Ample parking south of 96th Street. Sure, if you know the rules, the days, the streets, the times and can change parking space on the spot. I watch city dwellers doing the "alternate side of the street parking dance" daily. Not ideal for tourists. If you bring the car, put it into a garage.

Agree - alternate side of the street parking is great if you live in the city and don't work or work at home. Otherwise it's a major pain to have to move the car - meaning NO PLACE to park - you have to drive around or sit in the car - for 1.5 hours in the middle of the day twice a week.

(And if you're caught not following the rules and get towed it will cost over $1000 to get your car back - between parking ticket, tow truck fee and police yard storage fee.)

Since you work for Marriott, I would suggest staying at the Marriott downtown, there are less expensive places to put the car over the weekend.

Another suggestion would be the Travel Inn on W. 42nd St which is close to Times Square but far enough away that you won't be bothered with all the noise. Also you have FREE PARKING at the Travel Inn. There are some good inexpensive restaurants in the area, close to walk to and alot of the restaurants in the area will also deliver to the hotel.

Please trust all of us when we suggest NOT staying especially at Newark it is a HUGE hassle getting there and back and with kids not alot of fun and if you miss a train, you will be stuck for a while waiting, and later at night the trains don't run as often, and you will quite honestly spend more in transportation than you will be saving by staying there. Also get rid of the car, and rent when you leave, you will save money that way as well.

I think the "roller coaster" ride at the ESB is the virtual reality tour of Manhattan. My kids loved it! It was a couple of years ago that we did it, but my recollection is that it was a bit expensive. However, I personally didn't think it was worth the wait to go up the ESB, so was glad we had the thrill of the ride. However, my kids just went back to the ESB at night with someone else (we did it during the day) and loved it (no ride this time).

I hope you can find some way to cut your budget back at home rather than on your hotel stay in NYC! It is really exhausting to go back and forth into Manhattan.

definitely walk walk walk in the city! And take cabs. My kids feel uncomfortable on the subway. I do not, but they feel a bit scared, and I think for anyone not familiar with the system, it is not easy to navigate. It is nowhere near as logical as the underground system found in most cities.

Thanks to the recommendation of other Fodorites, we visited the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center) for its 360 views of Manhattan. Especially gorgeous at sunset. No lines at all to get in. (When we walked by the Empire State Building, the line went down the street.) You can Google it, and find a 10 percent discount coupon, or maybe find one as they are often given out on the street. It's about $17.50 per adult to go up there. You can stay as long as you want, there's an inside observation area as well as outdoors. I highly recommend it. Only downside is that there's not a cafe up there, so maybe bring a snack for the kids if they allow it.
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