Batty familys US Adventure - TR - NOW WIITH PHOTOS!!

[battymum]

Aussie Travellers,

This was our first cruise - and I have to say I think we are hooked, at one point I did say to DH, Do you feel vulnerable, being out here? - It was only a passing thought, the ship is so big, its a city in itself - it has its own medical facility, which thankfully we didnt use, but is quite good from all accounts - and she has been known to divert course to take people ashore with serious medical needs.

There is a helipad, but I dont think it would ever be used, there are benches bolted around it, and a cable going across - there would also need to be a seafaring helicopter in the area , which is not likely.

 

[battymum]

PS:
I will add photos to the TR - DH keeps nagging me about organising the photos - but I want to finish the TR while I can still remember.

 

[battymum]

Day 7

Another sea day,
I thought we might be bored on these days as we are not sit around drinking types, but we werent, there was always something to do. And finally I wasnt living on Advil.

After watching all week, I had a go at the flowrider - it was pretty fun, and I managed to get off gracefully, and keep my bikini on!!

We settled our sea pass account, we only spent $300, although this was just alcohol, and $25 for one measly bag of laundry (I wish they had a guest laundry) We thought this was pretty good, as we had drunk 3-4-5 (who's counting) drinks each, each night. There was a cupcake place and Ben and Jerrys ice cream, that you had to pay for, but the kids never even asked, I think they had one cupcake each.

I had booked us into one of the specialty restaurants tonight, "for a more intimate experience" but we were enjoying the dining room so much, we cancelled.

After dinner, there was a farewell show, they showed some highlights of the cruise and made special mention to all the staff, and showed videos from each of the departments, it brought tears to my eyes. Then there was a parade from any of the staff that could make it, there was much applause.

We then had to head back to our cabin and drag our 10 suitcases from under the beds - all our luggage had to be put outside our door by midnight.

 

[battymum]

Day 8
When you disembark, they allocate a timeslot to you and you are to assemble in a certain area and wait to be called - you can walk off yourself, as long as you can manage your own luggage, we were never going to manage our 10bags without a trolley.

We had a 12:30 flight out of MCO, and I am paranoid about being late for flights so asked to be in the first timeslot - which was 7:15 - we had to assemble in the theatre -

Our group was soon called, I cant remember the process, but it was painless, there was immigration and security, we found our luggage and headed out to meet our car.

At this point, I have to give a shout out to Brian, of Orlando Town Car Now, he was great, although he will talk your ear off - we used them three times and he was promptly there every time.

So we rang Brian, as they are not allowed to just hang around the port, he turned up not long after, and loaded the 5 of us, and our 10bags in his escalade, and off we were to MCO -

We were travelling to NYC as a side trip, we would be back in Orlando on Thursday, so didnt want to pay luggage fees for all those bags, Town Car Now stored them for us, pretty sure it was at their house, and we travelled with just carry ons to New York. We had to pay $50, but I was happy to do that, than pay $25 each bag, each way.

I think we arrived at MCO around 8:30, we had a lot of waiting around to do, I was cursing that I was so paranoid about being late, but better waiting in the airport and being relaxed than stressing I say.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm glad to see you will add pictures when you get them done. Your words are great....but I'd love to see pictures of the cruise.

 

[battymum]

My son has a USB drive that came with his Call of Duty game, it is shaped like a bullet, (can you guess where I am going here?)

Well before we left home, we saw it laying around and DH and I both said, make sure he doesnt bring that, and put it aside on a corner table. Well DS saw it there, and thought "ooh, I dont want to lose that", and put it in his school bag, which is also the bag he used as a carryon.

Well, we had been through airport scanners at Sydney, connecting in Dallas and getting on the ship - but now suddenly the belt stopped, "who owns this bag?" I was behind and didnt even realise it was him holding things up - they called others over to look at the screen, well they pulled it out, and confiscated it, DH managed to ask them just to take the lid, so DS could keep his school stuff that was on it.

Otherwise our flight to NYC was uneventful.

We flew into LaGuardia, which gave us a magnificent view of Manhattan as we came in, I was excited about the next leg of our trip.

Now I knew NYC would be cooler than the heat of Orlando, and we packed jeans and light jackets, I thought we would be comfortable and more energised for touring - Well as soon as we walked out of LaGuardia, we were reaching for our jackets.

We jumped into the taxi queue, I had read that getting a taxi for five is no problem, just get to the top of the queue and the dispatcher will pull out a cab that seats 5 from the line.

We got to the front, the dispatcher got a van for us, we all jumped in, DH sat up front, and three got in the back, but there were no rear seats, I thought they were just folded down, my son looked at the driver and said, "where do I sit?"

