Three days in NYC-whats your top 10 not to miss...

[robynrainer]

We will be in NYC for four days and my DH has his heart set on day tripping three kids to washington for one of them. That. Leaves me with three days with DD 9, Dd11 and DS6 to get a feel of NYC. What I'm after is a workable itinerary that won't break kids in the wall with exhaustion but will allow them to enjoy the city experience on a holiday. Their idea of three days away is a river a tent and a fishing rod so the culture shock will be huge. Any suggestions?

 

[australiankaren]

i enjoyed the boat out to statue of liberty...although it can be a bit dodgy around the wharf, so just be aware.
Disney store, absolutely HUGE!!! oh and take a look at tiffany's
also united nations building..interesting forecourt.

 

[robynrainer]

Thanks. I have Tiffany's on my list but DH just looks at me with a blank stare when I mention it. Haven't looked at Disney store at all as I thought 14 days at WDW would merchandise me out. The kids would love it though as they have FAO Schwartz and toys r us on their list!

 

[australiankaren]

Thanks. I have Tiffany's on my list but DH just looks at me with a blank stare when I mention it. Haven't looked at Disney store at all as I thought 14 days at WDW would merchandise me out. The kids would love it though as they have FAO Schwartz and toys r us on their list!

Disney store is 3 or 4 levels, and has everything..its a little theme park in itself...you will get lost in it

 

[BecBennett]

rockerfella centre and dylan's candy store

And of course central park...

 

[australiankaren]

rockerfella centre and dylan's candy store

And of course central park...

make sure you get a map of central park before you venture in it, we got lost, couldn't find the zoo.....cause the signage is garbage and no maps.

 

[battymum]

We loved the empire state building but were lucky with the queue. Also take a train to Brooklyn and walk back across the bridge

 

[BecBennett]

make sure you get a map of central park before you venture in it, we got lost, couldn't find the zoo.....cause the signage is garbage and no maps.

I was going to say that too, we were looking for strawberry fields and couldn't find it

 

[Melbourne5]

its a magic place especially for kids. we took our three and stayed in times square. top 10 would be;

1. Broadway show - we saw priscilla queen of desert and cirque de soleil
2. Times square - disney store, m&m's world, hersheys store, toys'r'us and loads of others
3. statue of liberty - best bet with kids - take a cruise not the actual island as you will be in secuirty lines forever
4. rockefeller centre - great views and tours, also takes in lego world, nintendo world, not far from fao scwharz and 5th ave
5. central park - hire a bike or of you are more relaxed a horse and carraige or pedicab..it was one of our fondest memories
6. the museums ...we went american museum of natural history ( where they filned night at the museum)
7. a baseball game ( season dependent)
8. a trip uptown/downtown/ brookyln on one of the blue or red hop on / off buses
9. dining...so much fun hard rock, bubba gumps, ellens stardust diner, red lobster....
10. walk as much as you can and people watch too...your kids will be spun out like ours were.

here is our TR from last year with more details

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2869007

good luck!

 

[Andona]

Top of the Rock, fabulous views straight down on Central Park in one direction and down past the empire state building in the other. It's a good spot to take a cheesy "propping up the empire state" photo

We didnt have a lot of time and did an organized orientation tour on our first morning. It gave us a great overall view of the major sites and included the Staten Island ferry. Tip for the ferry, go down to the very bottom level and right out the front. Not many people here as the majority of tourists stay up the top. We had plenty of space to take photos etc.

Also, if you go to the south street seaport and go through the back of the big shopping mall there you get an awesome view if the Brooklyn Bridge.

Bubba Gumps restaurant in Times Square is a great place to get a reasonably priced, tasty, meal right in the middle of the action.

Andona

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[polly p]

We just did NYC in April. Disney store moved to Times Square, and I'm sorry to say I liked the old store better, it was bigger. My daughter liked the Toys R Us in times square, they have a ferris wheel inside. American girl place if you have a doll collector.

Loved!! The empire state building at night. We ate downstairs at the brewery, DH loved it, daughter liked it too, and went up to the viewing area 45minutes before dark, line moved very quickly.

Have done statue of liberty with kids and ellis island, OK but not the favorite.

Central Park has lots to do, look online and get a map if you are going to do this.

Chinatown and little italy were fun. The great noodle house was a real bargain for lunch $15 for the three of us. We ate through there.

We always see a show when we go to NYC. Mary Poppins was wonderful.

Rockefeller Center and magnolia bakery(although I prefer the magnolia bakery location on Bleeker st)

The NYC fire dept museum was very good. We found an irish pub for lunch near there that had excellent and reasonable food.

These are just some of our favorites.

We went to washington a few years back and be advised that when we were there all museums and monuments closed at 5, so may be a short day if you are doing a day trip. You may want to check closing times of the things you are interested in.

 

[shushh]

When will you be NYC? In addition to the others that have been mentioned, if you’re around during Christmas time, the Christmas window displays of the department stores are worth looking at! As for the Disney store, it does have merchandise that is unique to NYC that is not available at WDW. If you’re going to be around Times Square anyway...it probably doesn’t hurt to pop in quickly!

Melbourne5 gave an excellent summary! We loved the Top of the Rock. I personally liked the view better than at the Empire State Building. Having said that, we went up the Empire State Building first thing on Christmas morning. No wait and up there almost by ourselves. It was super special. One of the many highlights for us was watching the Christmas Spectacular at the Radio City Music Hall. It is a gorgeous building and an amazing production. We also saw Wicked while we were there. An unexpected hit was The Highline Park (even in winter!) with lunch at nearby Pastis. It snowed the day (the beginnings of a blizzard actually!) we went to Central Park, so having a horse and carriage ride amonst a field of white was magical.

Either way, you’ll love your 3 days there with whichever you get to see!

Taking a trip to Washington for 1 day will make it a very long day. I think it takes about 4 hours to drive and about 3 hours by train. Perhaps someone else can verify.

 

[JessNewbs]

We have on our list for our visit:

Toys R Us, Times Square, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Rockefeller Centre, Slice of Brooklyn Tour and Central Park!

 

[robynrainer]

thank you all for your replies.

Melbourne5 i've just read your trip report and the excitement is building as it all sounds so familiar with all the reading i've been doing. I'm now trying to get my head around a good map of NYC so that I can plan out three days to most effectively use our time.

We head out of Melbourne on 2 September and return on 27th. 27 days to go! Trip starts with our 4 days in NYC then we are heading down to Orlando. I've got 4 days yet to plan (LIKELY to be Universal based) and then two weeks in POR where we are meeting up with friends who are staying at POFQ.

Roll round September. DH gets the longest Fathers' day in history... in flight... he gets to be a father all the way from here to NYC. Wonder how long it will take for the in flight novelty to wear off with three kids adjacent to you for so long

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

thank you all for your replies.

Melbourne5 i've just read your trip report and the excitement is building as it all sounds so familiar with all the reading i've been doing. I'm now trying to get my head around a good map of NYC so that I can plan out three days to most effectively use our time.

We head out of Melbourne on 2 September and return on 27th. 27 days to go! Trip starts with our 4 days in NYC then we are heading down to Orlando. I've got 4 days yet to plan (LIKELY to be Universal based) and then two weeks in POR where we are meeting up with friends who are staying at POFQ.

Roll round September. DH gets the longest Fathers' day in history... in flight... he gets to be a father all the way from here to NYC. Wonder how long it will take for the in flight novelty to wear off with three kids adjacent to you for so long

Robyn, your trip sounds fabulous. I can highly recommend going to see a baseball game if the Yankees are playing when you are in town. I wasn't a baseball fan at all but we went along and it was a tremendous experience.

 

[robynrainer]

First thing I did AFTER I booked new york was look for a baseball game. Unfortunately they play the night We arrive (too late) and the games played while we are there are out of state. I'll settle for hopefully seeing some kids throw a ball around in Central Park. I really want to hire bikes and ride around the park as DS is a moody walker. I have more hope of moving him on a bike.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Train from NYC to Washington around 3.5hrs depending on type of train (and amount you want to pay). 8am train eg gets in around 11.30am-gives you the pm to have a look at the Mall and I think as W is so sprawled out, I would recommend taking the hop on off sightseeing type tour (only Old Town Trolley operating now) as the most efficient means of seeing the most (probably just staying on most of the time as can get very crowded). YOu would do the orange loop -there is a stop at Union Stn where you arrive from NYC - though you need to check you can start it from here-so can ride past the Capitol, Supreme Court and Library of Congress, down the back side of the mall past museums, around past the lake and monuments like Jefferson then up to Lincoln-choose to get off maybe here and walk down past Vietnam, Korean and WW2 monuments and White House and see what Mall looks like properly. Probably no time to go in any of the museums. Here is the link http://www.trolleytours.com/washington-dc/day-tour.asp. The web sites for the Mall and museums are very informative so you can check operating times for when you are there and plan your day. You would need to take an evening train back to NYC. Still a big rush and with such a short time in NYC as well I wouldn't be doing it as a day trip (and for me that's saying something!!)

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

There might be a baseball game while you are in Orlando too so that might be work checking on as well.

 

[BecBennett]

he gets to be a father all the way from here to NYC.

He's not a father either side of the flight..?

j/k

 

[robynrainer]

Bec- he is but this father's day works especially well. We all know mothers day is when i get time to myself but fathers day is for him to spend time with his children. It's all in the marketing technique.