People spend lifetimes in The Big Apple and can’t experience all there is to see and do, so don’t feel pressured to do too much! We love New York! We’ve been to New York before (read more here) and have friends in NJ that we love visiting when we’re in the area (read more here). . Read more about our hotel stays here, details on how we flew for cheap here, and everything about our car and subway transportation logistics here.
Highlights of our last trip
On our last trip to NYC, we spent a day exploring the One World Trade Center, Times Square, FAO Schwartz, and Central Park. On this trip, we hit a few repeats but also had more time to do a few more things!
Times Square
On this trip, we stopped by Times Square at night. It was very active and exciting with lots of street dancers and so many bright lights. We made a brief stop at the M&M store and stopped at Carmine’s for some superb Italian dinner. Note that there was about an hour wait on a Thursday night and reservations are recommended.
Activities Near 30 Rock
At Rockefeller Plaza, there were tons of options for snacks including Magnolia bakery, bubble tea shops, and much more. We stopped by for some yummy donuts right next to the main plaza.
Carter has recently become interested in Pokemon card trading. He doesn’t play the game yet but loves reading about all the powers of the different Pokemons. We made a stop at the Nintendo Store and had a blast! On the lower level, they had large statues and lots of merchandise. Upstairs, they had Pokemon items, and multiple Nintendo switch device displays to play with. There was also a cool area where they showed the history of the gaming systems. I started on the NES but N64 was my jam. I have a core memory of beating middle school boys at GoldenEye. #GirlBoss
The kid’s favorite store was the famous FAO Shwartz. Although we went on our last trip, we needed to go again for a quick visit! Carter loved the magic show demonstrations and Ellie loved the giant stuffed animals. And, of course, they loved the dance-on piano seen in the movie Big.
Also in this area is Fire Zone, a free activity area offering information to kids about fire safety, the Lego Store and lots of shopping! The kids were super mesmerized by a jean cactus in Neiman Marcus and Ellie and I found some awesome new purses in the Big City! (Hers is a pop-it purse. Much cooler than mine)
Central Park
Our hotel was within walking distance of Central Park. We picked up some food from the Underground food hall nearby and had a poké picnic in the park. Ben did a long 6 mile run while the kids and I did some people and horse watching, a quick carousel ride, and played on rocks and playgrounds. We ended our adventure near the Bethesda Terrace (Bonus, there’s a bathroom there!) There are multiple areas we didn’t explore in the park including the zoo, multiple playgrounds, statues, and hiking trails.
We’ve still only explored the Southwest corner of this giant park! Next time, maybe we’ll take a train to the North to see more.
Staten Island Ferry
We had planned on our last trip to see the Statue of Liberty from the free Staten Island ferry to and from Manhattan and were able to do it on this trip. This was a fun adventure. From the south ferry, we took a 30 minute ferry past the Statue of Liberty (2 hours) to Staten Island at the top of the hour, got off and got back on and headed back. The trip was quick. Be sure to arrive at the terminal early for bathroom breaks and snack purchases. The snack bar on the boat wasn’t operating so if you want a boat beer, you’ll need to buy it before. The ride was less than 30 minutes and went by quickly. Definitely an activity worth doing and best of all, it was free!
Prospect Park in Brooklyn
In the afternoon, we took the train over to Brooklyn when we made a brief bathroom break stop in the Brooklyn library, ate some food truck lunch and ice cream and walked through the gorgeous park to the Zoo. It was about a mile from the station so keep that in mind. There was a Dino exhibit and some cool kids play areas on one of the trails. The zoo itself was pretty small with no real stars except for the sea lions and baboons but the kids had fun and it’s always fun to see new things.
Downtown Manhattan-South Street Seaport, Wall Street and Chinatown
On our last half day, we walked over to the South Street seaport to see spectacular views of the Brooklyn bridge, see some big boats, and walk around the area. Lots of room to get wiggles out and a beautiful area.
We walked back up wall street for our touristy pics of the Charging Bull and Fearless Girl. Note that fearless girl was moved to in front of the New York Stock Exchange
After, we took the train to Chinatown for some delicious dim sum at Jing Fong. A wonderful end to our trip!
Other Ideas
We had a fun and busy time in NYC. We would love to go again and experience more fun activities! Maybe a Christmas trip to NYC or a Broadway Disney Show when they reopen. Read more about our hotel stays here, details on how we flew for cheap here, and everything about our car and subway transportation logistics here.
For our next visit, other kid-friendly adventures we would like to add to our itinerary include:
