get the Ferry which was not too bad at all as it was a lovely day and the street people that perform along the wait are interesting. The 2nd stop on the Ferry was Ellis Island...a really worthwhile sight IMO.

 

[Wazzo]

Thank you SOO much everybody!! I really appreciate the feedback... I'll be writing this stuff down for sure!

 

[Torontogal]

Check out the World of Disney Store in Manhatten! Also, the Toys R Us store is really neat if you are looking for Toys for gifts.

 

[afehrman]

For places to eat check out restaurant row...it's at 46th and 8th streets. it's a collection of quaint little restaurants. It's only about a 2 minute walk from Times Square on 46th. If you like lobster the Joshua Tree usually has a good special on it.

 

[Disney-For-Life]

Hubby and I are going to New York in 8 days - we can't wait!!! We are going to see Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins, and The Lion King. We bought all our tickets from broadwaybox.com ahead of time; good prices and no line ups. We also called ahead and reserved tickets to Conan O'Brian - which I am so excited about. We've planned some shopping too - I've been on all the sites trying to figure out the best places to go shopping; so far my list included Syms, Century 21, Lord and Taylor, Loehamanns, Filene's Basement, Macy's, Burberry as well as Lacoste and Lucky Jeans. Then we charted all our shopping destinations on Google Earth so that we know which route is best to take so that we can get most of our shopping done in 1 day. It has been so much fun to plan for this trip. I've already been hinting on going back once Little Mermaid starts

We're not that concerned with eating out this trip. We're planning to go to Trump Plaza for ice cream, thats about it.
We're staying at Night located in Times Square.

 

[Canadave]

Disney-For-Life...3 Disney shows on Broadway in one trip ...I am sooooo jealous...have fun and please report back on how Mary Poppins was.

Also, if you are looking for toys to bring back, try FAO Schwarz on the corner of 5th and 58th (across from Central Park). It is huge and is the store that features the giant piano that was played by Tom Hanks in the movie Big...you can even try playing it, lol

...speaking of shopping....my daughters HAD to go to the Victoria Secret's store across from Macy's

 

[U2FanHfx]

I know what you mean Canadave! Disney-For-Life is VERY spoiled! Already talking about 'the next trip'. Actually, more like "can we stop on our way down to Disney World and another cruise?"

 

[Disney-For-Life]

Oh...hi sweetheart...I was just expressing my excitment over getting to travel with my loving, caring husband. I'm certain you feel the same way.

On an unrelated topic, I'll be right in with your evening tea...hee hee

 

[Wazzo]

How do you recommend GETTING to NYC?

We are thinking of driving to either Syracuse or Albany and then taking the train.

The train from Syracuse has warnings for major delays (the lady at the 1-800 number said it has been 4 hours late lately), and neither train has assigned seating.

Flights aren't cheap... about twice the price of the train.

Any suggestions?

 

[minnie56]

Buffalo - JFK via Jetblue. Travelled with them in May, $39 each way. Can't do much better than that! Flight was about an hour and soooo easy.

We left the car at the A/P and I think it cost around $42 dollars for 5 1/2 days.

 

[Wazzo]

Buffalo - JFK via Jetblue. Travelled with them in May, $39 each way. Can't do much better than that! Flight was about an hour and soooo easy.

We left the car at the A/P and I think it cost around $42 dollars for 5 1/2 days.

Wow, thanks!! Out of Syracuse is $49!

Any catches I need to know about??

The train is still cheaper, but I will definitely think about this option!