New York Bus Tour: The Ride

The Ride is a 90 minute bus tour of Midtown Manhattan. I bought four tickets through Groupon in advance of my aunties coming to visit, but a family emergency kept them from coming. I took the tour with a friend, and we tried to give the other two away before boarding. Would you believe it's really hard to give away tickets in Times Square? We finally convinced a couple to take them just as we were boarding.

Seating on The Ride is theatre style, facing the street. The whole time, loud music is blasting and lights are flashing while two energetic guides on either side of the bus banter back and forth with slap-stick comedy. An occasional interruption by "the bus's" voice gives interesting information of buildings and parks. People on the street can see you, so there's lots of interaction.

The most fun came when people on the street suddenly turned into entertainers! This guy was walking with everyone else when he kicked into a dance, Gene Kelly style, on the curb! Watching the pedestrians was part of the fun, too, as some people stopped and watched and others deliberately ignored him.

This guy in the yellow cap surprised us by breaking into a boisterous rap that included rhymes about birthdays and anniversaries of people on the bus, a clever and engaging gesture! He would also randomly pick out a passerby and make a rhyme about him or her. He was awesome!

Here we are in Columbus Circle and you can barely see a couple dancing near the fountain. A ballerina began the dance when she bumped into a man taking her picture, then he began to dance with her! So fun. They danced the entire circle. Once again, some people just walked on by without so much as a glance. Only in New York.

This guy fooled me, because he really looked and acted the part of a street musician just out to get some dollar bills in his bucket. The guides on the bus engaged him by asking for a song, and he tried sheepishly at first, then he got better. . .

Then this woman looking like a tourist/shopper joins him with her amazing voice--an obvious plant as well, but totally unexpected. 

I loved this adventure, and it was a full 90 minutes as promised. If you go, arrive 20 minutes early. My friend and I had to sprint through Times Square from the subway because we'd been caught up in shoe shopping in Greenwich Village. Nobody wants to sprint through Times Square. But it will be a good memory!