My 8 year old daughter and I are going to spend the day in NYC. We plan on seeing Beauty and The Beast at 2:00. Since we live in NJ, we often go for the day to museums, theatre and have been to American Girl a few times. I'm looking for something different for just us girls to do before the show. I'm thinking we'll do dininer and Top of the Rock after the show. Thank in advance for the help.

I was going to suggest a walking tour of some sort, but I think most start around 11 and last 2-3 hrs. so you'd be late for the show. If you're interested, bigonion.com is one co. that does a lot of them and then there's the foodsofny.com tours.

What about a manicure/pedicure? Too indulgent? I use a place called Bloomies on 55 st. b/w 5h t & 6th ave. so pretty convenient to the theaters. No appointments necessary.

You might have a look on the calendar at nycvisit.com for the date in question and get an idea.

What about a quick boat ride? The Circle Line has something called "the Beast" that kids like. Maybe there's a theme here.

If the weather's nice you could do the southern part of Central Park - the zoo (with kids' section), carousel and lake with boats.

Or - you could look at the web site NY1news.com - they often list special activites/programs for kids that are around for only one or two weeks.

Also - how about the Staten Island ferry?

Thank you for your suggestions. We're already taking the ferry over from NJ and the manicure she jsut did for her Communion a few weeks ago. Thanks for the ideas - they will be a help!!

What about the place you can take trapeze lessons? I forget where it is, but I'm sure you can google it.