UD11/4 TR WDW/NYC/TX'11 fort worth and the long trip home

[Travel Mum]

I just want to say again how much I am enjoying reading your trip report. I wish we could have had time and been able to afford adding NYC to our trip but, alas, no, so it's great to read of your experiences there

How long was your entire trip? How many WDW nights? How many NYC nights and how many Orlando nights as it sounds like you headed back there?

 

[Melbourne5]

I just want to say again how much I am enjoying reading your trip report. I wish we could have had time and been able to afford adding NYC to our trip but, alas, no, so it's great to read of your experiences there

thank you. its a fantastic place and we cant wait to go back one day! i am sure you will get there soon

How long was your entire trip? How many WDW nights? How many NYC nights and how many Orlando nights as it sounds like you headed back there?

Our trip was in total 18 nights on the ground plus flying to/from US ( 1 in dallas on way over, 9 at WDW, 4 at NYC, 3 at Universal Orlando & 1 in dallas on way home). We left sept 19 and returned home 9 october.

 

[Melbourne5]

30 sept - the big blue bus!
I think given how exciting the place looked the previous evening we all got up early to start exploring This great big city. I think we all appreciated the extra space of having a suite which contained a bedroom plus lounge/ dining room.*
We didn't have a tariff that included breakfast ( we were paying about $440aud per night) *and I worked on the knowledge that there wouldn't be a shortage of available cafes and restaurants close by. Even maccas was 2 doors up ( I am also very proud we didn't go to a maccas once whilst away).

My mission early on was to head to the ticket office at the near by planet Hollywood to exchange our voucher for our all day hop on / off bus for tickets. Well I arrived and was 2 nd in line . Unfortunately the ticket machine was broken and was directed to Madame tussauds ticket office. Bitnofna hassle but I guess going myself at least avoided dragging the kids around the city. I got to tussauds and the line was about 20 long . Oh boy here we go. This is going to take forever. The line progressed well and before too long was collecting in exchange for our voucher , that I purchased with *a 10% off coupon online, for real tickets for the blue hop on/off bus. I choose this company ( although I found out the rival red bus is the same company anyway) as we got 10% off, 3 days for price of 2 plus tickets to top of rock, statue of liberty boat trip plus tickets to a museum. I am notmsurenif I could have brokered a better deal with the plethora of bus ticket sellers on every corner who accosted us every time we walked pass but I am glad we had it all sorts by 830.*

I had spotted a really nice cafe called Europa cafe z( I think it's a chain) opposite the hard rock cafe in broadway. I went pass as I got lost going back to the hotel!! Sometimes it's good to get lost as I brought the Melbourne 5 back for breakfast and enjoyed bacon and egg bagels, fresh juice and coffees for $25 all up. Very clean, freshly made and good service ( its not table service though and always full).

The pickup spot for the 'downtown bus ' was just 1 street back so before long we were on our first tour of the day. The buses are all upstairs seating and open air. The weather was kind. I reckon 19-24c during our stay. Our plan was to take the bus and get off at wall st for a quick look and then go to the newly opened 9/11 memorial that had been opened by president Obama only 3 weeks previous.

The bus trip was fun. Bless digital cameras as we took far to many shots of dubious quality. However there were plenty of gems amongst them for our video. We saw the original Macy's , the empire state building, Madison square garden and penn station and finally the wall st district. We got genuine new York commentary from a guide the whole way which was really good without being overbearing.*

We hopped off at wall st and headed to the 9/11 memorial. We had tickets in a 30 minute window from 11-1130 entry ( they are free and I got them before we left online). When we turned the corner to the street the memorial and building work is in we were greeted with a sea of people . Very orderly but jam packed none the less. We were early , and I heard there were no toilet facilities inside the memorial area so we made a quick trip to the closest facilities. In this case a subway takeout a few doors down from the wtc area. It was a tiny subway shop, we grabbed some water and cookies and as a kind gesture got to use their toilet. All good if you don't count the baked bread rolls perched above the wash basin and next to the mop and bucket ( yuk yuk yuk)....

