We had a fun two days in NYC and it felt like we were always on the move. Despite being there for two days, we only had one true sit-down meal.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: A Birthday at the German Christmas Market
• Review: The Thompson Central Park NYC
• Exploring New York City with Kids (this post)
• Review: American Express Centurion Lounge – JFK
• Review: Singapore Airlines A380 Business Class JFK-FRA
• Taking the Train in Germany with Kids
• Review: Park Hyatt Hamburg
• Exploring Hamburg with a Family
• Enjoying the Hamburg Christmas Market
• Review: Radisson Blu Hotel Hamburg Airport
• Review: British Airways A320 Club Europe Business Class
• Review: British Airways Galleries North
• Review: British Airways 777-300 Club World Business Class
• Bonus: Video Review

It’s not my intention to set this up like those “top 10 things to do with kids” lists that you can find elsewhere. Rather, I thought I would share what we did and how we found the experiences, thinking this might help others plan a trip to New York City.

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise

There isn’t a way to see everything in two days, so my intention was to see the major sites from the comfort of a boat. I thought it would be a good idea especially given the 30-40 degree temperatures in mid-November. It turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag.

We paid $69 for each adult and $62 for each child for the cruise. This included the premium seating and boarding upgrade for $25 per ticket. We did not need to wait in line and had someone escort us onto the ship. Seating is not assigned, but those who purchased premium seating get access to a special area with padded seats. We were provided wristbands, but no one checked them and no one was monitoring the premium seating area. It’s not like we needed special seating anyways since the ship was fairly empty. I’m sure there are times when the cruise is packed and having this extra access might be beneficial, but we found it completely unnecessary for our mid-November Sunday cruise.

It was nice to get outside to get some fresh air and take pictures, at least in theory. But the cold air naturally gets a lot colder when you add in plenty of wind chill while the boat is moving. The kids on occasion liked to go outside just to feel how cold it was and then had to come back inside. Thankfully, they weren’t annoying other passengers by changing their minds on what to do since it seemed like plenty of adults had the same dilemma. Everyone wanted to be outside to take their pictures but then run back inside until we get to the next spot.

The cruise had a small cafe that serves a limited selection of food. We did buy a pizza and as you would expect, it was overpriced and you could seemingly only buy it as part of a combo. It was fine and won’t win any awards but it is nice to have the option to get something if your kids suddenly they’re hungry.

There are restrooms onboard but we overheard staff confirming with another guest there was no changing table for infants. So keep that in mind if you have little ones.

On the positive side, we thought the tour guide was charming, informative, and had a good sense of humor. He didn’t talk the entire time, but provided much needed commentary. If there was no tour guide, it would be a poor experience.

I don’t think I would do this again, but I will say the price is about right if purchasing a normal ticket. I definitely do not recommend the premium upgrade unless you know for sure the cruise will be packed–perhaps a major holiday during the summer?

Disney Encanto x CAMP

I happened to stumble across this limited time event while doing internet searches for live performances that might entertain the kids. We were underwhelmed by the CAMP store in Los Angeles, so we didn’t know what to expect with this event. Turns out our concerns were misguided and it ended up being a fantastically well-done experience.

We arrived early for our performance. On our date, the price of the experience varied with the time selected and an earlier time would have cost more money. We paid $36 per person for our tickets. Despite having an assigned time, we arrived early and staff was able to get us into an earlier time since it wasn’t completely filled. We were given a candle that is supposed to flicker when something interactable is nearby, but the flickering didn’t seem noticeably strong.

Walking through the doors was almost like walking on a movie set. They had employees dressed up as characters from the movie and led the children through the house while singing songs. Each room seemed to have something interactable. Alex enjoyed Louisa’s room since it had a skee ball machine where you could place your candle on the sensor to play for free. He also enjoyed Isabela’s room that had a small merry-go-round in it. There was a slide out in the main hallway, lots of hidden paths in Bruno’s room, and some hidden animals in Antonio’s room.

