Finally! A four week adventure! Week One

[Rac20]

Day 2: Ellen’s Stardust Diner ,Statue of Liberty, Kayaking, Friends and Madam Tussauds

Well today has been a much busier day though DS16 still struggled a little bit in the heat.

We started off the day by going to Ellen’s Stardust Diner for breakfast. The boys had absolutely no idea about what the diner would be like and the look on their faces was a picture when the servers started singing. It was great fun and even DS16 cracked a smile.

We ordered two eggs Benedict, French waffles and I had a bagel and cream cheese.

Breakfast came to just under $100 with tip.

We then caught a taxi down to catch the ferry to Staten Island and the Statue of Liberty. This cost us $30 which I thought was quite expensive.

We were made to wear masks on the ferry which I thought was a bit odd given that I came all the way from the U.K. without being told I had to wear one. Luckily, I had packed some in my bag.

DS13 took this photo. I haven’t the heart to tell him that he chopped her head off!

When we arrived back, we headed to Pier 26. Here they do free kayaking on the Hudson. It was great fun. And nice and refreshing to be in the water.

The boys needed a refuelling break and so we went to a restaurant just by the pier.

Plus a Mac and cheese, a beer and two cokes came to $97. A very pricey lunch!

After lunch we walked to the ghostbuster building.

And then on to the Friends building.

The boys by this point were really struggling and so we decided to return to the room for a bit of rest bite.

We still had one pass left on our Go City pass. Initially, we had planned to use it to go up one world trade centre but the boys weren’t interested in going up another sky scraper so we used it to go to Madam Tussaud’s instead. Some of the wax works are not life like at all and some are a lot more realistic.

I think this was a great choice for our final pass because the boys really enjoyed it.

Exhausted, we headed back to the hotel ready to pack as we have a very early morning start.

Tomorrow, we fly to Orlando.

[joanna23]

Loved your write-ups on your days. We follow you out there in 7 days and this is helping with my excitement & expectations. Those 2 years covid robbed us of has made our babies grow up. I need to adjust to the 15 & 13 year old world! Your walking comment made me laugh out loud.
Safe travels to Orlando x

[tomjoe]

love reading along with your trip, great reports

[Sparksy72]

What a brilliant couple of days you have had and you have managed to do loads. I’m really enjoying following along. Xx

[ClaireNJ]

Breakfast looked good 😋
Cities always are pricey compared to Orlando & also very hot with the large buildings too 🥵🥵
Hope you have a safe journey to Orlando 😎
X

[Rac20]

Day 3: Travel Day (again) and Cabana Bay

Before I begin writing about today, I thought I’d just do a quick highs and lows of our three night stay.
Highs - Hotel location. Great hotel location close to Times Square but not in it.
- Friendliness. Everyone was so friendly - people in elevators, people in restaurants, shops etc.
- Free kayaking on the Hudson - highlight of the trip

Minor lows - heat - I was fine, DH was fine and youngest DS13 didn’t really complain but DS16 really struggled. And because he struggled, we ended up having to catch taxis and call in Starbucks etc. as he was too hot and that soon added up.
- The rats in Central Park. Really put me off going back there.
- Just not enough time. We didn’t get to see Grand Central Station, One World Trade Centre or tickle the bull’s balls or even go to Bloomingdale’s.

- No coffee machine in the hotel room = more money spent in Starbucks or alternative coffee establishments.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s move on to today!

I slept really poorly as I was stressing about missing our early flight and eventually got up at 4:30.

When I came to check out, I had resort fees for the room I booked with British Airways which came to $35 per night. I need to double check that as I thought resort fees were included. Something to bear in mind when booking. The room I booked with Booking.com, I didn’t have to pay resort fees but they said that I didn’t get my free dining credits. I argued that as I know she definitely said that the room credits were for both rooms when I checked in. He removed the charge for our final meal. Let’s see what happens when I get my credit card bill. Check out left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth as I was a tad confused about it all.

