AP Features, May 29th, 2007
CityPass is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the addition of The Metropolitan Museum of Art to attractions included on the New York pass, and the Hockey Hall of Fame to attractions covered by the Toronto CityPass.
Other attractions covered by New York CityPass are the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the American Museum of Natural History, the Empire State Building and the Circle Line harbor cruise. The booklet, good for nine days from first use, is $65 ($49 for ages 12-17). It can be purchased online, at http://www.citypass.com, or at any of the attractions.
CityPass covers admission to the Met as of June 1. The museum just reopened its Greek and Roman galleries. CityPass ticket holders also get admission to The Cloisters, the Met's outpost for medieval art and architecture in Upper Manhattan. The Cloisters house the world-famous Unicorn Tapestries, seven woven wall hangings from the 15th century depicting a hunt for a unicorn.
In addition to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Toronto CityPass covers admission to the CN Tower, the Ontario Science Centre, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Toronto Zoo, and Casa Loma, an Edwardian-era estate with a castle and gardens.
CityPass is also available in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Hollywood, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Southern California.
The first CityPasses were sold in San Francisco and Seattle in 1997. The company's surveys indicate that half the users buy the pass to save money and half buy it to save time. (Passholders needn't wait on line at busy tourist spots to buy tickets.)
Similar passes sold by other companies differ in options for location, price, attractions covered and number of days the pass is good for. Go Card - http://www.gocardusa.com - is available for Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, San Diego, Oahu, Maui, Los Angeles, Orlando, Miami and the Blue Ridge Mountains region. Connect cards from http://websales.omniticket.net are available for attractions in Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, Baltimore and other localities. Power Passes from http://www.visiticket.com are available for Las Vegas, New Orleans, New York, Honolulu, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, N.Y. More than 40 European cities offer discount admission booklets at http://www.europeancitycards.com.