The driver laughed and said "just get in!", so he jumped in the back with us, 4 with no seat belts, he drove like a lunatic, as all NYC taxis do, apparently,- all the time, taking calls on his mobile, and at one point passing DH his phone, and saying this guy doesnt believe I have a passenger in my front seat, talk to him.

I didnt hear the conversations, but DH says someone was ringing him chasing money.

Now if my kids had done this at home, I would be concerned, read, angry, I thought to myself, you are making some poor decisions here.

But we made it,- and lived to tell the tale.!!

Welcome to New York City, you're not in DisneyWorld anymore!!!!

I couldnt believe we actually left a tip for this ride!! (BTW $40 inc tip from LGA)

 

[battymum]

We arrived at Doubletree Guest suites, and was immediately impressed - our accomodations just kept getting better - the location couldnt be beat, 47th and 7th Avenue, right across the street from the TKTS booth.

View from our room at Doubletree

We checked in, and quickly put on our longer pants and went out exploring. We were right in the middle of times square - so checked out the shops there - the weather was cool, and we realised our light jackets, (DH and one of the boys had none) were not going to be enough, and we had left all our luggage in Orlando -

I guess we were better dressed than this guy!!

So we had to scramble around looking to buy something warmer - We made our way to Macy's - it was raining, we were cold, (really, I am usually not a complainer) so we went into Macys and had trouble locating the correct floors, we couldnt seem to find a map -

DH and I split up and arranged to meet back at the front in half an hour - (really what was I thinking) Anyway, we found DS (L) a jacket, but nothing for me or DD - we got sidetracked looking at formal dresses, as this was on our list of things to buy -

Anyway, we met back up with DH, he had a jacket, DD and I were still cold, and desperately bought I <3 NY jumpers - so now we were more comfortable and the rain had stopped.

It was always my plan to go to the Empire State Building tonight, I looked up and the sky seemed clear, so we decided to go.


Well I guess the earlier rain had put people off going, I had read so much about how long it takes, but really we walked straight through all the queuing area's - we were almost rushed.

Uptop there was quite a few people, the sky was clear and the views were spectacular, I dont know how many people they let on the viewing area when it is crowded, but you wouldnt want too many more than what was there that night, it was difficult to get clear shots for your photos.

Anyway it was beautiful and I had to pinch myself to believe I was here.

After this we headed back to Times Square and our beds at the Doubletree .

 

[aussietravellers]

Oh your bullet scenario sure rings a bell .

When we were leaving MCO last year, my DS had bought a gun with his pocket money on MNSSHP night. He bought it from a stall somewhere, near splash mountain or somewhere around there. It was a toy guy, bright blue with some red cap over where bullets would come out of a real gun.

Well my DS packed his own carry on, I hadn't seen the toy gun after the night he bought it and actually had completely forgotten it existed.

Well the drama at the airport. The belt stopped, security people came from everywhere, all standing around the screen. Asked whose bag it was, said it was his (looking at this 10yr old) but I guess as the adult I was responsible for it. They asked if we were carrying any firearms. I almost laughed Firearms, are they crazy! I don't even own a firearm at home, let alone travel with one. So next thing they take me and my bag over to a special area. There are still a group of them around, they open the bag, very carefully and pull out the bright blue and red toy gun!

They took it! It was a toy, it didn't even look like a real gun. If someone ever said, "its a stick up" pointing that thing at me, I would crack up laughing and tell them to go away

Anyway DS was so upset, they wouldn't let him keep it. And we had just caused a massive security scare at MCO.

The Doubletree is fantastic isn't it. Such a great location and fantastic sized rooms (well suites). I couldn't complain about anything at Doubletree.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

Thanks for sharing about the cruise It was great to know how much your kids loved it as well.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I am laughing at your bullet and aussietravellers gun stories.

Mine involves "smuggling" in fruit from Mexico to the US. We were in the Yucatan Peninsula and boarded a plane to San Diego. When we were in the customs area, they scanned our bags....twice. Lots of whispered discussions going on with the guards. And then we were pulled to the "special" area and asked if we had packed our bags ourselves. We were then asked if we had any fruit in the bag....and then to both DH and my bewilderment, they specifically asked if we had mangoes in the bag. On our negative response, we were asked to unpack the bag. All the while, the security and customs guy were really friendly and chatty.....


...and then I realised what it was. DH had taken 4 juggling balls with him and they were filled with seed; which had triggered off their alarms.

So there we were, in the middle of this special area, with customs and security.....and DH giving a demonstration of 4-ball juggling!


And yes, the Doubletree is GREAT!

 

[Jade+3]

Just caught up! Great TR. Bugger about the sunnies. We also brought a luggage set that had something missing. I am glad you enjoyed the cruise, and the ship. It is one that we are considering for next time.

