My family and I just returned from our first trip to NYC. We had a blast. Here are some highs and lows:

LODGING: We stayed at the Holiday Inn Harmon Meadows in Seacaucus, NJ. $96.00 nightly for non-smoking/two doubles, 3-star, roomy, upscale for H Inn, excellent concierge assistance, friendly staff.

Grayline Tours picks up and delivers for NYC. NJ Transit bus picks up and drops off at the hotel complex. (Amerisuites and Homewood Suites are also part of the complex). $2.60 each way per adult.

Highlighting the lodging first because travelers on here often wonder should they stay IN NYC or outside? If you want to be out late, and don't want to pay expensive car fare, then stay inside NYC. If you're a family with kids and plan to leave the city by 10 pm or 11 pm, then confirm the transit times with the hotel and save yourself a ton of money by staying in Seacaucus. From our experience, lots and lots of people do, which is why the hotel staff takes such good care of you!

Day 1: Empire State Building - a long wait even past the 4 pm "slow time." IMO, not worth the wait, esp. if there's lots you've never done in NYC. Met the rudest staff there as well, but had the coolest tourist photo taken there. They spring it on you, so these are more of candid shots, than posed shots. In ours, our nine year old is perfect, like a model, the 21 month old is sleeping, my husband looks exhausted and I look shell-shocked. Our entire day expressed in one photo.

Macy's Dept. Store: Another low. CROWDED. DISCOUNT? PUHLEEZE. STICK WITH TJ MAXX AND SAVE SOME MONEY. Unless you long to hear "Keep moooving, the people behind you want to mooove." Imagine chanting that all day. Rude customers push around you on the escalators - like, where are they gonna go? It's STILL crowded.

Redeeming touch - the Macy's elves and Santaland. Yeah, it's still crowded but they could teach Disney World a thing or two about keeping a line moving while still remaining cheerful. When they say it'll take about 45 minutes to get through a line that looks more like a 2 hr. line, they're telling the truth. They're GOOD.

Heartland Brewery, beside Empire State Bldg- standard tourist fare food, but you can get fairly quick seating without reservations and the downstairs decor is much more fun than the top floor leads you to believe. Also, if you have young kids, then this is a great place for you - they have a unisex, one-stall, clean bathroom with a changing table. The whole family easily fits into this large bathroom. Didn't find this anywhere else in NYC. Praise the Lord and pass the diaper wipes!

Day 2: Statue of Liberty: the highlight of our trip. Reserve tickets at statuereservations.com for the Observatory level tour. Well worth the time. Be prepared for security. Organized, interesting, and beautiful. Actually seeing her was worth keeping up with my toddler. Beautiful.

Grayline Tours Hop-on/Hop-off double-decker tour bus. Staff in their actual office is not impressive, but the double decker buses help make up for it. Downstairs, good luck actually seeing anything. Upstairs, terrific views. Tour guides are hit and miss.

We hopped off in Chinatown. Made the mistake or the good fortune of stopping to stare at cooked ducks hanging in a restaurant window and were enthusiastically invited inside by a perky, friendly, oriental hostess. We were the only non-oriental people there, which was fascinating. Good food and the women pampered my 21 mo. old guy.

Walked through Little Italy, where we had hoped to dine, but had to keep moving because we had theater tickets. Smelled wonderful.

Wicked: my first show on Broadway, but definitely not my first theatrical experience. Went to a lot of trouble for tickets despite mixed reviews online. Took my nine year old daughter. Our review: Phenomenal talent. First half of show is powerful, close to perfect, especially the "Defying Gravity" scene just before intermission. Second half felt more slapped together due to a much more condensed plot line, but, again, absolutely phenomenal talent. Can't imagine anyone feeling they didn't get way more than their money's worth. Go ahead and buy the cd in the lobby. The musical score is fantastic.

Times Square: crowded and great. Buy your I love NY t-shirts from the street vendors.

Rockefeller Center: The tree's beautiful. On this trip, we went for all of the tourist photos that they offer. After all, it's NYC. They were fun and are terrific souvenirs. Sak's windows featured some awfully anorexic mannequins. Each time we passed we joked about the "hungry" mannequins. But the windows featuring Mandy Moore's narration of a children's Christmas book were colorful and fun.

Day 3: Tavern on the Green. We paid $83.00 in car fare to keep our reservations for this? A reservation meant permission to get in line and wait. Check your coats - it's mandatory. The place IS pretty, but grossly overrated and overpriced for the quality of the food and service. They do a pretty good job of crowd control though. It was raining when we left, so we got in line for a cab. If you're a first-timer, don't head straight for the door and the first cab you see. Instead, look to your left and if there's a line facing outside, then guess what? It's the taxi line. The oddly dressed doorman will tell you when it's your turn.

