parisandelle

Hi everyone! I was wondering if some of you could take a look at my proposed itinerary for our upcoming visit to NYC. Our almost 2 year old son will be with us and we have made babysitting arrangements for three of the nights we are there. We are also planning on buying the NYC City Pass. Here goes:

Thursday, February 10th
Arrive JFK at 11:00 and make our way to the Sofitel (reserved an Executive suite) and drop off stuff until check-in. Play it by ear depending on son’s mood and our level of energy.

Friday, February 11th - Babysitter night
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park
5:30 Dinner at the Four Seasons
8:00 Wicked at Gershwin Theatre

Saturday, February 12th
Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise
Serendipity 3 for some dessert

Sunday, February 13th - Babysitter night
Shop, walk around
Brooklyn Bridge
6:00 pm Dinner at One By Land, Two By Sea
Empire State Building

Monday, February 14th - Babysitter night

Breakfast at Norma's (hopefully, still trying to book through opentable.com)
MoMA during day
5:30 Dinner at Eleven Madison Park
8:00 Spamalot at Shubert Theatre

Tuesday, February 15th
Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island

Depart for JFK at 8:00 pm for 11:55 pm flight

Do you think we have time to fit anything else in? Have we missed anything that a first timer must see? We were thinking of going to the Children's Museum, but not sure which day to do it. Any suggestions or comments would be great and helpful.

MFNYC

I think you should fit the children's museum in there. A 2 year old, will not care much for any of the others, and won't remember much, if anything. I'd also find time to take him to Central Park to just to play (weather permitting).

bamakelly

I was in NYC in December and took my son with us to Serendipity. A word of waringin: you might want to make this on a babysitter night. They are NOT child-friendly at all! They do not allow strollers in the restaurant, period (no coat check to take them, either), so you'll have to leave it on the sidewalk outside the door. And they were really pretty icy about us having him with us at all. (He was very very very well behaved.) Dylan's candy bar is a few doors down and looked much more fun for a child.

A second for Central Park. They have a cool zoo and the carousel is very fun. FAO Schwartz is within walking distance from there as well. You could probably fit all of this in Tuesday before you leave.

Just out of curiousity (I am interested for my next trip!), how did you find a babysitter?

parisandelle

bamakelly,

Thanks for the tip about Serendipity 3. I thought they had loads of birthday parties and events there. Oh, well.

As for babysitting services - we will be using a company called The Baby Sitter's Guild. Most of the hotels in NYC use them and they have been around since 1940. They come highly recommended. At a price though $20 per hour. However, we felt the money was a small price to pay to be able to go out and do grown-up things. I will make sure to report back on how it all went on our return.

ELP

Hi,

I actually live in New York and have an almost 3 year old. Your itinerary looks good but ambitious. For example, going to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty (if you actually get off the boat to explore both) will take a good chunk of time which may make napping difficult (assuming your 2 year old still naps).

I didn't think you were missing anything big -- but I can add a few things that your 2 year old may enjoy. First, the Children's Museum on the Upper West Side is great. She/he will really like it. But word of warning -- the place gets crowded when the weather is bad. They currently have a Dora the Explorer exhibit and a Dr. Seuss exhibit -- and there is a good amount of space to run around and get some excess energy out.

I know that at certain times of the year you can also see a puppet production in the Swiss Cottage in Central Park. I believe you have to call ahead for reservations though and they don't show everyday. But this would be a nice tie in to a walk in Central Park (weather permitting).

If you are planning your trip closer to spring time there are tons of playgrounds in and around Central Park -- which are great for entertaining your 2 year old. The new Time Warner building is at the Southwest corner of the park and you can grab a quick lunch in Whole Foods (downstairs) -- or grab some food to take to the park. The zoo in the park is great -- although I don't know what their winter schedule is (I know that they have a web site).

We actually took our 2plus year old to the Metropolitan Museum of Art this past fall. It's a great place although it did require some work on our part to make sure that he didn't touch anything he wasn't supposed to. But there is a beautiful part of the building on the first floor -- it's glass enclosed and features Egyptian art/buildings and has a reflection pool (the room is quite large and overlooks part of central park). It's nice and open and airy and you and the little one can enjoy some time there. The museum has something for everyone and is only a cross town bus away from the Children's Museum.

Have a great trip.

bugswife1

The only thing I would change is the dinner at the Four Seasons. Do that the night you go to the Empire State Building. The Four Seasons should be savored and enjoyed. 2 hours for dinner and then a walk to the theater is cutting it close, believe it or not. Also, a big heavy meal before a 3 hour show is not the best thing to do. Just my personal opinion of course.

GoTravel

Are the dining rooms at The Four Seasons and Eleven Madison Avenue open at 5:30PM? I didn't think they opened until 6PM.

Also, it's tough to do a nice big gourmet dinner then try and stay awake during a show. Have you thought of maybe eating afterwards?

I know you will have your two year old son with you and limits your flexibility but for the most part, your itinerary looks fine.

Just think of it more of an outline than a die hard schedule.

wliwl

I think this trip looks fun. I was just going to say that I'm a fan of having a big, late lunch on theater day and skipping dinner. A bottle of wine, and maybe some cheese and crackers or something, in the hotel room after a busy day to rest up for Broadway is more my speed. I hate sitting in a theater after a wonderful meal.

bamakelly

Parisandelle, I was thinking the same thing about Serendipity, and was quite surprised at our reception. I can only offer my own experience; maybe yours will be better. Perhaps you could try it, and if you need to leave, simply walk down the block to Dylans.

Do tell us about your trip (and the babysitter service!) when you return. I asked about babysitter services on Fodors before I went on my trip and no one knew of a service. I am so glad to hear about this for next time.

parisandelle

Thanks everyone for the responses. I think we do have enough time for the Met as we wanted to go anyway. As for our early dinners there really wasn't anyway to get around it as we would prefer to eat early than late. We were told by all restaurants that we would have enough time to enjoy our meal before our shows...here's to hoping so!

Any thoughts on handling the Statue of Liberty/Liberty Island? Ellis Island? I am not sure how to reserve everything for this trip. Is there a ferry that goes from one island to another and then back to Battery Park? Help...I don't want to get this wrong.

Patrick

That's an amazing story about Serendipity. We went twice and loved the food, but my only complaint was that it was crawling (literally) with little kids and babies!

bamakelly

Patrick--Maybe that's the reason they instituted the "no strollers" rule! ha!

mp

Just a note that you will be here during the first weekend of "The Gates" project by Christo - thousands of beautiful orange fabric "gates' will wind through Central Park for 16 days - "For those who will walk through The Gates, following the walkways, and staying away from the grass, The Gates will be a golden ceiling creating warm shadows. When seen from the buildings surrounding Central Park, The Gates will seem like a golden river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees and will highlight the shape of the footpaths."

This promises to be a spectacular experience, if all goes according to plan. Check out the info at www.christojeanneclaude.net