Plans for our NY Easter trip - what do you think?

[DisneyMadAng]

In fear of trying to do too much this is what I'm sort of planning for our trip.

Travellers: Little old me, Dh, DD14 & DS11

I'm not making any restaurant reservations - quite happy just to grab pizzas and hit the diners.

Land at JFK @ midday on Good Friday. Taxi to Novotel, Times Square. Get to the hotel 2ish? Dump bags, freshen up and get bearings & soak up the atmosphere (ok so I don't really know what to do lol)

Saturday - Grand Central Station, St Patrick's Cathedral, FAO Schwarz, Tiffany's (even if it's just a photo outside ;)), Rockerfella Centre. Assuming it gets darker about 5.30 - get to Top of the Rock at 4pm to get photos in the daylight and with all the lights on. Do we need to book?

Easter Sunday - see a few Easter bonnets in the parade and make our way to Central Park. I'm sure it will be very very busy with it being the weekend but hey ho! Maybe grab a bit of food to take with us and have a pic-nic (hope the weather's nice!) Later in the evening we're off to see Disney's The Lion King.

Monday - Ground Zero, Liberty Island, Ellis Island, Little Italy and Chinatown. If I can work out how to use the subway we'll use that in the morning....and make our way back to Times Square on foot. (I'm planning to eat cheesecake so will need to walk LOTS lol)

Tuesday - need to be at the airport at 3.45pm so planning to make our way there at 2ish. Check-out in the morning and leave our bags with the concierge. Try and fit in any last minute things that we want to see/buy.

I'm struggling really because whenever I try to get the family to help with planning all I get back is 'whatever you think' aarrrghhhh lol

Reading this post back - I don't feel I have much planned. Should I leave it as is or keep planning?

Thanks peeps :)

[ukdiva]

Okay, will try and answer your questions with my suggestions!

Land at JFK @ midday on Good Friday. Taxi to Novotel, Times Square. Get to the hotel 2ish? Dump bags, freshen up and get bearings & soak up the atmosphere (ok so I don't really know what to do lol) As you are staying in Times Sq, you could go to Bubba Gumps for a late lunch/early dinner, then just browse around Times Sq - check out the Virgin Megastore, MTV store etc, and then maybe catch a movie. Don't try to do too much on your first day!

Saturday - Grand Central Station, St Patrick's Cathedral, FAO Schwarz, Tiffany's (even if it's just a photo outside ), Rockerfella Centre. Assuming it gets darker about 5.30 - get to Top of the Rock at 4pm to get photos in the daylight and with all the lights on. Do we need to book? We didn't book for TOTR, but it was fairly quiet due to the weather being so cold! You might be best to pre-book over the Easter period. Whilst you are up 5th Ave at Tiffanys and FAO, you could also visit Bloomingdales, Saks and Bergdorf Goodman... depends on how bored your children would be! *lol*

Easter Sunday - see a few Easter bonnets in the parade and make our way to Central Park. I'm sure it will be very very busy with it being the weekend but hey ho! Maybe grab a bit of food to take with us and have a pic-nic (hope the weather's nice!) Later in the evening we're off to see Disney's The Lion King. Sounds good to me!

Monday - Ground Zero, Liberty Island, Ellis Island, Little Italy and Chinatown. If I can work out how to use the subway we'll use that in the morning....and make our way back to Times Square on foot. (I'm planning to eat cheesecake so will need to walk LOTS lol) Personally I wouldn't bother with Little Italy, it's effectively one street. You can walk from Chinatown down to Ground Zero, then walk along to the ferry ports, they are pretty close together. I can't remember off the top of my head what line you would need to take from your hotel down to Chinatown, i will consult my map and let you know! The subway is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it, basically as long as you know what direction you are heading in (uptown or downtown) then you are okay, but be warned, do not get the express train, as it misses out LOADS of stations, you want to stick to the local ones!

Tuesday - need to be at the airport at 3.45pm so planning to make our way there at 2ish. Check-out in the morning and leave our bags with the concierge. Try and fit in any last minute things that we want to see/buy.

