NYC Day Trip

We are taking a day trip by bus to New York City to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade this year! Should be an adventure! :dizzy:

My question to anyone living in the area - our bus leaves at 8 PM that night. Being that the parade is over around noon, will we have time to take one of the downtown loop tours, or should we just brave it and try to get the the highlights on our own? We'd like to visit the WTC site, The Statue of Liberty (will it be too cold for a harbour cruise in Nov.:confused:), Top of the Rock. DH would like to take the kids to FAO and I would love to see the World of Disney!! I'm just afraid we're not going to have time to do too much! Are the subways easy to navigate?

Thanks for any help!

You'll have time to do more than you think, just realizing the city will be mobbed and it won't be as easy to navigate. FAO and WOD store are pretty close to one another so you can definitely hit both of those. A tour is doable too, as is the cruise line. The weather might be real chilly, might not be, its tough to call, but you should be fine booking the cruise. They have all different ones, and you should be able to schedule that fine. Enjoy!!!

along with WOD and FAO, make sure you do Toys R Us...they have a giant ferris wheel that is themed with toys are around it, and theres a real-life sized Barbie dream house!

Thanks for the input! I'm glad to hear that FAO and WOD are close to each other! I"m not too worried about the crowds, if we can handle Thanksgiving crowds at Disney World, we can probably handle the crowds in NYC! I'm just worried that being that it WILL be so crowded, our wait times will be longer, hence eating up our valuable time!

I was looking at the Gray Line Tour, anyone taken this before?

Minnie - My daughter is a Senior this year as well! Best of luck to you!

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has taken the Gray Line tours. We are leaving Saturday for NYC and a cruise and have purchased the 48 hour hop-on/hop-off tickets.
To the OP I think the lower loop tour would be what you would want from your list of things you want to see. I too have FOA and World of Disney on my list along with Macy's, a million square feet of shopping under one roof, can't wait!

As for the harbor cruise, are you just wanting to do a sightseeing cruise or were you thinking of going out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island? If the latter, I'm not sure you'll have time with everything else you want to do. It was at least a half-day trip for us out to the Statue, and even so we hardly saw anything of Ellis Island (the excursion took up a lot of time, what with transport down to Battery Park area from Central Park area, waiting to get tickets and board the boat, touring the Statue, waiting for the next boat from the Statue to Ellis Island, barely checking out the museum, and then jumping on the next boat so we wouldn't have to wait again).

This was in February, and it wasn't all that cold on the water (comparatively, of course). It was a nice sunny day.

Well I read somewhere that the wait can be up to 3 hours just to catch the ferry to the Statue (during busy times), so we are happy to settle for just the harbour cruise to get a little closer for pics. If this day trip works out, we can always take another one, its only $99 per person!

What stop would WOD be near on the Downtown Loop?

TheDuckRocks, I'd love to hear how your trip goes!

Most stores get mobbed after the Macy's parade. There may be a line just to get into FAO, WOD, and Macy's.

Are you coming in the day before the parade? You may want to do any shopping the day/evening before, and then save the sightseeing for after the parade.

I don't think WOD would be on the Downtown loop. It's at 55th and 5th. It may be on a midtown loop. I'm not sure. There are a few companies that run the tour buses. One is Gray Line and another is City Sights. Gray Line appears to be the most popular of them.

If you just want a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, you can go down to Battery Park and look from there, or you can even catch the Staten Island Ferry and see it from that boat.

The subways and buses are run by the MTA; they have online pdf maps at their website. Also useful is HopStop, which is like mapquest for the subway.

Thanks BronxTigger, I will check out those maps! I wish we were coming in the day before, but we actually will be on the bus all night, getting in NYC at 7 AM at Grand Central, then the bus leaves again at 8 PM.

We just are hoping to get a few highlights in!Which is better in your opinion, Top of the Rock or The Empire State Building?

Honestly, I like the Top of the Rock better. From the top, you can see the Empire State Building. Also, it seems to be less crowded than the more popular ESB. I think you can also buy timed-entry tickets to the TotR, although you run the risk of buying a time with poor visibility if you buy ahead of time, or you end up getting caught up in something else and don't want to go at that time.

Plan to be utterly exhausted by the end of your day. Wear good shoes. Dress in layers - NY stores LOVE heaters. Don't drink too much because bathrooms are hard to find, especially along the parade route. (Starbucks and McDonald's are usually good bets, along with big box stores including the Apple Store, FAO, ToysRus, WOD, Macy's, etc.) If I recall correctly, the parade route is 2 miles long and they usually expect about 2 million people along the route. Yes, that comes out to 1 million people per (linear!) mile.

I love the WOD and other stores in Manhattan as much as the next person, but I cannot deal with them anytime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'd also consider watching the parade from towards the beginning of the route so it ends earlier for you. Then you can walk through the park and catch an bus down 5th Ave to 59th for FAO and WOD. Don't plan to take a west side train right after the parade....they are a mess.

Thanks so much BronxTigger, you've been a big help! Didn't think about finding bathrooms :blush:, especially with the kids (8, 10, and 3 18-year-olds that will probably be the worst ones!)!

You read my mind with watching at the beginning of the parade route so we get done first! We do that at the World too! Oh, the tricks we learn on Intercot!

I'm sure it will be an exhausing day, but we have the whole 8 hour bus ride home to sleep!

Bathrooms are always an issue when out in a city. Hotels are another good source, especially if you are around midtown where they are plentiful. They always have bathrooms somewhere around the lobby and are very clean.

