Nat & Stevie do New York then Las Vegas

[NatOwls]

Hi Dibbers!
I have decided to start writing this TR as I am spending far too much time on the Dibb without really planning anything on other websites for our holiday to New York and Las Vegas at the end of October 2012 (ages away i know) - 265 days to be precise - but there's method in my madness you see as once i have produced an itinerary, we can start planning this trip and also finishing off our TR from Orlando last year whenever I run out of "planning steam"

Well...that's the plan anyway!

So..who are we again.?

Nat (me) = Chief planner/organiser, Chief worrier, Dibb obsessed, 29 Year old big kid ... will be 30 during this trip, so planning on dealing with this milestone by...you'll have to wait and see.. Ive wanted to visit NY since I was about 18, as the world was opening up to me and LV since we got talking to a Scottish couple who told us how fab it was, on the way to Animal Kingdom in Florida last year
Steve = My lovely OH 31 - (will be 32 by the time we travel), who is quite happy for me to get on and plan everything (As per the Orlando trip), very laid back, fulfilling a lifelong dream by visiting both cities, looking forward to visiting some comic book stores in NY (Marvel fan) oh and getting dressed up as Batman during Halloween in LV.

So...Our Itinerary ..
(Day Before We Fly) Thursday 26/10/12
We are both working so we wont be home until 5pm, the plan is to pack the night before and then grab a quick shower before getting a taxi to Manchester Airport where we are booked into The Raddison Blu Hotel (Hoping for a runway view room). Will get a bite to eat there and TRY to sleep (I'll be probably be too excited I feel)

EDIT: We're far too excited to work the day before we fly, so we've both booked the day off. The plan now is to leave home at 1.30pm and let the taxi take us to the airport - we'll hopefully have a good chance of getting a runway view room by checking in at this time (around 3.00pm) and it will also give us time for a swim and a nice meal in the evening

(Flight Day) 27/10/12 Our flight is at 9.25am, so we'll be up at around 5.30am, have breakfast at the hotel, then leave the airport by 6.30am and take the walkway into T2 for bagdrop. Not booked an Airport lounge yet, still undecided, as we both enjoy people watching, so we might not bother this year
We are flying Continental Airlines and are due to arrive Newark Airport at approx 12.15pm NY Time. No transfer booked yet, but i'll get around to that over then next few months..

I hear it take approx 40 minutes to get from Newark into Times Square so were anticipating getting to The Manhattan @ Times Square Hotel by approx 3.00pm, dropping our bags off then heading out to grab a bite to eat .. possibly Applebee's as I have looked on Google Earth and it is just around the corner .
We are yet to plan the rest of our afternoon/evening, however we plan to cram as much in as possible as were not here for long!

(Our Full Day in New York) 28/10/12
As we will probably be awake at "silly o'clock" so we are planning on getting as much done as possible via the subway/Metro network:
These are some things we'd like to fit in:
Central Park (Not all of it, just the outskirts) - Strawberry Fields is a must!
Grand Central Station
Nice scenic trip over to Staten Island on the Ferry - passing the Statue of Liberty,
Toys R Us (As we are big kids)
Walk across Brooklyn Bridge ... (Not sure we'll manage this)
Get tattooed at NY Ink..if its not $200 for a tiny tat like ive heard)
Top Of The Rock + The Photo on the steel beam
Ground Zero Memorial
At least 1 comic book store
Food - Not sure yet, however it wont be top end fine dining as were both fussy eaters.

(Our Last Few Hours in NY + Flight to Vegas) 29/10/12
We'll probably be awake at silly of clock again, so will head off to do some last minute site seeing & grab some breakfast as soon as were up.
We still need to plan what to do with the rest of our morning however..(Any suggestions? )
Were planning on Checking out of the hotel at around 13.30pm and will hail down a cab to take us to JFK Airport for our 16.30pm flight to Las Vegas. We'll grab lunch at JFK I think, ahead of the 6 hour flight to the Sin City.
Were due to arrive in LV at 19.20pm (I think we lose/gain 2 hours at this point .. Gulp !) Can anyone confirm?. We going to get a cab outside the airport (No Tunnel) and hopefully be checking in at The Tropicana Hotel at around 20.30pm, (Does the $20 upgrade trick work here? )
Again we'll be throwing our bags in the room and heading out onto the strip to see some of the sites, grab a bite to eat and maybe have a very small flutter on the machines...

