HI all,

A friend and I are taking our daughters (mine-age 8 1,2, hers- 9th birthday celebration) to NYC in June. We arrive late on a Monday , are going to celebrate the birthday at American Girl on Tuesday, seeing "Grease" on Wednesday and have Thursday free before heading back to LA on Friday. We want to take the girls to some fun places as well as famous ie: ESB and Statue of Liberty. We need some other ideas that incorporate the "major" sights. I know we will be trying to see alot but I think we should take it one sight at a time and just go back to our hotel when the girls get tired.
I was also told to go to Dylan's candy store but haven't heard much about it.
Thanks for any input!!!

I think the Grayline hop on hop off 48 hour all loop pass is great fun.

Take the Staten Island Ferry for the best views of the Statue of Liberty.

Go late at night or from 5-7PM to avoid lines at the Empire State Building.

Get to the American Girl Store no later than 11AM or the line will be wrapped around the block.

I suggest not going to the Statue of Liberty. To me (and others here..) it is a hassle (one hour security line after getting there) and you only go up part of the way. I say take the ferry and stay on it. They will probably enjoy that better anyway.

You might try the Top of the Rock one day. Serendipity for dessert once as well. It's a long wait, but never as long as they tell you when you get there.

I think the girls would like Central Park. If the weather is nice, and they can run around a bit. There's a playground and a zoo.

There is SO much to do in NY. The Natural History Museum is a million times cooler then Dylan's Candy Store (my four year olds LOVE the Natural History Museum)!. What is better then dinosaurs and hey, that way you aren't shopping! (although there are a lot of gift shops in the Natural HIstory Museum). What about the NY Children's Museum? My nephew really likes the Met (he is 9 and there is the Temple of Dendur and the armor...there is something for everyone) and if you want them to learn about the history of NY, how about the tenement house museum?

I like everyone's ideas above, esp the red doubledecker Gray Line sightseeing bus, the SI Ferry, Central Park and the Natural History Museum/Met. CMOM (Children's Museum of Manhattan on W. 83rd St) is the NY children's museum and personally I think that 8/9 is too old for the museum.

I personally don't like Serendipity and prefer Alice's Tea Cup as a cute place to refuel or either Jacques Torres or Max Brenner The Bald Man for hot chocolate. And Dylan's is a good idea too - my daughter loves the place!

As for other things to do, you can rent a rowboat in Central Park, kayak on the Hudson River, walk around Chinatown & eat a dim sum lunch, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. If it's a rainy day, you can go bowling at either Bowlmor downtown or at Chelsea Piers. Have fun!

btw that;s a fun age for the girls, but don't stay in the city venture out to brooklyn which has a lot of culture, go to prospect park,
and botanical garden also hop on hop off bus is always great...happy birthday

For hot chocolate and they are clearly not as comfortable as the others

City Bakery
They melt chocolate

Australia
There are two in the City. One is on St Marks

They take their chocolate ice cream and melt with the steam attachment of the Cappuccino amker. Incredibly silky.

I would not go to Brooklyn on a first or short stay.

Max Brenner, however, is fun for kids, but not in the league of the others for adult quality.

Did the girls study Egypt in school this year? Seems like my daughter did around that age. I took her to see the Egyptian mummies and temple at the Met and she thought it was very cool.
It was totally fun for her and not boring.

Dylan's Candy Bar was always one of my daughter's favorite spots. It's definitely a fun candy store, but the idea has also been copied by others now, most notably the stores in Times Square, such as the Hershey's store.

forgot to say that Dylan's is right near Bloomingdale's.

Before seeing Grease, you might want to eat at Ellen's Stardust Diner, which has singing waiters and waitresses performing show tunes and, of course, will sing to the birthday girl!

Buy tickets for the Lower East side Tenament tour,the interactive one with the young girl,Corvino I think,my niece loved it and learned some history also,I think your girls would like Legally Blonde or the Hershey or M& M store,Dylans was too crowded and loud for us.Have fun!

My daughter old LOVES going to the top of the Empire State building. We all love a ride on the old fashioned carousel in Central Park or a paddle boat ride on the pond. Check out the schedule for the Park - they do a lot of free summer concerts especially geared towards kids. We also love the dinosaurs and the Planetarium at the Natural History museum.

You should also check out a book called "My New York" It's written by a nine year old girl who takes excursions around NYC. It's a picture book and has great pics and info on the all the major sites in NY. Maybe your daughter can pick out a few places she'd like to see herself.

Toys R'Us in Times Suare has a lot of things to do and see, a "life size" T-Rex that roars, a model fo the ESB made out of lego, a candy store that has M&Ms in tons of colors and every candy you can think of, a 2 story walk in Barbie house... also a full size (it fills the three stories of the store) ferris wheel with life size models of toys for seats.

Museum of Natural History and Metropolitan Museum have a lot that would appeal to kids.
I always recommend the Lower East Side Tenement Museum as a very interesting way to learn about the immigrant experience in NYC--probably more interesting than Statute of Liberty for them and easier to relate to than Ellis Island because it tells the stories of families who lived there. It is the first historical museum known to capture the full attention/interest of my then 10-year old son.
http://www.tenement.org/

For views of downtown Manhattan I would take Staten Island ferry rather than going to Statue of Liberty

I join in the recommendations to skip the Statue of Liberty; also with your limited time I'd probably not do the Staten Island Ferry.

Other possibilities: Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (or just from City Hall to the first pier and back); then South Street Seaport.

If you go to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, work in a sandwich at Katz's deli, and walk down Mulberry Street through Little Italy and Chinatown--my kid was fascinated by the various seafood offerings. (You could also walk from the Brooklyn Bridge up through Five Points and into Chinatown from the below).

Definitely Central Park; the Zoo, including the Children's Zoo, the statue of Balto, the model boats on Conservatory Water (and the Alice in Wonderland and Hans Christian Anderson statues there), Bethesda Fountain and Bow Bridge and the Boathouse which you've seen in a hundred movies (and the view of the Dakota from Bow Bridge), Belvedere Castle, Shakespeare Garden, etc.

The Temple of Dendur and the Met are good. Go to the roof for an awesome view.

As mentioned above, consider Top of the Rock in place of the Empire State. You'll have a great view of the ESB from there, and it's more in the part of town where you will mostly be.

Natural History (including the Rose Planetarium) is fun, and a short walk from NY icons Gray's Papaya, Zabar's and H&H Bagels. The neo-diner in the Upper West Side, whose name escapes me right now, was also a hit with my son.

DancingBearMD - could the neo-diner your son enjoyed by EJ's Luncheonette on Amsterdam & 81/82? It's a great place for kids!

In addition to EJ's, Gray's, Zabar's and H&H on the Upper West Side, if it's a nice day out, it might be fun to sit outside and have burgers at the Boat Basin Cafe, inside Riverside Park at around 79th Street. It overlooks the houseboats docked in the Hudson River (and you can see New Jersey across the river!)

There's also a tween girl boutique around the area of the Natural History Museum, if your girls like clothes shopping (and if you want to indulge them since items can be a little pricy). Berkley Girl is on Columbus between 79th & 80th Streets.

Definitely visit Central Park! Have they seen the movie "Enchanted?" The great outdoor scene for "That's How You Know" was all filmed in Central Park, so they might enjoy making that connection.