I would second going to the top of the rock versus the Empire State Building. Lines likely won't be as long and it is also close to the WOD and FAO. Other things you might want to see in that area are St Patrick's Cathedral, American Girl Place (if the younger children are girls), and of course Central Park.

As someone else mentioned, wear very comforable walking shoes!

Have fun!

Shelley, here's a quick report back from our breif visit to NYC.
First of all let me say that I've become quite a country bumpkin in the past 5 years and big cities don't really appeal to me much of the time.
First impression of NYC was unfortunately a negetive one.......this city without a doubt has to be the dirtiest city I've ever seen! We were staying at the Hilton New York in Midtown Manhattan and within a half a block we saw a number of people sleeping on the streets.
Now on a more positive note, I'm really glad that I can now say I've been to NYC and we really did have a good time.
The Grayline Double Decker Hop On/Hop Off Bus tickets were the best thing we could have ever done. With buying our tickets online from their website at $44 each for 48 hours of unlimited use of the 3 loops it was a great value. And what I didn't remember was that we got tickets for a 2 hour night time tour of the city with all the lights and tickets for the Water Taxi out to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. On neither of these were you allowed to get off. The price if we would not have purchased these in advance would have been $115 for all of the things included.
Restaurants are great and there are bargains to be had if you do a little research.
FAO Schwartz and a carriage ride in Central Park had to have been the highlights of our trip. The Lady in the harbor we got our first view of from our cruise ship or that would have made the top of my NYC list. Oh yeah, and riding the ferris wheel in Toys R Us for 4 senior citizens was a hoot.
Overall:
Was NYC dirty? Filthy!!!
Were people rude? Yes, unless interacting with you was going to be money in their pockets and then they were wonderful.
Did we have a good time? Absolutely!
Would I go back? Not unless it was necessary to once again board another cruise ship.
Am I glad I got to go and see NYC for myself? You betcha!!!

Be aware that the chances of you getting a ticket to go over to the Statue of Liberty on Thanksgiving weekend is going to be tough. They only have so many boats and a set schedule. Before we moved to the area we visited NYC on Thanksgiving weekend and all the tickets were sold out by noon. You can at least get a view of it from Battery Park. If you choose to visit that area you will be close to the WTC site, Wall Street and South Street Seaport.

I beg to differ with TheDuckRocks on the subject of the city being dirty. It is a city, it will have trash etc, but everything is relative. Unlike WDW it does not have a staff running around cleaning up after everyone. I think for a huge city it is pretty clean. It is a place where a lot of people live and work not a theme park. Compared to the burbs or the country, its not going to be as clean.

Don't be afraid to use the subway. It is a great way to get around the city. It will be crowded where ever you go that weekend, but enjoy it is a great city!:thumbsup:

You picked the best time to be in NYC!! Have a great time at the parade! I was a balloon handler for 3 years and its a truly amazing experience! Best place to watch the parade is really at the end of the route Don't bother trying to get near Herald Square where Macy's is because its all their top execs and invited guests only. So try for anything past 40th street. Depending on what time you arrive, (crowds start at 5am)go to the end of the parade route on 7th Ave
The parade starts uptown on 77th and Central park West then comes downtown on Broadway then to 7th Ave.
For the rest of the day, make sure you stay on 5th Ave that way you can visit WOD(5th ave &55th) and FAO (5th av & 58th) as well as the Christmas decorations that are already up and NYC landmarks(Snowflake, St. Patricks Catherdral, Rockefeller Center, NBC Studios etc.)
Make sure you check out the store windows at Saks Fifth Ave which is right across the street from Rockefeller Center. I also agree with going to Top of the Rock your pictures will be amazing and the weather is supposed to be clear on Thanksgiving. Continue downtown and go up one block to 6th Ave and check out Radio City Music Hall and the decor around that area
Go over another block and hang out on Broadway lots to see there (from 48th to 33rd) Toys R Us may be nuts due to being Thanksgiving but go in and take a peek and for rest room stops go to Charmin Bathrooms -right there on Broadway they are the cleanest bathrooms in NYC they open only during the holiday season. Also make sure when you are in Times Square in the middle of it all look up and you should be able to see the pole where the ball drops on New Years Eve!
If there is time find a loop that takes you downtown and take pictures from Battery Park of Lady Liberty
As far as people being rude, trust your own judgement and ask questions especially to NYPD they are very informative and most New Yorkers don't mind helping think of the rudeness as a "term of endearment" !
Have a GREAT time and stay warm!:thumbsup:

I am a born and raised New York City girl, and I have to protest the notion that New Yorkers are rude. Some are, absolutely. But many others are kind and helpful. It's a mix, just like anywhere else. You have to understand that tourism is a day-to-day part of our lives, and while we have no problem with it, it can become inconvenient. Just like some New Yorkers are rude, some tourists don't stop and think about the people behind them trying to catch a train when they stop dead in the middle of a train station to pull out a map or try to take their too-large bag on wheels with them through a subway turnstile or even when they whip out a camera to take a picture in front of a crowded sidewalk or intersection. In a city where most people rely on the subway or buses and don't drive, it's not just you who controls whether you get places on time.

That being said, I think if you come to Manhattan and just see that it's dirty and that some people are homeless, you miss a lot of what makes the city so special and so different from anywhere else in the world.

And to answer your question about the subway, just decide where you want to go and look at a subway map--there is one online through the MTA website. Try not to open a subway map IN the subway. If you're not sure, just ask someone, or use one of the maps on the wall or on the train itself. Also, websites like hopstop will help you plan out a route. Definitely be prepared for crowds around major attractions. I know I have to absolutely fight my way past the Macy's Christmas windows every day to get to the subway, and sometimes I lose ;)