Thursday, October 19th, 2023
Today we were hitting the City HARD. We had bought a Go City All-Inclusive Pass for the 3 days we were in town and were going to put the Pass to the test in New York. We had a lot planned and were going to really test the limits of the Pass. We have used passes a lot, especially in New York, and always love the experience. On this trip, we were trying a new pass and had some pretty tough conditions to test the pass against.
3-Day Go City New York Pass All-inclusive Hands-on Test
The Go City Pass has been our go-to pass for a long time. We love the Explorer Pass as it gives you more time to spread out attractions. But we had a short trip, and no need to spread things out so we opted for the all-inclusive pass. This is new, but really it is pretty much the exact copy of the NEW YORK PASS, which is from the same people and works exactly the same way with the same attractions. So new, but not new…still we wanted to give it a go as it was the best fit for our trip.
Read the Full review here, or look at Our Comparison Page here
Central Park – Free
One thing we find with the Passes is none of the attractions are open early. Really this is a New York Problem, not a Pass Problem, but with Jet lag and excitement, we were up early and eager to go…but there is nothing to go to…not even the shops. One thing that was open was Central Park, as that is always open, and it was a glorious morning so we headed straight out to explore the park.
This was a bit of a Basic trip, we headed straight for the Home LAone Bridge, then past the Ice-Rink that was in the process of converting from a summer skate rink to Winter Ice. Then up to the Mall and down to Bethesda Terrace and Fountains. A quick peek at Bow Bridge then we made our way out.
The Skies were clear the foliage on the turn and the golden morning sun blazing down. It may have been a bit Basic, but it was still magical, and we were there before the crowds descended.
Top Of the Rock – $43
The First Pass stop was the Rockefeller Center to head up the Top Of The Rock. However, this was problematic. Here is where we explain how the conditions meant we were really stretching the value of a pass as things were going to get ugly.
The weather was stunning. It was still warm, sunny, and overall the perfect sightseeing conditions. Overnight things were going to change. Heavy rain was forecast for the next 36 hours and anything like Observation decks or even outdoor attractions were a No-No. So we needed to pack a lot into today. We were not the only ones to think of this and the Top Of The Rock was insane!
after a long queue, we got to the front to be told the next available was 9:15…PM. This was not in our plans, we wanted…now. We had other things planned for the evening and could not do the Rock, and we were not even sure we had another window when the weather would play ball. In the end, we booked a slot for Saturday morning as the forecasts showed a short break then and left. We asked about paying to upgrade to Express, but that is not an option with the pass.
We are counting this attraction as a “today” attraction though as we redeemed the Pass for a timed ticket. The Ticket is valid for 365 days and can be rescheduled anytime. The pass had been scanned and we were now on the Top Of The Rock System, not the Passes, so the pass had delivered its promise and got us a ticket to the top, now we just had to redeem it, but it did not have to be within the 3 days of the pass. If we fail to get up, we will return and edit this, but we are sure we will find a window.
Empire State Building – $51
We still wanted to get up high so we opted to switch to the Empire State Building instead. The Observation Deck requires pre-booking which is easily done via the Go City Booking portal and they had a slot for noon. We took that and headed over.
It was by now only 11:15 and the nice lady could not let us in early as they have done in the past. We realized we had not eaten yet so wandered over to the Square in front of Macy’s to hunt for brunch. We ended up in Shake Shack, our favorite East Coast Burger joint, and had what some call the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast.
Back at the Empire State we ran the gauntlet of Sightseeing Bus Sellers and headed into the Building. The Museum/Exhibition floor was manic, and the various picture points were seriously crowded, so we kind of skipped through what we had seen before and got the pictures to prove it. So no need to linger. The Queue for the elevators was okay, it was kind of staggered so you never really felt like you were queuing.
The big bottleneck was on the indoor 80th-floor deck. The main Elevator only takes you as far as the 80th Floor and there are additional Elevators up to the 86th. The queue for these was 45 mins…We were not amused. We don’t really like queueing for anything. However, there was a little shortcut. As I nipped to the restrooms I noticed an attendant by an empty doorway, who announced anyone wishing to take the stairs could skip the queue. This is a no-brainer and I head back to pluck Kate from the queue and take our personal Express lane. This was a stiff hike, but totally manageable, and a good insight into what the Race to the Top event would be like.
Up at the top and it was VERY busy. But most people were pretty cautious and took their photos and moved on. The light was very strong and good photos were pretty challenging with the intense sun washing things out, but still, the view was as mindblowing as ever, and the visibility was near perfect.
The 360-degree nature of the deck means you can just slowly walk around taking in the various views out over the City. There was also a really nice Fall/Halloween display in one corner of the deck for those Instagram moments.
After spending 45 minutes or so at the top we headed back down. there was thankfully very little in the way of queues on the way down.
NYC TV & Movie Bus Tour – On Location – $61
We then jumped on the Subway and headed back up to Times Square where we had our tour booked. However, we were pretty early so hunted out a little Irish bar to take the load off and wait for the tour.
We do not often take these kinds of tours as we prefer hunting out these sites ourselves but wanted to do things we don’t always do on the Pass. The pick-up point was in Times Square and the large bus was pretty packed. The tour guide was really fun and knowledgeable and took us on a 2.5-hour tour around some of the big movie and TV sights in the City.
The first location was Times Square, which is a bit of a cop-out, we all know many films are shot here, even if they are just using B-Roll. The bus next stopped at the Friends apartment building, one of the only Friends Filming locations in New York (if you didn’t know friends was filmed almost exclusively in L.A. on a sound stage). There is no coffee shop at the base and overall it’s just an apartment block used in the credits and cut scenes, but still really nice to see…If only we knew how poignant this would be as later in our trip we got the news that Friends Actor Matthew Perry had passed away.
