Empire State Building
 

Hi
I am trying to plan an itinerary for our visit to NYC next month. One thing we want to do is to go up the ESB. I have read that it is best to visit fairly early in the morning to avoid the worst of the queues.

I was wondering if the day of the week made any difference, we could visit on either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

Any thoughts?

Regards

Peter
UK

In July Fri is probably marginally better.

But I wouldn't do the ESB at all. IMHO the views from Top of the Rock are at least as good, you can get timed tickets in advance and there are no interminable lines to wait on for the second set of elevators (the first elevator goes only part way at ESB - then you need to wait to transfer to another).

We did Top of the Rock and ESB last visit, and I agree with nytraveler. We did ESB around dusk, which was nice, but we did Top of the Rock very late and it was fabulous to see the city lights from there. We timed it that way because there were things we wanted to see that we HAD to do during daytime hours, but we could do these two later, so it simply fit in to our itinerary that way.

i have been up 3 times..all 3 times went up about 30 min prior to closing..no waiting at all!!!..

That's fine if you only want a night view. But if you want daytime views - or to time it to see sunset and then the city lighting up - the lines are horrendous.

I was wondering the best time as well. This is my kids' number one request for our visit. I cant skip it. Should I buy the tickets online? What is the best time to avoid a horrific line - mid week June. The express pass is ridiculous!! $120+ for 3 people???!!!

Yes, buying tickets on line will let you avoid oneof 3 very long lines. After you buy tickets you have to get on line for the first elevatore, which take you to the 86th floor. Then there is another line for the second elevator that takes you to the top. In June plan on spending a coupleo f hours waiting onthe various lines (really not the best use of limited time in NYC).

Also - be sure to ick a day that is not rainy or cloudy - or your view can be severely restricted.

Frankly IMHO the view from Top of the Rock is better - in terms of seeing the ESB and also of Central Park.

Have you explained the lines to your kids? They may change their mind based on such details. Especially if you mention that you can see the ESB much better from Top of the Rock.

Years ago I took my six-year-old niece to the Statue of Liberty, in the days when there were no security lines and you could climb to the crown. We arrived at the island and strolled to the end of the line. Three was a sign indicating that from this point it would be two hours to the top.

I told my niece, "This sign says if we want to go inside and to the top it will take two hours."

Without a beat, she looked at me and said, "We don't have to go inside."

Bright girl! We walked around outside, took lots of photos, bought some souvenirs, and were soon on a ferry back to Manhattan.

Seriously - the best view of the Empire State Building is from Top of the Rock and if you go during the day you will get a dynamite view of Central Park and the lines are much shorter - almost too short - you don't get a chance to see the cool movies they have to entertain you if there is wait time.

Funny about Top of the Rock - We were in NY about 3 1/2- 4 years ago when they opened it. We were walking down the street some guy handed us free tickets. We went right up, no line, it WAS great. Views were great and it was sparkling CLEAN. I guess my kids remember ESB more bc we waited forever to get up and we had to pay (LOL.) We had a blast on that trip - we were escaping Hurricane Wilma and we were stranded in Manhattan for a week and a half. We did every touristy thing you can think of, while all our Florida friends were home without power or school!

You don't necessarily have to wait for the second elevator to get to the top of the ESB. There are stairs you can take up those last 6 - 8 floors (or whatever it is) to the observation deck. We got off the first set of elevators and the ushers were suggesting taking the stairs instead of the 2nd elevator. If you're reasonably fit, it should be no problem, and you don't have to wait in the line for the second elevator.

We took the stairs down too.

Yes - but a lot of people aren;t used to climbing more than one flight of stairs - or walking for hours during the day. And for people with small kids/stroolers it's also an issue.

Realy, the ToTR is just a much better choice.