(First Full Day in Vegas Baby! ) 30/10/12
Nothing concrete planned yet..Any Suggestions please..

(Halloween) 31/10/12
Were planning on getting dressed up for Halloween, Steve as Batman and me as Robin (The female version) Hopefully we'll have loads of fun on the strip this evening!

(Red Rock Canyon) 01/11/12
We have the Scoot City Tour booked for today, they are picking us up at our hotel at 1pm, so were planning on being off the strip until about 6pm.

02/11/12
Nothing concrete planned yet..Any Suggestions please..

(My Birthday ! ) 03/11/12
Today is my Birthday, I will no longer be "In my Twentys" Yeah the BIG 30 will hit me today, however i cant think of a better place to reach that milestone in.
The only thing we have planned to do today is for me to do the Sky Jump off the top of the Stratosphere (Not booked it yet, but it is something that i really want to do! )
EDIT: SkyJump cancelled due to health issues - my Birthday is still very much happening however

04/11/12
Nothing concrete planned yet..Any Suggestions please..

05/11/12
Nothing concrete planned yet..Any Suggestions please..

06/11/12
Nothing concrete planned yet..Any Suggestions please..

07/11/12
Nothing concrete planned yet..Any Suggestions please..

08/11/12
AVT Tour booked in the Valley of Fire. Getting picked up 8.00am for a 4 hour quad biking tour

09/11/12
Nothing concrete planned yet..Any Suggestions please..

(Our Last Day & Flying Home) 10/11/12
Check out at approx 5.30am and get a taxi to the airport for our flight at 8.00am. Our flight consists of a 5 hour flight to Washington DC, where we'll then take another flight to Manchester, arriving at 06.00am on 11/11/12. Then im expecting reality to hit us and we'll be heading off home back to normality where there are no skyscrapers to admire and vibrant bright lights to cheer up the good old blighty weather

Things to do during our stay: (Please help group things together if know Vegas if you wouldn't mind, as the place is so vast its hard to plan)

• Bellagio conservatory and fountains (preferably at night)
• Eiffel Tower - the elevator ride
• Venetian canals/shops/ceilings
• Forum Shops at Caesars Palace
• Mirage volcano
• Cosmo – all 3 floors
• Visit downtown – at night
• Big Elvis at Bill's Gamblin Hall (Pete Vallee) (mid strip)
• Lake of Dreams at the Wynn
• Walk through Crystals at City Center
• Jean Philippe's at Bellagio or Aria for amazing chocolate and pastries
• Circus Circus – Indoor theme park
• NYNY Theme Park
• City Center
• The Sirens show at Treasure Island.
• The Forum shops at Caesars Palace and the shows.
• Water features at Aria
• Auto collection at IP - Free Tickets printed off
• Fish Tank & White Tiger Habitat at Mirage and in Forum shops.
• Chandelier bar at Cosmo
• Check out the Big name Hotels, Wynn, Bellagio, Caesars, Palazzo, Encore, MGM, Mirage, Venetian and Mandalay Bay.
• Check out the shops at Planet Hollywood Hotel.
• Eat at least one buffet! They are great value... especially brunch/lunch - in order: Wynn, Bellagio and Aria... although Aria ambience is a bit canteen-like
• Shopping: Forum shops are great and so is the Fashion show Mall.
• Use the Ace/Deuce which runs up and down the strip - it is cheap and you can hop on/off at any stop
• Binions have have your picture taken with the $million - Downtown
• casino Royale $1 beer.
• Mandalay Bay find Mix, order a drink (expensive, but enjoy the view)
• Zipline at Fremont Street + The Tank swimming pool shark tank + Triple 7 Brewpub for lunch/tea.
• SkyJump @ The Strat – plus other rides
• The Cheesecake Factory @ Forum Shoppes in Caesar's Palace
• Photo at the Vegas sign
• Discount Firearms & Ammo Shooting Range, 3084 S. Highland Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89109.
• Madame Tussaud’s and The Blue Man Group at the Venetian
• B-Beatle Tribute Shoe @ Planet Hollywood
• Scoot City Tour – Red Rock Canyon
• Improv Comedy Club at Rio
• The Sirens at Treasure Island – FREE

If you have got this far...well done ! Thanks for reading! I'll be updating this thread as and when we've decided to fit something in on a particular day..

