'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' trivia and fun facts
An important salary increase
Macaulay Culkin earned 4,5 million dollars por his acting in the movie, plus a 5% of the total gross of the film. This fact makes him the 11 year-old best paid in the history of cinema. For the first movie he only made 110.000 dollars.
Donald Trump's vanity saved a lot of money to the film
When 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' was shot, Donald Trump was the owner of the Hotel Plaza in New York. Trump allowed to shoot in the hotel lobby as well as in one of the suites only in exchange for a cameo in the film, which was paid by the standard cameo fee.
A complete experience at the Plaza Hotel
After the film success, the luxurious Plaza Hotel offered for years "The Home Alone Experience" where every Christmas guests could stay at a suite similar as the one in the movie, get presents related to the film and even go to a limousine tour to visit the shooting locations in the city.
Fake New York
Although a great part of the movie is shot in New York City in real sceneries, some changes were made. For instance, the scene in the swimming pool at the Plaza was shot in the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago, because the Plaza doesn't have a swimming pool. The house where all the action happens, however, was built in a set in Hollywood.
Twin Towers gone and back
In one of the scenes, Kevin visits the Twin Towers after arriving at New York City. After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the television broadcasts of the movie removed this scene out of respect for the victims. However, in 2018, the original cut was restored.
Extended Christmas
All airport scenes were shot at Chicago O'Hare in the month of February. The aerodrome kept its Christmas decorations for several weeks in order to accomodate the shooting. During the process the airport didn't close, which was a problem due to Macaulay Culkin's newfound fame.
Didn't you want snow?
The production team spent a lot of money in artificial snow machines to shoot in Central Park. However, days before the scheduled shoot a big blizzard happened in the city. Not only they didn't need the artificial snow, the blizzard also caused several cameras to break because they froze during production.