Have fun! :)

[Astrid]

Sounds wonderful!! Wish I was going with you! :)

How about getting the subway to Brooklyn and then walking over the Brooklyn Bridge to Ground Zero? Walking the bridge was one of the highlights of my two trips.

There isn't a lot to see at Ground Zero but it's certainly worth going IMO. There's an amazing little church (can't remember the name I'm sorry) just before you reach Ground Zero (if you're coming from the Brooklyn Bridge) which is still standing after 9/11 and it's full of memorials and momentos of that day - very moving.

Go into Tiffanys! It's amazing!

I never realised Central Park was so HUGE!!! I've been there twice now but only seen a tiny piece of it.

The subway is easy to use - just make a note of whether you're going Uptown or Downtown and also some trains are 'fast' ones so don't actually stop where you think they're going to!! A bit confusing at first!! However, they do have their destinations on the side of all the carriages, and we figures it was all part of the fun!!

Can't see the Empire State Building mentioned in your itinerary? That, I think, is a don't miss! The view from the top is spectacular, and, if you're scared of heights (which I am!), go at night as it's not half as bad.

Also, if you can, try and pop into the Chrysler Building (it's right next door to Grand Central Station - wow what a place!), the lobby and the outside decoration I think is amazing. I don't believe you can go up the Chrysler Building fur just the lobby is worth seeing.

Have a wonderful trip! :)

[DisneyMadAng]

Thanks for the replies :)

I keep reading and re-reading the guide books and stuff on the net and to be honest my head's spinning with all the info :confused2

Astrid, we chose TOTR because I've read lots of reviews that say it's less busy that ESB - plus can get photos of ESB from it. Would still like to go and 'see' it though.

ukdiva - are you saying do Chinatown on the way to Ellis/Liberty Islands? Just tell me what to do lol Although Little Italy is only on street, think we're going to have to go there if only to get a bit of the 'Italian' feel - these things happen to us of Italian descent lol.....god I hope they do proper cappuccino lol

Bubba Gump's sounds like a great idea - we loved the only in Orlando but te air con was so flipping cccccccold!

We will definitely have a go at the subway - jeez if I can manage it in London and Paris you'd think I'd get it in NY wouldn't you :blush: It's just a little panic that I get at thought of trying out new transport.....what a numpty I sound!

[Suzieq]

I think FAO Swartz will be a little young for your kids, my youngest is 7 and I didnt find anything in there for him.

I was really dissapointed with Toys r us as well, i imagined it to be huge, but it wasnt at all.

The Virgin Megastore is great though, could of spent a fortune in there ( oh yeh i did lol)

I would try and get on the downtown loop as well if I were you, the guides are really great and although the whole trip takes a few hours, its well worth it as you will see all the major landmarks, and find out lots of interesting info.

[Diane]

Just to let you know, we visited ToTR at Easter time and didn't need to pre-book, crowds were not a problem. :thumbs-up

If you want a great diner try Ellens Stardust Diner (right next door to the Winter Garden Theatre where Mamma Mia! is playing). The waiters and waitresses sing and dance at the mike whilst you are eating and the food is good too, the NY Cheesecake with hot fudge sauce is TO DIE for! :tounge: :tounge:

Have a fabulous time!

Diane x

[Heather1957]

Wanted you to know I'm green with envy!!

[wombat]

Hi,

Yes, got to do Empire State, you are right to eat in the local diners the atmosphere is excellent.

How about a Landau ride in the park.

[DisneyMadAng]

Suzieq - taking toy shops out of the To Do List (think it was for me more than the kidlets :)) Sure we'll hit Virgin - spend hours in the Orlando one!

Diane - Ellen's Stardust sounds like fun.

ESB or TOTR - I don't know which to do!!??

Heather - you can't just say that without giving me any tips ;)

I have a lovely long row of yellow post-its on the bookshelf in front of me with tips noted down....starting to look messy, but, hey a girl's gotta plan!

