Visiting NYC with Kids

[100AcreWood]

We're thinking about taking a trip to NYC with our kids this Spring. I'm thinking they would enjoy the Ferry ride to see the Statue of Liberty, the Central Park Zoo (maybe even the Bronx Zoo)? I would love to hear advice/suggestions!

Obviously we wouldn't have a car, so do we bring car seats for the kids?

 

[100AcreWood]

Also I would love a suggestion on a hotel!

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

What are the ages of the kids? I live in Jersey, but when my DD was modeling we went into the city a lot. At first I would walk around holding her infant car seat and pushing her in the umbrella stroller.... not recommended! After a while, I just decided to hold her on my lap during the taxi rides. As far as what the taxi drivers told me, it was legal, but I didn't feel really safe doing it, and always just prayed we made it there safe! Needless to say, I didn't take to many taxies! I really suggest either walking it, or getting a subway guide - its much easier and cheaper than taxis! I loved going to Chelsea Market. Its a really neat place to go if your a foodie (in fact, its where they tape the Food Network shows, but that's on the 3rd floor, and you can't get up there, but you may seen Rachel Ray or Bobby Flay walking through the markets!) Also Union Square (just a few blocks away) has a great farmers market in the spring/summer thats really nice to walk around and just look. Bronx Zoo is a great place, we go at least once or twice a year. We drive, but I'm sure if you check it out, you can take the subway - its not as scary as they make it seem in the movies! Of course you will have to take a trip to the Disney store there - it is their flagship store! You can give them a call the week you go, and ask them what characters they will have in the store, and when. What else... ooh, the Hershey store is great, and smells soooo good! Madam Touso (sp?) Wax Museum is really great, as well as all the other wonderful museums in the city. Again, I don't know your kids ages, but the Village is a really fun place to go with great neat stores and places to eat. Invest in a Zagat guide based in New York if you have a specific kind of food you are looking for - word to the wise, if you want sushi or something, don't just pick some random place, make sure you do some research! Hope this helps... if I think of anything else I'll be sure to let you know!

 

[roxydotty]

I heard, but you may want to confirm, that the Bronx Zoo is much larger and the Central Park zoo is very small. So I guess it just depends if you want the full size zoo that probably takes 4-5 hours to see everything or something much smaller.
We spent some time in Central Park. It is a lot of fun expecially on the weekend and the weather is nice. I think we went to the Museum of Natural History. It has the dinosaur exhibit and the 3d movie that was kinda fun. They have a website that would tell you what exhibits they have while you're there. Ride the subway, maybe take a tour on the hop on hop off bus. That was fun. The HUGE toys r us store in times square has a ferris wheel in it. See times square at night. We rode the Staten Island ferry and saw the Statue of Liberty. It was a nice break after a long day of walking. We went to the Top of Rockfeller Center. That was breathtaking!!

 

[MandM-Mom]

My DD loves NYC her favorite places to go are American Girl and Disney Store on 5th avenue, Central Park Zoo and just running through Central Park, Fountains outside of FAO Swartz, Times Square Toys R Us .

 

[luvmy3]

How old are your kids? Mine have had many taxi rides without carseats, my youngest being 4 right now. If you are worried about safety then definitely take the subway. Walking is nice but it is a big city and although things are only XXX blocks away it does get tiresome for the kids.
Some of our favorite places are American Girl Place, if you have boys they will not enjoy this. DH takes my boys to the central park zoo when me and dd do our day at AGP.
TRU Times Square, Central Park (zoo is small), Natural History Museum, and Statue of Liberty.

 

[RMulieri]

NYC is awesome...I lived just over in Nj all my life and now take a trip to nyc every 6mos .Kids love the Americna mUseum of Natural historyand the Planetarium.The central park zoo is cute, but the Bronx zoo is HUGE ( and fun)The times Square World of Disney store rocks! Madame Tussauds wax museum is ok.My dd didn't like it at all.I have never been to the Hershey store..but I live 3 mins from Hershey,PA so that is why.I usually stay at the Westin in times square.Be aware...hotel rooms in NYc are very pricy and very small.Never bothered with the car seats.Buses and subways don't allow them and they are a pain in the butt to carry all day.