The next stop was the Famous Hook and Ladder Firehouse, unmistakable from the Ghostbusters film. We have been here several times and it’s always cool. The Crew is pretty accommodating to tours and often open up the doors for people to look around, but this is not guaranteed as it’s a working station and they could be training or on a call.
The last stop is the Washington Square Arch, a well-used location from Girls, The Mindy Project, Glee, Someone Great, and When Harry Met Sally, none of which are high on our favorites lists. On top of these, the tour passes by hundreds of locations where movies have been shot. Some are iconic and others are more modern.
Honestly, the tour guide barely stopped talking and pointing out various movie locations. The Bus takes a long tour all around Midtown and Lower Manhattan pointing out Hotels, Parks, Restaurants, and all of the hundreds of locations filmed in this living Movie set.
There are a couple of drawbacks to doing a tour like this, mainly as a large part of this tour was spent enjoying one of Manhattan’s least fun activities…sitting in Traffic. This gave the guide a lot of time to point out sites, but there was a lot of padding as well.
In perfect traffic, this is probably a 1.5-hour tour, but it takes 2.5 just because of hold-ups. It does pack an awful lot into this time, but most of the sights can be found easily enough on your own. You are also limited to their itinerary not what is important to you. There were sights we loved and really wanted to see just a few hundred meters away, but we could not visit these as they were not on the tour. The tour also misses a few big hitters, just because of time constraints, There is nothing in the Park, no Grand Central Terminal, nothing downtown, ect ect… it’s understandable, but there are so many movie sights in New York it’s impossible to pack them all into one tour. We prefer hunting out the ones that matter to us as we hit other sights and locations.
After the tour, we had a mad dash to get down to the waterfront and catch our evening Cruise. We were really packing things in today, as we knew what the next couple of days were bringing weather-wise
Harbor Lights – $49
The evening was about as perfect as you could hope for for a river cruise. It was cool, but not overly so, there was a breeze, but again, manageable. The Clouds were sparse and high, and the visibility was crystal clear. In short a Beautiful night.
The Harbor Lights cruise leaves just after sunset, 7 pm in this instance, and takes a long tour around Manhattan Island with the Skyline twinkling away in its evening glory. For us seasoned New York travelers, this is a mindblowing sight still, these things never get old, but for anyone new to the city, it’s hard to put into words how magical the skyline is on an evening. The Cruise really gets you some of the best angles and views of the Hudson Yards development, the Stunning Downtown Skyline, Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn itself, and back up towards Midtown for views of the Empire State, the Summit, The Crysler Building, and the new Billionaires Row Buildings.
The final Hurah is the close and slow pass of the Statue of Liberty. She really looks glorious lit up at night against the twinkling lights of the Manhattan Skyline. The cruise back up the Hudsom really took some time, we had flown down the river, but the current was strong and we chugged back up to the pier a little anxious about time as we had one more attraction to fit in today.
The Edge – $50
The Edge Closes and 10 pm and the last entry is at 9:10…it was 8:50 when the boat docked and Google was saying it was a 22-minute walk…do the math!
Not to be defeated, we upped the walking pace to a near sprint, and made it to the Edge Welcome desk, hot, out of breath, and flustered with 1 minute to spare. The Guy looking at us like we were mad. Anyway, we were in and heading to the top.
The best thing about getting here last second was we got the ride to the top all to ourselves. We have never had an Observation deck elevator to ourselves and it was really nice. Also up on the top, it was super quiet. The Edge is a large deck but there are several pinch points where everyone congregates so it gets pretty crowded. There can be 1-hour queues for the Point, the must-have selfie locations, and the Glass floor is usually littered with people getting their above-ground selfies. Tonight, it was nearly abandoned. This was wonderful.
New York is manic and to have this much space to ourselves with this kind of view is something else. It was the perfect relaxed end to a really manic day. Hard to believe the visit to Central Park this morning was actually the SAME day!
Pizza – $0.99c
As we got off the Subway the craziness of the day rescinded and the hunger started! We had eaten a burger at Brunch time, and nothing else all day, this really hit home around now…and the perfect remedy was 99c Pizza. Some people are too snobby for the 99c shops and claim it to be a highly inferior product, we tend to think the more expensive shops just overcharge, as 99c pizza is awesome. we got 4 huge slices and two cans for $6… that’s pretty unbeatable in NYC… it’s good value ANYWHERE!
We devoured the pizza and headed back to the hotel, tired, beaten up, and broken, but still buzzing from a truly incredible day in our favorite City. We scarcely remember going to bed as we were sleeping before the head hit the pillow.
Go City New York All Inclusive 3-Day Pass – Running Total
- Attractions Today – 5
- Total Attractions – 5
- Attractions Cost – $254
- Running Total – Day 1 of 3: $254
- Cost Of Pass – $249
- Savings – $6
If you ever wanted an example of how much you can save with a Go City Pass, here it is. On day one we are $6 in the green! Everything we do from here on will be technically FREE. Ok, we still have the top of the rock to go up, but it’s paid for and we can go anytime now, and honestly, we had time to do both the TOTR and the Empire State, it’s just they would not let us. We also did loads of fun free activities too, such as Central Park, Times Square, and visiting an Irish bar (not technically free but we got drinks).
Really this was too much to fit into a day, but we took the opportunity as the weather…well take a look at the next installment…
Walking Total – 32,590 Steps – 13.2 Miles
Over a half-marathon in total, that’s a lot of walking. Many people ask how to get around New York and the honest answer is, most of the time, the fastest way is to heel it.
<<< Day 1 – London Heathrow to JFK – Virgin Atlantic Upper Class – A350 – 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar
Day 3 – Rain – Moma – Gallaghers Lunch – Catacombs – Little Italy – Early Night >>>
