We braved the 4th!!! AND the rain...and the crowds??? 7/1-7/8 BOOKED NEXT TRIP!!!!

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Hey guys!! We just got in from a great night out in NYC! My sister and I have been talking about going to see the Radio City Christmas show for years! We sing the song from the commercial all the time! So we finally got to see it tonight!

Tom and I took the train in and met up with Jamie and Justin. I totally did the touristy thing and took tons of pictures! It was so much fun! I'll get them uploaded and try to post a mini-review of my night out tomorrow!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!

 

[PopArtGal]

Sounds like you had fun and saw a great show! Cool! Glad you had fun!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

"Fill your heart with Christmas, bring someone that you know.....to see the Radio City Christmas shooooow!"

So Tom and I walked to the train from our apt, and got the 3:30 train to NYC!

Now before Tom lost his job, he did this commute EVERY DAY! But since it's been a while, he was okay with me being a complete tourist! So that means I took tons of pictures!!!

It wasn't too crowded on the train but it wasn't such a fun ride either. Because I'm a "little kid," I insisted that we sit on the top of the double-decker train. NOT smart for someone who gets motion sickness easily! It was quite wobbly up there and I was started to feel but we got off just in time. Oh and when the ticket collecter asked the guy next to us "why so many kids," he responded, we're going to see the Christmas Show and the balloons. That was our plan too! Us and everyone else in the city.....

This was what my view from the train was mostly of. Yes, that's large piles of garbage behind that "building." Welcome to New Jersey!

We switched trains at Newark Penn and that's when we reeeallly saw that it was, indeed, the craziest commuting day of the year! We had to stand on the train to Penn station and it was a little slow moving but we were there with plenty of time!

Our first mission was to go to Tom's bank so he could close his account.

On the way, I snapped this pic of the Empire State Building.

Tom's bank was right across the street from Macys...well on the same side of the street but across the block street (does that makes sense) so while he was inside, I got this pic of the side of Macys.

(OH BTW, remember our awesome Nikon camera broke and we had to quick buy this Fuji camera before Hershey Park? I haven't really had the chance to play around with it and I really don't like it! So I apologize if the pictures aren't up to my usual standard! I tried my best!!)

OMG, this is not just a Burger King...it only sells Whoppers! How cool is that? Any kind of Whopper you want! I personally don't like Whoppers...but I thought it was cool anyway...

Look what I spotted!! A giant Tangled billboard right near Times Square! I'm excited to see it but for some reason, I do not have high hopes for this one.

I love, love, love that they made the one cross-street in Times Square pedestrian only! It was soooo much easier to walk around and actually see the lights on the buildings instead of trying to push through people on the sidewalk, not being able to stop and look. So smart of them to do!

These guys walked by us and I imagined that they were in the new Cirque show, Wintuk...so I took their picture! I could be totally wrong and just took a pic of some weirdos but they did stop and juggle at one point so I think I might have been right!

The pictures do not to Times Square justice. The lights are so bright, it seems like daylight out!

Getting closer....

Getting closer...

Getting more crowded.....

We made it! Yay!!!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I was soooo excited to finally be at the new Disney Store. Unfortunately, it was not nearly as awesome as the old World of Disney Store that used to be on 55th and 5th. It really was like a giant Disney store. The only cool thing that I was soooo glad they still had, was the NYC disney merch.

Here's some vinylmations, NYC style!

Going up to the second floor...which turned out to be a bust! They did have a RideMakerz station, which I thought was ironic since this store took the place of the old Virgin Megastore in NYC and RideMakerz took the place of Virgin Megastore in DTD....

It was very crowded and hard to get around in this store, especially upstairs, so we quickly went back down and I decided I really needed to get something disney/NYC!

This is the shirt that I got...but it's red and a t-shirt, not a hoodie.

I LOVE this one!

They did have some merch from the Disney Broadway musicals, so I thought that was cool...

It felt good to be back outside because it was getting STUFFY in there!

At this point, my sister was texting that they had arrived and were looking for a place to park. So we started walking towards the restaurant....

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

The Rockettes are performing in the parade right now! So cool to say I saw them just last night! I LOVE those kicks! Poor things must be freezing though!!

So, we decided to get out of Times Square because the amount of people was just out of control, so we swung a right. It is amazing how dead the streets/sidewalks are as soon as you turn off of the main road.