 

[mjantz]

We went over the summer with a 6YO & a 9YO. We never took a taxi while we were there & found the subway very safe. With a Metrocard its very affordable to get around the city & the map is easy to read.
AFA accomodations, we rented a 1BR apartment & that was a great decision. When the kids were done for the day we'd take the subway back 'home' & they could chill out while I fixed dinner. We also had a bit more room then your standard closet-sized apartment. We used vrbo.com & had no problem at all.
While we were there we went to the Statue of Liberty (get on the 1st ferry of the morning), Museum of Modern Art (MOMA/ very kid friendly IMO, just make sure they know they cannot touch the paintings), Harbor Lights cruise of the island, Empire State Building, Natural History Museum (DD was hacked that it wasn't like 'Night at the Museum') & DD & I went to an American Ballet Theatre kids production (we got to meet Angelina Ballerina!). We got a CityPass which covered most of the things we did & was reasonable for all the places it got you into.

Hope this helps.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Beware the Naked Cowboy! I work in NYC, but downtown. A few years back we came into the city in December with my DD, her friend, and the friend's mom. Parked the car near Times Square and was walking to Nokia Theater, through the holiday crowds, when my daughter starts carrying on about a man in his underwear with a guitar. No one else in our party saw him, just DD. Millions of people in this City and my daughter spots him within minutes! Apparently, I'm the only person to have never heard of the Naked Cowboy, up to that point. You'll have a great time in the City, just be prepared when you child goes home and tells Daddy (or grandma, teacher, etc.) that there was a man in his underwear playing a guitar. My DH wasn't too happy, but boy did my DD have a story for her classmates the following week!

 

[gibsontrio]

Hello NYer here. Skip the Bronx zoo and to the central park zoo. The bronx zoo is bigger but VERY spaced out and sometimes you can hardly see the animals, central park zoo is much nicer IMO. Go check out the Toys r us , they have a giant indoor ferris wheel with different themed seats, for instance my son likes to ride in the fire truck seating of the ferris wheel. I would take mass transit, trains, busses and go by foot. you can ride the bus 2 dollars.

 

[ehrn]

you can look up hotel reviews in tripadvisor.com
also check out timeout.com/newyork/kids
to get you "in the spirit" you could listen to wor710am--not sure of the website, but you can listen online, the joan hamburg show and the food guy after her in particular to hear about places to go, eat etc around the city.
check out the board that talks about hotels off of disney property because they talk about different auction sites--skyauction and such, the same principles would apply to getting a hotel in another city. i have used priceline a couple times but not sure i would with little kids as you might want to know for sure what you are getting.
have a great time!

 

[motand1]

My husband and I took our 9 year old twin girls to NYC last May and had a ball! We stayed at the Sheraton in New Jersey, near the airport, it was a fairly easy ride into the city everyday. The kids had no problem with all of the walking in the city. We shopped, took a carriage ride through Central Park, saw Jungle Book on Broadway (which was great), shopped some more and saw almost all the landmarks. Times Square is great for kids because there's GMA, the Hershey store and the M&M's store (my favorite), not to mention somewhere around there is the world largest Build a Bear shop. They had a lot of NYC specialty items that you can't find anywhere else. We were there for 4 nights and found plenty to do. We didn't do the ferry over to the Statue because we were leaving that day and ran out of time. We didn't do taxis or the subway, it was mid May and very nice for walking. We just planned our day to be in certain parts of the city for the day so we weren't parking our car all over (parking isn't cheap!) Have fun!

 

[Rylee]

See Mary Poppins, or any kid friendly show on broadway!

We stay at Doubletree suites in Times Square.

 

[ehrn]

my mom just got directions for me from hopstop.com. it's pretty cool, might help w/your trip!

 

[hbehrman]

We're thinking about taking a trip to NYC with our kids this Spring. I'm thinking they would enjoy the Ferry ride to see the Statue of Liberty, the Central Park Zoo (maybe even the Bronx Zoo)? I would love to hear advice/suggestions!

Obviously we wouldn't have a car, so do we bring car seats for the kids?

If you are interested in the Bronx Zoo you should google their web site. It is very good. Though I should warn you the admission price is quite steep for a zoo. I researched it last year before visiting some relatives on Long Island, and for a family of 5 from out of town it was a bit out of our reach.

