harryfat1

You start the self-guided tour here in Hanger 1. What I like about it is they converted the area to be like a museum and it’s air conditioning. You appreciate A/C after walking out in the NYC summer heat to get here.

We are here at the USS Intrepid. Being somewhat of a fan of aviation/space things, I wanted to come and see the USS Intrepid as I have never been on an aircraft carrier. As with many NYC attractions, you can shop around online to get discounted tickets to the place Being anal/old school, I printed out the hard copy of the tickets

The walk from the Vessel to the USS Intrepid is slightly less than a mile but in the sun/humidity of NYC on July afternoon, it felt like a longer walk Some summer school/club events with the school buses there That's a lot of portable potties This was a funny sign – now obsolete due to Biden dropping out

Hudson Yards. The next day is July 4 and for the first time in 10 years, they are having the fireworks on the west side of Manhattan instead of the typical East River side of Manhattan. Which is too bad as our hotel was much closer to the East River side if they had it there. Anyway, the police are already stationing the gates for traffic control along the waterfront

Done with lunch. Time to walk out and go to the USS Intrepid. Here is the map of where we will be going the rest of the afternoon. All are within walking distance. Starting at the Vessel (Hudson Yards) and then making our way up north to see the USS Intrepid museum and then walking back down to the High Line

Onward with the trip report: Like I said, I really like the Vessel. I think it looks very interesting but some people hate it. Just like artwork, not everyone views it the same way. Time for lunch as it was 1:30. As the Vessel was part of the real estate development area called Hudson Yards, there’s a high-end shopping center next to it. Easy to just walk over there for lunch. As Shake Shack is an East Coast institution, that’s where we had lunch. Call me a Homer if you will, but I still prefer the West Coast favorite of In N Out Burger or The Habit more than Shake Shack but I do like their fries.

Yeah, unfortunately, Disney parks are not cheap. There has been some backlash from the Disney fans out there complaining about the high cost of visiting the parks. I will only go to WDW when they have promotions where the dining plan is included as part of the total package cost. Otherwise, the cost of food is crazy high. It will be a while before we go back to WDW as our focus now is on the other Disney parks we haven’t visited, like the one in Paris and others in Asia. Almost done with the NYC report. Days 8 & 9 are not that long. After this, I still need to look into my Carnival cruise in December although I haven’t really looked into it too much even though it’s a brand new ship. I’ve been spending my free time looking at London and Paris YouTube videos instead even though that’s over 10 months out. Especially the Disneyland Paris videos as those make me happy just looking at them. Being 9.2 anal, I doubt I will ever “wing it” on any vacation planning but the December cruise is more of a “been there, done that” feeling in there only being one new port (Mahogany Bay) as we have been to Costas Maya and Cozumel already. Maybe I will get more excited about the cruise after next month when we have to make the final payment and then it will become more real.

Huh. You are right and it didn't go upside down. Just backwards as I just checked the YouTube video. Fuzzy old man memory isn't what it used to be. Either way, it's an easy pass for me going forward on this one. If you ride it again, ask the Cast Member to put you at the very front of the coaster on the next train to get a special perspective

What did you think of the Expedition Everest ride? It’s got a really cool theming. Supposedly, the Disney design team traveled to the Himalayas to have a feel of the area to recreate the village at the pre-ride area when they were designing the ride. We went to AK twice during our trip and we rode the Expedition Everest on each visit. Well, my wife did it once and that was enough for her. I went with the boys the second time and I will say that’s it for me going forward as well. Next time we go back to AK, I will be sitting outside with my wife. Too old for these upside-down fast rollercoasters. Especially this one goes backward and upside down. My back wasn’t feeling the best afterward as I probably pulled a muscle I didn’t know I possessed…🤪

In the past, I believe they do not have plastic straws over at Animal Kingdom in all of the food places in that park in the name of "not good for the animals". . They confiscated all of the plastic straws from my backpack during the bag check

Was the monorail in operation after the storm? That's typically the fastest way to get to Poly from Magic Kingdom. There should be a hotel's monorail that takes you on a loop through Contemporary Resort (I believe you guys are going to Chef Mickey's for a meal later on at the Contemporary) and then Poly and finally the Grand Floridian. Not sure what's on your schedule, but definitely make it a point to stop at the hotel to check it out. This is Disney World's top-of-the-line hotel. Way too expensive for Cheapo Dad to stay in as we are over at the moderate resorts but many photo opts at the Grand Floridian if you decide to go. Also they have a water boat dock at the Grand Floridian where you can catch the nightly fireworks from there (free) so you don't even need to go inside the park to see it

Ohana is very nice. One of the WDW’s most beloved restaurants. Very difficult to secure a reservation. Good thing you got the reservation time. All you can eat. They keep bringing the food to your table until you say “No Mas” I timed the reservation for late dinner to coincide with the fireworks at Magic Kingdom as they dim the lights in the restaurant and pipe in the music from the parks so you can experience the fireworks from your table. You see the castle in the background

The primary difference between WDW and Disneyland is that WDW is more about the “experience” of being in the ecosystem of Disneyworld whereas Disneyland is more about rides. The parks are way too far apart at Disneyworld. As you experienced, just going to dinner takes extra planning time. Whereas in Disneyland, the entrances of the two parks are like 600 feet away from each other – shorter than one end to another end of Utopia of the Seas. As such, you can maximize your ride times at Disneyland and CA Adventure parks. You can pound out both parks in 3 days time and ride some attractions more than once. The same can’t be said for WDW where it’s more of an immersive experience to eat at various restaurants and see the different theming hotels. We were at WDW for more than a week and it was our 6th visit and we still didn’t see everything we wanted to see. How many days will you be at WDW? If you guys become Disney fans like us, here's a ranking of all the Disney parks worldwide for you to take your family to: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/best-worst-disney-theme-parks-world/

Taking a picture of ourself in the reflections

So the first thing you see is "The Vessel". As we love interesting structures, the Vessel was a must-see for us. I love the design but some people hated it. When it was first built few years ago, you could walk all the way to the top of the structure but sadly they had to close the walkway going up after a few people committed suicide in jumping out from the top. They had to close it for a while and I read that they plan to re-open the place again but now with wired mesh at the top so that people couldn’t jump out from the top. But it wasn’t opened when we were there.

After Bryant Park, it was a short subway ride to Hudson Yards on the west side. This area is a new development with high-end shops and housing on the west side of Manhattan Nice subway entrance/exit. Very modern. Check out this building as it is a work in progress. Notice something missing? No windows/glasses. It's like a big white toothpaste building

It’s a sunny day. Better buy a hat for sun protection Bryant Park is a nice area to hang out to escape the crowded sidewalks of Midtown A little water break and rest before heading for the subway

After a certain point, this is more "work" than being at work. When does the "fun" part start?

Done with the library. Time to go outside. The NYC library is part of Bryant Park and they have juggling lessons for anyone wanting to learn If you want the actual NYC library to check out books, that’s across the street but that's a lot less interesting to us tourists

So technically they called the place NYC library but there are no books to check out (that's for the building across the street). This is for the cheapo tourists like yours truly who is too cheap to pay for the Met museum so we just walk around here for free and take a few pictures to pretend we are in a museum and move on. How often do you see a souvenir/gift store inside a "library"?

Artwork in the ceiling

When was the last time you saw an actual phone booth and the phones worked? You know you are young when you try to walk up to it and try to pay it with a contactless credit card... Coins? What's that?

Yeah, many people said you have a better view of the painting online than in real life. At least you have a clean shot of the picture without 5 heads in your picture.

You have to go through a security bag check just to be allowed inside