traveling to NYC
 

Once again we will be making a trip to NYC to visit a daughter in the convent. Last year I found a coupon for half price ice skating at Rockefeller Center. We would like to do that again, but I can't find the web site. Also, if you know a good site to check for reduced prices on any of the typical tourist sites, please let me know. There will be a total of 8 going, so we are going to pass on the broadway shows. Some idease we have include Ellis Island and surroundings, and NBC Tour, Empire State Building, St. Pat's Cathedral. we will have 3 teenage boys, 2 parents, 2 post-graduate college young adults, and a senior citizen, about 75. We are planning on using public transportation after we fly in on a Thursday evening. Then we will have all day Friday to ourselves. Saturday and Sunday will be with out "convent" daughter on Manhatten Island, and then returning home on Monday. If you have any good ideas, please post here or email at marcialynnniemerg at yahoo.com--please take out the spaces and chance the "at". (I think I might pick up some spam mail by giving out the address without the spaces, sorry you can't copy and paste!!)

I can't answer a lot of your questions, but if you have already gone skating at Rockefeller Center, I might suggest trying Wollman Rink. It's in the south part of central park and I hear it is nice (and bigger) than Rockefeller Center. here is a link to their site.

http://www.wollmanskatingrink.com/

Empire State Bldg is nice, but only if the weather is clear enough so that you can see a distance. We've had a lot of cloudy weather recently, and if you can't see far, the Empire State Bldg may not be worth the time.

If you are Museum fans, I would definitely recommend the Metropolitan Museum.

Also, if you don't want to do a Broadway show, you might enjoy one of the smaller off-Broadway shows. They are often very good and can be much cheaper. This site has some useful info re buying tickets, including for the smaller shows.

http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/tickets.htm

Take a look at this site: http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=1095 there are some special offers and some coupon savings. If you ask for the free visitor's guide, there are coupons in the back for reduced admissions to some attractions, order up now because they are very slow in filling requests!

Also look into an Entertainment book, right now they are $10 off and the shipping is free as it is after January. You can "preview" the book to see if it is "worth it" at http://www.eyeondeals.com/entertainment/index.html

Also, take a look at Restaurant.com and their corresponding auctions on eBay. You might just pick up some gift certificates for very little money. I "won" a certificate on eBay for Arte Cafe last fall ($3!) which gave us $25 off our bill (had a wonderful dinner by the way). Just read the fine print as some certificates are valid for dinner only, etc.

Thanks for the suggestions. The only reason we would ice skate at Rockefeller Center would be because of the location, and to say that we did it. Any more ideas would also be appreciated!!

There is the "Paint the Town" discount program I think is still going on??

Wollman Rink is neat because it is in Central park and you still have great NYC views. It's an outside rink for recreational skaters. Also it's not too far from the museums so some of you could go to the Natur History Museum or the Metropolitan and meet up after with the skating group.

One other place you might want to consider is Chelsea Piers. It is on the westside of Manhattan and is mostly indoors (built on piers), but it has a variety of entertainment besides skating if others in your group want to try things like Rock Climbing or even BMX. Here is a link:

http://www.chelseapiers.com/

marcia, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a suggested donation for the entrance fee so you could give a couple of dollars instead of the entire admission fee.

Free:

Big Apple Greeters (tour)
Staten Island Ferry
Central Park