Everything & Anything New York City

SW17

ox-boy wrote: »

I've been reading about the tourist attraction passes and a little confused on whether this is the best way forward, and if so which one would be best for me?

We are going from February 4th for 5 nights and would really like to visit the following attractions which will have an entrance fee:

Empire State
Top of the Rock
Intrepid Museum
9/11 museum (am I correct in assuming the 9/11 memorial site is free?)

I would really appreciate any advice if buying a pass is the best way to go?, which type of attraction pass to buy?, and peoples experience of them.

Agree with phatbear. The passes can be good value, but only if you definitely want to see enough of the included attractions, otherwise you go along just to feel you're getting value. Citypass is worth a look in case you want to do any of the other things on it, but be aware that the ESB entrance on it is only to 86th floor observatory (you do get a second entrance at night on same day though).

It's not on your list, but if you decided you want to visit MoMA, TOTR sells a combi ticket which saves about $10 on the combination. If you go to MoMA and you have a smartphone or iPod Touch, take it and your headphones, you can access the audio guide on it via their free wifi. Their audio guide is also included with entrance fee, but saves you queuing...

It's a fair point about not doing both TOTR and ESB, but also hard to resist ESB on your first visit. I probably prefer the TOTR view as you see ESB and much closer view of Central Park, but easy to say that when you've done both...I do have a soft spot for ESB.

9/11 Memorial is quietly impressive. Didn't go in the museum, but apparently it's very good, though quite harrowing in places. On a lighter side, the Lower Manhattan area is getting a lot of development and there are some very good bars and restaurants down there now.

Its a fabulous city, enjoy. Just don't do everything, so you have an excuse to go back...

silvercar

silvercar wrote: »

Thinking of visiting the lowline this time, an underground park named in contrast to the highline.

Except it is only at concept stage!

Highline is well worth a visit.

ox-boy

Thankyou guys. Some great advice there. I will probably book up the attractions indvidually now.

And I have now purchased the Intrepid museum tickets from Groupon including the additoinal tour of the Concorde.


As SW17 mentioned because its my first time i will probably do both TOTR and ESB (just to say i have more than anything...).


What would be the best way going about arranging TOTR & ESB? Especially as i dont want to waste too much time queing.


Should i pre-book? (and with who as im assuming there will be numrous of companies selling tickets?)

Should i buy fast track tickets? (as mentioned i will be visiting in February)

becominganobsessivesaver

ox-boy wrote: »

Thankyou guys. Some great advice there. I will probably book up the attractions indvidually now.

And I have now purchased the Intrepid museum tickets from Groupon including the additoinal tour of the Concorde.


As SW17 mentioned because its my first time i will probably do both TOTR and ESB (just to say i have more than anything...).


What would be the best way going about arranging TOTR & ESB? Especially as i dont want to waste too much time queing.


Should i pre-book? (and with who as im assuming there will be numrous of companies selling tickets?)

Should i buy fast track tickets? (as mentioned i will be visiting in February)

Let me know what the intrepid is like we plan to go in July.

SW17

ox-boy wrote: »

What would be the best way going about arranging TOTR & ESB? Especially as i dont want to waste too much time queing.

Should i pre-book? (and with who as im assuming there will be numrous of companies selling tickets?)

Should i buy fast track tickets? (as mentioned i will be visiting in February)

Booking in advance will save you the ticket office line, at least in the case of ESB. Not sure there is any way to get a cheaper price.You can either book online direct with the attractions (you'll be charged in dollars, so exact price will depend on your payment method's exchange rate), or via one of the various ticket sellers in the UK, who will mostly charge you in pounds. Others may feel differently, but I prefer to book direct with the attractions.

Booking direct with ESB has various options, the basic ticket (for 86th or both 86th and 102nd floor) will allow you to miss the ticket line, but you still have to join the elevator queue as tickets are not timed/dated (valid a year). They have options at higher prices that allow you to skip the elevator lines as well.

