'We had plans and then we changed them' HOHO Bus, Times Square and ESB ~ Orlando and NYC

[DisneyDaffodil]

Index

Our morning started with another trip to Starbucks around the corner from our hotel. Even Justin was able to order the correct drink this time and we drank these by the park while we waited for the Hop On, Hop Off bus.

The HOHO ticket seller at the bus stop scanned our Explorer Passes and gave us all our 24 hour bus ticket. We waited for the bus by Columbus Circle. The first bus that came was an Uptown loop so we decided to catch this one. We had a very informative tour guide on this bus, who gave us so much information on jazz and Harlem. The tour guides vary greatly. We caught three buses and two out of three were very good. At first we sat downstairs but soon realised we couldn't see much. Therefore, we moved upstairs where we had a great view. We all found the tour very interesting, apart from Georgia, who felt they talked too much She listened to music and enjoyed the views.

We got off at Midtown, in the centre of Times Square. It was lunch time now and we were all hungry, so decided to eat now. Times Square was busy and there were crowds everywhere. We had no idea where we wanted to eat but there was an Applebees nearby that we decided to try.
This Applebees was a little dark and didn't look impressive but it had a large menu with lots of choice. The food was plentiful and delicious. Georgia, Emily and I had the chicken mac and cheese, while Rob and Justin both had burgers. The meal cost $80 for three of us including tip.

After eating, we decided to do some shopping. Many of the shops had sales on, as it was July the Fourth holiday. The shops we looked in were: H&M, Forever 21, Sephora, Hersheys and a NYC gift shop.

Georgia bought a dress for $4 and a wool-lined denim jacket for $30 in the H&M sale, a NYC snow globe (as she collects them) and a Two Faced Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palette from Sephora (for $50).

I bought a blouse from H&M for $10, a Smashbox eyeshadow palette for $30 in Sephora and a 2018 NYC calendar. We also bought mini Reeses peanut butter cups, Hershey's cookies and cream drops and a pack of Hersheys bars in the Hersheys shop. Rob and Justin were definitely fed up with shopping now and Rob was carrying a huge bag around so we decided to stop shopping! Which was very difficult for Georgia
We then took photos on the steps, although there were lots of people here. Georgia and I even took a selfie

We went on another HOHO bus to Empire State Building. Although it wasn't far from Times Square, we decided to save our feet and use our HOHO bus ticket. The queue at ESB was quite long and we had to go through security with our large bag of shopping, which had to go through a scanning machine. This is the fourth time we'd used our Explorer tickets. Although we had previously done TOTR and really love it, we felt as it was our first trip to NYC we really had to visit ESB. It is such an iconic building in NYC and it didn't disappoint. Again, we took hundreds of photos here and this is just a small selection of the best ones.

After ESB, we had to wait a while for the next HOHO bus that would take us close to our hotel. We caught the Midtown loop, which dropped us off by St. Patrick's Cathedral and then walked the short way back. On the Midtown loop, we saw Grand Central Station (which I really wanted to visit but we didn't have the time ) and the United Nations building.

It was around 6:20 in the evening by now, so we rushed into our hotel for some refreshments, including a few beers as it had been such a busy day. After freshening up, we all headed out for a stroll around Central Park. As we walked, we chatted about how much we'd all enjoyed the trip, even though we hadn't known what to expect. Genuinely, we had all enjoyed each other's company and it was nice to have a family holiday, although part of me would have loved it if our other son could have been there too.
It was a lovely evening and the fireflies entertained us, as Georgia tried and failed to take pictures of them. I took a photo of Georgia wearing the dress she bought for $4 earlier today.

We sat on the bleachers as we thought this was a very American thing to do. We were all laughing so much Georgia had to take this photo lots of times before we got a good one!

As we left the park, Georgia, Justin and Emily decided they were hungry again. They visited the carts selling food where Emily had a huge ice cream, Justin had a hot dog and a kebab and Georgia had a chicken skewer. All of this was really tasty and I wish I'd had one

We wandered back to our hotel, buying a few beers to drink in our room before going to bed.
Step count: 18,000

[yellowrose78]

What a brilliant day, I'm really enjoying your report

[DisneyDaffodil]

Thank you, I'm pleased you are enjoying it 😀

I think this was one of my favourite days along with the previous day. Although I did find Times Square too hectic and wouldn't want to stay in that area of NYC

[mrsdjh]

Lovely day - did you enjoy using the HOHO bus?

[DisneyDaffodil]

Georgia found the HOHO bus a bit slow and boring but we really enjoyed it. Justin is a History graduate who studied modern American history as part of his degree and the guide on our uptown loop was very informative about modern US history. Our second guide was quite good but the third one didn't seem to know very much at all about the area we were driving through so it does depend on the guide's knowledge

[Fuellady]

What a lovely day! We too found the bus guides a bit hit or miss. I think they can really make the tour worthwhile depending on their commentary.

Fabulous shopping, and some great bargains

Loved your photos from ESB. Looking at them made me want to be back there so much.

It's so nice that you all enjoyed each other's company and had a wonderful time together.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by Fuellady

What a lovely day! We too found the bus guides a bit hit or miss. I think they can really make the tour worthwhile depending on their commentary.

Fabulous shopping, and some great bargains

Loved your photos from ESB. Looking at them made me want to be back there so much.

It's so nice that you all enjoyed each other's company and had a wonderful time together.

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We loved ESB and TOTR, gorgeous views from both.

Georgia loved her shopping days in Florida and NYC, she has already requested we visit an outlet mall close to Disney on our trip next year. She will have to start saving 😊