Elf is my favourite Christmas movie, so I lived like an elf in New York
By Brian Thacker
I planned out our whole day. First, we’ll make snow angels for two hours, and then we’ll go ice skating, and then we’ll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie Dough as fast as we can, and then to finish, we’ll snuggle.
Although that does sound like a fun day, that’s a quote from Buddy in the classic Christmas movie Elf, which is perennially in the top Christmas movies of all time. A film that my daughter Jasmine and I have watched every Christmas Eve since she was 10 (she is now 21). Even when I moved to the US (while Jasmine was at university in Australia) we would watch it together via party share streaming.
Will Ferrell stars as Buddy the Elf.Credit: New Line Cinema
We’re such big fans that since we first started watching the movie, we talked about going on a festive romp through New York to follow the large footsteps of Buddy. Finally – after travelling through the seven levels of the candy cane forest and the sea of swirly-twirly gum drops – we made it happen.
We arrive with a wave of deja vu as we step out of the subway station right into the heart of Manhattan. You get that feeling in New York City because of countless American movies and TV shows, but the city is now glimmering and glittering under a magical mantle of elaborate Christmas decorations and lights.
Moments later we hop right into an early scene from the movie. Like Buddy himself I hopped across the same pedestrian crossing in front of Macy’s. Ten-year-old Jasmine would have laughed and hopped along with me, but she stood sheepishly off to the side filming me. And for some reason, she wasn’t keen on eating the old chewing gum under the railings at the subway station either.
The Empire State Building, where Buddy’s dad works in the film, is a fan highlight.
When Buddy arrived in New York, he went to the Empire State Building to meet his dad Walter for the first time. After a quick spin across the road recreating Elf’s revolving door scene from the movie (and more eye rolling from Jasmine), we walk into the famous art deco marble lobby with its gold-vaulted ceiling and intricate decorative designs made of bronze and marble.
We’d coincidentally timed our trip for the 20th anniversary of the launch of the movie. The lobby’s window displays were adorned with Elf souvenirs you could purchase from the gift store, including an Elf Etcher-sketch, Elf syrup and a Son of a Nutcracker makeup kit. One display had a model of the Empire State Building built entirely from candy canes.
In the movie, Buddy gets thrown out of the Empire State Building by security, but star Will Ferrell almost got evicted for real. We meet Renita, the original elevator host when the movie was being filmed in the summer of 2002.
“I saw this tall sweaty guy in a green elf suit wandering around,” she said. “And he looked suspicious, so I called security.” Renita said, chuckling. “He thought it was funny.”
Buddy really is tall. We meet him on the 86th-floor observation deck. Or a life-size cardboard cut-out of him at least.
We get to see an absolute gluttony of other movie sites when we join the Holiday Lights & Movie Sites bus tour. As well as the fantastical festive store windows and decorations of Bloomingdales, Tiffany & Co, Saks 5th Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman we roll by Walter’s apartment building from Elf, the Serendipity cafe from Serendipity and the Plaza Hotel from Home Alone 2.
The Plaza’s decadent Home Alone 2 package includes Kevin’s epic ice-cream sundae.Credit: Brian Thacker
Home Alone 2 is another favourite Christmas movie of mine and Jasmine’s, so we couldn’t go to New York without going to the Plaza Hotel to rack up a hefty bill on room service and greet the concierge with, “Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal.”
Jasmine and I don’t stay at the Plaza (I didn’t have my dad’s credit card), but we do get to experience Kevin McCallister’s whipped cream-laden ice-cream sundae as part of the Home Alone 2: Fun In New York overnight package (from $US2295 a night), which includes a four-hour limo tour to visit the filming locations from the movie (while eating a cheese pizza, of course) and an ice-cream sundae delivered right to your bed. (Two scoops? Make it three. I’m not driving.) Actually, it’s a whopping 16 scoops of vanilla and chocolate ice-cream – with whipped cream, maraschino cherries, M&M’s, brownie bits, chocolate, caramel, and raspberry sauce (which you can order for room service for $US300 – that’s $450 Australian!)
