If you’ve set foot in New York City or even just seen it in a movie, you would know that there are a ton of tourists in New York. Everywhere you look there is a tour bus of some sort. After living here for over 10 years, I stopped paying attention to this long, long ago. Taking a tour around the city isn’t something that’s ever interested me. So, I was surprised at what I found myself doing on our mini getaway this past week–I was riding a bus around the city!
Now, I wasn’t riding an ordinary city bus, nor was I riding the double-decker tour buses. I was invited* to take a tour of the city with my boys on something called The Ride. I’m not sure how I’ve never seen this bus in the city before, but now that I know what it is, I will be looking out for it and all the entertainment that goes with following the bus around.
This is how it works. You can purchase tickets to The Ride online. Select one of the showtimes available for the day (there are many to choose from). Then when it’s time for it to begin, arrive outside Chevy’s, a Mexican restaurant, located off 42nd street and close to 8th Ave. This is where The Ride loads. It looks like a pretty ordinary bus from the side we were waiting to enter, but once we boarded, we saw this was no ordinary bus!
Inside the bus is horizontal stadium seating. Three rows ensures that many can fit on the bus and everyone has a great seat to view the “show”. Directly in front of the seats are large windows that enable you to see everything outside the bus. This is important, as what we are about to see is going to be outside those windows.
We had two guides, Scott and Jackie, who were very fun and charismatic. They joked around a lot and narrated our experience. The bus begins the tour and we find ourselves stopped in front of Times Square where there is a very peculiar character waiting for New Year’s Eve to begin. He has a microphone and is talking to us–he can hear/see us and we can hear/see him. So can everyone else around him in Times Square walking by. Here is where this gets funny–he pulls a random bystander into the show and unbeknownst to them they are part of our entertainment. Their reactions can’t be predicted and it is very funny.
As we ride on this tour, we learn some historical stuff, see some incredible landmarks, have great conversation and play trivia games with our guides, and we see spontaneous entertainment throughout the city. You truly never know what you are going to see in the city at any given time, which is part of the appeal of The Ride, as the city is a character in and of itself. We continue to see some odd things happening in the city–ballet dancers doing a perfectly choreographed piece while a line of people wait for a city bus (they don’t even notice it happening around them!), rappers singing on the streets, saxophone players and other street performers placed throughout the line of the bus tour. Then you add in the hustle and bustle of New York around these performers and the combination is hysterical.
Even if you know New York like the back of your hand, this is an experience to be had. You will be thoroughly entertained and have a wonderful time! It was like seeing a show on wheels, which was a blast! This was a very family friendly experience and my boys and I loved it. We rode during the daytime, so I would love to come back and ride at night for a different experience. I would definitely recommend this as a fun activity to do while in NYC. You can learn more about it by visiting The Ride’s website.
*we were invited to visit to facilitate a review, all opinions are my own.
themommyavenger.com 
Anything great either begins or ends up in the Big Apple. New York City is my kind of town.
Erik
http://erikconover.com/2014/07/16/my-kind-of-town/
I love New York so much… I haven’t ever taken my children to visit yet… I need to do that one of these days soon 🙂 “The Ride” sounds like a great way to show my kids NYC 🙂 Thanks!
Never been there. Heard so many mixed reviews. Thanks for bringing me along.
We were in the city for a convention over the weekend, and saw tons of these double decker buses filled.. I have never taken the tour myself but i hear they are great
Looks like you had an awesome experience. I live in NYC and I definitely have to try this.
I used to live close to NYC and visit almost every weekend. I have never seen one of these buses, but they sound fun!
I’ve always loved the energy of NYC. It’s exhilarating. I wonder if they have “The Ride” in Philly? I’ll have to look into it.
This sounds awesome! I have never been to NYC, but if I’m ever there I will definitely be looking for this Bus!
I’ve never been on a tour bus or to New York City. Would love to do both! It looks like you had some fun.
OH yes! I have been to NYC once and did the busses. It is soo much fun and the guides are the best! So recommended.
I love NYC and only been there once, there is so much to explore!
A couple years ago my daughter, Amber, got to go on a field trip to NY with her school. She loved it! While they were there, they took a bus tour of all these different movie locations. They got to see things from Ghost Busters, Friends, and much more!
I love this kind of thing in every big city I visit. I’m always amazed by how much I learn!
I’m going to New York next month, so I’m definitely going to try to go on it. Looks like so much fun!! 🙂
NY is a bustling city and yes, I have seen it many times in movies. It sounds like you had a really fun time there in the ride. 😀
What a great experience. I’ll have to add The Ride to my bucket list, now.
That bus sounds fun. I always hope when I am in NYC that I will get picked up by the cash cab. haha You know? The TV show cab where they ask you trivia..
I know, me, too! Love cash cab!
This sounds like it would be a great tour to take. I hope to visit New York sometime soon I hope. Thanks for sharing.
Looks awesome! So much fun stuff to do in NYC! Too bad I’m in Kansas… 😦 ahaha
I thought Kansas was a happening state,Emilee?
Sounds like a safe and family oriented way to see the Big Apple…
NY is one of the best cities in the world. I hope you are having a great time there…
I’d love to do that, especially in NYC. We see them going by in different cities but have never gotten on one (yet).
I love NYC and would love to go on a tour. It would be a great way to discover the city.
I’m is huge fan of tour buses. Yes you look like a tourist but you learn so much about the area.
Looks fun! I’ve never been. I’m sure it’d be a culture shock after being landlocked in the slow paced midwest for soo long.
I haven’t been to NY in some time!!! I need to make a trip out there to visit my bestie! I think my son would be so excited if I took him along!
Very nice share, I hope you were able to share a lot more photos and also bigger one because I love to see photos of walking around especially if it’s from NYC.
If you click on the photos, they enlarge so you can see more details. Thanks for stopping by!
The last time I was in NYC and visited was back in 1994. Would so love to go back and have a tour guide! =)
I’ve never been to NYC because, well…frankly, the place scares the hail outta me 😉 But if I ever make it I’ll try to remember this
I was in NYC but did nothing at all except eat at a chain for lunch. The person I was with had no imagination for site seeing.
NYC has been on our “to go” list for over two decades! If I ever go, I´ll contact you beforehand for advice. 🙂
Definitely do, I think I am there every week!
this looks amazing it looks like so much fun!