New York City Trip Details –June 24, 2016
Below is everything you will need to know about our trip to NYC. Please read this very carefully, download it and print it off so that you all have a copy while you are in NYC. You must participate in all group activities and you must be on time! There are 55 of us going and 55 of us getting where we are going on time so you must adhere to this schedule ….please???
1) MOST IMPORTANT RULE IS TO THE CHAPERONES: KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE AT ALL TIMES. You adults are solely responsible for the children that are in your room…for getting them to all scheduled activities, for adhering to the dress code each day and for making sure they are safe and chaperoned at all times. We are all responsible for our own children so this should be an easy task. Even though all of our kids are great kids, please make sure they know that NYC is a big city and we all must be aware of our surroundings. Let’s all work together to keep everyone safe.
2) To all of my students: please remember to act like you do for us each day in class…with respect and kindness towards each other, your chaperones and the people who will be serving you in NYC. I will not speak to any of you about anything at any time because I truly believe you will all act like the mature kids that you are. You will be representing our school whenever you are out in public so I not only want you to represent our Academy well, but I want you to represent yourselves and your families well also. DO NOT ever go out without your chaperones…even if you are 18 you are still the responsibility of your chaperones.
3)Our 4 day schedule is as follows with clothing requirements….yes you must wear clothes while in NYC. (I think it’s a law?)
Thursday, July 28, 2016: Leave 12am from Studio parking lot…..yup I said 12am because you all voted on this!!! Arrival time into NYC should be between 10am and noon, depending on traffic. You must be in our studio parking lot by 11:30 pm and be on the bus and ready to leave by 11:50pm. You are allowed to pack one suitcase, one carry one, a pillow and small blanket. I will meet you all at the hotel in NYC….I will be there before you arrive to make sure everything with the Roosevelt Hotel is all set for your arrival. We can only check into our rooms at 1pm so if we arrive before then, you may have to wait…and wait patiently until our rooms are made available to us. You will have a free day and night in NYC once we arrive and check into the Roosevelt Hotel. The only ones to disembark the bus when we arrive is one parent from each room; this is to collect the room keys and to put a credit card down for all things you may charge during your stay at the hotel. We have paid for the hotel but nothing more so if you eat or drink and charge it to your room, YOUR ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE CHARGES. Clothing requirements for the bus are as follows: students will wear their Cinderella shirts with any shorts/capri’s/pants they wish and Moms will wear whatever they wish. You will all be given your jackets ahead of time (see below) so this is what you will wear each time you depart the bus so everyone is easily spotted which will allow us to can keep tract of everyone. Have a great first night in NYC….have fun exploring and enjoy the lights. Just please be safe.
**Note: We will be passing out the” New York Packet and Clothing” on Tuesday, July 19th at 7pm at our studio. These all need to be picked up on this date so please make arrangements to either be present for these or have someone pick them up for you but they need to be picked up on the 19th.
Friday, July 29, 2016: Meet in the lobby of the hotel at 9:30am so that we may be ready for a 10am departure on our Double-Decker Bus Tour. Our attire for the day will be our raspberry tanks/shirts with black bottoms and you may want to bring your NYC jackets as well.We will NOT be going to the Today show as they will be in Brazil for the Olympics so there will not be a band performing on this day. I am sorry for this but please blame the Olympics and not me! We are doing this bus tour rain or shine so you may want to either pack an umbrella or a rain poncho…the bus tour recommends that we bring ponchos as umbrellas get caught in the wind and are also distracting. We will return to the hotel by noon and you will have the afternoon to sight-see as you wish. We will meet back in the lobby @ 4:45pm for a 5:00 departure for dinner together at Carmine’s. I would like all of my dancers and chaperonesin black party/cocktail dresses for this dinner. We will leave the restaurant around 7:30pm to attend Chicago which begins at 8pm. The show will end around 11 pm and you may either go back to the Roosevelt Hotel or do some more sightseeing. You must remain with your chaperone at all times.
