bert425

early entry too, but there's also actually an extra hour the day before your park tickets.. .so at the end of the day, when the crowds die down anyways. On site guests get to go into the park 3 hours before closing, instead of the 2 hour before closing that the GP gets with next day tickets. we made great use of it, and didn't even take the full 3 hours to ride everything we wanted to do (things we knew would have longer lines the next day). we went from the Lodge to the park via shuttle around 3pm, and spent a few hours in Chocolate World (outside the gates) doing activities there -- making our own candy bar, trolley tour around downtown Hershey, the chocolate ride, etc. .and then just went to main gate at 6pm to get in for our early admission the night before (park closed at 9pm that day I believe) after getting so much in the night before, we didn't even bother with getting up early the next day, and just went after eating breakfast

Hershey Lodge is HUGE. . . if it was completely booked? I'd be concerned about crowds. I misunderstood. I guess my sister was looking for a suite and they were all booked out of those. It looks like they have regular rooms available. the regular rooms are a good size ..she should look into those. our room only had a King bed, but we could have easily fit two rollaways in the room if we had needed to. (and the extra hour benefit of staying on property -- not to mention the free shuttle (no parking fee, and they drop near the front gate!) made it very much worth it to stay. We were there on a fairly quiet week (think we and one other couple were the only ones staying in our wing -- we had asked for "away from kids if possible" -- and the indoor pool was still PACKED.. so they definitely need that pool improvement up there!

Hershey Lodge is HUGE. . . if it was completely booked? I'd be concerned about crowds.

Thanks folks! making notations on all suggestions. . . leaning towards flight into Buffalo, and then booking a shuttle to take us to the Canadian side (found a decent FallsView room at Marriott right on the falls for a very reasonable price). so investigating if this plan (fly USA, shuttle to Canada) would work we'd be looking at likely Mon-Wed (Mon/Tues night stay) in Niagra Falls, then late afternoon flight on Wed into LaGuardia, which would give us Wed Evening thru Sun stay (5 nights) in Manhattan, with a flight back on Monday afternoon. that means we'd likely end up hitting Coney Island on a Summer weekend (which would be just fine, as the only things we'd really ride would be Cyclone, and maybe a few flats), and I have a feeling it would be more "fun" with the crowds. But the Great Adventure trip will have to be likely on a Friday.. . oh well, still not a weekend!

Instead of eating anyplace packed in Times Square walk a block or two west (8th Avenue and 9th Avenue) for less crowds and a huge variety of food options (especially on 8th Avenue) Try this place for awesome burgers and grilled chicken http://www.islandburgersandshakes.com/ that looks delicious and amazing!

My advice here is don't stay to close to Time Square. We stayed in Time Square when we went to NYC this past July, and it was a nightmare. Anytime you want anything, even if it is something as simple as McDonalds, that is RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE HOTEL... You have to deal with hundreds of thousands of people. A simple 10 minute trip to grab a bite to eat ends up taking 2 hours. Everything is so busy, and so packed in Time Square, that I would HIGHLY suggest avoiding staying in, or near Time Square. Time Square is nice to visit while you are there but staying in it gets really annoying, really fast. If you really don't have a need to go TO the Statue Of Liberty, try doing one of the sightseeing ferries instead. They give you a great view of the entire city, as well as taking you under the Brooklyn Bridge, and around the Statue Of Liberty. You get great views of the Statue Of Liberty without having to deal with going TO the Statue Of Liberty. When we were there it was about a 4 hour wait just to buy tickets to get to the Statue Of Liberty. So like I said if you don't need to go TO the Statue Of Liberty, try just taking a sightseeing tour around the Statue Of Liberty, it will save you almost a full day! Also, there are a lot of people in Time Square who will be selling tickets for the "Open Top Bus Tours" They are not only a great way to see the city, but they are hop on hop off. So once you buy your ticket for the tour buses which most will include a sightseeing ferry ride around the Statue Of Liberty, then you can use the buses like a Taxi Service. You can get on near your hotel, and ride it to a stop near where you want to go, and save a lot of walking! If you haven't seen it check out Wicked!! It is an amazing Broadway show! Highly recommended. Not sure if you need to spend a "Full Day" at Coney Island. (Unless you just want to) We were there for a few hours and we were able to do everything we wanted to do. We got there at about 7pm, and we were done by 11pm. Also, spend the like $36 to get the one week unlimited metro pass. It will get you unlimited rides on the Subway System which will save you hours of walking. (Also, spend the 30 minutes it takes to learn how to USE the subway) and you'll be set. You can take the Subway all the way from Time Square to Coney Island... But it's going to take about an hour. So make sure you are planning that travel time when you are planning to go down to Coney Island! --------------------------------------------- I hope this helps a little! If I think of anything else that might help I'll let you know! Good luck! thanks for the advice, it is all greatly appreciated. to respond to a few specific things: Times Square - good point, but I'd like to stay near the theater district, so to me that was Times Square. But that's why I was keeping Mid-town as an option too. So maybe closer to the Museum District, and we can subway it/or cab it to any shows we attend. Statue of Liberty -- remember, Nick has never been, so we not only want to go to Liberty (and Ellis) Islands, we want to go up to the crown. (I've found a place online that will let us book the ferry and the tickets to the crown online, for only $28 each. .which seems SUPER reasonable). Wicked -- seen the touring show, and loved it, so it's definitely an option. Really, we don't have anything specific on our wish list, so it will be a case of "what's available" and we'll buy tickets to it. (in particular the TXTS booth, or asking my Cousin to pick up some tix for us for whatever shows he can grab).

