Stuff to do advice please NY, LA & SF

[arfur]

I have booked a surprise trip in august for me, dh, dd (12) and ds (10) for DHs 40th. We are staying in NY for 4 nights (booked tickets for wicked and dinner at gordo ramseys so far) then 2 nights LA, 6 nights hawaii (just for relaxation and going to the pearl harbour memorial) then back to SF for 2 nights (doing alcatraz but not sure what else as will only be there for a day and a half). Trip is loosely movie themed (hence pearl harbour) so am thinking central park zoo (madagascar) nat hist museum (night at the museum) want to do statue of lib but know that the viewing bit will be shut so wondered about a nightime boat trip to see it lit up instead. Any info/advice greatly appreciated as never been before and will (hopefully) be once in a lifetime trip. TIA

If you go to Pearl Harbor then you will need to travel there very early as it is also some fair distance outside Honolulu. You can take an organised excursion tour to Pearl Harbor. If you leave it till later in the day you can wait hours (literally) to board the boat that takes passengers out to the Arizona memorial site. Also numbers are strictly controlled and the whole site is after all a war grave site which has remained basically undisturbed since the sinking of the Arizona. You are left on the white floating memorial to your own thoughts and the whole memorial can heave with people so its not very peaceful. On land you will be shown a black and white film about the events of that day. Ford Island which is adjacent to the memorial has the US Missouri battleship which can be visited. This may be actually more interesting for your children to see; its a big ship to tour but the staff try and engage the children.

Where are you staying on Oahu?.

The Statue of Liberty can be a nightmare in terms of both long, long lines and zealous security officials and you would need to buy tickets in advance. You'd be far better off going to the Top of the Rock instead at the Rockefeller centre or even the Empire State Building.

Also the Staten Island Ferry takes passengers past the Statue of Liberty in NY Harbor and the ferry ride is free.

Thanks for that Attilla - we are staying at the Hilton Waikiki beach.

Highlights of my trips:

NY
don't get off the boat at Liberty island, stay on and go to Ellis Island
Central Park is great, especially on a Sunday, combine with a spin round the Natural History museum
The area round South ST Seaport is great fun, good restaurants for DC with great views of Brooklyn Bridge
If you go up the Empire State Building you can queue jump by buying (ad not going on) the simulator ride thingy
Favourite restaurant Tribecca Bar and Grill

LA
The backlot tour at Universal is a great day
Great restaurants if you head up to Malibu
Rent skates at Venice beach and skate up the beach to Santa Monica pier

SF is GREAT, you'll love the Alcatraz tour
Get a trolley car ticket at the harbour and take a tour
Haight ST is a but cheesy, but great cafes
There are lots of open air theatre events in Golden Gate park
If you have a car you can head out to see the Redwoods

have a great time xx

Plenty to do and see at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. You need never leave the hotel complex. ABC store on site is generally good value.

Superpool there can get very crowded during the day and this pool can close quite early.

They hold a fireworks display every Friday.

NY-Lindy's for cheesecake, although a bit touristy since I was last there
Central Park, Macys,Circle Line Tour, Ground Zero.
Also worth a trip to Brooklyn Heights to see skyline from Columbia Heights. Get subway from Wall street, go one stop to Clark Street and walk down Henry Street. Lovely Brownstones etc to see.
SF- For something a bit different, go to Nob Hill and take elevator to top of the mark.Very expensive restaurant, but a drink wont kill ya too much :).Its a revolving restaurant and gives you great views of San Fran and the bay. Ghirardelli Square, Fishermans Wharf and the Japanese Tea garden are worth a look. Lombard Street, the crookedest Sreet in the worls is a nice crazy street.

Never been to LA

These are such major cities that you might do best investing in guidebooks, which will not only provide a list of sights, all neatly in one place, but also information on transportation, etc.
For a movie theme, how about the Empire State Building (King Kong, Affair to Remember, When Harry Met Sally)?

Don't know much about SF or HI, but the Natural History museum, Central Park and Empire State Building are all definitely worth it. IIRC, they've finished building the 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero, too. But I think you have to reserve visitor passes for that. www.911memorial.org/

If you have the budget for it, would defo recommend taking in a show while you're in NYC. Doesn't have to be Broadway, necessarily - I went to see Blue Man Group off Broadway a few years ago, and it was ace. It gave me and the (long since ex) boyfriend something to do in the evenings besides go shopping. And then we had one of those mega-cheese pizzas at a pizza joint about a block from our hotel. If you are pizza fans, definitely get a pizza.

Oh you have booked tickets for Wicked. Excellent. I should read!

Thanks everyone! Have now booked empire state express tickets and I think we will do harbour cruise to see statue of lib, Ellis island, and Brooklyn bridge. Have also (at least I hope as I haven't had a confirmation) booked a trip to see Alcatraz, the giant redwoods and sausalito in San fran. It's slowly coming together, trouble is I don't want to be too rigid in my plans but also don't want to waste any time dithering about what to do

We were in LA last summer and loved Disneyland! 2 DSs aged 16 and 14. Universal Studios was good too. Also went downtown to see the stars on the pavements. San Fran great too! We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge and on to Sausalito, then got the ferry back to SF. We were there in August, and it was really quite chilly! But then we all burnt a bit the next day! Highly recommend an open top bus tour, go all the way, then decide where you want to hop off. Clam chowder at Fishermans Wharf was a treat, in a bread bowl! Hope you all have a fab time, am sure you will, the holiday of a lifetime! :)

Great holiday and such fun planning!

One comment I would make is that the Top of the Rock gives you a great perspective of New York - I started to see where everything was the first time I went up there!

Don't know whether your DC would like it, but we got tickets for a baseball game (don't know how the seasons work though). Also ate at Starlight Diner, where the staff sing as they work. Walked over Brooklyn Bridge into the city.

Helicopter flight is great - but pricey.

Just come back from NYC - totally agree with ajandjjmum re Top of the Rock. It was the first thing we did when we got there. You get a great view of the Empire State and Central park from there and it gave us a great idea of where everything was. Go at sunset if you can and watch the lights come on. I didn't want to come down.