We arrived a day prior to our Adventures By Disney New York
Dreams trip to specifically visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Neither of these is done during the Adventure. They need to address this! A
guide and I discussed this as many want that experience during the Adventure. I know just how they could fix
this and will share later.
Goal for the day…get to Battery Park and visit both
attractions, then make it back in time to see our very first Broadway show.
I dithered a lot on how to get to the ferry area, should I
take a hop on hop off tour bus thing? Take a cab or brave the subway? We braved
the subway, armed with a little map handily supplied by the Concierge at The Manhattan
Club, and after only momentary panic figured it all out and made it safely and
quickly to the final stop, Battery Park.
I cannot stress this enough. Pre purchase your ferry ticket!
Purchase at the official site: http://www.statuecruises.com/
where you can choose your time and if you want pedestal and/or crown access.
Find your way to the line for those who pre purchased tickets (there are plenty
of workers around to direct you), and be prepared for security checks. The Ferry goes to the Statue of Liberty
first, and then Ellis Island. Since I had relatives come through Ellis Island,
I was more interested in visiting there and wanted to be sure I had plenty of
time, so went there first. We simply skipped getting off on the Ferry until it
reached Ellis Island.
Take your time to tour this wonderful, historical place.
Much of the island is still under initial renovation and also sustained damage
during Hurricane Sandy, so exhibits have items missing and construction is
underway. This did not detract from the experience. Take advantage of the audio
tour as you make your way, and hear experiences by actual immigrants who passed
through the rooms and halls. There is much to explore, and even giving ourselves
a good bit of time, we still missed a great deal.
I found this a meaningful time of reflection and patriotism
and think every American should make the effort to visit Ellis Island.
If you get back on the New York Ferry, you will go back to
Battery Park, so since we skipped the Statue of Liberty and wanted to visit it
second, we were directed to take the Ferry that originates in New Jersey. Since
that Ferry visits Ellis Island first, and the Statue of Liberty second, this
was the best way for us to go to the Statue of Liberty from Ellis Island. This
worked great, and off we went for our second big attraction of the day.