Some more pics on the way...

Well look who it is!!

Ahhh! There it is! Radio City!

We passed the Carnegie Deli on the way to the restaurant and I took a picture just because I know the name...but I'm not sure if it's actually a famous place or not. Tom reminded me that it IS in Adam Sandler's Hannukah song, so that's good enough for me!

McGees pub!

This is where we were eating tonight! We chose this place because my sister had a gift cert. to Restaurant.com and this was the best looking choice, that was also close enough to Radio City. THEN, we found out later, that THIS place was the inspiration for MacLarens on How I Met Your Mother!! How cool is that?!?! That is becoming my new favorite show and I wish I would have started watching it years ago when it first started but I'm catching up on reruns!

Look! They even have a MacLarens burger on the menu! I wonder if that's where the writers of the show got the name for THEIR pub from!

We each got a beer while we waited for Jamie and Justin. They had found a spot but couldn't pay the meter until 6 oclock so they were waiting in the car until they could pay!! It really was worth it, as I think it was just a few dollars to pay the meter and it would've been like $50 to park in a lot! But we didn't mind having a beer while we waited!

I thought I took more pics in the restaurant...I guess my sister took most of them. Sorry, no food porn!

I'm soooo glad my sister was in the same touristy mood as I was because the two of us went picture crazy! It was really nice to see her out and enjoying herself....so hard to be carefree with a 2 year old but Emma was with Grammy tonight!

Tom's mom LOVES Letterman so we took this picture for her!

Haha, this is Tom "looking natural!"

My sister...

Yay! We're here! My sister and I kept singing the commercial song aaallll night! It's so catchy! I kind of wanted it to actually be in the show, it's so good! We were really excited to be finally seeing it!

We were in the 3rd row, 2nd Mezz....pretty high up but we were on the aisle, which is always a good thing!

As soon as we got settled, my sister and I were up again to get hot chocolate!! BIG mistake because by the time we climbed back up the 18 flights of stairs and sat back down, we were sweating! I actually took my shoes off! But I paid $6 for that hot chocolate so I was drinking it!

Back in our seats and sweating....

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

It's starting!!!!

This is the best I could do with the kicks!

What does this remind you of??? Great Movie Ride, anyone?!

Then some camels walked by and they really got into the story of Christmas...ya know, Jesus and all. It was really nice but I didn't expect it.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

When we got outside, it wasn't NEARLY as cold as it was earlier in the night...or at least if felt that way! So walked right over to Rockefeller Center!! The tree was up but it hasn't been "lit" yet.

We were doing "fife and drum"....

I got in trouble for taking this picture because I stood on a bench! Woops!

There were cops EVERYWHERE around Rockefeller Center. It was really nice, actually, it felt really safe.

This was soooo cool, although the pics don't do it justice. The entire side of this building had a projection on it and every-so-often, they do a little show to music! It was sooo cute!

Just to get perspective, I was standing in the exact spot when I took this picture and the last one, just turned 180 degrees around. The tree is to your back when you look at the projection show on that building...

St. Pats.....

Atlas...

There were A LOT of horse and carriages about...more than I ever remember seeing around here. Usually they are up by Central Park.

Then Jamie and Tom got some pretzels...

And we made our way back to the car. (Oh lucky us, even though we took the train in, Emma was with my mom, who lives right near me so they gave us a ride home!) The plan was to go see the balloons being blown up. They close it off to the public at 10 BUT since Justin is a cop, all he has to do is flash his badge and we're in!! Well, at least that's how it went 7 years ago when Jamie and Justin were first dating....but you know how easy and care-free everything is when you are first dating!!! Could he make it work again this year???

On the way, we spotted a few "landmarks."

So since it was like 10:30, there were still A LOT of people around the balloon area and Justin realized there was just no way. They were trying to get everyone OUT of the area. When they went 7 years ago, it was like midnight, so no one was around, which is probably why it was so easy for them to get in. Now it was just to crazy to even bother attempting to park, walk there and then be told no....BUT we did get so see some of the balloons lying in the street!! Here is my attempt at photographing them from the car...

There! There! You can actually see a balloon!! It looks like Marvin the Martian maybe? Haha!

We hopped on the West Side Highway and were on our way home. On the way, we passed the Intrepid, which is now back in NYC! I loved how the top was Red, White and Blue. Sorry, NOT a great pic but the best I could do from the car...

