palinka101

Hi everyone! I am going to nyc in a week for 6 days with my 8 year old son. I have researched generally what we want to do but am having some difficulty with the itinerary and could use some advice please!!

so far these are the places we would like to see but have no idea how to combine them as far as what makes sense distance wise.

the intrepid air sea and space museum
the museum of natural history
the met
the transit museum in Brooklyn
Staten island ferry then maybe battery park
top of the rock
central park, maybe renting a bike, playing in a few parks, renting a model sail boat etc
fao shwartz
times square...toys r us, sony store, nintendo store etc.
blue man group, lion king ....

Thanks in advance!

mztery

you should look at a tourist map first and try to group things. Battery Park is nothing special.

nytraveler

First - rethink a bike in Central Park. Bikes are allowed only on the roads - not the pedestrian paths - and you can't really see very much from them. The other thing is that the bikers tend to be going fairly fast - for exercise - and I doubt an 8 year old could keep up. If he is riding by himself on a small kids bike he could - carefully - ride on the pedestrian paths - but you would have to walk - or trot - along.

As for the other sights - you need a good street map of the city with the sights indicated as well as a good subway map. That will help you group things.

Agree Battery Park City doesn;t have much to see/do - just a residential complex on the lower hudson.

And if you want to do shows you should get tickets as soon as you have your dates - to make sure you have the best choice of seats (and I've never seen Lion King discount).

cferrb

Check to see if the Staten Island Yankees are in town. My daughter and I went when she was about the same age and had a great time. The stadium is right where the ferry lets you out on Staten Island and has a view back over to Manhattan. The game was a ton of fun and waaay cheaper and easier than an actual Yankees game.

But....the real Yankees game that we went to a few years later was also an experience.

ellenem

My at-the-time 7- and 8.5-year-old nephews enjoyed a few hours exploring the parks along the river north of Battery Park, in particular the Nelson A. Rockefeller Park. this park is very family friendly with lawns, fish pond, a great playground, ping pong and Nok hockey games and the Otterness sculpture installation at its north end. Nearby Teardrop Park was also a hit with its forest-like pathways and two-storey slide. Just north of Rockefeller Park, Pier 25 has a miniature golf course.

5alive

<The other thing is that the bikers tend to be going fairly fast - for exercise - and I doubt an 8 year old could keep up. If he is riding by himself on a small kids bike he could - carefully - ride on the pedestrian paths - but you would have to walk - or trot - along.>

NYTraveler is correct. The pace is really fast. It was about 6 miles around the park. My 11-year-old was a little frustrated because he couldn't keep up with our older two kids.

We just did the Sony Wonder Lab and an 8-year-old will love this place. Rather than repeating myself, I just reviewed it in my TR, scroll down to DAY 4:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...amily-of-5.cfm