Saturday, July 30, 2016: Everyone will meet in the lobby for 8:15am: our attire for this day will be our Yellow tanks/shirts with black bottoms. (My dancers should be in dance shorts or leggings and have their paws and dance sneakers with them. Everyone should have a water bottle as well.) The Mom’s will be heading to Radio City Music Hall for a tour with a Rockette while the girls, Clarann and I will head to a “Once in a Life Time” rehearsal of the Lion King. Both of these events start promptly at 9am so please…be on time or we will depart without you…sorry. We will all return around 11 am and then you will have the rest of the afternoon to yourselves. We will meet in lobby at 4:45pm for a 5:00pm departure for dinner #2 together at Hard Rock Cafe. This restaurant is a change in our plans: Ruth Chris sent us our contract and instead of the $70 that they had quoted us (which was already $20 over what we had budgeted) the quote came in at $100 per person so we quickly declined that quote. We chose our next best option which was the Hard Rock Café since we could order off the menu there. I hope you all agree to this change as we had to act quickly to ensure a spot for dinner. The dress code for this evening will be any party/cocktail dress of your choice. We will leave at 7:30pm to attend our respective 8pm showings of Lion King and Aladdin. Again, you are free to do as you wish after the show. Just remember, the bus leaves at 7am on Sunday morning so please make sure have checked out of the hotel by 6:30am and are on the bus when we pull away from the Roosevelt hotel at 7am. (Make sure your suitcases are on the sidewalk by 6:30am so that the bus can be packed up before we pull away at 7am).
Sunday: July 31, 2016: 7am departure from NYC. You must be on the bus by 6:45am so that we leave on time. We will arrive in the PI Mall parking lot around 6pm and Caribou around 7pm. We will say our fond farewells and reminisce on the wonderful memories that were made by all……awe…… No clothing requirements….hallelujah!
4) Both meals at Carmine’s and Hard Rock are fully paid as well as all of our Broadway tickets, the hotel, the bus ride down and back, Radio City, LK rehearsal and our tour bus of NYC. You will be responsible for all incidentals at the hotel and your breakfast and lunch meals while in NYC. (Liquor is not included in our meals before both shows so please be prepared to pay for your liquor tab.)
5) Everyone will keep the bus clean. Every time you exit the bus, you must make sure your seat is clean and clear of all garbage. If you bring food on the bus, make sure you take it with you when you leave the bus.
6) We will be stopping shortly in Old Town to switch bus drivers. YOU WILL NOT USE THIS AS A BATHROOM BREAK. Please use the bathroom at our studio before we leave and there is a bathroom on the bus. No one will be allowed off the bus in Old Town unless you need to stretch your legs. This stop put us so way behind a couple of years ago because everyone was trying to use the one restroom at this stop. You must try to wait until our next scheduled stop in Kennebunk or use the restroom on the bus. We will stop in Kennebunk to eat lunch and use the bathrooms. This is a half hour stop so please keep that in mind as we want to make it to NYC at our scheduled time.
7) Please keep the first 2 rows on the bus empty for my staff. Please be mindful of this when choosing your seats.
I think I have covered everything. If I have forgotten anything, I will try to mention things on Facebook or I will update Colleen’s corner with any news so please check on these sights before we leave.
I am really looking forward to this adventure with all of you. I want to remind all of you to stay positive on this trip….things may happen that are out of our control but if we remain calm and positive, everything will be just fine. The less we complain and the more we stay pro-active ….the better this trip will be for everyone. We have all worked hard to ensure this is a memorable trip for everyone….especially our students.
To our students: New York City is a wonderful city but remember… it is a city and although it is relatively safe, we still want you to be aware of your surroundings. Stay with your chaperones at all times, say thank you a lot, be grateful for this amazing experience that so many people have helped to make a wonderful memory for you and finally…soak it all in!!! Enjoy every minute of this!
I will see you all July 19th ….enjoy the rest of your summer. Oh…and I hope to see you kids at dance camp….you will be the first to learn songs from our new show!!! Make sure I have your registrations soon!!
Much love, Miss Colleen