We were directed to the express line for entry as our *time window had opened. There were 3-4 lines of the next 30 minute windows all waiting patiently. For a minute I thought we were back at WDW. We went through 3 security checks, one of which was the X-ray airport style and seemed to walk forever until we were there. It's very surreal, very sad and very American. Lots of flags, lots of security,lots of people. It must be remembered this is a building site as they are building the new version of the towers but the memorial area is very tasteful. It has two massive square waterfall features that occupy the exact dimensions and spot that the wtc towers once stood. Each feature has the names of all the people who died during the attack and I sawa some people with a link somehow tracing over the names of some of them. There were lots of groups getting photos. It as all very sombre without being depressing and there was very little speaking. A real shrine and a place now and in the future for reflection. Our kids handled it well and i am not sure if it all sunk in but I just couldn't imagine 10'years and a few weeks before at around the same time how things unfolded for everyone that day. I was glad we did it and later that night I asked the kids and they did too!

We walked along the road heading down to battery park as we had planned to go on the statue of liberty boat tour. We walked about 15 m and were there. We then saw the line up for the cruise and nearly passed out. The queue was at least 400m long and the vendors selling food and drink , and clearly queuing experts , told us 1.5 hrs wait time. We quickly skipped that idea and instead walked along the foreshore area that has great ,but distant views, of the SOL, and came across our stop for lunch. It was called battery park beer garden and was the relaxed and casual version of the absolute waterfront restoraunt which is its big brother. So here we stopped for hot dogs, lemonade and a beer ( well it was a beer garden!!) . It was a beautiful sunny day by now and next to the beer garden was a small kids park which amused the kids for a while.

All finished we walked just a few hundred meters ( just in front of the staten island ferry terminal) and waited about 10m for a blue bus to pull up. Happily on board we went past the helicopter terminal, seaport, united nations building, the Brooklyn bridge area before heading back up towards times square.

A we hadn't done the boat tour we decided to hop off at the Rockefeller centre and do the viewing from the 'top of the rock' deck. It's a bit hard to navigate the 30 rock,as it's called, its above ground , underground and interconnected but eventually we found the entrance. You do have to exchange the coupons ( that I had exchanged this morning) for even more coupons and you may have guessed but 2 more security checks before lining up to go to the top in a lift. To help manage the crowds there are staging areas showing videos etc ( these were compulsory viewing, and reasonably I formative. We got to the lifts eventually and it took a few moments to go up the 85 stories or so.

The view was awesome and the two big ones for me was looking uptown at central park ( and seeing the stage for the concert that night featuring the black eyed peas) and downtown looking at the empire state building. Words can't describe the views . We spent about 30 m up there *and better for the experience grabbed some Ben and Jerry's for after noon tea down in the 30 rock shops. *We decided to walk back ( about 10-15m) *and got all of 100m before having to go to the Lego flagship store... $100 later and 1 x cars 2 & *1 x star wars in the bag for ds2&3 off we went..the shop had some great Lego creations including a statue of liberty and layout of 30rock and surrounds. Very impressive.

We had a little down time before dinner . We went walking to find something close to the theatre that DW was going tonight and we settled on Applebee's . This was a kid friendly place and to be honest wasn't the best meal we had in our time away. Service was average, prices high for this kind of place and food ok without being stunning. I wouldn't rush back.*

Afterwards we walked DW to her theatre. Her night off was a ticket in the second row to see Chicago . She has seen before but said it was much better with an all American cast. ( there was someone famous in it but don't ask me who it was as I can't remember).*

I took the kids the slow way home to our hotel via m&m's world..a 3 ( or was it 4?) story edifice to chocolate. It has so much chocolate in so many different ways that I got a headache watching the kids decide. They choose some star wars themed stuff and that was ok by me ( we had a 5% off voucher we used to save a little) and a few pics with some life size m&m dolls ( John travolta and statue of liberty ) and we were off.

