Just Me and The Big Apple Pre-Trip – Sept/Oct 2017

Smithkfs · 13 Apr 17, 12:22 AM

Welcome to the pre-trippie for my first trip to New York – Yayyyy

This is me (with my best buds

) …. Kath. I’ll be 34 when I travel and it will just be me

I’ve wanted to visit New York for quite a while now (Ever since I read Lindsey Kelk’s ‘I Heart New York’) but have never really plucked up the courage to go ahead with it (I’ve been to WDW twice solo but everything was close together or easy to get to on Disney Transport and I was in a little Disney bubble).

What started my love for NY

For the past 18mths I had it in my head that 2017 would be the year I go to New York. After Christmas 2016 when our peak period was over in work and I was alone in the office I spent my lunch breaks looking at flights and dates that would work. I wanted to go September but avoid Labour Day, I already have a week in Cornwall booked for September, My Dad retires in October and my Mum and Dad go away in October and then our peak period in work again so I had a little window to find something that worked

Early Jan I worked out the best 5 nights that would work and started to look at flights. BA had return fights to JFK for £424. They offer the option to hold the flights 72hrs for £10, which I decided to go for and them ummmed and ahhed for the next 70hrs as to whether or not I was going to go. 2hrs before time was up I decided to ‘Go For It’ …….. I’m going to New York – Yayyyyyy

Next up was the hotel. Wow they’re not cheap

. I used Travel Republic and booked the Roosevelt Hotel for 5 nights for £1 deposit and the balance due in September. I’m not sure why I booked The Roosevelt but it looked amazing and the location was great. I booked a Cosy Room to start off with but after reading lots of reviews about the Cosy Room ‘Cosy’I decided to amend it and book a Superior room.

Next up was a hotel for the night before. I wanted something cheap and close to Heathrow T5 and a quick Google search came up with the Travelodge @ T5 with a shuttle to the Terminal for £24 for the night. I booked 😊

Now that’s the hotel for the night before, flights and hotel in New York sorted or so I thought………

Throughout most of Feb was spent looking at hotel reviews on Trip Advisor for The Roosevelt and they weren’t great ☹ Tired room, noisy air conditioning, bad lifts, rude staff and a lot of extra charges and a few other things and I was beginning to feel quite unsettled about going ☹. This feeling went on for a while and I was beginning to think I should have saved the money for a trip to WDW but then I would have lost the £424 I had already paid for flights so I decided to re-look at hotels. First of all I looked at the Hilton Garden Inn at Times Square but when I decided to book the price had shot up too much so that was a no go.

After researching on The Dibb and reading Neilhd’s trip report I decided to look at The Belvedere Hotel. The reviews were good, location was good and for an extra £90 more than I was paying for The Roosevelt I could get an Executive Superior Room with a small kitchenette that had a fridge, microwave and coffee maker as well as free wifi so I changed my booking once again (thankfully it was free amendments with Travel Republic and still have the £1 deposit). It felt like a huge black cloud had lifted and I was finally excited for my first trip to New York 😃

Now that my accommodation was sorted I went ahead and got my travel insurance and ESTA (Slight panic when my ESTA came back as pending but then showed as authorised when I logged back into it – I read that it happens but didn’t expect it to happen

)

So my plans so far

Saturday 16th Sept -Saturday 23rd Sept – I have a week booked at Parkdean Sea Acres holiday park (same place I always visit) – Just me and Toby 😊

Monday 25th September
At the moment I plan on working this day to clear some emails and maybe catch up on some work but will only be doing a 6-2 shift so I can be back home by 3pm. I plan pack any last minute bits and get a lift to Bristol Bus Station to get the 5pm National Express to Heathrow T5. I will take the shuttle (£9 return) to the Travelodge @ T5. I hope to eat in their café bar before calling it a night

Tuesday 26th September
Early start today – I will get an early shuttle to T5, drop my bags off at and get some brekkie and some bits for the flight. My flight departs for JFK at 8.30am and will hopefully be landing at 11am. At the moment I plan on booking a shared shuttle to my hotel. Rest of the day is TBC

No plans for Wednesday 27th September yet

Thursday 28th September
Early start today – I have a 9am Crown ticket for The Statue of Liberty and will also do the 9/11 Memorial/One World Observatory. Rest of the day is still to plan

Friday, Saturday and Sunday is still TBC. I will try and get a late check out at the hotel. My flight departs JFK on 1st October at 22:55 getting into Heathrow at 11am so I still have most of Sunday in New York. I’m not sure if I’m going to book a few hours at the Yotel at Heathrow for a few hours and get a later Coach back to Bristol or get a Coach straight back to Bristol

That’s everything so far – Still lots to plan. I would like to see a show, Central Park, Top of The Rock, Empire State Building……most of the touristy things 😊. I would also like to visit the Hard Rock Café whilst I'm there and also do a little bit of shopping

I’m off to Cornwall in just over a weeks time with Toby so will have plenty of me time to plan some more 😊

Thanks for Reading

I updated the following installment of my Pre-Trip 4mths after I returned

I can't believe it's been 8mths since I booked my flights to New York and I travel on Tuesday

. Where has the time gone? I still don't know 100% what I'm doing when I get there but I'm a little closer than where I was a few weeks ago (when the trip still didn't feel real

)