We looked like Kevin (played by Macaulay Culkin) in the movie poster with jaws dropped when our room service steward wheeled in the lavishly loaded trolley. We sat in the parlour room of the grand, period-appointed suite (“Now, this is a vacation”) and try our very best to not spill any ice-cream on the fancy furniture. After we finish two large bowls each, we realise that we hadn’t even put a dent into the frozen confectionary mountain.
We end our memorable and merry New York adventure with a double film whammy. After Buddy exclaims “Wow, that’s a big one” in front of the Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree, he goes ice-skating and has his first kiss with Jovie. At the same spot, Kevin has an emotional reunion with his mum at the end of Home Alone 2.
Ice skate under the Rockefeller Centre’s grand tree.Credit: NYC and Company
We do the VIP ice skating package, which gets you 90 minutes of skating right underneath that Christmas tree. And it is a big one. The 80-year-old, 10-ton Norway Spruce is 25 metres tall and features a 400-kilogram 3D Swarovski star and eight kilometres of wire with 50,000 coloured lights.
I also made my movie debut. Or more like viral video debut. A sea of mobile phones through glass windows are filming us all skating, and just as I skate up to Jasmine by one of the windows, I do an unplanned (and very uncoordinated) pirouette and land right on my arse. Look for me on YouTube.
On our last day, Jasmine drags me reluctantly to Raising Cane’s on Times Square (it’s big on TikTok apparently) for some fried chicken. As we sit down Jasmine gasps, “Look, an Elf costume!” On the wall is a glass case with the entire costume inside. Assuming it’s a copy, I go over for a look and read: “Original ELF COSTUME worn by Will Ferrell in the MOVIE.”
Right up to the very end we are treated to a little bit of New York Elf Christmas magic.
More Christmassy fun
Kevin McCallister ran all around New York City. And so can you. Join Fit Tours Christmas in NYC: Holiday Lights Running Tour. See the famous spots from Elf and Home Alone 2 from $83 ($US55). See fittoursnyc.com
The Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree lighting is a huge event, complete with a nationwide TV audience watching the pre-concert (this year had Barry Manilow, Cher, Kelly Clarkson and Seth MacFarlane) and the actual tree lighting. The new VIP Rock Pass – Holiday Edition guided tour of Rockefeller Centre is worth it just for the exclusive, unobscured viewing of the tree.
The most impressive home Christmas decorations I’ve ever seen were in the Brooklyn suburb of Dyker Heights. It’s like Christmas exploded in people’s front yards, with enough lights to be seen from space, armies of giant inflatable Santas, singing Grinches and even a giant partridge in a pear tree.
For a break from Christmas lights, you can see some ethereal light art at Brooklyn Botanic Garden Lightscape, which has dramatic installations made up of over a million lights.
Tip
There are Christmas surprises around every corner in Manhattan, with many corporate buildings adorned with monolithic Christmas decorations. There were baubles the size of cars and even a cyclopean Candy Cane Forest. Wear comfy shoes and (as our local guide told us) walk like a New Yorker. We walked on average 17 kilometres a day.
Evening skating at the Wollman Rink in Central Park.Credit: NYC & Company
THE DETAILS
Eat
Plenty of Christmas cheer (with hearty English-inspired fare) at the Victorian-themed Oscar Wilde restaurant (oscarwildenyc.com) complete with a mirthful mayhem of Christmas decorations (although there was no food on the menu from the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup).
Stay
The Conrad New York Midtown is on a quiet side street right near Central Park, the Rockefeller Centre, MoMA and the Theatre District, with suites from $1110 ($US730) a night. See hilton.com
The Ace Hotel Brooklyn is a hip boutique hotel in downtown Brooklyn. It’s a great base for the Dyker Heights Christmas lights and Brooklyn Botanic Garden Lightscape, with rooms from $575 ($US379) a night. See acehotel.com/brooklyn
More
The writer travelled as a guest of New York City Tourism + Conventions.
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