What an early day! 6am flight = 4am at the airport = 3am leaving the house = 2:30am wake up... Omg! Why did I make this decision š¤£ But, we made it!
The weather in Toronto was great! A bit chilly at 3am, but adding a sweater was fine. First half of the flight was smooth. Didnāt feel a thing (also cause I was passed out š“). The second half though, was quite turbulent! The landing felt like the plane was coming in sideways. But we landed without issue. As we were passing the cockpit on our way off the plane, we could overhear the captain saying that we were barely under the threshold of wind shear to make the landing. If we were over, wouldāve had to go around and try again. Or even divert to another airport. But luckily, we made it!
We grabbed our ride, and off we go to the Kimpton Era Midtown New York, hopeful that we can get an early checking. Worst case, drop off our luggage, freshen up and grab some coffee before heading out to start our day.
As we enter the hotel, we find ourselves at a set of iPads. Self check-in? Thatās something new. We go through the process on the iPad, and unfortunately, it says our room isnāt ready yet. Itās only 9am, so thatās very understandable. We found that the reception area is actually up on the 3rd floor, so we make our way up there to drop off our bags. As we get to a reception agent, they have a look, and can actually change our room to one thatās available right away. Fantastic! The hotel had originally upgraded us to a room with a King size bed, but almost all the reviews say that the rooms are incredibly small. The room that was available right away was with a Queen size bed. We were hopeful that this would give us a little more space in the room. Welcome to our room! Even with the smaller Queen bed, itās still very cozy š
Nice window ledge seat though!
We take a bit of time to freshen up, clear our bags, and get ready to start our day in NYC! And whatās a better way to start NYC, than with some pizza! We head to Joeās Pizza for our first slices of the trip!
Now that weāve fuelled up, task #2 is to get musical tickets! We talked about watching Aladdin the last time we were in NYC (in 2019) but we cheaped out! This time, it was on our to-do list! Now was the time to make our way to TKTS, in hopes to get some discounted, last minute tickets for the musical. This would hopefully get us a decent discount. We get to TKTS Times Square, and the line didnāt seem too bad. The staff tell us from our point in line, the wait is typically around 45 mins once the ticket booths open (at 11am).
While weāre in line, the rain starts coming down. Luckily, weāre prepared. Weāve got our raincoats on, and also brought an umbrella! Wincy was also really nice! The two behind us hadnāt brought an umbrella, and offered some space under ours. Made things a bit awkward though, as the rain became a light drizzle. We had rain coats and wouldnāt have minded the drizzle, but they two behind us had nothing, so we kept the umbrella up. 11am comes around, and the line starts moving. Surprisingly, the staff was extremely bang on! We get to the ticket booth, and after payment, weāve got our tickets for Aladdin tonight! Timestamp on the photo, 11:46am! Impressive!
Now that our tickets have been acquired, the rest of the day is more open! We see the Central Perk across the street, and stop in for a quick visit
Not much to see here, but everything is FRIENDS themed. They do serve their coffee blends if interested in grabbing a cup. As we were still close by the hotel, we decided to head back to use the washroom, and freshen up after spending ~2hrs lining up in the rain. Chick-Fil-A caught Wincyās attention though, so now a quick snack was included š
After the snack, we decide to check out the Nintendo pop-up across the street
And they had a bunch of PokĆ©mon plushies, Ditto style š
We then go for a bit of a stroll, and found ourselves at 7th Street Burger. Itās a popular smash burger spot, but too greasy for our liking. Luckily we only got one to share.
And as we were leaving 7th Street Burger, the place next door was giving out samples!
Next up! Trader Joeās! Just as we arrive, a firetruck shows up right where weāre about to cross the street. Not in the picture, a second one showed up as well and parked in front of this one. They were called to the building next door, so into Trader Joeās we go!
Why is Trader Joeās always so busy! š This one is multi-levelled, and the line was incredibly long! Had to make this shopping trip worth it! Not too bad, until we saw the exchanged value in CAD š After Trader Joeās, we found a nearby pizza spot. 2nd slice of the day!
This place, not as great. Wasnāt NY style pizza in our opinion. The crust was too doughy.
So after this snack, time to head back to the hotel again to get some rest before our event of the night. It was 4pm at this point, and we had been running on maybe 4 hrs of sleep, and up for 13+ hours at this point š . We take the subway back to our hotel, and our exit takes us to Ding Tai Fung!
After a brief nap time, itās time to get to the event of the night!
What great seats we got! And what a fantastic show! We would definitely come and watch this again. Baby seems to have loved the show as well, as he kicked mommy several times during the show š
After the show, it was time for our late night snack. Time for some Adelās. Last time we were in NYC, the go-to spot was Halal Guys, but Adelās is the go-to spot now! From what weāve read, line upās are known to be almost 2hrs long on most nights.
We were so lucky! Look at that line! We can actually see the stand from where we were š Took us less than 15 mins to get to the front of the line! We decided to get a mixed to share. What a place! No menu, just need to know what to order. We picked right though. This was delicious! Luckily our hotel also included soft drinks in our āresort feeā, as the Coke Zeroās were needed. Love their spicy sauce, but itās got quite the kick š . Also had to make good use of the resort fee. We were paying $45USD a night! This marked the end of Day 1ās adventure though. Time for bed!
