Help to Plan 2 Days In NYC With Elderly Parents
 

This will be my dad's 80th and he wants to see NYC. We are staying at the Travelers Inn on 42nd. Both mother and father can't walk real far. Suggestions for 1 Broadway show, sightseeing places (tour bus,etc), good food places (nothing fancy) to eat that aren't more than $15.00-$20.00per person. We will be in NYC starting Saturday.

Well your hotel is very far west so you will have to take a cab to get anywhere. (Buses are OK but during the day they're crowded and he probably won't want to stand.)

For meals that are super budget you can check out a bunch of the ethnic places for lunch specials. there are a lot of casual dinner places on 9th ave in the 40's (check out menupages.com) but even$20 will be difficult if you're including beverage tax and tip.

Ordinarily I'm against any bus tours - but for your parents they may make sense. Just realize that to see anything you need to be on top - which means climbing the stairs and sitting in weather that may be hot and humid (so definitely bring hats and your own water to stay hydrated).

He might do better picking a couple of places of interest (the Met for instance) that will let you rent a wheelchair to make getting around a very large museum simpler.

Unfortunately most places require either quite a bit of walking or waiting on very long lines.

I agree that the best thing to do is a tour of the city, either by the big tour companies or smaller limo/party bus operators. That way they won't have to walk as far and will have a window on the city as the bus goes by with a tour guide.

All of the museums in the city are really alot of walking, except maybe The Frick which is on 5th Ave and would be a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

The Travel Inn is pretty far west, so you should probably get a Metro Card so you can take city bus/subways as well.

There is a coffee shop on the first floor of the hotel for snacks/beverages for your room. Also there are several restaurants in the area that will deliver to your hotel, incase everyone is tired in the evening.

The hotel also has a rooftop pool.

You might google party bus in NYC for more suggestions on tours. And I think I heard that the Duck Tours are now operating in the city, which might be fun for them. THAT'S what I would do if you can get reservations. Just remembered.

kingofnyc.com might be a good bus tour for you in smaller air conditioned buses.

For a show, it depends on their tastes and your budget. There are a number of shows on discount on broadwaybox.com (left column) but some discounts like for South Pacific are not good for weekends. "In the Heights" is very good with great dancing but it's a loud show and they might prefer something like West Side Story or South Pacific that they might know.

For getting around, for 4 of you a taxi is probably best or possibly use the cross town bus on 42 st. to get you closer to Fifth ave. If you use "cash" on the buses (coins only) anyone over 65 is entitled to half price fare which would be $1/person. Because you're so far west, instead of trying to stick within walking distance of the hotel for dining, you might actually be better to go to another neighborhood by cab or bus. You'll get to see more of the city that way. Menupages.com is a good website for finding restaurants by cuisine and by area. You can also see prices/menus.

$15-20/person for dinner is either ethnic food (Chinese, Thai, Indian etc.) or a casual diner type place for burgers or sandwiches. Tax is over 8%, tips are 15-20% of the bill (not including tax), soft drinks and/or coffee/tea are $2-4 each with no free refills (except on hot coffee). So to total $20/person you're really looking at food for $10, drink for $2-4, tax and tip you're there. Film Center Cafe is not too far and might be a good option.

One idea is to do your main meal at lunch time since that's always cheaper and many places have a nice brunch menu on weekends. If your Dad likes buffets and lots of choices, Brasserie 8 1/2 might be a good idea for Sunday lunch/brunch.
http://www.patinagroup.com/restauran...nus/brunch.pdf

Chez Josephine is a French bistro not too far from your hotel that has live music at night and a festive atmosphere. Vivolo is an Italian restaurant on the upper east side (same area as Metropolitan Museum) with senior appeal and a very good value $20 3 course early dinner. http://vivolo.vivolonyc.com/pdf/vivolo_pf.pdf

I took my mom and her husband on the NY Party Shuttle tour and it was great. An airconditioned bus, drinks, you get to see alot of sites without having to do hardly any walking. Way way better than the big red double decker buses.

http://www.nypartyshuttle.com/new-york-attractions/