It made we wonder how many and what kinds of bus tours are available in NYC...tons, I would imagine.
Let me see if I can find something helpful..well, by all the reviews I saw, I would check this one out first
The Ride
234 W 42nd St
(between 7th Ave & 8th Ave)
New York, NY 10036
Neighborhoods: Midtown West, Theater District
(646) 289-5060
(between 7th Ave & 8th Ave)
New York, NY 10036
Neighborhoods: Midtown West, Theater District
(646) 289-5060
- Nearest Transit Station:
- Times Sq - 42 St. (7, 7X)Times Sq - 42 St. (1, 2, 3, N, Q, R)42 St. - Port Authority Bus Terminal (A, C, E)
- Hours:
- Mon-Sat 10 am - 8 pmSun 10 am - 5 pm
39 reviews for The Ride
39 reviews in English
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Review from Gina G.
4/28/2013
The ride is a great light hearted tourist attraction. You start off by being seated theater style in a tour bus and then the show begins.
From a ballerina decked out in lights to a rapper free styling, you have no idea what you will see next on the street when the bus turns the corner.
Even though there were a lot of performances, you also get a little history of the buildings in Times Square. Like did you know that Duane Read is a mom and pop shop great for deodorant and toothpaste?
Go on The Ride to get that joke and a guaranteed fun time, I know I will be back on it again when I return to New York.-
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View from inside The Ride -
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Review from Sabrina M.
Manhattan, NYThe Ride is hands down the best way to see the hot spots in midtown when you are visiting New York City! It's part Broadway-show, part tour bus, and fully entertaining! It's great for small kids all the way up to Grandma and Grandpa! I also happen to think it's a GREAT way to get off your feet for a little while after walking around the city all day.
The Tour Guides are HILARIOUS!! I found myself laughing out loud the entire time, and they do a great job of engaging everyone on the bus. And the performers they mike into the bus are AMAZING! However, despite all of the bells and whistles on the bus - the BEST part of The Ride is New York City itself - and the New Yorkers on the sidewalks who don't even know they're part of the show!! Just to watch busy New Yorkers stride right on by someone in leg warmers belting out a tune is incredible - as if nothing odd is going on! And the Tour Guides do SUCH a funny job of incorporating passersby into their skits (such creative improv!).
My heart was really warmed though when everyone on the sidewalk waved back at everyone on the bus. There is this perfect moment where everyone you see in NYC is SMILING and waving at you (and taking pictures too). It connects everyone with this invisible thread and you immediately feel like you are part of the pulse of the city. You "get" in that moment why NYC is such an amazing place - the people.
Thank you to everyone at The Ride for making my trip to NYC so special and memorable. -
Review from Brett M.
We went with our daughter and her dance team on the ride for a tour of downtown. This might be one of the best ways to tour NY with a group. Great comedy and everyone enjoyed the ride. -
Review from Alli H.
I wanted to love this. I had all intentions of loving this, it looked so cool.
And then I didn't love it. The idea is good and can be really cool but I found the story line to be boring and a ploy to insert in the words "The Ride" whenever humanly possible. This was especially relevant in some of the people you "meet" on the street.
I also wished it was more interactive and perhaps the particular bus we took was too early in the day for the humor to be more mature (reasonable - it was 3 PM).
The staff was friendly and were definitely trying to make it a great experience though. The Ride's facts that it produced were also different and interesting but there weren't that many that were shown.
Overall, my Ride buddy and I got off this bus and just walked away thinking it wasn't as good as we thought. -
Review from Lauren S.
I do not want to ruin this for anyone, so you just need to go!
5 stars hands down for an hour of fun entertainment! I went on the Holiday edition with my parents and they loved it just as much as I did. Ticket prices are a little steep nearing $60, much more expensive than your average sight seeing bus, but in my books it was worth it because it was more of a show than a tour.
It was POURING rain when I went, and it was freezing out and down right miserable, but The Ride ticket takers had smiles on their faces. I got there way too early and was the first in line to get seated on the bus, but so worth it as the ticket takers were talkative and enjoyed talking about our experience.Our hosts Stewart and Jules were hysterical. I can't even explain. They got to know some of us on the ride real well even calling us by name and joking with us. Good hosts=good ride.
I thought it was really special when an 11 year old boy was having his birthday in a few days and they declared him "The Ride Prize Winner". One of the performers even gave him a birthday shoutout! Totally cool and still trying to figure out how they did that.
I had a great experience from start to finish and highly recommend this for entertainment but not so much for sightseeing. -
Review from Victoria D.
Manhattan, NYI live in NYC. My mother was visiting, so I wanted to take her to a show and a fun experience. I heard wonderful things about the Ride so we tried it out.
The Ride was great! It was educational and entertaining. The staff and hosts for The Ride were fun and a joy to spend the afternoon with.
I highly recommend the Ride for everyone who is visiting or living in NYC. -
Review from Times S.
