As a NDM living in New York, what can I do to keep a Disney Lifestyle when Orlando is 1,078 miles away? (I don’t even try to calculate the distance to Anaheim.) The answer is the easy access I have to New York City where Disney magic is found in Times Square.
New York, New York – I love New York. So much to see and to do. And for an NDM like me, there is Disney on Broadway. The best way to inject Disney magic into my life is to see a Disney produced show on Broadway.
I have seen Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and the Lion King. Captivating and breathtaking – the sets, the costumes, the music, the acting. Now I am taking the family to see the latest Disney production Aladdin.
The show has been a big hit on Broadway. Even the New York Times gave it a ‘fabulous’ review. They really wanted to dislike it only because it is Disney produced.
This isn’t a review of the show. I’ll just say it was MAGICAL! JAW DROPPING BRILLIANT! You get the idea. There are loads of reviews and even one here on DDL. My intention here is focus on creating a Disney experience in NYC. The best way to do that is to see a Disney produced show.
We are a family of four. To see this production I spent $83.50 per ticket (plus another $7 to have the tickets mailed.) We drove down to the city (60 miles one way, 120 miles round trip.) At .54 per mile that would be $64.80 travel expenses. Parking garage $20 (that is a bargain!) Dinner after the show $50 at the Edison Cafe, a bare bones diner on 47th Street and only drinking water and no dessert. I packed snacks for the car trip. It isn’t a Disney trip to NYC without a visit to the Disney Store. Amazingly, I got out of there with only a $22 Merida plush toy. You really could spend quite a lot on just the NYC specific merchandise. Ok, so let’s tally the day: $497.80 (a little more because you have to tip the garage and the diner.) Now think about a day at Walt Disney World. Sure it is hard to compare if you are looking at just the numbers. A Broadway show is 3 hours long. A day at the the park could be 6, 8, 10 hours? A day at the park means many different experiences while a show is an immersion in just one. A day at the park is fun and exhausting. A show leaves me light hearted and singing. I miss the parks dearly and wish so much to visit again. I don’t really miss Times Square. I loved the show. But I don’t have a strong feeling to see it again. I feel satisfied. I look forward to the next show whenever that will be.
Oh- I forgot to mention the crowds. Wow! A summer day in NYC is hot. Possibly hotter than WDW in August. We lucked out weather wise because it was unusually cool and cloudy. Not a day for the beach but not bad for a trip to Times Square. I was glad to visit on a cool day with a slight breeze. Apparently, 7 million other people had the same idea. It was shoulder to shoulder humanity. Just like WDW, plan your visit well.
How do you keep Disney in your life when the parks are not accessible to you?
Letty has loved all things Disney since she was child. Her first visit to the world was back in 1978. Since then she has returned as a spring break college student; as a young woman traveling with her boyfriend (now husband); and her last visit as a wife and mother of twin girls. Every trip was magical. Keeping her Disney fix between visits, she immerses herself researching all she can about the Disney Company. She reads about resort operations, movie profits, cruise lines, theatrical productions, merchandise, and global operations. She looks forward to sharing her research about this company that has created magic for generations.
