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Published: October 20th 2007
While researching the Statue of Liberty, I learned it was always best to reserve your tickets for a tour online beforehand because they go fast at the ticket window. Unfortunately what I didn't realize is that you need to reserve them at least
two days in advance. When I logged on Sunday night to get our tickets for Monday morning, I realized we had passed our window of opportunity. Without the tour tickets, you can't actually get inside Lady Liberty. I was determined that wouldn't ruin the trip however, and we decided to go anyway. You can still walk around the statue and visit Ellis Island without timed tour tickets.
Sometime over the weekend I also convinced my cousin and her family, who live in Staten Island, to visit the Statue of Liberty with us. I am happy that they decided to go because it's always more fun to travel with people who know their way around. We left Long Island around 7am Monday morning and followed them into Staten Island. We parked the cars and took the Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan.
By the time we got there it was about 10am and we were told the wait
My son, the tourist attraction
This picture was just the beginning. Soon he had a crowd of foreign ladies around him clammering for photos.for the ferry to the statue was about an hour long (it didn't seem like it was that long though). As expected, they didn't have any timed tour tickets left. I guess one day I'll have to plan to come back so I can see inside.
When we got to the Statue of Liberty, I bought my kids these cute green foam crowns to wear. As soon as they put them on, my family became part of the tourist attraction! Some foreigners saw my son wearing his crown and solemnly holding one arm up to imitate Lady Liberty and they thought he was really patriotic. Next thing I know one of the ladies asks to take a picture with him. When I agreed, that one picture snowballed into several more as her friends all gathered around for shots also.
After seeing the statue we headed over to Ellis Island where my cousin's husband got the chance to look up some relatives who'd immigrated to the US. Ellis Island has a few interesting exhibits, but truthfully lunch was the most exciting part of the trip over there for my kids. The fast food restaurant we ended up eating at
on Ellis Island cost more than the ferry tickets we bought to get over there! Note to self...stash sandwiches in your purse next time you visit.
Finally we headed back to Battary Park where we came across a street performer with his own take on Lady Liberty. When all was said and done, the whole visit took about 5-6 hours then it was time to head back to Buffalo.
You'll notice I've been conveniently skimming over the area of costs. That's because I blew the budget. Nope, we did not end up doing this trip for $600. We came in a couple of hundred more than that. It was mostly due to eating out. After a while I just stopped keeping track. I guess with grandma's funeral and all, my heart just wasn't into being frugal.
Here is a small sampling of what we spent:
Lodging: $137/night (shared beach house, off season)
Parking in Manhattan: $37 (including large vehicle surcharge)
Ferry tickets for 2 adults/3 kids to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island: $39
Staten Island Ferry: free!
Statue of Liberty foam crowns: $2.50/each (bought 3)
Thanks for reading along everyone and stay tuned for our next family adventure!
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Carolyn
non-member comment
statue of liberty
Hi-I followed your link through a Dis budget board thread. We visited NY/DC this past summer. We had tickets for the inside of the Statue of Liberty that I had reserved in advance but after finding out that the line was over an hour long, we gave them to the park ranger to give to someone else. I don't think not being able to go inside diminished our experience, and you can't go all the way up anymore.