FYI: See below for family info. We stayed on Long Island and took the LI Railroad after 9am rush hour into Penn Station (45 min ride from Merrick).
Our doings:

Took the subway(first car, make sure you get in the first car) to the South Ferry for a free round trip to see the Statue of Liberty (as opposed to the long tourist line in Battery Park) and the harbor,

Bought a gourmet lunch nearby and had lunch in Battery Park,

Took the bus back on the Avenue of the Americas (maybe 4th avenue) to have the kids "see" the city and we could see over the fences of the World Trade Center construction.

Back to Penn Station for the 4pm before rush hour (barely) train back to LI.

And that was a full day for the two 5 year olds and the two year old (we did have an all terrain stroller).

 

[vicceja]

New York City is such an experience. We live in Connecticut so we visit the City many times. Actually, we were just there 2 weeks for a Rangers game at the Garden.

If I were you I would definitely catch a Broadway Show, visit Central Park, and the Bronx Zoo. Have Fun!

 

[5 for WDW]

We live on Long Island and go into the city quite often. Even more trips to the Bronx to go to Yankee Stadium but, I will keep on topic...lol.

We love the Bronx Zoo. Lots to do and see. It has a great bug carousel, a monorail ride and a sky ride. (Like WDW used to have). Then there is the butterfly garden, Tigers, Monkey house to name a few, and it has a wonderful childrens zoo. It is defiantely a lot of walking and a place that you would need a full day for. We are big Bronx Zoo fans.

As others have mentioned, the Toys R Us store is great, make sure you take a ride on the ferris wheel. We always hit the Disney store, American Girl Place and the Hershey store.

The kids love to see a show. We usually go in to see the Christmas Spectacular each winter but, we are going to see The Little Mermaid in a few weeks and can't wait!

Times Square is a favorite of my kids. They are 10,8 and 4. Someone else mentioned the Naked Cowboy...my DD 4 is always the first to spot him...lol.

Lots of great things to do with kids as you can imagine. Have a great time!!

 

[solgent]

Things we've enjoyed in various trips to NYC:

Disney Store
American Girl Store
Central Park Zoo
Bronx Zoo
Museum of Modern Art (free for kids under 16)
Staten Island ferry
Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center observation floors)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
walk over the Brooklyn Bridge
United Nations
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Museum of Natural History
Museum of the City of New York
Transit Museum

 

[collcass]

Things we've enjoyed in various trips to NYC:

Disney Store
American Girl Store
Central Park Zoo
Bronx Zoo
Museum of Modern Art (free for kids under 16)
Staten Island ferry
Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center observation floors)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
walk over the Brooklyn Bridge
United Nations
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Museum of Natural History
Museum of the City of New York
Transit Museum

I'dd add on ESPN Zone for Boys (in Timnes Square), Columbus Circle, China Town, Little Italy, Battery Park, Empire State Building and a Broadway Show.


I would not advise the Bronx Zoo on a Wednesday. It is mobbed!

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

We live on Long Island and go into the city quite often. Even more trips to the Bronx to go to Yankee Stadium but, I will keep on topic...lol.

We love the Bronx Zoo. Lots to do and see. It has a great bug carousel, a monorail ride and a sky ride. (Like WDW used to have). Then there is the butterfly garden, Tigers, Monkey house to name a few, and it has a wonderful childrens zoo. It is defiantely a lot of walking and a place that you would need a full day for. We are big Bronx Zoo fans.

As others have mentioned, the Toys R Us store is great, make sure you take a ride on the ferris wheel. We always hit the Disney store, American Girl Place and the Hershey store.

The kids love to see a show. We usually go in to see the Christmas Spectacular each winter but, we are going to see The Little Mermaid in a few weeks and can't wait!

Times Square is a favorite of my kids. They are 10,8 and 4. Someone else mentioned the Naked Cowboy...my DD 4 is always the first to spot him...lol.

Lots of great things to do with kids as you can imagine. Have a great time!!

We are taking our girls to NYC for the first time in August. Could you tell me what an average weekday ticket is for The Little Mermaid and how far in advance you should get tickets? Thank you so much!!