In the last few weeks I've purchased the 5 Attraction Explorer Pass (through Attraction Tickets Direct). With this I plan on visiting the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, American Museum of Natural History, Harbour Lights Cruise and I haven't decided on the 5th attraction yet. I also purchased my transfers to my hotel through Attraction Tickets Direct (£17 each way). I know I could have got a yellow cab or the subway/train to my hotel but because it's my first visit having pre-booked transfers makes me feel more at ease

I booked a night at the Travelodge at T5 a few months back so I needed to book transfers from Bristol to Heathrow return. I kept checking the National Express website and the return tickets were showing about £25-£30 so I decided to wait until payday before I booked them. A few days before payday I had an email from National Express, which I didn't read but it prompted me to check again... Tickets were £1.50 each way... NO WAY! that can't be right. So I logged out and back in again and they're still showing as £1.50 each way. No need to wait for payday after all the tickets were mine

. I had the option of adding Hotel Hoppa tickets so booked them as well = Total of £13 for return tickets to Heathrow T5 and return Hoppa tickets from T5 to the Travelodge - BARGAIN!

I've been umming and ahhing about pre-booking my seats on the plane - I'm not a fan of flying and like to sit right at the back of the plane next to the window (not the cheapest seats to reserve). I know you can pre-book for free 24hrs before your flight but this where I like to sit. I mentioned to Dad that I didn't know what to do. He told me to book them if I could afford them or I may loose them nearer the time... don't need to tell me twice

. So I parted with my pennies and reserved my seats each way

Next big decision was what to see on Broadway. It was a choice of The Lion King or Kinky Boots. When I finally got around to booking them (through Attraction Tickets Direct

) they were quite expensive ($120 for Lion King and $101 for Kinky Boots

) so I checked what else was available for the day I planned on visiting and decided on the 2pm showing of Aladdin for $59 - Very Exciting - I've wanted to see this in London for ages but never got around to going

Finally the last lot of tickets I needed were for One World Observatory and the Museum. I booked the 2.15pm tickets for OWO and 4pm tickets for the Museum

That's all my plans pretty much sorted - I'll sort the final attraction on my pass out whilst I'm there

Thanks for reading

Melbatb · 13 Apr 17, 06:21 AM

Sounds great! I have done NY twice on my own - never once felt uneasy. I used the subway all the time - including to and from the airport!

For the SOL the first ferry goes at 8.30 - worth being on it!

Have fun planning!

Smithkfs · 13 Apr 17, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by Melbatb

Sounds great! I have done NY twice on my own - never once felt uneasy. I used the subway all the time - including to and from the airport!

For the SOL the first ferry goes at 8.30 - worth being on it!

Have fun planning!

Hey

Its reassuring to know you've never felt uneasy in NY on your own and thanks for the heads up ref the first ferry to SOL

I'm happy to walk anywhere but will have a look at the Subway as well (I'm not a fan of the London Underground so wasn't sure if I was going to use the Subway or not)

Thanks for Reading

Melbatb · 13 Apr 17, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by Smithkfs

Hey

Its reassuring to know you've never felt uneasy in NY on your own and thanks for the heads up ref the first ferry to SOL

I'm happy to walk anywhere but will have a look at the Subway as well (I'm not a fan of the London Underground so wasn't sure if I was going to use the Subway or not)

Thanks for Reading

The subway will really make your life easier!

You will have a ball!

P&S · 13 Apr 17, 08:03 PM

Hi

We stayed at The Belvedere last September and found it comfortable and clean, the room we had was a very good size and the fridge was so useful for drinks

I think the rooms were being done up so that is probably finished now. The location is superb 5 mins and you are in Times Square ( worth a visit but we avoided it after a visit as it's so busy ) and there are loads of places to eat nearby. We didn't use the lift as we were on the 2nd floor but I did hear people complaining that the lifts were very slow.

We found the weather last week of September to be perfect, shorts and teeshirts everyday.

You will have a blast it's a brilliant city and we are planning another trip soon

Sotong · 17 Apr 17, 02:51 PM

Will be following a long to help me with my planning, my DD 14 and I spend 5 nights in NY in August.
If you are into Facebook groups there is good one called NYC the place to be with loads of tips, photos etc.

Gillian. x

Smithkfs · 18 Apr 17, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by P&S

Hi

We stayed at The Belvedere last September and found it comfortable and clean, the room we had was a very good size and the fridge was so useful for drinks

I think the rooms were being done up so that is probably finished now. The location is superb 5 mins and you are in Times Square ( worth a visit but we avoided it after a visit as it's so busy ) and there are loads of places to eat nearby. We didn't use the lift as we were on the 2nd floor but I did hear people complaining that the lifts were very slow.

We found the weather last week of September to be perfect, shorts and teeshirts everyday.

You will have a blast it's a brilliant city and we are planning another trip soon

Thanks for reading - Sounds like The Belvedere will be perfect for what I want

Great to know about the weather too (it was one of my questions to ask

Originally Posted by Sotong

Will be following a long to help me with my planning, my DD 14 and I spend 5 nights in NY in August.
If you are into Facebook groups there is good one called NYC the place to be with loads of tips, photos etc.

Gillian. x

Thanks for reading - I'll check out the FB group

**WileyCoyote** · 27 Apr 17, 07:05 AM

Looking good. Look forward to more !