A sneaky little New York trip - August 2017 - Pre-Trip Report

[i love jack]

So we returned from a wonderful Florida holiday last September and I feel like I have been pining every day since our return. I can’t stop reading trip reports and almost torturing myself! We have decided to go back to Florida in August 2018 and have booked the villa, there are some flight prices out at present but they are silly money and will hopefully come down.

We have two weeks booked off work this August with no plans, I have been looking at prices to MCO wondering if we can possibly find a super cheap flight and maybe have a week at the beach just for a little fix! Andy isn’t keen on going for a week as he feels that it’s almost time to come back as soon as you have arrived.

So last week on my day off I find myself reading WileyCoyote's trip report which included New York, Washington and Orlando, my idle mind starts wondering and I start looking at prices, I consider a week all inclusive in Ibiza, a few days in Paris, a Eurocamp chalet in Brittany or could we do New York for £5000?

I know which of those options I’m most excited by but what about the rest of the family?

So alongside myself, Emma, at present seeming to spend every spare minute of my life thinking holidays and not doing much else!

My husband Andy, my voice of reason.

Josh, 15, currently obsessed with NFL, Rugby player, Hockey player.

Dan, 13, Loves Rugby and has been recently selected to play for Wasps development program.

So I present my findings to Andy and much to my joy he’s up for a few days in New York, but what about the boys? We decide if they’re not excited by it then there’s no point doing it with them, we might as well wait a few years and go just the two of us.

So I offer them the choice of the chalet in France or a hotel New York... they both say New York and Josh says it’s on his bucket list! Dan says “only if we can go Premium Economy!”

So that’s super exciting, but I have no idea where to start planning this, it is mind boggling! So I set about reading many more trip reports and buy the rough guide to New York City and I start to make sense of what is New York and where everything is.

Flights

I have been glued to Sky Scanner! We narrowed down the thousands of options by deciding we wanted to fly direct on an early flight so we would arrive in New York with time to do stuff on the first day. I was looking at flying from Heathrow as that’s an easy drive for us down the M1. Virgin had a nice early flight leaving around 10.30 for £2541, I’d been hoping for more like £2000. Norwegian Air fly from Gatwick and were showing a price of £2058, but when I looked further if you wanted to book a seat, have a meal and enough baggage it was £2600! I thought I’d have a quick look at Manchester and found that Thomas Cook fly to JFK for £2199. We flew TC in August and were mostly happy with them. So that sounded pretty good until I remembered we'd have to pay extra to book seats which puts £160 on the price but we’d have to with Virgin too and as I feel we’re sneaking this trip in I cannot justify upgrading to Premium (sorry Dan! ). The flight times are really good, leaving MAN at 10.35 arriving JFK at 12.55. Then returning at 22.00, arriving MAN 09.55.

Accommodation

Again, where to start, where to stay, where’s the best location?

After reading the rough guide I felt I understood all the areas and where everything was (I have either had my nose stuck in that or the DIBB this weekend, the family have been lucky they’ve been fed! )

I thought I’d like a suite if possible so we are not completely on top of each other and have a bit more space, and in the Midtown area. So back to the Dibb! I read about the Radio City apartments which looked perfect but fully booked . Looked at Staybridge Suites on Times Square but had read a few things about people not liking Times Square, so had a look at The Broadway Plaza. They do a Junior Suite with two Queen Beds and a sofa bed, the rooms have a fridge which was one of my requirements as I’m pretty sure we’re going to be hot and thirsty in August! They look really spacious and with a bit of extra info from WileyCoyote it sounded a perfect location. (Thanks Amanda ). The price was around £1400 for the suite for 5 nights.

I’d really hoped, maybe naively, to get flights and accommodation for £3000, we were currently up to £3760. (If I’m trying to stick to a total budget of £5000 that’s less spending money).

Andy had a look at booking through Expedia and found we could book the same flights and accommodation for a total of £3402 and with reserving the seats would make a total of £3560, thus saving £200.

So credit card at the ready and it’s booked! So it feels like an impulsive but well researched trip in the 4 days since we decided we’d go!

Itinerary

Travel Day

Hopefully we can be at the hotel by 16.00 and have time for an attraction, maybe walk up to Grand Central, a look in the ESB lobby and maybe a burger from Shake Shack in Madison Square Park.

Day 1

Early boat to SOL and walk up to the Pedestal level.
Boat to Ellis Island
Then walk up to the World Trade Centre Memorial via the charging Bull and a walk down Wall Street.
It seems like it makes sense to walk the Brooklyn Bridge while we’re here and have Pizza from Juliana’s or Grimaldi’s and then walk back over
But this may be too much for one day, I’m not really sure how long the other things will take.

Day 2

Walk the High Line to Chelsea Market.
Walk or Subway to Central Park where I’d like to see Strawberry Fields, Bethesda Fountain and walk the Mall. I’d like to have picked up some food for a Picnic to have here.
Top of the Rock at dusk.