A nice relax in front of the new Lego, some candy from m&m's and off to bed for all. DW arrived home about 1130 very happy with her show and night off from the DK's.

Next up a trip on the Hudson to see the lady and then 3 more from oz!

 

[Toy Story]

I am really enjoying your TR, and have loved your NY component. I have noted Europa Cafe for breakfast.

 

[Melbourne5]

I am really enjoying your TR, and have loved your NY component. I have noted Europa Cafe for breakfast.

Thanks. More NYC to come

 

[Melbourne5]

Oct 1 - a little cool in the big apple

Today we were on a mission. People to see and places to go. We had to find our way to the day cruise terminal out near west 42nd street. We got three different stories on how to get their. A free shuttle ( didnt see it!) , walk (your kidding right?) or cab ( $10) . We decided to catch a cab and take the easy option so headed out of the doubletree and looked for a breakfast place close by.

We chose the Roxy delicatessen just opposite the doubletree. It's open 24 hrs and looked good from the outside. I guess in our enthusiasm to start the day fast we didn't look at the breakfast menu before we sat down.

On the one hand it was an authentic looking cafe and very old. On the other it charged very high tourist prices for what turned out to be an average breakfast. We spent close to $90 for breakkie ,and yes I nearly fell off my chair..glad *we were in a booth. In fairness it was our choice and nobody made us sit down but I was left thinking we could have done better and cheaper. On a positive note the food was massive. We had ham and cheese croissants, juice and coffee and expecting a normal serving nearly passed out when the juice came in a 750ml glass, the coffee in a mug and the croissant as big as a dinner plate and stacked high with ham and cheese. Oh and half a plate of fried potato. ( we could have shared 2 and still not got through it ). Any how I wouldn't rush back but gee we were full!

Have you ever hailed a cab in NYC. Well I tried and tried with little success. It may have been the time of day but there were tonnes of them. They were all full though . We started getting a little panicky as the boat cruise left at 10am and that was the only one to suit or day. It was 930am and time was ticking. We walked a little down the street away from times square and waited out the front of a small hotel. Fortunately it had a doormen and he got one to stop about 2 seconds after we asked . Anyhow it was worth *a $2 tip to at least get there on time. The other good thing was the cabs would allow 5 so we were all in together and on the way.

We arrived at the seaport and the boat was boarding and a big line up.i think the cranky new Yorker took over in me and we just moved our way through the line without exchanging our coupon for a ticket. When we gotmtomthe front of the line the guy took pity on us and let us in. About another dozen people boarded then the full house sign went up and the boat set sail.*

We cruised down the Hudson with the skyline on one side and new jersey on the other. It all looked a little familiar and when the captain came on and said we were passing the exact spot the us airways jet landed on the water a year or two back I figured out why .*

We passed all the landmarks and got a great perspective of the city. Whilst the density is amazing the distance between spots isn't that great. It's all very close together. We passed the wtc , battery park and the staten island ferry terminal and headed up towards the Brooklyn bridge. We went past the UN, some famous apartments belonging to mick jagger and Sarah Jessica Parker and did a big u turn at the Brooklyn bridge and headed back .

This time though we veered left and set course for the statue of liberty . It was a very special feeling as we got closer as its such an iconic spot in the world. Although we weren't going to get out we got so close it felt like you could touch it. Plenty of picture and videos later we heeded back to the terminal. The boat was a little similar to the ones you catch around Sydney harbor so you could go inside and out. It had toilets and also a small snack bar for food and drinks.

We did spend a lot of time outside even though it was cold as it provided a much better view. It unfortunately though claimed ds3 brand new perry hat ( from fine as and pherb) as soon as he opened the door to come out. I watched it float down the river never to be seen again. It took only moments for him to ask if we could go to toys r us to buy another!

Safely back on land we caught the free shuttle bus back to times square ( the reason I couldn't find it to go their was it was 2 blocks further down than I thought.) we walked around a little as we headed back towards our hotel and stopped at sbarro for lunch ( opp doubletree). It's an Italian quick service place that has pizza,pasta and salads. Great food at a great price. The pizzas were served by the slice and the kids were impressed when the pizza slice was bigger than the plate it was served on.

Back to the hotel for a rest and then at around 215pm we *travelled about 50m to the theatre that adjoins the doubletree for all of us to watch in our front row view of 'Priscilla queen of the desert'. It was another one of those 'pinch yourself moments' that 5 Aussies from Melbourne were in NYC watching an iconic aussie production.

The show was fantastic. The costumes and color amazing. The story, singers and actors exceptional. There were a few variations to help the US audience. The bar scene looked more like the deep south of Texas rather than broken hill for example but overall it was such a good show. The three main leads were very good and there is an aussie tony sheldon in one of the lead roles and he really makes it that much more authentic. The kids were exceptionally well behaved and enjoyed the ending the most with all the animals and glittering costumes with all that great music. A top time had by all and well worth the expense. ( we did pick up the tickets in aus via a us site called broadway box. Very good discounts)

When we came out of the theatre it had started to rain. So a quick trip back upstairs to grab the rain jackets before heading off for some shopping and then the night lights blue bus tip. Unfortunately the rain got a bit heavier and the bus tour was open air.we decided against it and instead took in the Disney store, sephora, footlocker and finished up at the GAP store. Therapy over it was time for dinner and we settled on a very very busy Red Lobster restoraunt. It was packed inside but realized a lot of people were just having drinks and escaping the rain so a table only took about 10m.

Dinner was great. Seafood theme. *We ordered a few platters to share . Lots of crab, shrimp, fish, fries and some salad too. All good and very good service too.

We were pretty tired all round so got back to the doubletree around 830pm for a relax and then bed. I used the time to pop back out and grab some goodies from the footlocker ( I also had a 15% off voucher) which mad the purchase of some nikes, socks,shorts and a couple of fleecy polar tops all that much sweeter ( and the exchange at about $1.04 that day).

Next up....uptown tour searching for bones, horseing around incentral park and a circus treat for the birthday boy DS3!

 

[Melbourne5]

Oct 2- Uptown tour searching for bones, horseing around in central park and a circus treat for the birthday boy DS3!

A bright sunny day treated us for our last full day in New York . It was a pleasant 22c and comfortable enough for tshirts/shorts. Breakfast was at Europa cafe again. We really enjoyed this place. Good value for money and great food. Plus it was packed and the 'people watching' was first rate. A ham and egg bagel plus coffee later we went walking a few minutes to grab the 'uptown blue bus' to take us on our days tour.

We took the uptown tour with a view of doing 90% of the route and jumping off at central park near the plaza hotel. We took it all in from the top deck of the bus and as we passed Columbus circle and neared the trump tower we got a taste of celebrity. *Standing out the front of the trump building ,whilst we were stopped at the lights was none other than Actress Meg Ryan and her kids. Our guide called out ' good morning meg' . She gave us a wave and after our briefest brush with fame we were off.

We passed the Dakota building where john lennon and yoko Ono lived and then pulled up shortly after at the American museum of natural history. We hadn't really contemplated going as we didn't know how long the kids attention span would last but as soon as they saw the entrance 'we just had to get off' as this' is where they made night at the museum movie!!'

So off we got and in we went. For a place we hadn't thought about going to we spent the next 4 hrs there and we're mesmerized with all those bones . More dinosaurs in the one place than anywhere else in the world we were told. The entry areas had some of the biggest skeletons on display. They were massive and the grand old entry areas just looked the part. There were around 3 floors of exhibits. We did as much as we could and I think even then we rushed it a little but everyone was enjoying. Interestingly ds2 made a free video on one of the exhibits and entered his email address. Oddly enough whilst all the Disney ones come through within 24 hrs this one lobbed into our email inbox 4months later. We we're puzzled but very happy to see it! There is so much to see and I can recommend it to anyone with kids as a great place to spend some time. Something you might want to consider is that whilst all the public museums have an entry fee, it's purely a guide. We were told that we could offer any amount to enter as the museums wanted to ensure anyone could attend. I thought this was a great touch and whilst we were happy to pay ( from memory about $60) *there were a few people along the counters offering anything from $1 to $30 to enter. I'm not sure if this was a place I should have paid the $1 or not. Anyone else with a view on this?