For TOTR, you can prebook an exact time (which apparently is changeable, but don't know how that works), or buy an unscheduled ticket where you have to go to the ticket desk to get assigned the next available elevator.

In both cases, the biggest queues will be at weekends (incl Fridays) due to domestic tourists, even though Feb is less busy than other times. Avoiding weekends will reduce the queues if you decide against the higher priced tickets at ESB. I visited TOTR on a Monday morning at the end of June (without an advance ticket) and was able to walk straight in (10 min wait for elevator after buying ticket).

One other thing to think about is the weather. Athough NYC is quite good for clear skies, if it's raining/snowing heavily the visibility won't be so good and you may decide to change visit times while you're there.

Hope this helps.

ox-boy

SW17 wrote: »

Booking in advance will save you the ticket office line, at least in the case of ESB. Not sure there is any way to get a cheaper price.You can either book online direct with the attractions (you'll be charged in dollars, so exact price will depend on your payment method's exchange rate), or via one of the various ticket sellers in the UK, who will mostly charge you in pounds. Others may feel differently, but I prefer to book direct with the attractions.

Booking direct with ESB has various options, the basic ticket (for 86th or both 86th and 102nd floor) will allow you to miss the ticket line, but you still have to join the elevator queue as tickets are not timed/dated (valid a year). They have options at higher prices that allow you to skip the elevator lines as well.

For TOTR, you can prebook an exact time (which apparently is changeable, but don't know how that works), or buy an unscheduled ticket where you have to go to the ticket desk to get assigned the next available elevator.

In both cases, the biggest queues will be at weekends (incl Fridays) due to domestic tourists, even though Feb is less busy than other times. Avoiding weekends will reduce the queues if you decide against the higher priced tickets at ESB. I visited TOTR on a Monday morning at the end of June (without an advance ticket) and was able to walk straight in (10 min wait for elevator after buying ticket).

One other thing to think about is the weather. Athough NYC is quite good for clear skies, if it's raining/snowing heavily the visibility won't be so good and you may decide to change visit times while you're there.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the advice.

I am thinking of doing Empire state at night. Would it still be busy around 9pm/10pm? ive read that its open until 2am?


Ideally i would like to do sunset for TOTR.
Do you know if the pre-book tickets are in high demand and sell out? Ideally i would like to check the weather forecast the day before booking, but worried they may sell out for sunset?

phatbear

ox-boy wrote: »

Ideally i would like to do sunset for TOTR.
Do you know if the pre-book tickets are in high demand and sell out? Ideally i would like to check the weather forecast the day before booking, but worried they may sell out for sunset?

on the half a dozen occasions ive gone up totr to see the sunset i've just rocked up and bought the tickets on the spot, after all prebooking doesnt take into consideration bad weather etc.

However i would suggest you get there an hour+ early to ensure you get up there as it is the busiest time of day and you will be sharing the viewing platform with a lot of people.

You can pre-buy the tickets on the day which will save queuing though

jonnywells

Off to NYC for 5 days over Christmas and looking to buy tickets to see Aladdin.

When you go though ticketmaster though it always seems to take you to the us site and comes up in USD. Is there anyway to book the tickets in GBP with ticketmaster??

MiraculousM

Hi all.

I need a little help.

I am looking to go to NYC in May (around the weekend of the 18th). I am used to staying at the YMCA vanderbilt because its cheap and pretty easy to get to stuff.

This time i am looking to stay somewhere where i have my own toilet, which in inexpensive.. i dont know something like either an ibis budget (formerly etap hotel) or a travelodge.

I am staying for six nights and not looking to spend more than 100 dollars a night and pref somewhere in manhattan, not in brooklyn, queens, astoria or anywhere outside.

Is this possible or am i utterly deluded?

silvercar

jonnywells wrote: »

Off to NYC for 5 days over Christmas and looking to buy tickets to see Aladdin.

When you go though ticketmaster though it always seems to take you to the us site and comes up in USD. Is there anyway to book the tickets in GBP with ticketmaster??

Lastminute.com has Aladdin tickets for sale. They definitely price in GBP.