NYC Feb Half Term

[Theimpossiblegirl]

Looking to book for 4 of us for Feb half term. Any hints and tips? Will the weather be ok?

I'm at the very early stages of planning but know we plan on cramming in as much as possible including a show, grand central station, Ellen's Diner, Central Park and anything Friends based for the teens. :)

What is your budget per night?. Four to a room may be a bit tricky as well (US hotel rooms tend to have one king bed or two queen size beds) unless you also have a sofa bed. I would look at suite based hotel rooms as those rooms tend to be a bit larger in size. I would personally give Ellens Diner a miss as its a bit of a tourist trap.

It could well be cold then too. Do not try and cram in too much, pace yourselves. I would suggest you have a look at "The Ride" which is a bus that visits some NYC attractions in the evening.

Thanks, girls are 15 & 17 so 2 rooms would be better. Not sure of budget yet but erring on the side of cheap and cheerful.
Will check out the ride. I know we can get the ferry to see the statue of liberty.

When is your eldest child 18, I ask as she could occupy her own hotel room at that age (but not before). It is unlikely that your two daughters will be able to have their own separate room to yours unless you find a hotel room that has interconnecting doors (also unlikely). NYC can be expensive in terms of hotel accommodation primarily due to visitor demand so there is not much cheap and cheerful.

That ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty can involve a very long wait for both tickets (I would certainly purchase these well in advance) and security checks beforehand. I would personally take the Staten Island ferry and see it from a distance, this ferry is free and you would get a good view of it.

Ellen's diner was awful, my only New York regret

Also second the other poster for Staten Island ferry. I would give your self time to just wander as it's amazing to just soak in the atmosphere. One day we just had a nice walk down one of the main streets to Central Park and just window shopped , think tiffanies and all the designer shops.

Central Park is massive and great to spend a day walking there and having coffee / hot dogs.

My dream was the horse pulled carriage and I loved it.

Another thing at Central Park was the zoo, which we didn't go in but you can walk through and recognise the parts from the movies like Madagascar

When we went at the beginning of April earlier this year, there was still snow on the ground in some parts of Central Park and when we went to the Intrepid museum, the wind blowing off the water was bitterly bitterly cold! If you're prepared and take lots of warm clothes, you should be fine.
I'd suggest not actually going to the Statue of Liberty, but instead taking the free ferry to Staten Island and back. You get a really good view of the SofL and the time that you save can be better spent doing something else.
I'd recommend walking across Brooklyn bridge. To save time, don't walk both directions. Instead, take the metro to Brooklyn and then walk back across the bridge to Manhattan.
MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) and the Met are amazing. It's hard to say which one I prefer, so do both if you have time!
There's really not a lot of Friends stuff in New York. The NBC shop does, however, sell a lot of Friends merchandise.
Times Square is worth walking through, especially when it's all lit up at night. The red steps in the square are where you can get last-minute Broadway tickets.

I'd disagree about SoL but we also spent a lot of time at Ellis Island - depends if your girls would be interested in that. I'd also say that your girls would love Ellen's Stardust Diner - it was fun. The hop off hop on bus trips are a great way of seeing the city. I'd also recommend the 9/11 memorial and museum.

Monica’s apartment is on Bedford Street in Greenwich which in itself is lovely. There are Friends quotes graffitied on the wall outside. There is also a Friends the Musical off Broadway, we were tempted but went to see Chicago instead (was amazing)

We also managed to get two rooms with a connecting door in a Hilton hotel a couple of blocks from the ESB.

Thanks for the tips so far. A Friends musical would be fab but dh may not agree. I think I meant the Staten Island ferry, not the actual official one.
Interesting mixed views on the diner.

We went Feb half term this year. There was some snow on the ground in places but it wasn't that cold. Just normal winter coat weather. We did have torrential rain all day one day but just used that day to do the Natural History Museum. We stayed in Novotel Times Square it was in a good location and not that expensive for NYC. My biggest tip is get a 7 day metro card each it will save your feet and get you on the Roosevelt Tramway as well. Also we loved Brooklyn it seems very chilled out and I would recommend going to a basketball game even if you are not really into basketball its a great experience.also ice skating on the Woolman rink and Central Park Zoo.

Oh and Ellens Dinner the food is awful the singing is fab. Go for breakfast on your first day when you can get there for opening by using jet lag to your advantage to avoid having to queue.

We stayed at radio city apartments, were not as nice as they look on the website but had apartment for 2 adults and 2 children. It was a bit old run down, but clean. The best thing there was a kitchenette so you could buy microwave meals to heat up, which we did for the children a couple of nights.

The location was brilliant- a stone throw away from Times Square

Have a look at hotel and flight packages eg ba.com.
Bigapple greeter was great
Agree don't plan too much sometimes travel or queues make something take longer you don't want to be rushing..allow time for meandering
Uber are useful.

Ellis isla nd ferry security queue was mad but Ellis Island worthwhile

I agree about looking at BA or Virgin holidays - you can often save a lot of money by booking a package as NYC accommodation can be very expensive indeed. We used to live there, but visited with our kids and stayed a couple of nights at Radio City Apartments. As the PP said, it was dated and not very comfortable and tbh I wouldn't recommend for anything more than a night or two. The kitchenette was tiny and the area isn't that nice. The first morning (when the kids woke at 2am - 7am at home), my DH (a native NYer), wouldn't leave the apartment until 6am, because it's a bit seedy around there. My DM and DSis stayed at the Hotel Metro near the Empire State Building on one visit (travelling with BA holidays), and that was quite nice by comparison.

Re: weather - it could be anything from chilly and sunny to wet and grey to bloody freezing or a blizzard with a metre of snow! Winter in NYC can be anything, so just wait to see the forecast for the week you're going to be there.