Having enjoyed our impromptu museum stop we hopped aboard the next blue bus and saw some more sights. Harlem, Columbia uni, general grant memorial and some great churches we hit the world renowned 5th avenue for the run back down to central park . We passed all the museums including the Guegenheim and the massive museum of modern art (MOMA). They looked huge and we heard great things about them. I think though we picked the right one to take the kids too though.

We also got some great commentary from the guide about who lived where and I recall seeing where Jackie Onassis lived as well as the current billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg . This part of town just oozed money and the houses, shops and cars added to the elite area. Apparently it's the most expensive real estate by $ per sq meter in the world according to the guide .*

We hopped off at the 59th ave stop ( grand army plaza) as its the corner of central park and where you can catch a horse and carriage ride through the park.*

For a fixed price ( a very touristy $50 tip included) we got a 25m ride around the lower end of central park. It was very pleasant and we took in the scenery and snapped stacks of pIctures. I just didn't understand that central park was so big and how many different parts and uses there are for the park. I wish we had more time to have explored it more. It was so green and the kids thought it was fun seeing squirrels running around everywhere.

We took a very late lunch of hot dogs at the park ( can't get more new york than that ) and then we had a quick look at the plaza hotel ( again another movie setting that the kids remembered) before taking the bus back down to times square.

We arrived back exhausted from our day but not wanting to miss out on what this big city had to offer we refreshed and set off for 30 rock for dinner with bill. Bills burgers that is . A great friendly burger joint with excellent service and great food in the 30 rock centre. We choose this place as it close to our venue for the evening, the radio city music hall, but first we had to celebrate our youngest DS 5th birthday!

His birthday was on the 3rd so in oz he had turned 5 so we thought we would celebrate twice. Once on oz time and the other US time. So today was the oz time birthday and after our big burgers we got a mega cup cake that looked like a burger and tasted like a cupcake ( confused you yet). We did the happy Birthday song ( with about half the restoraunt ) and got the whole lot of the trust iPhone. We splurged and sent that snippet back to oz as a video message and it hit the phones of our families around 10am in the morning. We started getting messages back within minutes and it was such good fun sharing the event so so fr away with our loved ones.

We didn't have far to walk to the radio city music hall , but it had started to rain , so we got a move on and arrived about 20m before the show started. The show was a cirque de soleil *production called zirkana and was based around a circus. We had front row seats ( thank you broadway box) for about $70 ea on the first floor.the theatre was massive and was packed . The show like most cirque productions is a bit out there but the theme of circus with lots of action and music went down well with all. Not an overly long show ( about 90 m all up) and a real treat for our last night in new York.

Once back at the doubletree ,and with the kids tucked up in bed, I had a quick check of the flights for the next day back to Orlando with American. Well I thought there was a flight. Oh dear the flight we were due to catch was cancelled. It was due to leave at 2pm and have us back in Orlando for dinner for ds3 US time birthday at the hard rock cafe. Instead our flight would leave at 8pm *and arrive at 1030pm.

So whilst others slept it was a quick set of changes all around.*
Pick up pushed back till 4pm
Flight confirmed for 8pm
Hard rock Hotel advised we were checking In around midnight
Transfer at Orlando advised 11pm pick up
Phew time for a rest ......whilst contemplating what our day would look like with 6hrs more in the city that never sleeps.

Next up....a shopping frenzy , a better look at central park and time to fly. Bye bye NYC.