[smudge79]

Have you been to Vegas before? Because you have quite a few days I would highly recommend seeing the Grand Canyon. Also we hired a car for a day ( mustang convertible) and drove to Hoover Dam and then into Arizona a bit. We loved this day and the scenery was lovely. Another place to consider is Valley of Fire. We just got married there and it's stunning.
Your list is huge but our priorities would be Bellagio ( we love everything about it), checking out the big hotels, forum shops, buffet ( we also felt that Aria was lacking something) , see a show, eat at one of the top end restaurants. Mostly though for us it was about taking everything in, exploring, enjoying ourselves.
Have a great time.

[Guest]

We are flying Continental Airlines and are due to arrive Newark Airport at approx 12.15pm NY Time. No transfer booked yet, but i'll get around to that over then next few months..
I hear it take approx 40 minutes to get from Newark into Times Square so were anticipating getting to The Manhattan @ Times Square Hotel by approx 3.00pm,

See more...

We used Dial7.com for our transfer from Newark, cost $75 for 2 inc tolls and tip, however we used the airtrain and NJT going back, cost $12 and so so easy, if there's only the two of you, you may want to check out this transport, really easy and you can just jump in a cab outside of PENN if you dont want to walk to the hotel, still only took us about 45 mins, lots of lifts and escalators so no problems with luggage. I amanged it with 2 big cases and 2 roll on carry ons as it was just me and DS, ut wish I had stuck to my guns of using the train into NYC as well as back to the ariport, would have given extra spending money lol

dropping our bags off then heading out to grab a bite to eat .. possibly Applebee's as I have looked on Google Earth and it is just around the corner .

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There are so many nice places to eat, the chain restaurants around TS are expensive, and there are loads of places just off and about, check out Johns Pizzeria, on West 44th Street, just off times sq, food was absolutely lovely and great value

If you are intending to dine around TS, you could do the Toys R US at the same time, although to be honest, its not that great! We got dragged in their by our Big Apple Greeter and couldnt wait to get out, nice to see the NYC models out of lego, but thats about it.

Our flight landed at a similar time and we fitted a lot in on our first day, you may even fit in TOTR and even grand central on the afternoon, then do TS and Toys R Us in the evening,

Grand Central Station ~ there is an audio tour to go with this, which you may want to check out grandcentralterminal/info/audiotour.cfm, you may even fit this in on your arrival day to leave the full day for downtown.

If you did that then on your full day you could head down, do the Staten Island Feery for your SOL pics, go to the Memorial for 9/11 and then jump on the subway over to Brooklyn so you can walk back across the bridge, or jump on subway first, head straight to Brooklyn, walk the bridge, Staten Island Ferry and then walk up to the WTC site.

Get tattooed at NY Ink..if its not $1000 for a tiny tat like ive heard)

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check this out in plenty of time, as am sure they will be appointment only.

Some useful links

dining menupages.com
cheap eats with a great view tripadvisor/GoListD...reat_view.html

[NatOwls]

Thank you very much Karen ! That's very helpful ! 👍👍👍

[Guest]

Exciting trip you have planned!

I recommend Carmel limo for transfer from EWR -
carmellimo/Rates.shtml. $47 plus tolls and tip.

Also we used the Newark Express bus on our last visit too, $16 pp one way or $27 return, picks up right out from of EWR and drops off at 3 locations on 42nd st, the port authority bus station, Bryant park or grand central. I found it very straightforward and regular.

[Hannikins]

sounds like a great plan!

[NatOwls]

Originally Posted by Hannikins

sounds like a great plan!

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Thank you ! Its taking alot of research, but im enjoying it and im sure it'll be worth it

I see you are planning a similar trip ! Have a blast !

[NatOwls]

Originally Posted by Manta

Exciting trip you have planned!

I recommend Carmel limo for transfer from EWR -
carmellimo/Rates.shtml. $47 plus tolls and tip.

Also we used the Newark Express bus on our last visit too, $16 pp one way or $27 return, picks up right out from of EWR and drops off at 3 locations on 42nd st, the port authority bus station, Bryant park or grand central. I found it very straightforward and regular.

See more...

great info ! thank you, i'll look into those options

[Slipperman]

There is a 3 hour time difference between Las Vegas and New York. Flying West you are 'gaining' the hours.

The air time for the flight will be about 4 and a half hours.

[NatOwls]

Originally Posted by Slipperman

There is a 3 hour time difference between Las Vegas and New York. Flying West you are 'gaining' the hours.

The air time for the flight will be about 4 and a half hours.

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Cool ! Thank you for the info x