NYC with teenagers

[Bluetit101]

We're off to New York in 3 weeks. Myself, my DH, DS (nearly 16) and DD (nearly 13)

Me and DH have been before but our DC haven't.
We are looking to book the activity passes (5 activities) and we have a couple that we definitely want to do (9/11 museum, top of the rock, Empire State) but not sure what else to do that will be fun for the DC.

Looking for recommendations for things to do, aswell as any tips or advice. Me and DH went 15 years ago so there's probably a lot of different things to do now.

Thank you

Similar to you, we’re off next month and while we’ve both been before our DD (11) hasn’t and what we’ve previously done is unlikely to be of much interest to the DD (particularly the DH’s drinking in each of the seven boroughs which seems to have made up his last trip with mates to NY 20 years ago!).

Other than the Top of the Rock, Empire State etc thought this looked interesting:
natgeoencounter.com/
It’s in Times Square which from memory isn’t lovely but I guess everyone needs to go at least once!

My DD is very into singing and dancing and loves musicals - we’ve booked The Lightening Thief (Percy Jackson) which opens this month as she loves the books. You can get cheap(er) Broadway tickets from booths in NY but I’ve booked ours through TodayTix (discounted theatre ticket app) which has a NY option. It was $69 each for stall (Orchestra) seats but there were $39 options. There are tickets on there for Mean Girls from $49 (guessing DS might not be too keen on that!), Beetlejuice from $59, Rock of Ages from $39 and a host of others. We’ll also probably do Ellen’s Diner (musical Diner with want to be Broadway stars as your waiting staff) - it looks overpriced and overbusy and a cheesy rip off but I think DD would love it!

Other than that place marking to rip off any great suggestions that anyone has for you for your trip to use for ours! Hope you & yours have a great trip OP!

We're also planning on doing Ellen's Stardust Diner. We've been advised by friends who went a couple of years ago that breakfast is the best time to go and to get there around half hour before they open to get a good chance of a table. Also been told to expect to pay a good $150 for breakfast for the 4 of us
But think it will be a great experience.

I've also read that the Staten Island ferry is great for views of the Statue Of Liberty (if you're not bothered about actually going to the island) and it's free!

I will definitely look into a broadway show, thank you for the tip.

Dylan’s Candy Bar and M&M world
Gulliver’s Gate
Walk across Brooklyn Bridge and visit Jaques Torres’ chocolate shop for a treat
Grand Central Station - check out the ceiling in the main hall and then head to the food court (especially Magnolia Bakery).
Central Park - find Strawberry Fields and perhaps go boating
Take the free Statin Island ferry past the Statue of Liberty and back again.
Your DS (and indeed your DD) might enjoy the Intrepid Air and Space Museum
Go and see the Blue Man Group
Try and see baseball at Yankee Stadium

Ride the Beast Boat that departs from the pier near the Intrepid aircraft carrier (this also stops in front of the Statue of Liberty for photos).

The Ride NYC bus tour is something that your teens would probably like also. experiencetheride.com/ (for you as well SJane because your DD will in all likelihood love the performances)

If you do visit the 9/11 museum I would arrive early (it also has airport style security). I would have a look at the website before visiting and talk to your children about this museums content; parts of this museum in particular are very harrowing.

Give Ellens diner a swerve, its an overpriced rip off tourist trap and actually a bit of a dump. There are many better quality and cheaper places overall to have breakfast in.

BTW, if you like BBQ I would recommend visiting Virgils which is just off Times Square. The Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square is also somewhere your kids may like to eat in too.

Have been to that Nat Geos encounter with the oceanic fish; its ok and its air conditioned. You go around it with a guide.

Book everything in advance...Will save lots of queuing.
The ferry over to Brooklyn is great...then walk back over the bridge once you've had a mooch. Jane's Carousel is fun no matter how old you are!

We went on a tour with

realnewyorktours.com/

when we were there in the summer with two teens around the ages of yours. We all absolutely loved it and was the best day we had by far.

We went last year (as a couple), we got City Passes which allowed us into 6 attractions: link here. It saves you money on admission fees and gives you fast track admission which was really good. Allow a full morning for the 9/11 museum - we arrived when it opened at 10 (take advantage of the time difference being awake early!) and left at 1. We used our passes to go to 9/11 museum, Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, and the Met, but you can also go to the Guggenheim or Natural History Musuem. I second going to the Hard Rock Cafe, it’s cool and the burgers are amazing! One other thing we did which was brilliant was go to a Rangers game at Madison Square Gardens. I have no clue about ice hockey and only went because DH likes it but it was a fantastic night! It’s such a fun atmosphere, everyone sings along and I really enjoyed it.

We did a cycle tour with our teens a couple of years ago. It took in Manhattan as well as Williamsburg & Brooklyn and was really organised. Included lots of stops and lunch.

Other than that we did Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Museum & One World (went up late afternoon so we could catch dusk too), Central Park & Guggenheim Museum.

Thank you everyone, some great ideas and a lot of them I hadn't even heard of!

My DD wants to see the sights from the films/ tv eg friends / Spider-Man.

Is there are good tv tour for teens?

We went last year with dc 20 and 18, had dinner at Ellen’s and it was no where near the $150 mark! We enjoyed walking the skyline, the 18 yo is a fanatical gamer so we went to the nintendo store, saw Chicago, cycled round Central Park, rode the Staten Island Ferry and did the Radio City backstage tour. DH and I saw the Rockettes Christmas show there 12 years ago.