Manhattan, NYYou might be a tourist before you board "The Ride," but you will come off a New Yorker. Just ask Josh Groban, he had such a good time he even mentioned it on Regis and Kelly. I saw Josh a week later and teased him about it, and he gushed about his experience. Created by avant-garde theatrical entrepreneur Michael Counts, written by John Bobey (credits include late-night television comedy) and directed by Daniel Goldstein (Broadway credentials), "The Ride" is pure silliness and highly entertaining for both residents and tourists alike.
"The Ride" is part 3D tour bus, part game show, and part live entertainment with a crew of street performers and tour-guides to create a unique theatrical glimpse of the Big Apple. Boasting 49 seats that face windows stretching nearly the length of the bus, it is like being a part of one gigantic fish bowl experiment. The transparent side of the bus allows outsiders to see in and the riders to see out. During the 75-minute ride, 40 video screens and 3,000 LED lights are illuminated. Four buses are touring now, leaving from the Marriott Marquis in Times Square (44th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue).
Join us as we take "The Ride" with incognito producer Pat Addiss of "The Fantasticks" and next year's Broadway hit "A Christmas Story."
7:00 - We board as our guides Scott and Jackie tell us about their backgrounds. Scott was educated in urban planning at Columbia University and Jackie is a world traveler (I have since found out that there are 18 Scotts and Jackies).
7:05 - The bus talks (think "Quantum Leap"), we are taught the "Ride wave" and people around us freak out. They must be tourists because the New Yorkers ignore us for the most part.
7:08 - We cross Broadway at dusk. Figures rush to the theatre or just meander as neon lights fill our senses.
7:09 The Naked Cowboy flashes his tush as an Asian man with a boa and party paraphernalia reserves his spot for New Year's Eve. He interacts with the riders and everyone walking past him. We end with a bus countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Happy New Year!
7:11 - We are told we should feel like celebrities because the bus is a celebrity, but I notice Jeremy Jordan of "Newsies" on the Disney Store, and "The Vampire Diaries" star Paul Wesley and his (pretty little liar) wife Torrey DeVitto getting out of a cab headed for a show. Nobody else realizes this.
7:13 - SpongeBob, Super Mario brothers, Smurfette and Elmo are all hanging out in front of Toys-R-Us.
7:14 - We pass Madison Square Park on Broadway (between West 42nd Street and West 47th Street.) They have a Free Summer Concert Series. On July 11th, singer-songwriter and stand-up comic Nellie McKay will perform. Her debut album, Get Away From Me, was a breakout with the hit Norah Jones record that came out around the same time.
7:15 - The vehicle spews out "fun facts" about the famous sailor kiss in Times Square.
7:16 - A man in a business suit drops his briefcase and leaps into a tap dance routine. Could he be an escaped Wall Streeter who longs to dance in the 1930's musical "42nd Street?" Those on the street simply ignore him, which is hysterical.
7:17 - A man dressed as a devil, painted red with horns and in his underwear, strolls by with an "end of the world" sign. He is not part of the act, but that is the best part of "The Ride;" everyone is in the show.
7:20 - Our tour guides banter the entire way with "fun facts" about the sights and quiz show questions. Examples: "The grime cleaned off the ceiling of Grand Central Terminal in 1998 was a thick layer of tar and nicotine. Did you know? The Chrysler Building's spiral was secretly prepared and mounted so that the result would surprise rivals as the world's tallest building -- but the effort was trumped by the Empire State Building and the soon to be Freedom Tower."
7:23 - A man from the Foreign Legion starts tap dancing for us, just because he is waiting for a city bus.
7:24 - I spy a very pregnant Uma Thurman with her son, Levon. The other passengers again do not notice her.
7: 28: - At 140 East 45th Street, a late-night deliveryman hip-hops, spins and flips into an elaborate break-dance routine.
7: 30 - Spotted: rap artist in SUV. This one is the real deal.
7:33 - We pass the New York Public Library and Bryant Park where HBO and Bryant Park's Summer Film Festival takes place on Mondays at 5:00pm on The Lawn:
June 18th: "Psycho"
June 25th: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"
July 2nd: "The Wizard of Oz"
July 9th: "On the Waterfront"
7:35 - Rap artists are in demand. Another bursts into song, grabbing passersby to join in and he succeeds, proving that everyone is a ham when someone offers them an audience.
7:40 - We pass New York's newest tourist attraction, "Times Scare."
7:43 - A man stretching on his way to an audition asks for directions as he sings, "How Do You Get to Broadway?"
7:46 - Radio City where Cirque Du Soleil's fabulous "Zarkana" has returned.
7:50 - "The Ride" simulates the subway, thankfully w -
Review from Justin S.
Los Angeles, CAI love it. This more a live show than a bus tour. You get on the ride because you want to be ENTERTAINED when you learn a few things about New York (only midtown Manhattan actually). You should really take a different tour if you are more interested on the knowledge side.
BTW, the subway simulation is super-hilarious. You will understand once you try it out. -
Review from Chloe G.
Annapolis, MDTalk about incredible entertainment! The hosts on THE RIDE were so vivacious in addition to it being a really innovative concept of a tour through NYC. It was cool seeing the performances right on the streets of New York! I had a great time on THE RIDE and will definitely be recommending it to all of my friends who travel to the city! -
Review from Rebecca S.
Vicksburg, MS
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