 

[battymum]

Sounds like another exciting day! We pretty much did the same itinerary on one of our days - except we were walking!! Would have been nice to see a bit more of uptown though.

We also spent some time at the Museum of Natural History - I had planned to go in, but thought we would only spend an hour or so -we paid $25 for our family - I felt pretty cheap doing that, but there was no way we were going to spend $100 for an hour in there, so it was $25 or nothing. To be honest we thought it was a little creepy - "Museum of dead animals" my DH calls it. But we had seen the movie so it was another location to check off.

We also loved Cirque du Soleil.

Lucky you checked your flight - I didnt even think to do that, we had the same flight four days later. I would have hated to turn up to the airport and have to wait around for six hours when you could be in Manhatten doing so much more exciting things!

 

[becpee]

Loving your TR, giving me some great ideas of what we can do!

My DS5 would love to see the bones

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Loved the New York portion of your trip. We too fell in love with Europa Cafe and it's cheap breakfasts. After a few days of eating there we found a little privately owned place around the corner from our hotel that had the same kind of food but even cheaper. I've never eaten so many cooked breakfasts but I was in heaven and soooo cheap. We also were lovers of everything Bubba Gumps so I was very excited to see you enjoyed that also. I've noted down a couple of the restaurants that you mentioned that we didn't try, the Reb Lobster and the Italian place so will make an effort to eat there this time.

Leaving NYC we didn't get a cancelled flight but a broken plane and it ended up causing us something like a 7-8 hour delay, ugh. Glad you checked the flight the night before. I never normally do that but I will be now .

So you were happy with the Blue Bus company? On our first trip to the US we did a smaller tour and enjoyed it but this time we had thought we would buy the Red Bus tickets so we could explore some of the other areas a bit more like Bronx, Brooklyn, etc. I might also look at that Blue Bus company as well.

Have put Priscilla down on the list as the show I'd like to see while there too. I think my whole family would like it.

Battymum - so funny. I loved the museum but my family felt a bit like your husband did re the whole "museum of dead animals" thing .

 

[Melbourne5]

Lucky you checked your flight - I didnt even think to do that, we had the same flight four days later. I would have hated to turn up to the airport and have to wait around for six hours when you could be in Manhatten doing so much more exciting things!

This comes from flying a few times a week for nearly the last 10 yrs with work and experiencing airlines at their best and worst

 

[Melbourne5]

Loving your TR, giving me some great ideas of what we can do!

My DS5 would love to see the bones

Yes the boys liked the bones ! If you go make sure your DS makes the free video that is set up near the gift shop. It's free and such a hoot when it arrives on your email. We used ours in our holiday video too.

 

[Melbourne5]

X

 

[Melbourne5]

Loved the New York portion of your trip. We too fell in love with Europa Cafe and it's cheap breakfasts. After a few days of eating there we found a little privately owned place around the corner from our hotel that had the same kind of food but even cheaper. I've never eaten so many cooked breakfasts but I was in heaven and soooo cheap. We also were lovers of everything Bubba Gumps so I was very excited to see you enjoyed that also. I've noted down a couple of the restaurants that you mentioned that we didn't try, the Reb Lobster and the Italian place so will make an effort to eat there this time.

Leaving NYC we didn't get a cancelled flight but a broken plane and it ended up causing us something like a 7-8 hour delay, ugh. Glad you checked the flight the night before. I never normally do that but I will be now .

So you were happy with the Blue Bus company? On our first trip to the US we did a smaller tour and enjoyed it but this time we had thought we would buy the Red Bus tickets so we could explore some of the other areas a bit more like Bronx, Brooklyn, etc. I might also look at that Blue Bus company as well.

Have put Priscilla down on the list as the show I'd like to see while there too. I think my whole family would like it.

Battymum - so funny. I loved the museum but my family felt a bit like your husband did re the whole "museum of dead animals" thing .

Blue bus was great. Plenty of them which is what's needed for easy use. All the tours are the same as red bus. Never waited more than 15m anywhere on the stops around nyc. Also we got 3 days for the price of 2 which the red bus didn't offer. We also brought online with a 10% off coupon I found.

