OT - Help with NYC Family vacation

[maxtomsmom]

Marriott Marquis is fine. We've stayed there after seeing a show. Two restaurants you might want to go:

Mars 2112 - Very fun, they "blast" you there. Aliens greet you.
Carmine's - It can be hard to get in. I believe there are two - one is uptown, but I haven't been there in a while.

There is a chocolate dessert bar (family friendly) my friend told me about, she said the desserts are outrageous. I can ask her the name again.

I haven't read all the posts so excuse me if I am repeating others. Museum of Natural History has a great new exhibition about early man. My kids 5 and 3 loved it. It helped them better understand how people were not around during dino times. There are other museums such as the Guggenheim, Moma (Museum of Modern Art), children's museum of Manhattan, the Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park which is a part of the Met, and The Met. All have websites for you to check out.

Also if you can venture outside of Manhattan, you could go to Coney Island and the Brooklyn Aquarium.


I know I can think of some more, also check out to see if there are any street fairs or festivals.

My recommendation for a family Broadway play is the Lion King. Probably the most beautifully done play. Very cool. I hear Beauty and Beast is also good.

 

[maxtomsmom]

Here is a site with kids in mind:

http://www.ny.com/kids/

 

[Avarelle]

Subscribing. We live in southern PA and my daughter, 8, has been asking me to take her to NYC to see the Statue of Liberty for months now. I'm thinking about taking a few days off in the summer or taking a long weekend in December. Does anyone know when the Christmas decorations start going up and when it starts getting TOO crowded?? Also, what are some of the best family friendly hotels in the Times Square area? Is that where I would want to stay with a 7 & 8 year old who would want to do AG, FAO, WoD and see a show?

the christmas decorations start going up around Thanksgiving time in NYC. I think they light the tree in Rockerfellar center the monday after thanksgiving weekend. it is beautiful that time of year in New York. i live just outside of the city,and i dont get down there enough during the holidays because of the large crowds and traffic, but if you are already staying down in the city or take the train there its not bad at all.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

We always stay at the Travel Inn; I believe it's on 42nd. Great price and comfortable room. Free parking, which is worth its weight in gold in NYC. Very close to Times Square and the Circle Line (boat) tours, which are fun and popular. I highly recommend the museums! Tons of restaurants there...you should google your favorite cuisine and NYC and see what comes up! You'll want to take your kids to FAO Schwarz, of course.

 

[checkwriter]

Here's a fun half-day itinerary that I've used twice with visiting friends. Start early with the Empire State Building -- the lines, like at Disney, will build through the day. This can be a two-hour production, between going through security, buying tickets, taking the two elevators up to the observation deck, working your way around the building, and then trying to ignore the gift shop and taking the elevators back down. Weather will affect this greatly. If it's raining, skip this, or wait for it to clear and then go.

Once you're done, walk two blocks east over to Park Avenue and take the #6 subway Downtown to Battery Park (you'll need to change over to the 4 or 5 at the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall stop, which is the last stop on the #6). The kids will love the subway, and (statistically speaking) it's safer below ground than above.

At Battery Park you can get off and walk a couple of blocks south to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. This is your FREE New York Harbor boat cruise -- no charge for the Staten Island Ferry, one of New York's great bargains. You'll have prime views of the lower Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, and the Statue of Liberty. You will have to get off the ferry when it reaches Staten Island, then can walk directly around in the terminal and get back on. The nice thing about this "cruise," in addition to the price, is that it's about 15 minutes or so in each direction. The 3-hour Circle Line cruises are just way too long for most kids. The kids may also enjoy seeing the heavily-armed Coast Guard troops that seem to be on each of the ferries, complete with their bomb-sniffing German Shepherds.

There are (kind of dirty) bathrooms and a snack bar on the ferry. Plenty of seats.

Back in Manhattan, you can walk up Broadway and over to Ground Zero, if you'd like to pay your respects. Alternatively (or in addition), you can walk past City Hall and the courthouse complex (the ones you see on Law & Order and CSI every week), then cut over east to Chinatown. Walking through the narrow, crowded streets of Chinatown, you'll feel like you're in a completely different city. Storefronts spilling over with some of the oddest-looking fruit and vegetables that you'll ever see, seafood markets brimming with still-live fish and crabs, bakeries with sweet rolls and dumplings, and lots of shops filled with all sorts of cheap and not-so-cheap trinkets. You may see a Chinese funeral procession, complete with traditional brass band. There is a Chinese-themed McDonalds on Canal Street if the kids aren't into the other local fare.

