1. Keep in mind that the BB is undergoing renovations, so part of the bridge is covered over for painting. The temporary walls don't rise up as high as the pedestrian walkway (which is higher/above the cars), and being on the outer part of the bridge don't come close to the walkway in the middle. Nonetheless, they *will* interfere with some of your views and photo ops. The painting/walls area has now moved closer to the Manhattan side than the Brooklyn one, where they started.

2. I'd make the reservation as others have suggested, then call the car service from your cellphone as you approach the rental check-in point.

3. Sadly, IMO the Brooklyn Museum's best element is the "new" glass-and-steel addition to the front of the building. When you go to the BBG, certainly take some time to admire the adjacent BMA. There are some fountains on the left side designed for kids to play in. www.brooklynmuseum.org

Please take the time to look at the websites for the Met and the AMNH (metmuseum.org and amnh.org). Each will give you a good sense of what they show! sf7307 is right that the Met is so much more than paintings. It's also the setting for one of my favorite books as a kid, "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler". As for the AMNH, it's so much more than dinosaur bones! A huge suspended whale, lifesize dioramas, a newly renovated evolution area, and the gorgeous Rose Center - to name a few. My niece and nephew both loved both from the time they were small. Up to you to figure out which would interest your kids more.

4. Yes, it is legal for the pay-per-fare card to be swiped up to 4 times at any one time. Yes, you get a free subway/bus and certain bus/bus* transfer within 2 hours of initial swipe; if on that first ride you swiped the card twice, the transfer will automatically be for two as well. The MTA has a good description on their Fares page: http://mta.info/metrocard/mcgtreng.htm

* Bus to bus transfers cannot be in opposite directions, e.g., riding the M4 uptown to the Met and then the M1 down to midtown.

<i>most "modern" kids who have grown up at Disney World, Universal, etc., find Coney Island very, very "lame". How sad to take kids away from the glorious sites and wonderful museums of New York City so that what they remember is that "run down park with lame rides".</i>

Neo, while I would never suggest a trek all the way out to Coney Island to the OP who has stated she has limited time, I am pretty appalled at your outdated and erroneous statement.

For starters, there is a brand-new Luna Park with top-rated rides; this is only the third summer it's been open.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_Park,_Coney_Island
http://www.lunaparknyc.com/

I know plenty of "modern" kids who find Coney Island anything but lame. And that's despite having been to "modern" parks all over the country. In addition to Luna Park, the historic Cyclone and Wonder Wheel are quite thrilling to ride, which may be why they are still in use with people queuing up for them every summer weekend.

Is the Coney Island neighborhood pristine? Certainly not. But the boardwalk is timeless; the beach cleaner than it has been in decades; and the subway stations renovated and efficient. In fact, the whole thing has the stamp of Mayor Mike on it as much as the parks along the Hudson or Brooklyn Bridge Park.

ggreen, maybe you missed my point, or perhaps I didn't make it very clear. First of all I'm well aware of what Coney Island is like today. While I haven't been there this season, I was there just last May. While spending a month in New York, I love a trip out to the boardwalk, a hotdog at Nathan's, a visit to the aquarium and yes a ride or two. Sure, kids living in New York would love it, and even if they have been to Disney World, something in their own "backyard" and easy to get to would be wonderful fun. But there's no way to even begin to compare the rides to "World of Harry Potter" or "Expedition Everest.

But we're talking about a family traveling to New York City from another part of the country for a very limited time-- somewhere that offers a lot of wonderful treasures that can't be matched anywhere else in this country. To go there and spend a day of the very limited time by going to Coney Island just seems like such a bad idea -- unless you really want to protect and shelter a 10 year old from any great learning or cultural experiences that he can't at home.

By the way car services do not charge for waiting time at EWR if you don't ask them to meet you at the gate. That's why they ask you to make a reservation and then call when you are ready. You might wait 5 more minutes (occasionally 10), but you don't pay for the wait time, just the ride. But you do need to know the approximate time you want the car to pick you up and to use that for the reservation.

In this case, the OP calls after arriving back at the terminal from the car-rental facility, not upon dropping off the car. The point is to be ready to meet the car when it arrives, and you need to be at the baggage claim level of the terminal to do that. I really doubt that a car would meet someone at the car-rental lot, but it's possible. They should call and ask.

nstevey, actually, if you go all the way across the Brooklyn bridge it is NOT solid concrete, it's boards with spaces in between that you can see down into the water through. I'm not afraid of heights but that did kind of creep me out, so I stopped looking down! My kids noticed too but it didn't bother them.

Doug, while I've never done it at Newark, I have had a car service both pick me up and take me to car rental agencies. It's the best way for a situation like this as it avoids talking one form of transportation to the airport then another to the rental agency. In fact, I recall one driver telling me how much he liked that as it's so much easier for them to get to and pick up a passenger at the car rental place than at the regular arrivals hall.

Neo, I prefaced my statement with "I would never suggest a trek all the way out to Coney Island to the OP". I voiced my opinion because, from your comment of a "run down park with lame rides", there was zero indication that you'd been there in the last 3 years, since neither is currently true.

FWIW, I wasn't including "kids living in New York" in the ones I know who love to go there - though I too could have been more clear. Actually, the kids I know who live in NYC don't like to go out there as much as the visiting ones do! (Things in one's own backyard seldom seem as fun or exotic...)