Anyway.. moving on! The taxi to La Guardia was $65 and uneventful - a lot less excitement than the journey from Newark! We checked our bags off and headed for security - the line went round the whole first floor of departures! 😱 A man looked at me and said, “Is this the end of the line?” And i answered that it was and he said, “For real?!?” People were commenting that they had never seen the airport so busy. It moved really quick though and we were through in about twenty minutes and that included being sent in an extra line to be checked by a sniffer dog.

Our flight to Charlotte departed about twenty minutes late due to them not being able to remove the air bridge but we made up time and had about 15 minutes before we needed to board our next flight. We were sat right at the back of the plane with a baby that cried the entire flight. I’m sure the pilot could also hear the baby as yet again we had a super quick flight! Typically, the heavens opened just as we landed. You know how in Florida, it can be raining on one side of the street but not on the other? Well that was like our plane. Raining on the left but not on the right. Bizarre. Anyway, this meant our baggage was delayed and we had to wait about an hour for our cases. I was slightly worried that they wouldn’t make it as we literally had fifteen minutes but they did! Yay!

One more thing to note about the flight. Do Americans have a thing about having the window blind down? We didn’t have a window seat this time and on both flights, the people occupying the seats had the blinds down. And not just them - a fair few blinds were down. I didn’t like it. I like to be able to look out of the window and check the wings are still on. Anyway, it meant I couldn’t say goodbye to New York. 😢

Once we’d finally collected our luggage we headed for a taxi. There was an announcement in the airport about not taking an unsolicited taxi. Signs for ranks weren’t clear but we headed outside and I saw about ten yellow taxis so presumed I was in the right place. Taxi was $48 plus I paid a tip.

Check in was so slow… what takes them so long? I did get a nice surprise though. My room booked with Virgin, I’ve got free complimentary drinks and free inflatable rings (currently taking up a lot of room in my hotel room!).

After checking in and checking out our rooms we all remembered that we had yet to eat and it was about 3pm at this stage so we headed down to the poolside bar. DS13 was so excited to be going in the pool! He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do first - eat or swim! In the end, the weather decided as inclement weather closed the pool.

Lunch came to $50. It tasted great!
There was quite a long time to wait before they opened the pool back up. DS16 and I passed the time by playing table tennis until we got told off as apparently we weren’t allowed to. 😬

After I’d taken this photo, there was about another hour to wait before the pool opened! What were they waiting for. I thought DS13 would burst in anticipation! Eventually, it was open! He loved it and switched between the lazy river, the pool and the pool with the slide. Now, I had a little swim but to be honest, I wasn’t that warm. This is the first time I’ve been to Orlando and not been knocked out by the heat. It actually felt chilly today. That must be because we’ve been to New York. DS16 and I came back to the room and compared the views from each room.

The all important coffee machine!

DS13 and DH returned not long after and they are now out looking for a light bite to eat. DS16 is upset that he can’t find the minions on TV.😂

Tomorrow, we are heading to Volcano Bay.

(Sorry - very wordy today!)

[ClaireNJ]

Glad you arrived all ok
Hope the heat will be ok as you said you’ve been NY first
I remember my brother did a trip in July too
NY
Savannah
Carolina
Orlando
He said the hottest was NY 🥵🥵
Have a brilliant time in Orlando hotel looks good & I’m pleased you’ve got coffee 🙊🙊😋😋
X

[Rac20]

Originally Posted by ClaireNJ

Glad you arrived all ok
Hope the heat will be ok as you said you’ve been NY first
I remember my brother did a trip in July too
NY
Savannah
Carolina
Orlando
He said the hottest was NY 🥵🥵
Have a brilliant time in Orlando hotel looks good & I’m pleased you’ve got coffee 🙊🙊😋😋
X

See more...

Still not had any cake yet! 😋

[Th1nkT1nk]

Wow your views for cabana bay are great!
Was it humid in NYC?

[Rac20]

Originally Posted by Th1nkT1nk

Wow your views for cabana bay are great!
Was it humid in NYC?

See more...

I don’t think the humidity was too bad. It felt more like dry heat. Orlando still feels cold in comparison. Been to Volcano Bay today and at 1:30 they shut the pools and slides. It’s now after 4:30 and they are still closed.