On exit, we had to make a stop inside Dolores’ room that required a special password to enter (don’t worry, they freely gave it out). Inside was a photo op. I originally expected the picture to cost extra because let’s be real, it’s Disney. But turns out the picture was free. Pretty cool! We did get suckered into buying some souvenirs but overall we came away feeling pretty satisfied here. I’d recommend checking this one out if you’re in town.

Central Park Zoo

We tacked on one last thing to do in New York before our flight to give the kids a chance to run around a bit. All tickets seem to include both the children’s zoo where you can pet and feed some farm animals and the regular zoo. After poking around their website, I found an option that excludes the 4-D movie since there is no way Char would sit through that. We paid $14 per adult and $9 per child.

The children’s zoo was pretty small and could be done quickly. Alex has never been a fan of hand-feeding the animals but Char is the opposite. However, there was a small problem in that the outdoor handwashing station didn’t work after feeding the animals but we were able to later find some hand sanitizer. There is an enclosed area where birds can fly around but aside from some geese attacking my shoes, it was fairly uneventful. The kids enjoyed this area but it’s hard to spend more than 15-20 minutes here.

The main zoo was bigger than the children’s zoo, but still smaller than your average zoo. Char called any animal that paced back and forth “crazy” and there certainly were at least three different animals that met her criteria. Despite the cold temperatures outdoors, one area of the zoo was kept hot and humid to simulate the rainforest. Alex loved going in here but Char was not a fan.

I think the pricing felt about right and it’s a decent way to spend 60-90 minutes. And if you’re looking forward to eating a hot dog somewhere in Central Park, the restaurant at the zoo seemed to have better pricing than at the many food stands located around the park.

Central Park

Aside from the zoo, we did spend some time at one of several playgrounds within Central Park (Heckscher Playground). There were plenty of slides and portions of the playground were reminiscent of castles, making it fun to run around. Some of the paths led to an opportunity to climb some large boulders, which seemed to be a popular thing to do. If you happen to be in the area already, it’s a great place for the kids to get some exercise.

Quality Italian

One night we had dinner at Quality Italian, which is located just across the street from our hotel. We weren’t sure if this place was going to be too fancy for children, but turns out there were many children in the restaurant. They also have entrees geared toward children by chatting with the server.

The dining room is located one level above the coat desk. We weren’t sure what to expect prior to arrival as I’m a bit leery of something that needs to tell you it’s quality by adding it to the name. Thankfully, it turned out perfectly fine. The ambience here was great and the food was delicious. But a bit of advice: they seem to be known for the chicken parm pizza. Jenn didn’t realize it’s a pizza and ultimately we were glad we did not choose it in addition to everything else we ordered. We saw other tables order it and you can think of it as replacing the pizza dough with flattened fried chicken. They market it as being ideal for two people, but this could have easily fed our whole family.

The servers kept us filled with plenty of freshly baked bread. Warm bread is always a great start to the meal. We didn’t realize we were going to receive complimentary bread, so we also ordered the housemade ricotta, which came with bread. The extra bread was not necessary but the ricotta itself tasted fresh. It would have been nicer to have some thinner crackers to go along with the cheese to avoid filling up too much before the meal is served.

I ordered the Pesto Mafaldine, which had a good amount of noodles and fresh cheese. The pasta was slightly al dente and the sauce didn’t overpower the dish. Jenn ordered the Spicy Lobster Rigatoni alla Vodka, which lived up to its name for being a spicy dish. The alcohol in the dish was added and cooked tableside, causing a big flame that impressed the kids. There were good-sized pieces of lobster in the dish, but Jenn would always say it can use more lobster. The kids both ordered some children’s pastas not listed on the menu. Simple in preparation, but that matched what they were looking for.

We also ordered a side dish of corn crème brûlée, which was a unique way of preparing corn. I actually prefer this to normal crème brûlée as I find the cream can get quite dense. The corn helps add some needed texture and break up some of the sweetness. I highly recommend this, and even though it’s not listed as a dessert, it definitely hits the spot.

Overall we enjoyed our meal at Quality Italian and think of it as a good option when near the southern end of Central Park.

Where have you been in New York City that you would recommend to others with children?

Stay tuned for the next installment