Parks near Coney by distance If you are going to be there in summer there is a bus that goes from NYC to Great Adventure. Its an hour and half ride or so but El Toro is worth it. so that's the closest Six Flags? (we want to meet up w/ friends who will have a car on one day, and are hoping that will be the theme park day. . tho all of us on a bus would be good too). and that's the park w/ Kinda Ka, as well as El Toro. . . so an hour and a half isn't bad. . .

hmmm. . thanks (and to BrassintheGrass) on the suggestion for an evening at Coney Island. the only issue will be Nick (who is already terrified of riding on the Subway), being willing to do so after dark!). seriously . . . .

hmm. . I wonder, could we fly into Buffalo, and then cross over to the Canadian side to stay at the Marriott over there? or would we need to fly into the Canadian side?

Hi folks, so after considering Dollywood and/or Busch Gardens Tampa/Orlando, it looks as if we are gonna attempt our trip this year to include Niagara Falls, and then going into Manhattan for 4-5 days. I was thinking that we'd fly to Niagara Falls (via Buffalo. . since we cant get a reasonable flight to Toronto. . . seriously, 15 hours and 3 plane changes from Austin???), and stay 2 nights/3 days on the USA side, with a trip across to the Canadian side for 1 of those days. Then we'll go back to Buffalo airport to fly into LaGuardia (was looking at doing the train, but not only is it 9+ hours, but it's more expensive than the dang flight would be!). so we're likely going to be staying near Times Square (or close to mid-town), and on our plan for the 4-5 nights in NY are going to be: State of Liberty/Ellis Island, Guggenheim, MoMA, Empire State Building, Central Park Zoo, Wall Street/Fulton St. Fish Market, and at least 2 shows (Broadway or Off-Broadway). We also will have to meet up with family while there, and a friend or two. .but that will likely be for a meal. of course, I am also planning 1 full day down at Coney Island. so that ties up at least 3-4 days. But we were also thinking of maybe squeezing in an additional Theme Park while there (although we won't have a car rented). Looking at the maps, I can't really tell *which* is the best/closest park to Manhattan that we might be able to go to for a day. any suggestions? (or touristy things, I might be missing?). Nick has never been, and it's been YEARS since I've been to Manhattan. ** I see they have CityPass in NY, so might consider that as well. . tho I think the 911 memorial/museum is going to be a no-go (simply too emotionally draining for us to go to). Any suggestions are welcomed

Our HP trip was during early June (6th-8th, I believe) and it was on a Tues-Wed. and yeah, pretty much EVERYTHING (other than Fahrenheit) was a walk on -- including the amazing Storm Runner

so people have an idea what's at the link (it's NOT spam): yes, those are apartments!

Agreed! I'm betting this will actually break big, once the Media stops focusing on some other things today.

we just booked this same cruise, on the same ship for 2017. . (it's gonna be with a big group of bears ). . . so I'm interested too! (tho I'm sure the group will have functions for us to attend).

the only one I have actually bought a shirt of, so I'll say this one: (tho I did buy a Big Bad Wolf shirt too. .no real 'logo' there)

I found Kennywood's skyline to be incredible. . .in particular at night:

Fantastic trip report with amazing pictures. looks like a fun trip, even with the weather and the iceburg!

Since I've been a member here, we've done two great trips that I planned, and I posted Trip reports about. Warning, I type a LOT, and we like to mix culture with our Theme Park trips. 1st, in 2014. we flew into Pittsburgh, and rented a car, hitting: Kennywood, Hersheypark, Knoebel's and Dorney, before spending a couple of days immersing ourselves in Philadelphia's museums and history: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=68306&p=1463703#p1463703 Then this past June, we flew into Washington, DC, and spent 3 days in Busch Gardens Williamsburg/Colonial Williamsburg, before hitting Kings Dominion on the way back to Washington, where we spent 3 days hitting the Capitol sites, and Smithsonians. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=70573

That "Superman" curl in the first pic if freaking AWESOME, Robb

note to self. . .find some way to make it into Robb and Elissa's list of "friends they liked before".. so I can go on a TPR trip with them! (hmmmm. . .wonder how much I'll have to spend for a time machine???).

I'm a luddite who doesn't tweet.. but that 's a neat contest. and the menu is making me hungry!

We lost one of the true originals from this world today. R.I.P. Holly Woodlawn (for those who aren't familiar, she was one of Warhol's Superstars, and was also one of the subjects (along with other Warhol Superstars Candy Darling and Joe Delleasandro) of Lou Reed's hit song "Walk on the Wild Side" Holly came from Miami F.L.A. Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A. Plucked her eyebrows on the way Shaved her legs and then he was a she She said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side, Said, hey honey, take a walk on the wild side.

I will note that we don't use "fastpass" type systems, and have absolutely no issue waiting in lines (we enjoy that as part of the experience). that said, I thought the operations at HersheyPark were amazing (every ride that was down during our visit, was back up and operating within the hour, in every case). . the park is gorgeous, and some of the rides were very very fun. in fact, the only thing I would even flag as a "dislike" for HersheyPark? The park maps are TERRIBLE, and even with the maps in hand, we had to keep asking staff where things were. but other than that? we loved it and would Rank it among the better parks we have been to. (tho not as high as BGW, or Knoebel's)

My Partner *hates* front car, and will not ride it. so we always end up more in the middle, tho where exactly depends on the type of coaster: wood: closer to the front (ie: 2nd car) Steel: closer to the back (ie: next to last car)

we enjoyed Thunderhawk, but it was a bit rough. however, we've certainly been on rougher woodies, and you can' t beat the view, going up that lift hill: