The Day I Finally Made it to the Top of the World (Ma) (Empire State Building)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Empire State Building
Date:	02/06/05 (1389 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Incredible Views, Stunning Building, Premiere Attraction in NY

Disadvantages: NY Sky Ride, Queues

*Introduction*
It’s always been there sitting in the corner of my subconscious. You know, the dream of going to America to see those iconic sights you’d seen a million times on TV. Well, OK, not America but New York to be more specific. Having made up my mind to finally go, one of the first things I did was to book tickets to go and see the Empire State Building. When you book your online holiday package with Expedia, you are given the option of adding in extras in advance. In our case, I booked the E-tickets for ESB and printed them off to take with us.

*Getting There*
The Empire State Building is at 350 5th Avenue at 34th Street just off Times Square and not far from Macys. Depending on where your hotel is, the most obvious ways to get there is NY yellow cab although we actually walked as our hotel was not too far away. Subway B, D, F, Q, N, R, V, W to 34th Street will also get you there. The ESB is open from 9.30am until Midnight and it’ll cost you $12 for adults, $11 seniors and $7 for children. Under 6 goes free.

*Iconic History*
It’s somewhat blasé to say that the ESB and New York are synonymous but it is true. The ESB was completed in 1931 and for 40 years was the largest building in the world. The 1929 Wall Street Crash had called into question its completion but, nevertheless, 45 days ahead of schedule and at a mammoth 443m (1454 feet), the project was successfully concluded.

The 1933 movie King Kong catapulted the building to the top of Global attention with the famous finale involving King Kong fighting off planes at the top of the ESB. To be honest, this made just as big an impression with me as a kid when I saw the movie for the first time and many other movie projects such as “James and the Giant Peach” have gone onto to imprint the ESB into children’s’ psyches all around the world.

With the tragic destruction of the World Trade Centre in the September 11th atrocities, the ESB stands behind the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in height but in many people’s eyes, it is still the tallest building in the world.

*Inside the building*
We arrived at midday on a cloudy day in March. We’d been told to try the ESB on a cloudy day as the queues wouldn’t be as bad although we could have chosen a better time. First thing is supposed to be the best time to visit i.e. 9.30am. Saying that, when pottering about Times Square later that evening, we were staggered by the massive queues snaking all around the building. Clearly, this particularly attraction is a huge draw in the evening!

If there was a disappointment it was that our pre-purchased vouchers did not get us ahead of the line (OK...queue but I'm tired of that word already). All they did was allow us to exchange them for the actual tickets so when we were told it was 2 hours from starting point to the top of the building we were shocked to say the least. Basically, the vouchers were a waste of time. Notwithstanding that, the lobby interior of the building is fabulous. With its Art Deco design, you can’t help but be impressed by the austerity of both the inside and outside of the ESB. The lobby incorporates rare marble imported from Italy, France and Germany. There are several entrances into the lobby although it is actually possible to miss the building at ground level because of the sheer size of the surrounding buildings!

Security is tight inside, as you’d expect with ESB being a major terrorist target. Again, we had to undergo an airport style scan and search before we were allowed to get inside the lift that would take us to within 6 flights of the observation deck on the 86th floor. There is a further observation deck on the 102nd floor but this is now closed.

*New York Sky Ride*
One way to skip the line/queue is to take the NYSR. This is on the 2nd floor and is heavily promoted by lots of young folks employed to shout out quite frequently about the merits of the ride. Individually, this costs $17.50 adults, $16.50 youths (12 – 17) and seniors, $15.50 children (5-11). It is open from 10am – 10pm. Combined with ESB admission it costs $24 adults, $22 seniors and youths, $18 children. I paid by credit card.

The NYSR is positioned as a way to jump the queue and lop off around 30 minutes waiting time as the queues for the ticket booths to catch the lift are huge. The ride itself is a virtual tour of the New York skyline with William Shatter narrating. It’s one of those rides that throws you around and can even make you feel a little queasy at times. To be honest, we were disappointed and felt it was a waste of money. It would have been better without the theme park element. After all, we were interested in the skyline and if we’d wanted a fairground ride we would have visited Disney!

*Back on Track*
Having survived the disappointment of the 20-minute New York Sky Ride, we soon found ourselves in another 30 minute queue for the elevator that would take us to the observation deck. The corridor was a right mess with wires hanging out and the walls stripped bare. There were signs saying that the building was undergoing further renovation but it still looked a mess. The time soon went as we crawled by carefully placed fans (it sure was hot in there) and made it past the obligatory security checks.

The lift itself was just like a lift really - nothing special if a little rickety. You can just imagine one of those bell hops dressed in hotel attire like something from Sergeant Pepper waiting to take your bags. Our guide took us to within 6 floors and at that point we joined yet another...erm...line. However, we were given the option of walking the last half a dozen flights, which we duly did, having by now get fed up of queuing! This may have meant us missing the chance to have our group photo taken by a waiting resident photographer, which would have, no doubt, attracted a fee. Oh well.

*On top of the World*
When you first walk out onto the balcony, the first thing that hits you is the cold air. It really is pretty chilly that high up. The second thing that hits you is the view. That probably sounds obvious but until you see it you just can’t imagine how incredible it is. The observation deck has a grill surrounding the edge for safety reasons but through it you can see for miles. Needless to say, it is very crowded up there and just about everyone has a camera, it seems, but with good reason. We went around the deck several times taking in the view and clicking our cameras merrily with the best of ‘em.

On the one side you can see all the way into the bay including the tiny island that houses the Statue of Liberty whilst on the other you can see the Hudson River and beyond. All the landmarks are in front of you to marvel at. The Chrysler Building looks more beautiful than ever; Macys looks a stone’s throw away and all of those sky scrapers brought to heel by this triumph of human engineering. It really was an experience and amazing to think off of those awesome constructions like The Flatiron Building, The Woolworth Building and Grand Central Station to name but a few, all either across from us or sitting below making up the most famous skyline in the world.

*Leaving*
We did eventually leave via the gift shop selling all manner of over-priced ESB souvenirs. To tell you the truth, we’d already picked up the usual miniature ESB, ESB postcards and other bits and pieces at the souvenir shop on the ground floor. If there’s one thing New York is geared up for, it’s the easy removal of your hard-earned dollars from you. We walked the 6 flights down to the lift and made our way all the way to the bottom again. Leaving the ESB was a sad moment for me. I know my son had revered the thought of visiting as did I and I’m sure I spent all of my time in New York wide-eyed like an over exited teenager. Then again, that’s how it made me feel.

Simply everybody has to visit the Empire State Building if you are visiting New York. Sure, you’ll queue and, again, you may be surprised at the sheer number of Americans making their pilgrimage to an all-American icon but you cannot replicate the feelings you’ll experience at the top. Just for a while, you’ll be quite literally on top of the world.

Thanks for reading my 200th review and any other opinions you may have read of mine.

Marandina

Related sites

www.esbnyc.com
www.skyride.com

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