Need help with the following itinerary with two boys, age 4 and 8.
 

Will be travelling to New York for 4-5 days, planning to stay at Hyatt Regency in New Jersey around Thanksgiving time. Can you please comment on the itinerary below. Thank you.

Day 1:
Statue of Liberty
Wall Street Insider Tour
Time Square and Broadway show

Day 2:
Empire State Building
Lunch at Central Park
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Top of the Rock (should I do this or ESB?)

Day 3:
Harlem
Carnegie Hall Tour
Guggenheim Museum
Brooklyn Bridge Walk

Day 4:
NY public library
Grand Station Terminal (should I join the tour?)
Chrysler Building
Fifth Avenue walk
Greenwich Village/Chinatown/Little Italy
Thanksgiving Shopping (any good bargain mall or place?)

Your 4 year old must be very different that the ones I know if he'd enjoy a Wall St tour.

There are 354 steps to the SOL crown. DS did it when he was 7, but he was in an obsessed with the SOL phase.

I think you should plot the places you want to visit on a map (paper or online) and re-arrange your days in a more geographically logical fashion. For example, Harlem and the Brooklyn Bridge in one day are pretty far apart.

A couple of notes:

You have missed the Museum of Natural Hist - which IMHO is the biggest site in NYC for kids this age.

Parts of the Met are fine (Egyptian Dep't, Temple of Dendur, arms & armor) but much will not interest kids that young

In central park definitely take them to the zoo

ToTR has better views and not waiting lines - versus ESB lines that can be interminable

What show have you picked - many don't allow 4 year olds - unless it is aimed specifically at kids

Guggenheim is a yawn - I would switch out for the Intrepid or similar

This trip seems aimed at adult interests - versus family ones - I think you will need to be careful not to have some really cranky little kids

And be sure to get SoL ferry ticket far in advance

If you're going to be in NYC ON Thanksgiving day, why not go to the Thanksgiving Day Parade?
http://social.macys.com/parade/?cm_m...parade-_-n-_-n


NYC for Kids article: http://travel.nytimes.com/2013/06/16...anted=all&_r=0

You should defiitely walk Fifthe Ave and look att he windows at Saks and Lord & Taylor - which have incredible holiday decorations. but plan on going early - before 9 or after dinner - or the lines can be very long.

If in NYC ON thanksgiving definitely do the parade - and be aware of the many places that are not open.

This does not strike me as a very kid-friendly itinerary at all. While this would interest me, I can't imagine any 4-year-old will be enchanted by much of this.

Do the Top of the Rock over the Empire State Building, and forget about the Statue of Liberty unless you already have a reservation.

BooBoo -

I see that you are new to the boards and it looks like you may not have ben to NYC before.

You should understand that - unlike movies - smal children are not welcome at broadeay shows - and it hardly seem worth it to pay $100 or more for a ticket when the child will e bored and cranky - unles the show is Lion King or similar - aimed at small children. It's going to be hard for a 4 year old to be attentive and quiet for the full length of a most shows - evenif you do manage to bring the child in. And if the child makes a fuss you will have to leave.

Also - in terms of restaurants, there are many that are family friendly - but also quite a few that are not - esp if you eat dinner at prime time - 8 or 9 pm. So I would call and ask before heading to anyplace special with such a young child.

Thank you everyone. Will be doing the Gazillon Bubble show, so the 4 year old should be found it entertaining.

The Macy's parade, yes definitely will go to this one. How can we miss this.

We will play by ear, so if he is starting to fuss, we will work our way around it.

OK - so this is an off-broadway kids show - much shorter and they do let kids in - even tiny tots.