Sooooo, we had a fantastic night! Although getting INTO and OUT OF the city is always such a pain, it really is a great place to be, especially around Christmas-time! We had such a good time and are already talking about going back once they light the tree and taking Emma to the Christmas Show next year.

Thanks for letting me attempt to keep my 4-month old TR alive!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!​

 

[Robmom]

Great pictures! We went to see the Rockettes show on 11/11. It was our first time as well. It really was a great show. Funny you mention taking your shoes off. I was wearing Uggs and we were doing a lot of walking before the show, that I had to take my boots off. We were at the new Disney Store earlier, and I was also disappointed. I kept looking up thinking there had to be a third floor. I got one of the I "Mickey Head" NY reusable bags, and my DS, Brandon got a Toy Story toy camera and a Buzz Lightyear doll.

 

[disneybarbie]

Looks like a great night out in NYC Nikki!.. omg I'll be there in 13 days time!! - I keep forgetting how Christmas-y it's going to be there.. we'll have to go see the tree at Rockefeller - and the Macy's window displays.. any other festive things you'd recommend?!

and Happy Thanksgiving!

Emma x

 

[knewton64]

Hey Wendy! So good to hear from you. How's school going for Ashley and Kyle this year? YES, definitely send those tapes! If nothing else, I can work on them when I have off for Winter break.

Mmmm, I think we're going to go mod again this trip. Would like to try POFQ but depends on the deals. I just got a pin for the spring that was 30% off mods but only 15% off POFQ so if it's something like that, we're obviously going to go for the better deal. If not POFQ, then POR again.

....I was in building #5 (Oct 28th- Nov 4th 2010). The hotel property is nicely layed out with the food court, swimming pool, arcade and such within close walking distance from each other.

I liked it because of its size and proximity to the Disney parks.

Have fun tho!

glad 2 c u had fun in NYC.



P.S. I had fun a few weeks ago at WDW humming that song of yours while waiting in line!

"The Single Rider Line"

LOVE IT




T.T.F.N.

 

[Cheryl726]

Looks like a great night in NYC, and a good start to the Christmas season!

 

[Stefy]

Looks like you had a great night out in NYC, loving all the photos. Must visit there soon, looks so awesome

 

[Tracy161]

Sounds like a great night out in NYC! I went to graduate school at Seton Hall, and your train ride reminded me of when I used to live in NJ! I really miss being that close to the city, as I usually only make it down once every year or so.

I went to the Radio City Christmas show YEARS and YEARS ago... but I still remember it so well, it's such a great show!!!

So glad you had such a great time! Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Great pictures! We went to see the Rockettes show on 11/11. It was our first time as well. It really was a great show. Funny you mention taking your shoes off. I was wearing Uggs and we were doing a lot of walking before the show, that I had to take my boots off. We were at the new Disney Store earlier, and I was also disappointed. I kept looking up thinking there had to be a third floor. I got one of the I "Mickey Head" NY reusable bags, and my DS, Brandon got a Toy Story toy camera and a Buzz Lightyear doll.

Haha, that's so funny! Yeah, I had boots on too. So glad you said you took yours off too! Disney store wasn't great, right? I did like the NY stuff though. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

Looks like a great night out in NYC Nikki!.. omg I'll be there in 13 days time!! - I keep forgetting how Christmas-y it's going to be there.. we'll have to go see the tree at Rockefeller - and the Macy's window displays.. any other festive things you'd recommend?!

and Happy Thanksgiving!

Emma x

Thanks Emma! It really was a great night in NYC. Can't believe you're going so soon! The tree should definitely be lit by the time you go. What days are you going to be there? If you are planning on seeing the tree, definitely try to go on a weeknight instead of Sat or Sun...it gets craaaazy crowded. Definitely see that little light show near the tree, I think it's on the Saks building so you can see the show then check out those windows too! Mmmm, other festive things. Maybe you should take one of the carriage rides! Might be fun! What do you already have planned? Anything?

....I was in building #5 (Oct 28th- Nov 4th 2010). The hotel property is nicely layed out with the food court, swimming pool, arcade and such within close walking distance from each other.

I liked it because of its size and proximity to the Disney parks.

Have fun tho!

glad 2 c u had fun in NYC.



P.S. I had fun a few weeks ago at WDW humming that song of yours while waiting in line!

