New York is fabulous for kids ! We spent 5 days in this bustling city in the lead up to Christmas with our 5 year old. We packed in so much and still didn’t (only scratched the surface of what NY has to offer) see it all. My husband and I adore NY so it was very special showing this incredible city to our Kidsetter.
We stayed centrally, at the Park Lane Hotel so we could maximise our time in NY. It also meant that we could walk everywhere or catch the subway. The hotdog stands are a hit for a quick bite to eat. When travelling with Kidsetters we want to avoid as many queues as possible. If there is an express pass to beat queues we’ll buy it !
We enjoyed a lovely brunch at the legendary jazz venue Smoke Jazz Club on Broadway listening to soulful Harlem jazz vocalist Annette St. John and her trio in an intimate setting for families. Great fun!
An absolute highlight was the Christmas Spectacular by the Radio City Rockettes and the backstage VIP tour, to meet a Rockette & have your photo taken with her. A truly magical Christmas experience ! This is a must-see. If you do nothing else in NY at Christmas time, do this ! Your Kidsetters will be beyond thrilled.
We added to our Christmas theme by enjoying a 90 minute ice skate on the infamous Rockfeller Centre Ice rink. I’m not a fan of missing out on anything we have our heart set on doing whilst at a destination. To ensure we weren’t going to miss out, we pre-booked online the VIP skating experience (yes, they’re all doing it now) so we could absolutely have a go of skating on the rink. Being from Australia of course we can’t skate but that’s beside the point !
To maximise time we caught a water taxi out to The Statue of Liberty. We didn’t hop off at Staten Island but this was what we wanted as I thought waiting in the queue to go up inside her crown and look out is probably not that exciting for a 5 year old ! However, from an educational aspect I knew she was an important icon for our Kidsetter to see.
NY has forever been etched in our Kidsetter’s mind as a fun, entertaining destination. Perhaps it was having his photo taken with a Radio City Hall Rockette, or listening to talented buskers singing whilst catching the subway or playing with the squirrels in Central Park. The entire ‘cocktail’ of buzz, activity and excitement in New York has made for a lifetime of precious memories.