Day 3

Spend some time at the Natural History Museum and maybe some shopping for a Bath and Body fix!
See a Broadway Show, still debating whether to book something or try and get tickets on the day from a booth...
Times Square.

Day 4

We’d like to see a sporting event. With Josh (currently) mad on NFL it would be great to see a football game but the season doesn’t start until September but apparently they play pre-season games. Or we could try and see the Yankees play the Red Sox at 4pm. I have no idea how easy it will be to get tickets to either of these events.

Day 5

We should have chance to do something in the morning before it’s time to return home. Maybe a wander round Greenwich, see the Friends building and a cupcake from the Magnolia Bakery.

Places to Eat

Need some more suggestions please!

In progress...

It looks like it’s a good idea to buy tickets to attractions in advance to save queuing, which we haven’t done yet.

We need to decided whether to stay overnight in Manchester pre flight or drive up on the day, book parking etc.

But any other ideas, suggestions or comments would be gratefully received on my plans so far!

Thank you.

[Melbatb]

We went at Christmas - we booked the SOL 6 months out and were on the first ferry across.

We booked TOTR whilst there but you could easily book online to get the sunset slot!

Food - if on a budget then the delis are great (most have seating). Avoid Times Square for eating - expensive! Whole Foods is good too!

Use the subway to be time effective!

Have fun!

[WileyCoyote]

Yay - you booked !
So pleased and it looks a great plan.
I do hope you like the Plaza , it was certainly perfect for us.

Shake Shack is only 10 mins away and ideal for the first night - sitting in the sunshine taking it all in - I'm jealous already

There is a branch of Grimaldis on 20th Street - which would be 10-15 minutes walk and apparently we failed to make it to the Lego Store or Nutella Bar , both of which are near the Flatiron.

So glad its come together for you and cant wait to read along

[WileyCoyote]

And deffo book SOL as soon as you can, the pedestal and crown tix sell out super quick

[i love jack]

Originally Posted by Melbatb

We went at Christmas - we booked the SOL 6 months out and were on the first ferry across.

We booked TOTR whilst there but you could easily book online to get the sunset slot!

Food - if on a budget then the delis are great (most have seating). Avoid Times Square for eating - expensive! Whole Foods is good too!

Use the subway to be time effective!

Have fun!

See more...

Thank you, that's helpful, didn't realise you could book slots just reading your report now!

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

Yay - you booked !
So pleased and it looks a great plan.
I do hope you like the Plaza , it was certainly perfect for us.

Shake Shack is only 10 mins away and ideal for the first night - sitting in the sunshine taking it all in - I'm jealous already

There is a branch of Grimaldis on 20th Street - which would be 10-15 minutes walk and apparently we failed to make it to the Lego Store or Nutella Bar , both of which are near the Flatiron.

So glad its come together for you and cant wait to read along

See more...

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

And deffo book SOL as soon as you can, the pedestal and crown tix sell out super quick

See more...

Thank you, I'm so excited, I asked for a room with a view haha!
The boys love Nutella so I'm sure will like to pay a visit there!
Best get onto SOL next then (and stop reading the shake shack menu)

[mick]

Sounds like a really good trip
I'm sure you will have a great time

Joan

[Lindaelaine]

Yay, another trippie, I have never been to New York so looking forward to hearing all about it.looks like you have it nicely planned already .
Your Dan has expensive tastes, Premium Economy oh and well done to him with his " Wasps " rugby development 🏈👍

Linda x

[jocat]

Sounds a great trip you've got planned.

Although you will definitely need to prebook certain attractions, don't feel that think you have to prebook TOTR - I like to play it by ear and buy those tickets on the day. Good weather is obviously not guaranteed, even in August, so you can check the forecast when you're there to check you won't be hit by a random cloudy day.

[Wozi]

Looking forward to this, we're in the process of planning a NY trip in August too. Nothing booked yet, just dates sorted. I really need to do some more research, which I'll start in a weeks time as its half term for us.

Thanks for sharing.

[i love jack]

Originally Posted by mick

Sounds like a really good trip
I'm sure you will have a great time

Joan

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Thank you

Originally Posted by Lindaelaine

Yay, another trippie, I have never been to New York so looking forward to hearing all about it.looks like you have it nicely planned already .
Your Dan has expensive tastes, Premium Economy oh and well done to him with his " Wasps " rugby development 🏈👍

Linda x

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I know! I've bred a monster with expensive taste thank you x

Originally Posted by jocat

Sounds a great trip you've got planned.

Although you will definitely need to prebook certain attractions, don't feel that think you have to prebook TOTR - I like to play it by ear and buy those tickets on the day. Good weather is obviously not guaranteed, even in August, so you can check the forecast when you're there to check you won't be hit by a random cloudy day.

See more...

Thank you, very true, also wasn't sure how long you're allowed to stay at the top and what time to go to see around sunset.

Originally Posted by Wozi

Looking forward to this, we're in the process of planning a NY trip in August too. Nothing booked yet, just dates sorted. I really need to do some more research, which I'll start in a weeks time as its half term for us.

Thanks for sharing.

See more...

Cool happy researching!