"The Single Rider Line"

LOVE IT




T.T.F.N.

Haha, glad my song is still getting some play! Thanks for the info on POFQ!

Looks like a great night in NYC, and a good start to the Christmas season!

It really was! Thanks!

Looks like you had a great night out in NYC, loving all the photos. Must visit there soon, looks so awesome

Glad you liked the pictures. Yeah, I guess the camera isn't so bad...I came reeeeeally close to buying one of those fancy schmancy DSLR cameras with a Black Friday sale but I resisted. You should definitely come visit NYC!!

Sounds like a great night out in NYC! I went to graduate school at Seton Hall, and your train ride reminded me of when I used to live in NJ! I really miss being that close to the city, as I usually only make it down once every year or so.

I went to the Radio City Christmas show YEARS and YEARS ago... but I still remember it so well, it's such a great show!!!

So glad you had such a great time! Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

I'm pretty close to Seton Hall! Funny. The show was so great, right?! We want to try to go more often! Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

 

[Stefy]

We will defo make it over some day. Would be nice to see NYC at Christmas and such, but I guess any time is a good time If we do make it over, we should defo meet up and you can be our tour guide for the afternoon or something

Wow you sure resisted temptation on the DSLR, was it a really good bargain?

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

We will defo make it over some day. Would be nice to see NYC at Christmas and such, but I guess any time is a good time If we do make it over, we should defo meet up and you can be our tour guide for the afternoon or something

Wow you sure resisted temptation on the DSLR, was it a really good bargain?

Well it was about $150 off the regular price but still too much more than I should be spending right now. Turns out, our Nikon seems to be working just fine now! The main problem was with the connection to the computer to upload pics AND it was dying right away with brand new batteries. The second problem, I figured out how to fix and the first problem is no big deal anymore since we got our new computer that you can put the memory card right into. So I'm hoping we're good with that camera for a while still...

Oh I would LOVE to meet up with you guys in NYC! If you ever make it out here, we'll definitely do that!

 

[PopArtGal]

I love the Rockettes. I just decided that I'm visiting you, staying at your house, and going to NYC with you for Disney and the Rockettes hehe (just kidding, don't start cleaning yet hehe)

I LOVEEEEEEEEE How I Met Your Mother. I have all the seasons. Well except the last. I asked for it for Christmas. I love Neil Patrick Harris. He's the reason I started watching hehe

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I love the Rockettes. I just decided that I'm visiting you, staying at your house, and going to NYC with you for Disney and the Rockettes hehe (just kidding, don't start cleaning yet hehe)

I LOVEEEEEEEEE How I Met Your Mother. I have all the seasons. Well except the last. I asked for it for Christmas. I love Neil Patrick Harris. He's the reason I started watching hehe

Ok! Come on down! Haha!

NPH is sooooo hilarious! So glad he found his niche in acting again. That show is really one of the best written comedies there ever was, with a fantastic cast! (And I know you must love Allison Hannigan, aka Willow!!)

 

[Stefy]

Well it was about $150 off the regular price but still too much more than I should be spending right now. Turns out, our Nikon seems to be working just fine now! The main problem was with the connection to the computer to upload pics AND it was dying right away with brand new batteries. The second problem, I figured out how to fix and the first problem is no big deal anymore since we got our new computer that you can put the memory card right into. So I'm hoping we're good with that camera for a while still...

Oh I would LOVE to meet up with you guys in NYC! If you ever make it out here, we'll definitely do that!

Nikon's are a pretty good make for camera's and I'm glad you sorted the problems with yours, nothing worse than having a camera you can't get along with.

NYC is defo on our list and hopefully a city we will visit sometime soon

 

[irishdancer86]

Hi Nikkii, loved your mini trip report, my nana is leaving for NY in the morning with her sister and they have tickets for the radio city show...

we went for my 21st in 2007 and love love loved that show!!! I still wear my souveneir rockette pyjama's at xmas! and when we saw the rockefeller tree it was up but not lit too, so hopefully my nana will get to see it in full glory!

she wants us all to write a list of potential gifts/xmas presents and I'm researching disney villains mac collection, have you seen it? looks so cool!

the first photo of you and your sister I looked at her first and thought it was you, then saw the real you and was very confused for a milli-second, looks like you had a brilliant 'touristy' type evening!