NYC family vacation

[marlynnp]

I'd recommend taking one of the 'living history' tours at the Lower Eastside Tenement Museum http://www.tenement.org/tours.php

 

[jackie101]

Definitely eat at Becco. It is on 46 st, short walk form Times Square area. The lunch is $18 and it is all you can eat from 3 different pasta dishes. We took a 16, 18 and 21 yo this summer and they loved it. My 21 yo DS ate 19 raviolis, haha. They have a website if you google it.

And have you thought of staying in NJ? This summer we did the tourist thing for a German girl who was staying with us. We stayed in NJ at a hotel that provided breakfast and had a suite so we had a living room. We just took the PATH (I think) in each morning. We had so much more space and it was fun to commute. Plus we saved a lot of money on the actual hotel, which we were then able to use for the tours.

The new WTC visitor center should definitely be a stop. And the teens always love the old Macys.

Where did you stay in NJ?

 

[Aristocath]

For those of you interested in visiting the Statue of Liberty, book your tickets as soon as you can if you want to go to the crown. They only let about 240 people a day to the crown. If you have any fear of heights don't do it. Also, if you are not in good physical condition do not attempt it. It was very slow going years ago but now that they've limited the number of people it isn't as bad but still slow. Getting pedestal access is pretty fun for most people. You are still up high and there is an interesting museum. We saw people that had a hard time just climbing to the pedestal but they do have an elevator to pedestal level. If you've done the Washington Monument it is similar to the crown...small windows. The bad thing is they don't allow you to take bottled water into the monument so you can't have water on the climb.

 

[Aristocath]

I'd recommend taking one of the 'living history' tours at the Lower Eastside Tenement Museum http://www.tenement.org/tours.php

I second that! Those are very interesting and if you go to Ellis Island it is a follow up to what happened to the immigrants in the New York.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

I just returned from NYC with my sister. We stayed at The Coutryard in Times Square. It was close to everything. It was pretty reasonable and rooms weren't too small. It was clean and the beds were comfortable.

We did a Circle Line Sightseeing cruise. We got a discount on that by doing one of the bus tours. It was pretty interesting. We only had 2 days so it was nice to see a bunch of stuff in a short amount of time.

We did 3 shows and they were all amazing. We got tickets for 2 of them ahead of time. The last one we got through the TKTS booth in Times Square. The tickets weren't the greatest seats but they were far from bad. We probably would have better seats if we would have gotten there earilier. We got there at 5:00 for the 8:00 shows.

We did Empire State at night. It's open until 2:00am so we didn't have a big line. It was cold though so be prepared.

We ate at the restaurant at Rockefeller near the ice rink. It wasn't remarkable food but the atmosphere was cool. We did the prix fixe menu so it wasn't outrageous.

We ate at Clinton Street Bakery for brunch. Pancakes from heaven and the syrup was to die for.

We also ate at Sarahbeth's near Central Park for brunch it was good too. Expensive but good.

Have fun!

 

[mjh8955]

My 17-year-old daughter wants to "experience" some shopping. I think she means she wants to go to some place where we can't possibly buy anything but just being there is amazing for her. And mom would like to know where some interesting shopping might be where we COULD actually afford to buy something!! Any suggestions for either scenarios?? We will probably be staying someplace near Times Square or Central Park. Thanks!!

 

[Aristocath]

My 17-year-old daughter wants to "experience" some shopping. I think she means she wants to go to some place where we can't possibly buy anything but just being there is amazing for her. And mom would like to know where some interesting shopping might be where we COULD actually afford to buy something!! Any suggestions for either scenarios?? We will probably be staying someplace near Times Square or Central Park. Thanks!!

My favorite shopping "experience" is a tie between Barney's and some of the shops in Soho. I do love Barneys! Now there are lots of places where your 17 yo can actually buy stuff, my favorites being H&M and Uniqlo. There are lots of H&M stores but I think the best one is on 5th Avenue at 51st (or 50th, can't remember). Uniqlo is in Soho on Broadway between Prince and Spring. (Right down the street from Dean and Deluca.) And I have to say Macy's Herald Square has an absolutely amazing selection and you can use coupons and things are usually on sale. And I do love the Sephora in Times Square!

 

[mjh8955]

Ummm... what is "H&M"??

 

[Aristocath]

H&M is just the name of the store. It was started in Sweden and they now have stores all over the world. They have trendy fashion and also things you can wear to work. They have women's, men's and children's clothing lines and many designers will do a special line for H&M. You can go towww.hm.com to see some of the clothes.

 

[jiminy14]

There are some really cool shops in Soho that are near each other. Uniglo is a Japanese company that sells affordable casual wear and workout gear. TopShop and All Saints Spitalfields are two British companies that sell on trend items. Both can be on the expensive side but if you shop the sale/clearance areas you can find some good buys. Muji is another Japanese store that sells home goods and stationary and Pearl River Market is a huge store that specializes in everything Chinese. There is also a MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) store that has some really cool items and there is Scholastic Book store that isn't too far away.
You can get the subway from Times Square (take the N or the R to the Prince Street stop).
If your DD likes Marc Jacobs, he has two shops in the West Village. The Marc by Marc Jacobs shop has some reasonably priced t-shirts ($20), rain boots ($28) and jewelry. Across the street is BookMarc, which is Marc Jacobs' bookstore. You will find some unusual titles here plus some reasonably priced jewelry.
Fifth Avenue is the mecca of shopping. You will find most of the department stores and designer stores here. The Apple store and FAO Schwartz are right next door to each other with the Apple store being underground.

