The Christmas Season will be here before we know it. It's not too early to make plans to visit Mid Town Manhattan during the Holidays.
This year the Lionel display at Grand Central Terminal will open to the public on November 15, 2018 and run through February 3, 2019.
As usual Santa Land at Macy's Herald Square opens after Santa arrives in the Thanksgiving Day Parade on Friday November 23, 2018 and is open through Christmas Eve. You will need to make reservations to see Santa on the Macys website.
This year's Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting is scheduled for Wednesday November 28, 2018.
There is a great train attraction in Mid Town Manhattan, right off of Times Square, called Gulliver's Gate. It is similar in description to the Miniature Wonderland in Hamburg Germany. It features HO Trains and is reported to be a $40M project. It opened earlier this year and is open every day except Christmas. There is a charge: $31for a reserved date.
The New York Botanical Gardens Holiday Train Show runs from November 17, 2018 to January 21, 2019. This is a huge G gauge train display featuring over 100 New York City landmarks made out of all natural materials. A 20 minute train ride from Grand Central Terminal, the NYBG is located in the Rose Hill section of the Bronx. It is recommended that you purchase tickets in advance and if you're driving there is plenty of parking inside the gates. Reservations are recommended.
FAO Schwarz, the famous toy store that closed it's doors three years ago, will be reopening this November in Rockefeller Center! They took over the corner southeast corner of the 30 Rockefeller Plaza building. No exact date was given, but I'm sure every effort will be made to have the store in full swing for the holiday season.
MACYS HERALD SQUARE
My walking tour usually begins at 34th Street with Macy’s. The windows facing Herald Square are an attraction in themselves. Santa Land is on the 8th Floor and it has a great TW Trainworx Lionel Train Layout. You have to wait on line to get into Santa Land which could be as long as 45 minutes, but it’s the only way to see the layout and you could see Santa! I think it’s worth it. Santa Land opens after the arrival of Santa at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on that Friday.
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
After Macy’s we have gone to the Empire State Building and gone up to the observation deck. Obviously a spectacular view of the city. You can pick out the Statue of Liberty, The Freedom Tower, The Flatiron Building, The Brooklyn Bridge, The Chrysler Building, The Met Life Building, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Times Square, Madison Square Garden and much more. Maps are available so you can find these landmarks easily.
LORD & TAYLOR
Another famous New York department store known for it’s decorations and amazing holiday window displays.
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL
The Mecca for train enthusiasts, it is truly overwhelming to see the main concourse for the first time with its famous information booth and clock. At the Metroplitan Transit Authority Museum Store there is a great 34 foot Lionel Train Layout, also built by TW Trainworx. One of my favorite!
GULLIVER'S GATE
Located at 216 W 44th Street, this layout is a $40M project that opened to the public earlier this year. The exhibit will include miniature scale models of well-known sites and places from our world, and fictional worlds, connected by HO scale train tracks and highways featuring all manners of transportation known to mankind – from horses and elephants to hot air balloons, jet planes and space shuttles. There is a $36 entrance fee for adults and $27 for children and seniors 65+.
NEW YORK CENTRAL BLDG
You can walk along Vanderbilt Ave, alongside the terminal to 46th Street and you will be at the Helmsley Building which was formerly the New York Central Building, the headquarters of the NYC Railroad. The front of the building faces north on Park Ave.
WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL
On Park Avenue and 48th Street in the famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians used to hold the New Years Eve show.
5TH AVENUE
At 49th Street head west to 5th Avenue again. Rockefeller Center is on the west side of 5th Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. But 5th Avenue itself is a major attraction during the holiday season as stores outdo one another with their decorations. Between 49th and 59th Streets you will see Saks, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Cartier’s Jewelers, Tiffany’s, Trump Tower, Bergdorf Goodman’s, The Plaza Hotel and many many more stores with decorated windows. Of particular note is the Penninsula Hotel, on the corner of 5th Avenue and 55th Street. In the past, the decorations on the front entrance, on the 55th Street side, have been spectacular.
ROCKEFELLER CENTER
You,ve got to take a few minutes to see the Christmas Tree in the Plaza in Rockefeller Center. They have had a tree there for Christmas ever since 1931 when workmen building the center, in the midst of the great depression, erected a tree in thanks for having their jobs! The spirit in the plaza is contagious. The skating rink is open to the public, and there are places to eat in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, on the same level as the rink.
TOP OF THE ROCK
Some years we forego the top of the Empire State Building and instead go to the observation deck on the 66th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, known as the Top of the Rock. Tremendous views of the city, especially the view of the Empire State Building, St Patricks from high above, and the buildings around Central Park.
SAKS 5THAVENUE
Saks usually has great window decorations, but in recent years they have put on a spectacular light and music show, on the front of their building which faces Rockefeller Center. Usually done every 10 minutes or so.
ST PATRICKS CATHEDRAL
St. Patrick’s is open to the public and is worth taking a walk through. Even if you’re not Catholic, the architecture is awesome and the art work on the many alters is wonderful to see.
PLAZA HOTEL
The Plaza Hotel is on the corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street. As nice as the outside decorations are, you can walk into the lobby and there is a beautifully decorated tree.
RADIO CITY
The famous Music Hall is on the corner of 6th Avenue and 50th Street, a half a block west of Rockefeller Center. It’s beautiful on the outside and you can plan in advance to take in the Christmas Spectacular featuring the Radio City Rockettes.
6TH AVENUE
Spectacular decorations are everywhere, but 6th Avenue is definitely worth a stroll, especially on the blocks across from Radio City Music Hall at 50th St. and down to Bryant Park at 42nd St..
BRYANT PARK
A beautiful tree, a skating rink, and a large number of holiday themed kiosks where you can buy Christmas Ornaments, hats gloves scarfs, gifts and enjoy a hot apple cider and a pretzel, NY style. There are also a couple of nice restaurants in the park and the view of the surrounding skyscrapers is spectacular. Don't forget to look for the train riding high atop the pergola thanks to the guys at Trainworld.
TIMES SQUARE
What can I say….You gotta experience it to understand. It’s electricity come alive, with the Broadway Theaters, restaurants and stores. But the electronic billboards are beyond belief.
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDENS
This is a huge G gauge train display featuring over 100 New York City landmarks made out of all natural materials. A 20 minute train ride from Grand Central Terminal, the NYBG is located in the Rose Hill section of the Bronx. It is recommended that you purchase tickets in advance and if you're driving there is plenty of parking inside the gates.
Then Billy Joel on Wednesday night. Will be fun. Wife wants to do some type of bus tour, but I just want to roam around. Any thoughts on that? 