Also had breakfast at Ellens starburst diner and it was not as expensive as that.

DS liked walking the high line, Nintendo store, top of the rock, boat our to Statue of Liberty, eating sushi, bagel shops, whole foods stores (lovely picnics!), seeing a show nr Times Square and just walking around soaking up the atmosphere!

Just been with our 3 teens. Ours loved

Liberty Island. There is a fab new museum and we went up he pedestal, wouldn’t bother with Ellis ours were a bit meh although we liked it( it’s a bit dry)

Top of the Rock and the plaza( there is a tv station near by that caused much excitement)

Central Park boating

Dylan’s Candy Store and Economy Candy

Katz Deli( hot dogs and egg creams), we had the famous pastrami on rye

Trying all the fast food joints the youtubers go to( there was a long list)

Finding the Friends building

The Natural History museum finding dum dum and the statue, dinosaurs were good. Wouldn’t pay full price as they were a bit old for a lot of it. We paid a dollar each.

The High Line and Chelsea Market was a huge highlight

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge

We did 9/11 but I wouldn’t recommend it. My dc weren’t born when it happened and having to explain it all 4 weeks before we got on a plane again alongside them seeing plane wreckage and hearing last messages wasn’t ideal. It is harrowing and incredibly sad. I felt it needed more time to process which you don’t have in NYC. It’s not really a tourist attraction but a memorial which needs to be treated as such.

I’d definitely recommend One World Observatory, although I wouldn’t prebook and just go along on a clear day.

Coney Island and a hot dog from Nathans.

Are you there for long enough to spare a day to travel by train to Washington?

Shake Shack in Madison Square garden

Joes Pizza by the slice in Greenwich Village

Stop for any street entertainment, ours loved that. Heard some awesome music in the subway.

We went 2 years ago 15 & 11 yr old. We bought a New York Pass (£900 ish for 4 of us). All attractions were included. We went for a week and did the following:-
Big Bus Tour
911 museums
Walked Brooklyn Bridge (free)
Radio City Tour
Top of rock
Empire State
Boat tour round Staten Island
Madison square gardens
Natural history museum
Bike ride round Central Park
We ate at Virgil's it was great. The pass also gives you discounts on some Bars/restaurants.
We had a fabulous week and the kids loved it.

Loads of fab ideas, but I have to say that unless you like baseball DON'T go and see the Yankees! DH and I went once and it was soooo fucking boring - I thought it would never end. I definitely won't be taking our kids when they're teens.

you can pre book to go right up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty - def worth it as you see the statue from a different perspective.

ice skating in central park was amazing.

natural history museum is the museum from "night at the museum" so quite easy to get kids motivated to look around!

I'm going to say different to other pps and say don't get a pass. The best thing you can buy is unlimited subway passes each and then plan your days around specific areas.

I would only do one observatory - TOTR as you then get the view of the Empire State.

I'd do something like:

Day 1

9/11 memorial (museum if you want but I wouldn't), charging bull and Wall Street, Staten Island ferry then ferry to DUMBO. Look around there then walk back across the Brooklyn bridge. Times Square at night (if you really must but I'm not the biggest fan of it)

Day 2

Picnic breakfast in Central Park (take a picnic blanket) with donuts and bagels. Ride on the carousel and row around the boating lake ($15 for an hour). See the Alice in wonderland statue, bow bridge and strawberry fields. Exit park there and subway to Hudson Yards. Climb the vessel and walk the highline to Chelsea market. Eat there and then visit Starbucks roastery.
TOTR at sunset.

Day 3

Walk around TriBeCa, soho, little Italy and Chinatown (haggle for souvenirs). You can see the ghostbusters firehouse, friends apartment etc on this day.
Broadway show at night or check out events in Bryant Park and Battery park

Day 4

Grand central station (whispering gallery), the NY public library (original Winnie the Pooh) and relax and lunch in Bryant park. 5th Avenue and walk down past the Empire State Building. Pretzels and a dollar pizza slice on the go.

Day 5

Coney Island and Nathan's famous hot dogs

Most of the above is free and unticketed. I haven't included any museums but they aren't really our thing. Eating out can become ridiculously expensive but we found good lunch deals (TriBeCa tavern) and food vendors/bagels for breakfast to be enough. You can get a pizza that will fill you all for $8.00 at the many $1 slice places.

You might be too late for crown tickets. If you want to go up then book that ASAP. Also have a look at Ellen's on trip advisor. Not great, and it's definitely a tourist trap and quite grubby. But then I don't like Times Square at all. Quick photo op and gone for me!

6 flags theme park. It's a coach ride. Or Coney Island by train

Def don’t get a pass, we didn’t and saved not getting one. Yy to the subway 7 day pass or less the min you get there.

Forgot Grand Central whispering gallery, my 3 loved it.

@oooft - I love your intinerary, thank you!!

@oooft

Wow your itinerary sounds perfect! I'll definitely be using a lot of your ideas, thank you.

Statue Of Liberty is booked up until November apparently, but still want to get the boat over to the island.

I personally would avoid Times Square altogether if I could. Me and DH did it when we went and I didn't think much of it, but know DC will want to see it.

Having second thoughts on Ellen's now..