I don't have any smuggling or security stories to share.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Kids crayola kindy scissors with my tape for strapping my knee, at Singapore airport after leaving through Heathrow.

Totally forgot, had been in cases. DD was also distraugt as they were her favourite purple scissors.

Just take the scissors,

Loved the cruise update batty mum. We are thinking about doing a very similar trip in early 2013 with WDW, NY and a cruise. A get so even in the bathtub it is sounding more and more tempting.

 

[battymum]

Yes, the Doubletree is fantastic, our family of five was very comfortable there, - I would recommend it to anyone.

We did have one problem, we had booked a "breakfast or parking package" which was to include breakfast for 2 adults and 2 children - OK we would spring for the third - when we checked in the person at reception confirmed we had breakfast included for 2 adults, and 2 children under 17.

So the first morning we all had breakfast, but the bill came and they were adamant, only 2 adults were included - I was quite sure that 2 children were included as well - I spoke to reception and the manager on the phone, i went back to my room and checked my paperwork, but there was nothing specific on it -I was pretty angry, as I told my kids "I only argue when I am right!"
In the end they said OK for today only,

"well you will not be getting any gratuities" I replied, (I know its not the servers fault, but I was angry and didnt want to give over any more money than I had to)

So we bought some milk and cereal for the kids, (they were happier with this anyway) I was reluctant to go for breakfast again, but when we did, they were all apologetic, "we spoke to the person who checked you in, you should have 2 children included"

The kids were still happier with their cereal!

Looking back over my booking now, they could have argued that the children should be under 12, thats what it says on the website, I would have accepted that. My 13 year old boys could easily pass for 12, they didnt even ask their age, thats not the argument they were making, they were quite clearly saying it was for 2 adults only.

In any case, the guy at reception definitely said it was 2 children under 17.

So my point is, get everything in writing.!

 

[battymum]

So after our breakfast argument - we headed out into the big city - we headed uptown and walked all the way to the Museum of Natural History - we saw Columbus circle and the Dakota building along the way -

(I didnt know you were supposed to tip these guys!! - I was still in WDW mode I guess)

We went into the museum, I knew we wouldnt be there too long, so wasnt willing to pay the $20 (or so) recommended entry fee - I knew these museums have a "pay what you want policy" and the posted admission is only a suggestion -

Again I felt cheap, but I wasnt going to spend $100 for us to spend an hour there, so I went to the counter and we paid $25.

The museum was interesting with some pretty good displays, but we were really only interested in seeing the bits that were in the night at museum movie, (I know, we are philistines!)

After the museum, we grabbed some lunch from a cart, and headed over to the park.

Now I had studied maps of the park and knew we would enter here and make our way diagonally across to the central park zoo - but no map can prepare you for actually being in there - we lost all sense of direction, and had quite a few arguments about which way we were actually going. We saw the lake, and row boats, but not the Boathouse, which is where I had hoped we would have lunch. (even though they had already eaten from the cart!)

Central Park is amazing, such a treasure to this city, I wish we had more time to spend here.

We eventually found the zoo, but were happy enough to just know that it was there, we didnt go in - We then found the Wollman rink, which was actually pretty ugly with no ice on it.

Then we headed down 5th Avenue, stopping at FAO Schwartz and Tiffany's along the way. We were dissappointed that the iconic Apple store was under renovation - DD stopped in a store here and bought a coat as her I love NY jumper wasnt cool enough, and she was over being funny

.

We headed back to times Square - visiting the Top of the Rock along the way -

So all in all we had a very tiring day - we walked from 47th Street to 81st, across the park, and back to 47th - and we were buggered.

We got back to the room - but I still needed to get something warmer to wear, (I was over the NY jumper as well) So I went back out to Forever 21 that was just a few shops up from Doubletree - I bought myself a coat and scarf - Who knew that we would need such gear after our previous week in Orlando, but it was really quite cold, I think in the 50's.

I was also on the lookout for where we might eat that night. People complain about having to make dinner reservations 6 months out at WDW, well I wish I had done that here, because if you wait until you are tired and hungry, with teenagers, you will usually end up at something familiar like McDonalds or Pizza -

I know Times Square is not great for food, and I was too tired to care, I said to DH you guys go, its better if I am not there, as I get angry when all they want to eat is crap - I think they ended up having pizza -

I had some me time, with a nice bubble bath. I had grabbed something to eat from a deli when I was buying the coat.

 

[battymum]

Tuesday morning we had another early start - we Statue of Liberty Crown access tickets for 9:00am - so needed to be on the subway at 7:30 -
DH and I headed down to breakfast -(see previous post) while the kids were happy to have cereal in the room.

