A bit late and a bit long but here it is 2 female travellers aged 26 %26amp; 24 staying from 24th 鈥?28th November
First we set off from Newcastle to Manchester @ 2.PM on Sunday 23rd November and stayed at the Britannia country hotel had Sunday lunch and a few drinks at the bar before heading to bed to be up for our coach at 5.am. Arrived at Manchester airport in record time and were second in the check in queue (early bird). Checked in and went for some breakfast before boarding the plane.
We flew with Continental airways plane was nice seats could have been a bit more comfortable and there was only one small TV screen every 3 rows but hey never mind (Oh and they only played 1 film over the 7 陆 hour flight). Descending into Newark we had a great view of the city and once we arrived we got through with no problems rang dial.7 for our town car which arrived within minuets, service was great and the driver was very nice.
Arrived at the Wellington and was told we could not check in until after 3.pm so we placed our bags in storage and went for a wonder. Oh my we were in New York but it just didn鈥檛 seem real somehow jet lag was battling with excitement. Could not believe what a great location the hotel was in, you could more or less see Times square from the outside of the hotel.
After walking around for 3 hours we were done in so decided to go back to the hotel to check in. Once we got there we were given our room keys and went to have a look. We were not expecting to find that we had been dumped in a dbl room smaller than my spare room at home, you could wash your hands and take a pee at the same time lol anyway we went down to reception and informed them that we had booked a twin room to which they refused to give us and told us to ring our tour operator but after explaining that it was 8.pm back home and kicking up a fuss for over 20 min they gave in and promised to change our room in the morning and send a extra bed up for tonight but were very rude about it and we had to ask 3 times before the bed was brought up.
We got changed and went back out for a bit, visited the Disney store and a few others down 5th Avenue and ended up going to Rockefeller to see the tree but was disappointed as it was still in scaffolding as it was being decorated so decided to go up to the TOTR but managed to get there the same time as the band group from the Thanksgiving day parade but they were kind enough to let us to the front. The view was fantastic as was the elevator lift up there. We were pooped so got a Mackie D鈥檚 and went back to the hotel and by 8.pm was flat out.
Day 1- Woke up at 6.am refreshed, got showered changed packed our bags and took them to storage so that we could change rooms later that day so we had a full day of shopping from dawn till dusk, it was raining but we managed to see a little of central park and took a helicopter tour of the city which included Lady Liberty. Pottered around found Macys and the empire state but my feet had gave up on me due to all the walking. We again could not check back in until 3.pm so after shopping we had an early night in with Mama Mia on the TV with some goodies.
Day 2 - Again woke up early and headed out to find a jewellery shop on 5th Avenue for Pandora bracelets (half the price over here to UK) Spent another whole day shopping and general sightseeing looked all over for Vivian Westwood jewellery but with no luck also took a look at American Girl Place but I have to say thought it was a bit weird cute for the 3 year olds and under but very weird for anyone over that age. We retired back to the hotel in preparation for the parade the next day as by this time my feet were giving up on me again (I was wearing sensible footwear also but we walked everywhere)
Day 3 - Woke up late for a change 8.pm took a stroll down to Times Square and got a spot opposite Gubba Gump鈥檚 outside a cosmetics shop with no problems. Watched the parade and enjoyed every second it was great hearing that elusive Happy Holidays saying from everyone. After the parade finished had a little walk around and went for a Chinese meal. We spent a good 3 hours in Central park and watched a show by in there own words (2 Black Guys) really funny to watch, the park was beautiful and the best bit was the squirrels oh my god how cute were they running all over the place. We then decided to go to the movies to see Madagascar 2 on a theatre on Broadway AMC I think it was called and again was surprised at how nice it was compared to home, nice big chairs Cherry Coke on tap and Twislers ha ha but no sweet popcorn Tut Tut.