Ps : I was told the same company owns both bus lines.

Priscilla was great. There is a little bit of colorful language and quite a bit of innuendo. I don't think our kids came out worse for wear and certainly were better off with a cultural experience like Priscilla.

 

[Melbourne5]

Oct 3- a shopping frenzy, central park revisited & time to fly

A nice relaxing sleep in and a cooler overcast day to start our final day in NYC

Breakfast was once again at cafe Europa . We enjoyed it so much and for the 5 of us never paid more than $30 all up for a great breakfast. We had planned to make a run on some of the shops on the way back and then pack and checkout ( and store the bags)

We visited GAP for some DW clothes ( they used to have heaps of cheap kids clothes on but the last few visits have been a bit disappointing for kids clothes). Some jeans, tshirts and jumpers later we set course for the qsilver*********** shop to grab some tshirts for the boys. They had a good special . All there tshirts we $15. Very good saving and good quality.
Next up a stop at the MAC shop for DW stuff. I just can not believe I bought her last lipstick at myer in Bourke st for $36 and it cost $12 at Mac shop on broadway!!
A last trip to the footlocker , armed with a 15%'off coupon , a pair of nikes, couple of under armor shorts ( very popular with the older kids ) and some more hoodies ( college footy ones ). They are really designed for the cold and I have only worn mine once since coming home and that night ( probably 15c ) I still was too hot. I will report back in June *when it gets nice and chilly!

We stopped at one of those tacky souvenir places ( they are abit like 7/11 's on every corner) and loaded up with fridge magnets, postcards, and ds2 found a way cool angry birds tshirt he just had to have along with his 6 quiksilver ones.

Armed with our booty we went back to the doubletree and I then spent some time pondering *how to make it all fit in. Getting the kids to jump on the cases helped ( just kidding). We checked out around 1130am and after storing our stuff headed back uptown to do 2 kids bucket list items.

Up near 30 rock there is a place called Nintendo world. The flagship world store for all things Nintendo. The place is 2 stories jam packed with games, consoles, clothes and toys. The kids enjoyed this place a lot and after a lot of decisions choose a couple of games for their wii. After all that we casually mentioned how we were from Australia and couldn't believe how good the prices were ( $40 aud for a new release game) when the server looked at me grimly and said ' they won't work in your wii console' these are for American wii systems. Big let down for all but better it happened there than blowing all that money for nothing. Surprisingly the kids quickly got on with the job ( loved their logic ) of shopping for other stuff up to $40 . Remarkably we hadn't told them this or even thought let's leave the shop. No way sir. So with a Mario hat ( ds2 became a very cool kid at school with this one that you cant get else where) , tshirt for ds1, and Mario pjs and a tshirt for ds3 ( it was his US birthday today) we left with our wallet lighter.

We headed up 5th ave and past all the very fine shops. Made for good pictures and video particularly Tiffany's but it's not our scene. We were however on a mission to find the biggest toy shop in the world FAO Schwarz. We soon arrived and was greated by a doormen in his regal outfit ( looked like a queens guard) but with a big stuffed elephant under his arm. We were ushered in and the kids eyes lit up. I told DW to keep hold of her wallet really tight as this could be a dangerous place and prone to bleeding cash . Resistance however was futile. We did limit the damage to a few smurfs ( right where the movie was shot on the top floor ) and a long python from the animal kingdom section. We did spend a lot of time taking it all in and the kids had a ball playing on the famous ' giant piano' from the movie *'big' with Tom hanks from the 80's. I did notice that you could buy the real thing for $100000. I did think it would be hard to clear it through customs so decided not to buy it ( lol).

Unfortunately the renowned ice cream shop inside FAO's *was being renovated so instead the kids had to settle for donuts and milkshakes at the cafe in FAO's instead!*

We departed FAO's happier for the visit and sadly walked past the flagship apple store next door that had a bit of shrine arranged for the passing of steve jobs that had occurred in the past few days.