We found the right subway and made our way to South St - and then found Battery Park - more security - (I have learned, you should not wear a belt and carry minimal stuff when in NYC - we were so over going through these security points)

Luckily I had read you should book Statue of Liberty as early in the day as possible, there was no queue and we were soon on the ferry.

There was more security on the island, but soon we were inside the pedestal and waiting for our turn to climb - I think it is 374 steps to the top, and the last part is a very narrow spiral staircase - it was not for the feint of heart, but we made it and it was quite spectacular - (my boys decided to have a fight at the top, there was expletives, and one pushed the other, all while I was trying to take a photo "this is why I don't have a video camera, now smile")

This is the resulting picture!!

Crown access tickets are quite rare, you have to be lucky to get them, and I thought everyone knew that it is a difficult climb, well on our way back down, there was a group of elderly people, who had the tickets but were dumbfounded that there wasnt a lift - the guide was trying to explain to them, that they had to climb the stairs, there isn't another option

We walked around the island a bit and then headed back to the ferry. We also had tickets for the WTC memorial at 1:30, so had a timetable to stick to. We made our way to the WTC memorial, (again more security), it was amazing to see those large pools - and think about what was once there, the new building is really coming on, I think it is at 80stories.

By now, we were quite hungry, and with nothing planned, (I had wanted to get to Grimaldis but that wouldnt be for a while) we walked for a bit I saw Burger King and a pizza place, and a small place that was Mexican - lets go here I said, its not burgers or pizza -

Well we had the most awesome Burrito's that were as big as a football. DD and DS (S), the fussy ones, had some nachos that were too spicy, so they pretty much just ate the corn chips.!

We then headed to Century 21 - past the Wall Street protestors - We left DH and the boys with the protestors while we went into Century 21.

THen we walked the lenght of Wall St, I was looking for the charging bull, - We never did see it - '

From here, we caught a subway to Clark St in Brooklyn, we walked down to the Brooklyn bridge and walked the entire length back to Manhatten, (this was the day that there was a terrible helicopter accident in the East river, we never saw a thing, but DS (L) said that he saw a lot of commotion down on the dock area.

I would have liked to spend more time in Brooklyn, it was a beautiful area, I had planned to make our way down Fulton Street, to Grimaldis pizzeria (yes we are tourists)and then the bridge, but it wasnt to be - you make all these plans without realising that you are going to be quite exhausted. I think someone in our family saw the sign to the bridge and headed there, and noone was interested in backtracking. We had also spent a fair bit of energy looking for a public bathroom - these are in short supply in NYC, and I had warned my family to prepare themselves and plan accordingly - but when you gotta go, you gotta go!

Again a lot of walking -and we were pooped! Back on the subway to Times Square - I had thought that we may get tickets for a show from the TKTS booths - but after our tiring days we were not up to going out at night - or more specifically, queuing at the TKTS booth.

View from our room at night!

Another view from our room - we thought it was some homeless persons washing / or I thought a pretend homeless beggar - on closer inspection I think it was wardrobe department from one of the theatres creating some costumes.

We ate at Bubba Gumps that night - and thanks to Ms Shuttergirls TR - I had Bourbon St, Mahi Mahi and it was awesome!!!!

Sorry about the food porn quality - as I mentioned not good with indoor shots!

 

[aussietravellers]

Wow you are certainly having full on days in NY. That's one of the great thing about NY is being to just walk for miles and miles, I love doing that in NY.

Oh you went to Tiffany Did you go to the toilet there. I can't remember what they call them, it's not toilets or restrooms, it was a very luxurious name I had a hard time leaving that store, if they had had accommodation in there I probably would have stayed

 

[PrincessInOz]

People complain about the amount of walking that you have to do at WDW. I know that we do more walking in NYC (and SF) than anywhere else we go to.

Sounds like you're about the same as well.

 

[Mum from oz]

Wow just caught up on your TR. I'm glad you're going to add photos later! I am loving everything so far. It really sucks about your sunnies and the luggage too. We stayed a the Country Inn & Suites too and it was great. Also who did you hire a car through? We are going to need to pick up at MCO and drop off at Port Canaveral.

 

[battymum]

Oh, thanks for the replies, I really got on a roll with this on the weekend, but was beginning to think no-one was reading!

MumfromOz - we booked with Budget - although you might try Thrifty as their office is right next to Country Inn and Suites.

side note:
I started sorting my photos last night, I have to say I am a little disappointed - I bought a new camera, and I did give myself a bit of time to learn to use it - manual settings and all that, but I am not happy with my photos

 

[Jade+3]

We ate at Bubba Gumps that night - and thanks to Ms Shuttergirls TR - I had Bourbon St, Mahi Mahi and it was awesome!!!!

I had the same, thanks also to Ms Shuttergirl.