 

[MeganFyne]

Hi! I live in NYC so I'd love to jump in here...

There are a bunch of hotels in Astoria (in queens, 1st stop on the N,Q train in the borough of queens) that will be much cheaper than hotels in Manhattan, and if you plan on getting around by the subway it's worth looking into them. Check the locations on tripadvisor though, because they can vary wildly!

I personally can't stand Times Square which is why I thought I'd mention it! My father comes to town on business a lot and he always stays in hotels in Manhattan and routinely pays a LOT of money. I'm sure that hotels are going to be your biggest expense, unless you eat at fine dining establishments often.

Wine, liquor, and beer are more expensive than you think they'll be.

If you are willing to take a gamble, get show tickets from the TKTS booth. There's one in Times Square but there are 2 others that most people don't visit, and you're more likely to get good tickets plus you spend less time in line. I'd advise the one at South Street Seaport, because you'll also have a chance to tour the seaport. The third booth is in downtown Brooklyn. I have a TKTS app for my phone.

Onion (not The Onion Newspaper) has great walking tours. Visit The Museum of Natural History! They have a suggested entrance fee but you can always suggest a different number. Same at the Met. The MoMA is more expensive but is very cool. Gueggenheim is expensive but the architecture is neat.

I can think of lots of things for adults to do (free or cheap comedy, speakeasies, etc) but teens are a bit harder (I don't know any!)

I know there's a new bus tour where there are actors along the way portraying famous NYC historical moments. I take out of town visitors to the Toys R Us in Times Square because there's the Ferris Wheel inside. I love to spend the occasional day in Coney Island. Make sure you visit the Freak Show! Seriously! My girlfriends and I make a day of it in the summer, Freak Show, then Cyclones game (they are the local Mets farm team. They usually lose, which is great since I'm a Yankees fan) We also often stop at Beer Island (outdoor bar covered in sand) , but that's just us. At night we then ride the actual Cyclone, play some boardwalk games, maybe do a few other rides.

Oh also in Astoria is the Museum of the Moving Image, which is fun.

There's cute boutique and gallery shopping in SoHo (around Broadway, South of Houston Street and north of Canal Street)

Also walk around the Village, maybe get lunch there.

If I can think of anything else I'll post it later!

I guess that's more like 17 cents.

 

[Massillon Dad]

a travel auction website: I think you only pay them $10 if you win (do a "search" for NYC dining/attractions as well as hotel deals) If you bid on a hotel, make sure the room accommodations are sufficient before you bid (som rooms auctioned-off are for only 2 people room occupancy).

 

[Pammy jo]

We're also a family of five and it's tough to have to pay for two rooms. We stayed at Affina Manhattan (right across from Madison Sq Garden) last year and will be staying there again this April. Very convenient to everything, nice hotel and by far the cheapest out there for 5. I thought the room was huge for NYC and it even had a kitchen in it.

 

[Tanzanite]

We're also a family of five and it's tough to have to pay for two rooms. We stayed at Affina Manhattan (right across from Madison Sq Garden) last year and will be staying there again this April. Very convenient to everything, nice hotel and by far the cheapest out there for 5. I thought the room was huge for NYC and it even had a kitchen in it.

WHERE DO YOU BOOK YOUR ROOM? Thank you.

 

[clori]

I also stayed at Affinia Manhattan last year over our April vacation week. We booked thru travelzoo. We had 5 people - 3 adults and 2 kids. We had a 1 bedroom suite - 1 room had two queen beds and a full bathroom. The other room had a full size sofabed, full bathroom, kitchen with full size stove/refrigerator plus dishes etc. I paid $159 a night which included breakfast for two which we took turns using. It is old as in no flatscreen tvs and window unit acs but it worked well for us.. If you stay there I recommend requesting a quiet area rather than facing the street.

 

[Pammy jo]

I booked straight thru the affinia site. It's all quiet where I live so I thought it was actually kinda fun to have a room up front to see and hear the hustle and bustle . . . I however can fall asleep anywhere.

 

[JeffPort]

We also saw mary poppins from the upper balcony and enjoyed it.

We just purchased seats in front row / middle of the upper balcony for our family trip this June. Can you offer any further details on the view from this location? Is it really far back or still pretty close to the stage? Any obstructions? Is it an abnormally high angle? ... Could you see the actors faces? And did the sound carry well to the balcony?

(I apologize for the machine-gun-style of the inquiry .)

 

[mjh8955]

I am wondering if there is any possibility of getting discount Wicked tickets when we get there mid-July. I'm thinking they are the hardest tickets to get of all.

 

[jama]

I've not found any discounts for Wicked..but there must be some out there b/c there is a place for code on ticketmaster...

 

[disneydreamersx4]

Hoping for a code for Wicked tickets??

Or where is the best place to buy Wicked tickets on Broadway?