American Girl Place, Fifth Ave. - doll lover's heaven. Barbie can't touch this. Three floors of history and wholesome, beautifuly, expensive stuff for girls and their dolls. We sprang for the tea in American Girl Cafe. It was worth it. My daughter will never forget it. Be prepared for the doll salon, where your doll can have her hair restored to it's original condition and get a new do while you watch. The staff there and at the registers could use an attitude adjustment, but the on-floor assistance was very, very good and the customer service desk on the second floor was top-notch. Smallish bathrooms puzzled me, esp. since there wasn't a changing table in sight. The second floor complimentary coat and package check was much appreciated.

St. Patrick's Cathedral: A peaceful oasis in a busy city. Beautiful. Lovely, meaningful gifts. Go in and take a brief nap (like my hubby and 21-mo. old did) or light a candle and offer a prayer as my nine year old and I did. Don't forget to say a prayer of gratitude for NYC. How could anyone not enjoy NYC? All in all, it's one bundle of fast-walking, usually friendly, always interesting people. Know how you spot the natives? They're much friendlier than the other tourists!!! (Except for British tourists, who are both polite and psychic. They rescued us several times, even before we'd realized we needed rescuing. How do they do that? Are they like that at home?)

Thanks for a great time Manhattan - we'll be back!!!

What an absolutely fantastic, well written, descriptive trip report. Thanks for sharing!!

Can you explain the "$83 car fare to TOTG"? Was this by NJ taxi? Would also like to hear more about travelling to/from the city daily from NJ and how you managed all day w/o a place for a rest.

Just an FYI re: usage of the term "oriental" -- not PC. Correct term is "Asian". My apologies for noting this but my fiance is Korean (I am not Asian) thus I am well aware of his sensitivity to this.

That said, glad you had such a productive and enjoyable trip to NYC with your family (and, thank you for your prayer for this great town).

Glad you have a good time.

Your exact experience at Tavern On The Green is why locals and frequent visitors steer people AWAY from TOTG. Grossly overpriced for underwhelming food.

Michelle, don't apologize for your correction. Unless people know that they are incorrect, they could accidently hurt someones feelings unknowingly.

Thanks, GoT. I didn't want anyone to perceive me as "telling him/her off". It really does irk my fiance (to put it mildly) -- and other Asian friends/family -- when people use that archaic term.

It's great to read a "down to earth" report like yours, showing that you can indeed have a good time, even when you are less than enthused about every experience on a trip.
A most refreshing report.

That's it Howard! You hit the nail on the head!

I really enjoyed this trip report because there were a few hiccups but IDbaby didn't let that get in her family's way of having a great time!

Great trip report!! I'm sure it will be very helpful to others. I especially liked the down-low on the changing tables now that I have a toddler and an infant myself!

Enjoyable report!

Wonderful! We're going May 13 and will try to do the Statue of Liberty if possible now, thanks to you.

Steve R
Maryland

Oops - very sorry for using an offensive term. Didn't realize that, so thanks for the update.

About the expensive fare to TOTG. It was with a car service in NJ. We used Carlos' Limousines and Access Limos because many posters on here pointed out that they usually cost the same, or less, than taxis. Overall, we were pleased. The town cars used by these services were very nice and the drivers were personable and helpful.

The NJ Transit was simple for us. The bus picked up at our complex and it was a relatively painless 20 min. ride into the city. My daughter loved riding through the Lincoln Tunnel. In fact, she remembers that as one her favorite parts of the trip. As long as we paid attention to the departure times for evening buses, we were fine. But then we weren't staying out until 12 or 1 a.m. There were loads of families with kids doing the same thing and the hotel staff made it so simple, much more efficient and well-run than Disney has ever been.

Thanks for your comments. We had a great time.

Oh yes, someone asked how we fared staying all day in the city with no hotel room to go back to for a rest.

It was surprisingly easy. There's always Central Park for downtime. The hop-on-hop-off double deckers are great for getting off of your feet, holding a napping toddler, and still taking in the city. Or ride the ferry both ways. It's nice and warm on the inside and no one bothers you.

Also, had we really wanted to we could have taken the bus back to NJ, put up our feet for an hour or two and then gone back. It really wasn't difficult using the Transit system.

Remember, you can always go in St. Patrick's for free, pray, and catch a little snooze. Actually, it was much easier to rest in NYC than at Disney. Now THAT'S HARD.