We arrived at central park not long after and decided to go exploring with the time we had left. It was great. Lots of green, plenty of people, walking trails and so on. We stumbled across a park playground for the kids. I thought it was funny reading a sign that stated adults were only permitted with children ( its a big wide world out there :-( *the kids played on all the rides enjoyed mixing in with kids of all shapes and sizes . I think some of the best photos of the trip are our kids mixed in with the locals taking turns on the rides.

As we hit 3pm it was time to start making our way back to the doubletree. A quick hot dog in the park first though to relish the moment and we were off. We headed down town and made a stop out the front of the Ed sullivan theatre , home to the tonight show with David letterman , for some pics and then a stroll back to the hotel. *By the time we arrived back, had the bags brought down and made a quick pit stop it was 4pm and within a minute or two our driver ( who had brought us in to the city from JFK ) arrived. We loaded up the Chevy suburban and hit the road for JFK . The traffic was starting to get heavy , we had no idea where we were going once we left manhattan , but our driver sure did, and given we were on a fixed rate had no problems taking some suburban short cuts. We saw , im sure , some parts of city that are not on the tourist route and I enjoyed taking it all in . As I looked around the car all but ds1 and I were sound asleep. They saw nothing.

Arrived at JFK around 520 and checked in at the American checkin and headed up to the admirals club lounge to await our 8pm flight. The lounge has its own kids section ( Qantas - pay attention to this!!) so they had games, DVDs and snacks to keep them happy for a while. We had a bit to eat ,which you buy in the AA lounge:-(( , and a few glasses of wine before the boarding call came. It was pretty wet outside so we had expected delays but everyone was on time. We had a minor hiccup boarding as they seemed happy to have our kids sitting in the emergency aisle . When I said that wouldn't be very practical , they seemed perplexed finding some more seats ( in oz you have to be an adult to sit in the emergency row right?). All solved we jumped inboard and enjoyed a pleasant flight down to Orlando .*

We pulled in right on time and grabbed the monorail to the main terminal and luggage pickup. Our driver was waiting for us and for once all the bags arrived together ( yippee) . We bundled into the waiting SUV ( yep you guessed it - chevy suburban ) and headed off down the highway to our stop for the night - the Hard Rock hotel at universal studios.

We arrived just before midnight and got very personalized service ( 1 doormen for our bags and 1 checkin guy waiting for us!) all done quickly. Up to the room, showers *and bed at 1am.

Next up *breakfast with a wizard, rides galore and a belated 5th birthday at the biggest hard rock cafe in the world!

 

[Toy Story]

Great update! We leave in 8 days, I am hoping you will have covered some of Universal before we leave.....

My DD's loved Nintedo World as well, I didn't realise there was a cafe in FAO Schwartz.

 

[battymum]

you make me want to go back so bad!!!

 

[alicia1506]

we also didn't realise that there was a cafe in fao schwartz. rats. we would have loved to have done that.

now i really, really want to return to nyc on our next trip. oh well. maybe i can convince the team to return there for our 2013 trip

can't wait to hear about your universal section of the trip... we loved wwohp and universal. we are also thinking of going back there on our 2013 trip, but are also considering delaying until they have completed the expansion of wwohp.

 

[Melbourne5]

Great update! We leave in 8 days, I am hoping you will have covered some of Universal before we leave.....

My DD's loved Nintedo World as well, I didn't realise there was a cafe in FAO Schwartz.

Thank you the toy story family must be getting very excited so close to departure. I should be able to get universal in before you go I hope

The cafe is either the ground or lower ground floor and has a range of drinks and pastries. When we were there though the icemcream / milkshake bar , which is very grand, was being renovated, hence the cafe for us . I reckon you will be just in time for the new look ice creamery. Let me know how it looks!!

 

[Melbourne5]

you make me want to go back so bad!!!

That makes both of us !