That's a good half day or more, and you can take the #6 back up to Grand Central/42nd Street and get off, find your way into the terminal, and experience one of the great public spaces on this planet. It's about another three long blocks (midtown east-west blocks are about four times as long as the north-south blocks) west over to Times Square.

 

[checkwriter]

One very popular dessert restaurant is Serendipity3. http://www.serendipity3.com/main.htm

Bring your wallet. And your friend's wallet.

 

[MACfamily4]

My DM and I are planning a "girls trip" to NYC for DD's 12th birthday. We used to go when I was a kid (lived in Connecticut then; live in Kansas now) and I have such wonderful memories of the city - can't wait to share it with DD. This info is wonderful - keep it coming!

 

[checkwriter]

I just remembered that my nephew earned a free admission to the Empire State Building by answering correctly a set of trivia questions. Here's the link:
http://www.esbnyc.com/kids/kids_trivia.cfm

That will save you $14.

And the link to the main site: http://www.esbny.com/index2.cfm

Note that the building has its own version of Fastpass. For $48 (versus $20 for an adult admission).

Also, the main observation deck is on the 86th floor. That is where most people go, and it's plenty as far as I'm concerned. There is a second, smaller observatory on the 102nd floor (up in the spire), which is an additional $15 admission.

 

[suzct]

We just spent last weekend in the city. My mom, sis, me and dd6. We had a blast. We stayed at the Hilton NY. Very convenient. We saw "Wicked". Awesome is not a strong enough word to describe it. LOVED it. We ate at Carmines. It was very good and the portions are huge. There is a new Juniors restaurant (famous for cheescake)near there which looked good too. We ate dinner at the AG Place which was very cute. $24 a person and you just choose your main entree. The rest just comes out like mini cinnamon buns, appetizer sampler and dessert. My daughter loved it. Her doll got a special chair and place setting for dinner. You need to make reservations ahead and they send you a confirmation ticket. FAO and World od Disney store are a must. You can also take an NBC tour at ROckefeller center. We went to "Top of the Rock". No lines at all. We heard nightmares about the Empire state bldg.
You'll have a blast no matter what.
Have fun!

 

[java]

I would say try to stay someplace other than times square. I would prefer to stay a little over out of the "action" closer to 5th say. Like the NYPalace. Times Square is a little unusual at night. We stayed girl's weekend in November right in Times Square- hotel was great. BUT at night we met some very very strange people(and we are NYers- now in NJ) The funniest was a guy in a spiderman costume- full costume. He followed us around for a long while opening doors for us ect.and we tried to tip him(To get rid of him) But he wouldn't take it!!! So I guess there are some nice strange people in Times Square at night too. (I won't tell the scary people stories but suffice to say they scared us back to our room)
But during the day it was fine- so if you are just going to head in early to the hotel then it would be an ok place to stay.
I am rambling sorry- but for some reason it just freaked us out last time. And I have spent many many Saturday nights in NYC and Times Square was just a bit much.

 

[Merriwind]

Wow! All this info is great. We got flights on Continental--Ft. Myers to Newark for $146 RT. I was pretty psyched--non-stop, good times.

Please keep the info coming.

We've got the Empire State Building and Natural History Museums as must dos. I was thinking about the Circle Line, but may try the Staten Island Ferry instead. DD is a big Egypt buff, so we may visit the Met Museum to see their Egyptian wing. ToysR Us and FAO, maybe AG. The Mars restaurant we'll probably do--oh and time in Central Park, probably Sunday. I will have to do a Disney spreadsheet, modified for NY.

Thanks!!

 

[Rustysmom]

Have a great time. I live in Brooklyn, but we only go to the city a couple time a year-to see the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center, and we play tourist sometimes if we don't have anything to do when DH has a week of vacation in the summer. Then we'll go on the Circle Line, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, and before we had DD we used to get Broadway tickets from the TKTS booth. She'll be 4 next month so maybe we'll try to do a kid friendly show this summer. It's a lot of fun.

