The Ride combined everything about New York City into one; lights, comedy, tours, and quality entertainment. Experience a tour bus decked out with LED lights, two hilarious hosts that are also experts about their hometown, and front row seats to one of the most unique shows in the city. Once you step onto The Ride, the streets of New York have magically transformed into a stage.
THE TOUR
We made reservations through KKday.com for the 6 pm tour which was perfect timing for sunset. KKday is Asia’s leading travel platform where you can book amazing experiences for your next destination. Once it got dark, all the lights came to life! All the seats on the bus were facing one way, towards the street, and each one had a great view. With big windows that extended all the way to the ceiling, we were able to look all around. There were so many things to see when we looked up, like skyscrapers and even the Times Square Ball, which drops on Dec 31. If you go during October, The Ride is themed Masquerade. All the performers wore Halloween costumes and pretended to be "ghosts" that roamed the city. Some sights that we got to see were Madison Ave, New York Public Library, Times Square, Radio City Music Hall, the Empire State Building, just to name a few. There are also a few TV screens on the bus that visually explain some of these attractions. The tour was filled with facts and interactive quizzes. We used traffic to our advantage!
THE HOSTS
What I loved the most about our tour were our two hosts. You are not going to hear your average tour commentary! They told jokes, kept the audience engaged and even interacted with the performers and pedestrians on the sidewalk. They kept the energy alive by starting a “bus wave” were we all waved at people outside. It was so funny seeing which people gladly waved back, and those who didn’t really care about the huge bus of tourists passing by. With all the fun and laughter, it felt like a comedy show as well! Even the bus had a persona of itself. It reacted to jokes, told us information about buildings and pretended to be the subway (flashing lights and sounds)!
THE ENTERTAINMENT
We had a surprise performance at every turn! The Ride blasted music allowing the street performers to express themselves through dance, song, and rap. This traveling theater featured various types of performances. We encountered a breakdancing surgeon, an Irish dancer, a saxophone and a masked singer duo, and a glowing ballerina at near the Columbus statue. We even enjoyed a rapper, who walked through the crowded streets of the city to keep up with the bus. He even had a special handshake with one of the shop owners.
We ended our tour with a group karaoke session, everyone was singing the classic song “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra. We were dazzled with our journey through Manhattan. The Ride is definitely an experience you can’t miss while you’re traveling to New York!