Pocono Daytripper — Attraction in Smithfield Township

Our family (13 total) booked a day trip to New York City with Pocono Daytripper. Peter was our tour guide along with Clyde our driver and Annie made sure we stayed together. Our day was fun filled with many sights, including the NYC Library, Central Park, 9/11 Memorial, Pier 57, Plaza Hotel, St. Peter's Cathedral, ferry ride around the Statue of Liberty, Subway ride, Time Square, a walk part-way across the Brooklyn Bridge, and much more. Peter was an amazing tour guide with his knowledge of NYC as well as Annie and of course Clyde kept us safe driving through the city with his previous experience as a public bus driver in NYC. All three of our guides were extremely friendly and comical which made our experience wonderful. Peter, Clyde and Annie made all of us feel like family during the trip. I could not have asked for a better day and better experience in the Big Apple. Peter was super accommodating with our group and patient with our "littles" On a side note my husband wanted a picture with a NYC police officer and Peter made that happen for him (see attached picture) This is the extra special treatment we felt the entire adventure. The bonus places we visited, such as a Wavertree Museum which was next to ferry ride as we had a few extra minutes, that made the trip to NYC that much more special for the family. It was definitely a once in a lifetime trip with the family, although I would love to experience this again at some point in my life. We will never forget our new friends. We also took the Pocono Historic Trolley ride hosted by Charlie, another wonderful tour guide and Clyde our driver again. On this trip we saw many historic towns from the early years of America and visited Belgian Chocolate shop, the chocolate was amazing. Again, another fabulous experience. Finally, Peter made the final evening of our vacation to the Pocono Mountains special by making reservation for our family at Sarah's Grill in East Stroudsburg and providing transportation to the restaurant for a nominal fee so our family could enjoy our final evening together before heading home. This is true "customer service" Thank you so much for going above and beyond during our visit to the Pocono Mountains and NYC. We loved our entire experience with...

We reserved the 22 person shuttle to transport our wedding party from the location where we got ready to a local park, then to the church and back to our reception venue. Per Peter's descriptions, we chose the 22 person shuttle in order to ensure we had air conditioning.

The following is directly from the email I sent Peter: "There were multiple things that happened that were far below our expectations of your shuttle service. First of all the inside of the shuttle was in very worn condition (my fault for not asking to see the inside, but I did expect more since I was requesting this for our wedding). Additionally, the air conditioning barely worked at all (the driver assured us the "air" was up all the way) which resulted in a very warm/hot drive (I was quite warm in my sleeveless wedding dress and all the groomsmen/my husband/my father were very hot in their suits). Most importantly, however, the shuttle itself had a very difficult time getting up hills! We were actually worried people were going to have to get out and walk or that we were going to break down. I gave you the locations in advance and it should have been clear that we would be traveling up (and subsequently) down hills. Going uphill, the shuttle kept downshifting and at one point I think we were barely going 7mph up the hill. This caused a significant delay in getting to our locations (the park in particular) and we were actually late for the church as a result! Additionally, going down hills, the brakes heated up so bad and the awful smell came into the shuttle. Overall, it was a very disappointing experience."

The only reason I gave two stars was because the driver was very polite and seemed to be working with the best he had...

Do not waste your money on the Slate Belt Wine Trolley tour offered by Pocono Daytripper. The website makes it seem like you’ll be enjoying a scenic wine tour on a charming trolley. In reality, we were picked up in an old, rickety white school bus that looked—and felt—like it belonged in a junkyard. There was a cooler of Gatorade on board, but no charm, no class, and worst of all—the air conditioning stopped working on a 90-degree day. It was miserably hot and uncomfortable the entire ride.

We paid $85 per person ($190 total for two), expecting at least some sort of guided experience or included tastings. When we arrived at the first winery (which was, thankfully, beautiful), I asked the bus driver what to do. He said, “Just go inside, show them your wristband, and you can drink from any station.” I did exactly that, and the first staff member I spoke to told me it was $30 to taste. She then said, “PeTe doesn’t include anything in his package—you just paid $190 for a ride.” And she was right.

To make matters worse, we saw an actual trolley at Blue Ridge Estate & Vineyards—but it’s not owned by Pete or affiliated with this tour at all. It was a completely separate, legitimate operation.

My advice? Drive yourself directly to Blue Ridge Estate & Vineyards. It’s beautiful, has live music, and is worth the visit. The other three stops on this so-called “tour” are mediocre at best and not worth your time or money.

Don’t be fooled by the marketing. You’re not getting a trolley. You’re not getting tastings. You’re getting an overheated bus ride and a very expensive lesson in false...