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

My best friend is a researcher at the Museum of Natural History and today she mentioned a program where kids and their parents do a sort of campout under the blue whale in the Sea section of the museum and have fossil hunts, etc, during the night.

 

[Avarelle]

My best friend is a researcher at the Museum of Natural History and today she mentioned a program where kids and their parents do a sort of campout under the blue whale in the Sea section of the museum and have fossil hunts, etc, during the night.

wow that sounds really cool! do you know how much something like that might cost?

 

[devalsam]

The Mars restaurant we'll probably do-

Thanks!!

What is the Mars restaurant??
I am also planning a NYC trip with my 2 DDs, 7 & 8, in December and have been thoroughly enjoying all of the info I'm finding in this thread.

 

[susieq76]

Its a restaurant called Mars 2112. It was really cool when it first opened but imho it has gone downhill the past few years. We took the boys there in February and the "ride" was broken (2nd time in a row), our waitress forgot us and the food was really expensive but not very good. When we first went there they had some good selections on the menu (monkfish bites, ribs, steak)- not anymore Hope it gets better- the atmoshpere is really cool.

Personally, we love little italy. There is a restaurant called "La Mela" which is our family favorite. They have a fixed price menu with great food and wine. My kids love it too (they're 5, 5, & 3)

Another great food choice is Les Sans Cullottes. Its french but not super fancy. Great prices and food. The mussels are to die for. They have one location on 2nd & 56th (East side) and one location in the 50's and 8th (close to Times Square).

As far as what to do- did you think of doing the "Hop on, Hop off" bus tour? My friends came in from mississippi and the bus tour was their kids favorite thing to do. Sitting on the top of a double decker bus seeing the city? Heck I'm thinking of taking the LIRR in with the boys and having them try it.

Don't miss the Museum of Natural History. The Central Park Zoo is nice- not quite the Bronx Zoo but nice (I'm sure growing up in LI you went to the Bronx Zoo).

Have fun.

Susan

 

[checkwriter]

Be sure and keep an eye out for the Naked Cowboy, a buff young man who walks around midtown in his skivvies, cowboy boots, cowboy hat and guitar. He poses for pictures and takes donations tucked into his . . . . boots (sorry). He of course has his own website: http://www.nakedcowboy.com/, and has been featured in a number of magazines. He supposedly pulls in a six-figure income by scooting around the Big Apple in his undies.

There will be a lot of that sort of thing around Times Square, especially at night. Trash can drummers, break dancing troupes, musicians, mimes, painted "statues," dozens of caricaturists.

For a cool souvenier, look for the NY Fire Dept red t-shirts that have the FDNY logo on the front and "Keep Back 200 Feet" on the back (the sign that's on every NYC FD truck). Good to wear jogging.

 

[ronirp]

We were just in NYC (a couple of weeks ago) and stayed at the Marriott - it was great. The elevators are a bit confusing (you punch in the floor you want to go to and it directs you to a specific elevator). A couple of tips (some of which were mentioned) and ideas:
- purchase tickets at the southstreet (or is it south sea?) - no lines and you get the same tickets!!!! We got tickets to spamlot, 6th row.
- the staten island ferry is free, so it is a fun ride
- do the ferris wheel at the Toys R Us store
- central park, especially if you have a pretty day. Take a picnic lunch and enjoy
- circle line is still worth it. We did this several years ago and did the one at sunset. You travel one way and there is still day light, then on the return it is dark and you see all the lights - AMAZING
- my daughter loved waling on 5th ave. and looking at all the shops

 

[Mom2Ty&Lins]

DD13 and I are going to NYC for a week in June with another mom and DD13.

We never plan itineraries for our Disney trips because we go so often. NYC is new territory for us. I'll feel a lot more comfortable having a game plan going in. The information in this thread will help out a lot!

 

[checkwriter]

Here is the link to the Museum of Natural History's webpage about their sleepover programs, all of which are sold out. It appears to be a group function (Cub Scouts, church groups, etc.):

http://www.amnh.org/kids/sleepovers/