NY with children

[Whereisthesummer1]

Hi. I have one day in NY with my two children (9&6) in December. So far my plan for the day is Ellen’s stardust diner for breakfast, the glass carousel, the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, Central park and possibly the Met.

Am I being overly ambitious for one day? Also I can’t work out the best order to do things if anyone has any ideas.
Thank you.

Level of ambition depends on how long you'd want to spend at the Met.

If you were planning on, say, two hours there, you could do:

8am - Breakfast at Ellens stardust diner (be prepared for a bit of a queue to get in though)

10am - 12pm - walk to the Met via Central Park. It's about 40 minutes from Ellen's Stardust Diner but leave a bit of time to meander and explore through Central Park.

12pm - 2pm - the Met (not sure how long you'd want there).

2pm-3pm - Lunch (maybe grab something at the Met for ease)

3pm to 5pm - Subway to Battery Park (about 30 mins from the Met) and get Seaglass Carousel, and maybe a bit of a mooch in Battery Park.

5pm - Get the Staten Island Ferry from South Ferry Terminal in Battery Park. This is free and gives great views of the SoL. If you're not planning to get off on the island or visit Ellis Island, I'd give the paid tourist SoL ferries a miss and stick with the Staten Island ferry.

You should be back in Manhatten by about 6pm.

Definitely doable.

The other thing that's worth doing given your locations would be a visit to Ground Zero. The 9/11 memorial is genuinely amazing (there's a museum too, but I've not done it and doubt you'd want to with the other things you've planned).

But the memorial itself is only 15 minutes walk from the ferry terminal, so after you've done the Staten Island ferry, you could wander through the financial district to spend a bit of time there. You'd only need about 15 minutes there, so it's a quick addition.

Thank you at @PlanetJanette that is so kind of you to give that detail and very useful.

A word of warning on the tourist boats to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You arrive at the time on your ticket but this is the time you enter the security queue. It can take well over an hour to actually get on the boat and there’s no shade. Depending on your kids it could be a hellish or ok experience. You can actually see the statue from land at Battery Park.

I also wouldn’t take young children to the 9/11 museum. It is absolutely brilliant BUT it’s a place of reflection with a very sombre atmosphere. You kind of want to take your own time to deal with your emotions (we all remember watching the horrors unfold and in a sense you relive it). I’m not sure how much younger children would get from it, although it’s fine to take them there IYSWIM.

Ellen’s is great - it might be cheesy but it’s a lot of fun. Definitely go for breakfast though as the lines are shorter and food better.

The Met was a massive hit with my children and me - you can spend hours there. They also liked the Empire State Building.

If you ask my 9 year old thought it was all about The Museum of Ice Cream and The Color Factory……. Oh, and the American Girl Doll store.

One day really isn’t long. I would pick one or two key things and take your time then revisit when you have more days.

It would be a busy day but do-able.

We visited with kids 9 and 4 last year and both agreed a trip to the top of Summit One Vanderbilt was a highlight if you've got time to squeeze it in. Its one of the newer viewing spots in the city and has great views along with a number of interactive art installations which my kids loved.

Thank you @DibbleDooDah and @pinklady123456 that’s also really useful.

I cannot reiterate enough, how awful Ellen Stardust diner is. Allsorts of people, I trusted told me it was good and I went, and it was overpriced and crap food, and the performers look like they hated it.

I rarely mentioned good thing about New York is the city of New York museum, but your kids are probably too young for that

I would go to FAO Schwartz toy shop (close to Central Park at Rockerfella Plaza) - it’s a must for kids. Lots of staff doing demonstrations of toys. The Staten Island ferry there and back is about an hour. It’s good for a breather. The views are great. Ellen’s Stardust is well worth it. We went a Friday lunchtime and didn’t queue. Great atmosphere. The thing that we didn’t really “do” properly was Central Park as there was too much walking involved at a time of day when we’d already walked loads. We also bought a bus tour and it was fab to tick off all the sights and got us down to Battery Park for the ferry and back.

I would do the TikTok dinner rather than Ellens.

Unless your kids really in to seeing slightly depressed semi retired musical theatre, people sing songs in a very bored manner. Eating processed shite

I hated it to. My idea of hell.

Re Ellen’s. It’s an experience. It’s not fine dining, but nor does it pretend to be. It’s loud and a bit shabby. The breakfasts were large, decent quality, but nothing to rave about. Yes, it’s a tourist trap. BUT for many it’s a unique experience.

Our performers were excellent. I work in the theatre industry in the West End and the singing was fab. It’s not some bad karaoke place. Maybe people got unlucky with the performers on when they went?

I think a lot of it comes down to expectations. Take it for what it is - a cheesy, unique experience.

In Ellens, you can really experience the feeling of being ripped off and staff there hating you

Apart from that - It’s great