I don't think anyone compares the rides at Coney Island to ones at huge amusement parks. It's just a very different experience, fun in its own way, and a nice respite for kids who aren't into spending all their time in museums. (I repeat that I don't think the OP should trek out there on this trip - but she did say "I think too much art would get boring for girls.")

<i>unless you really want to protect and shelter a 10 year old from any great learning or cultural experiences that he can't at home</i>

Again, it all depends on what you mean by "cultural experience"!! (BTW the 10-year-old is a girl. Who, if the BB might unnerve her, probably doesn't want to go on the Cyclone anyway!)

<i>I really doubt that a car would meet someone at the car-rental lot, but it's possible</i>

Doug, I have done exactly that on more than one occasion. Though I agree, not at Newark (since I never drop off a rental here!).

It's SO much easier for all parties involved.

<i>The point is to be ready to meet the car when it arrives, and you need to be at the baggage claim level of the terminal to do that.</i>

You just need to have all your stuff out of the rental car and waiting on the side of the car rental area in a place where the livery cab can drive in. Returning the rental car these days is super-quick, the only delay being a backup with other returning cars if there isn't enough staff to handle it all at once.

I have zero experience returning a rental car to a NYC area airport, so I just can't say whether or not this would work. I agree that it can be done many places in the world, but the NYC area seems to defy normalcy in these kinds of situations.

But the system at EWR is set up to easily and quickly dispatch cars to the airport.

Depending on where the car-rental lots are, cars may pick people up there ... or not. Or perhaps they will but for an extra fee and for an extra wait. A simple and quick phone call to one of the two major car services would seem to be in order: Dial 7 or Carmel. So I'd suggest the OP do that and find out the actual answer.

ggreen, we'll have to agree to disagree. This thread was about a specific family going to New York. I treated the suggestion of going to Coney Island as a suggestion to them -- not a general statement about an amusement park. I think for them it was a lousy suggestion. You can wax on poetic all you wish about what a fantastic place Coney Island is, but it still has nothing to do with the initial reference in this thread or my response to it.

As to the quality of the place -- maybe you need to get out more. "Lame" and "run down" are relative terms. It may not be as lame or as run down as it was 10 or 15 years ago, but compared to destination theme parks it IS run down. A coat of fresh paint on an old chain link fence (yes, there are lots of those there) is a far cry from a few thousand dollars worth of landscaping. Cracked sidewalks and worn concrete paths between rides squeezed together in very limited space seem run down compared to "cobblestone" or decorative trails among water features, lakes, fountains, and bridges one might be accustomed to at a first rate park. While there are a couple "decent" rollercoasters at Coney Island, the vast majority of rides are indeed "lame" compared to the latest technology at other theme parks.

You might love Olive Garden or TGI Fridays, but I'll reserve my right to consider them "lame" as far as restaurants go. Same with Coney Island. If that makes me an elitist, so be it. But that's my right.

OK, everyone thanks for the replies. I personally don't have any interest in Coney Island and we don't really have time for that sort of thing. I think the Bridge will be fine. We will probably do the Met anyway. And I will call the car service in advance. Thanks for always being there with ready answers.

oregonmom, sorry we got off on a pretty unrelated track here. Have a great time in the City!

Coney Island is a great place and we took our kids there often. It's just another piece of what makes New York City unique, kind of like Times Square. (and just as gritty, I suppose). Our grands are fascinated that there is a Beach in NYC!

Anyway, there's just no way to see it all during one trip and everything you've chosen to see and do is wonderful, OregonMom.

Have a great trip! (and please report back!)

At The Met, make sure younsee the Temple of Dendur.

There are many beaches in NYC - several of them better than Coney Island.

IMHO there is so much to see and do in NYC that you can;t find anywhere else - that spending a day at Coney Island is a waste, Kids are never too young to absorb the joy of learning that the huge number of museums (many with exhibits specially for kids) impart.

Well, it's true that you're not missing much if you miss Coney Island. But, if you ever get the chance to go there....let us know what you think.

I am from the Northwest and Coney Island was also briefly mentioned to me before my trip to the City. I would not want to spend $250-$300 a night in lodgings for my family to stay in Manhattan, and then go to Coney Island. There are similar or better amusement parks in Seattle and Portland and no lodging costs entailed.

I would like to propose the idea to rent bikes and bike around Central Park. You can do this at the Boathouse. I also read decent things on Yelp about Bike and Roll, another rental company. Go early before it gets too hot. We went on a Sunday morning, and it was great. About a 6 mile ride around the park. You do have to walk your bikes on the side paths. Also, someone has to watch the bikes if the kids want to ride the carousel.

FYI -- The renewal of Coney Island, from today's NYT.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/ny...ef=todayspaper

Great article, Fra_Diavolo. This was included: "Honky tonk, but in a good way." That sums it up for me! I really like Coney Island. It's fun. Maybe it's more fun for residents than visitors?

I don't think anyone here -- including me -- was trying to put down Coney Island or say it isn't fun. It was just that as a "destination" amusement park or for being worthy of a full day of a very limited trip to NYC which is packed with so many extraordinary things, it just doesn't seem to measure up. "More fun for residents than visitors?" Sure -- of course. I was speaking for those making a 'pilgrimage' to Coney Island from afar. Not really worth in my book unless they really aren't very familiar with theme parks. But if it were in their backyard and a short train ride away? Of course, it would be a fantastic way to spend a day, half day, or evening!