New York City

My kids and I will have 1.5 days to sightsee in NYC. We were thinking about getting the explorer pass or the city pass. Which is better or is there a different one we should buy? How much can we see in only 1.5 days (Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday)? TIA

klynn said:

My kids and I will have 1.5 days to sightsee in NYC. We were thinking about getting the explorer pass or the city pass. Which is better or is there a different one we should buy? How much can we see in only 1.5 days (Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday)? TIA

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My recommendation would be to take the open top sightseeing bus. It would be the most efficient way to see the most sights, and it's nice to have a guide pointing out all the interesting things.

What do you WANT to do or see?

The on/off bus is a great way to see the city. You could get off and see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. That could take a good part of a day if you do the entire tour. There are some great museums. Make a reservation for dinner and then go to a show.

Donna

MichaelColey said:

What do you WANT to do or see?

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American Museum of Natural History
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Statue of Liberty
Top of the Rock
Empire State Building
Ground Zero
Radio City Music Hall

Will we be able to see all this in 1.5 days?

klynn said:

American Museum of Natural History
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Statue of Liberty
Top of the Rock
Empire State Building
Ground Zero
Radio City Music Hall

Will we be able to see all this in 1.5 days?

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Sure. Spend half day at the museums then spend the full day on the open air bus tour.

Depends on what you mean by "see". How old are the kids? Sounds like you are talking about a weekend, so there will be peak tourist activity and lines can be long. CityPass and Explorer both have their own ticket lines at many of these attractions, but those could still be long since many others will also probably be using them. You can view the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park, but if you want to go out to the statue, it will be a MINIMUM of 2 hours. If you want to go up into the crown (seperate ticket required than what's included with your City or Explorer pass), it will be longer. If you are planning a tour of Radio City, they schedule them for about an hour. The Empire State Building is very popular and will have long lines. CityPass bypasses the regular line - sort of - once you are inside they have their own, but they limit the number of people who can be inside so it can take some time to reach the inside. You could easily spend the better part of a day at the Met as well.

Having said all that, the CityPass gives you a shot at seeing the things on your list for a pretty good price, even if you can't squeeze them all in. The Explorer pass you build a la carte, so I don't know where that is pricing out for your itinerary. I usually find them both to be pretty good values, even if your itinerary is a little ambitious for the time you have. (Think taking a drink of water from a firehose). NYC is always somewhat like that anyway. It's a great city with so much to see that it's always necessary to return anyway, so just enjoy it and see what you can.

klynn said:

American Museum of Natural History
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Statue of Liberty
Top of the Rock
Empire State Building
Ground Zero
Radio City Music Hall

Will we be able to see all this in 1.5 days?

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I would skip the Empire State Building as the "Top of the Rock" is much better and quicker.

We have done all of the Hop On/Hop Off bus tours in NYC. There are basically 4 different tour routes. There is Uptown, Downtown, Brooklyn, and Night. With your limited time, I would do both the Uptown and Downtown tours. They do NOT do the Statue of liberty nor Ellis island. You need to do a different tour ( boat ) for those. Here is a link to a tour that covers just about everything.

http://www.onboardnewyorktours.com/ny-see-it-all/

I took my son when he was going into 5th grade. We both loved the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. If your kids are school age, Ellis Island is an incredible piece of American History. Just walking into the primary room is amazing, as it is as big or bigger than a football field. They have pictures and interesting exhibits of immigration.
Liz

We loved the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. I want to go back! We spent a few days in New York with the kids in high school and college, and the girls went into Macy's. Maybe the boys were with us, but we didn't notice them, if they did. Maybe that was the voice telling me I had shopped enough, and it wasn't just in my head? :rofl:

Laura and I loved Macy's. I would love to take her and our granddaughter there someday!