Day 4 The Last Day 鈥?My friend wanted to go to the Macys sale at 5.am! So like a good friend I was up at 4.30 with her and got a taxi down to the store, managed to get some great bargains and last min presents. After shopping around that area got a cab back to the hotel to just chill for a while before attempting to pack. It was like a true movie scene me sitting on top of my suitcase and my friend zipping it up I had bought half of New York! We placed our bags in storage and got the bellboy to book us transportation $75 all in. We headed down to the Empire state building and seen the huge queue, we asked how long it would take and the nice gentlemen informed us that the current time waiting was 3 hours so I said those magic words Express service please. My oh My what a great thing we did, were practically escorted through the whole journey and it took us 7 min to get up. It was a nice clear day and I was amused by the pigeons sitting on the ledge allowing people to pet them, after the visit here we headed down to see the Library and a few more familiar sights such as St Pauls Church and stopped at Rockefeller for Pictures of the Christmas tree which had the scaffolding taken down by then.
After lunch and again a bit more shopping we headed back to the hotel at around 3.30 pm to get our bags and wait for the transport to the airport which happened to be a huge SUV of some sort it was great. Got to the airport and checked in ok but were stopped at security and told off for having snow globes in our hand luggage (didn鈥檛 even think about the water in them Sorry) went to duty free yet more shopping and then got onto the flight. The chairs had individual screens with a whole lot of entertainment to watch but I found the flight horrid, I was on an aisle seat and really tired but couldn鈥檛 sleep due to the unusual heat in the cabin.
6 Hours later we were home to 鈥?degree weather, home sweet home eh ha ha.
It was a great experience and one to be remembered for years to come but I found it hard to come to terms of where I was, I think I had a perception of what I thought New York was and when I got here it just didn鈥檛 register but looking back at my 300+ photos it has just set in that I have been there strange as it seems. The quirky things like the Squirrels at Central park Doctor Pepper at McDonalds, Cherry Coke at the Cinema and the fact that you can get mashed potatoes with gravy at KFC was just the funniest. I have to say that I just wish I had done less shopping and more sightseeing but fear not I will be back but not until 2010and it will be summer for the my next visit but I鈥檓 off to Disney Land next October with my little sister and niece but Thank you for all of your help and I will no doubt speak to you lot soon.
Trip report 24th - 28th November
Sounds like you had a fab trip. Shame you didn%26#39;t get to see the tree in all it%26#39;s glory..
Trip report 24th - 28th Novembergood trip report
we are going NYC next oct we will be there for halloween.
Which disneyland are you gonig? France ? californa?
we visited the one in californa and it was ace!
Cheers,
I was a great trip but Oh so much money 拢2500 on 4 days ha ha but all worth it.
Im going to Paris Disney Land as its a first holiday for my Little sister 11 and my niece 3 so dont want to sit on a flight for all that time with 2 kids of that age (my head couldnt take it)
Defo going back but would book up for the Summer time next.
Thanks for sharing your trip. I%26#39;m not sure I understand what%26#39;s so unusual about mashed potatoes with gravy at KFC? You never mentioned how the second room at the Wellington was? Would you go back there? I%26#39;m not a big fan of the hotel but a lot of people think it%26#39;s good value. I do think it just depends on what room you get. How was your perception of NYC different from the reality?
Glad you had a great trip carly,
you were on the same flights as us and also the same hotel,
We are next in nyc nov 20th followed by 4 days in las vegas,
Darren
great report. How was the hotel once you got the room change? Where did you eat?
Hi again
Sorry for the delay, Second room was great a lot bigger and just what I expected. The hotel in general was ok its in a great location and once the room was changed I felt it was good value for money its just a shame that we had all of the upset on day one. Mash Potatoes @ KFC (They dont do that in the the UK and its just a bit random as we only have coleslaw and baked beans over here.
I watch every program that is set in New York so my perseption was a little thrown when I arrived but not in a bad way it was just that it all seemed so strange actually being there it looked real but strangely did not feel like New York its hard to explain.
We ate all over not really anywhere special just little deli%26#39;s whilst walking around as that worked better for us.
I%26#39;m curious- what were you expecting New York to feel like?
An eppisode of Friends or Sex and the City I think ha ha. I dont know to be honest More hustle and bustle maybe, the area that I really did feel made me know I was in New York was Times Square maybe I just expected the whole city to be like that.
2 much TV I think.x
I did love it tho and will defo be back with my mother in summer 2010 shes a big fan of the film The Warriors and she wants to do the subway route that they took to Conney Island so I picked up a map for her and she has already mapped out where she wants to go.
Were your snow globes confiscated?
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