[Catherine]

Sounds great, we returned just yesterday, did as much as possible, had so much fun.

Flew with Virgin in their NEW PE seats, very impressed.


HAve fun.

[ukdiva]

Personally i'd do TOTR rather than ESB. With TOTR you have the added bonus of seeing ESB too.

Would definately do Chinatown and Little Italy before walking down to Ground Zero, and then catching the ferry over to the SOL and Ellis Island, it's all in the same area, so you wouldn't be going back on yourselves. I did have a link for a very good Manhattan map, i'll see if i can find it.

[Astrid]

Another vote for Ellen's Diner - it's fab! :)

[ukdiva]

Right, here's a very detailed map of downtown manhattan:

http://www.citimaps.com/manhattan/maps/downtown_manhattan.pdf

Personally if i were you, i'd get the Times Sq shuttle subway train (the 'S' line) from Times Sq-42nd St to Grand Central-42nd St, then change onto the '6' train going downtown to Broadway-Layfayette St, and then just walk through Chinatown into Little Italy and then down to Ground Zero, Wall Street, Battery Park etc. It's a good way to see quite a lot of interesting stuff and places.

Here's a link to a subway map so you can get yourself familiar with their system before you go!

http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

[Dissuziq]

Suzieq - taking toy shops out of the To Do List (think it was for me more than the kidlets :)) Sure we'll hit Virgin - spend hours in the Orlando one!

Diane - Ellen's Stardust sounds like fun.

ESB or TOTR - I don't know which to do!!??

Heather - you can't just say that without giving me any tips ;)

I have a lovely long row of yellow post-its on the bookshelf in front of me with tips noted down....starting to look messy, but, hey a girl's gotta plan!

Top of the rock every time as it gives you the view of the empire state building to die for, the only thing that the view is obstructed of the Chrysler building .

I can also recommend Ellens Stardust diner, another eating place if you are in Central Park is Tavern on the Green, an american instituion and very pretty inside

[DisneyMadAng]

Thanks so much, you guys are great :)

I'm getting so excited even though it's a few weeks off yet.

Thanks for the maps Tracie.

[patm]

If thr weather is not good on Easter Sunday try the American Museum of Natural History (as seen in night at the museum). It is right next to central park. Also the Whitney art gallery often have family days- it might be well worth checking their website.
Pat

[Catherine]

I can vouch for that, we went last week, very good and got us out of the cold.

[carolshack]

Right, here's a very detailed map of downtown manhattan:

http://www.citimaps.com/manhattan/maps/downtown_manhattan.pdf

Personally if i were you, i'd get the Times Sq shuttle subway train (the 'S' line) from Times Sq-42nd St to Grand Central-42nd St, then change onto the '6' train going downtown to Broadway-Layfayette St, and then just walk through Chinatown into Little Italy and then down to Ground Zero, Wall Street, Battery Park etc. It's a good way to see quite a lot of interesting stuff and places.

Here's a link to a subway map so you can get yourself familiar with their system before you go!

http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

What excellent links!! We're off to New York ourselves for the first time in just over a week and although I've done plenty of research on the Net & printed enough maps & info off to destroy a whole rainforest, I haven't come across any maps as good as these! Sorry to hijack the thread, but just wanted to say "thanks!":grin: ;)

[ukdiva]

No worries, glad to be of service! :)

When you check into your hotel, ask them if they have a copy of the City Buzz black book guide, it has lots of NY info and a map of the subway system in the middle, and it comes in a handy pocket size so you can look at discreetly if you are lost on the subway, instead of looking like a lost tourist with your huge foldout map! *lol*

[Sam_Smith]

Thanks so much, you guys are great :)

I'm getting so excited even though it's a few weeks off yet.

Thanks for the maps Tracie.


Might see you in front of St. Patricks catherdral watching the Easter Bonnet Parade!

:wavey:

[Catherine]

Have fun.

We have the NY bug now, we have just booked an internal flight from Orlando to New York half way through our 3 week trip in Sept for 2 nights, staying at The Westin again, loved it.