<p>Make sure you go out for a slice of pie, and for non-NY’ers, that refers to pizza. ;)</p>
<p>You can go to any of the tourist traps like Famous Rays,The Original Famous Rays, Nearly Famous Rays, Rays Famous Pizza, et al</p>
<p>But be prepared to answer this question after ordering</p>
<p>Tastayatago?</p>
<p>OP here. We are actually going to try to not splurge on food; maybe a splurge here or there but not focus on the dining aspect. I am a vegetarian and D is a picky eater; the guys will eat anything basically. I’m thinking one or two evenings of somewhere special, and the rest of the time, reasonably-priced and decent. This is the second leg of a trip (first is Charleston, SC), kenneling two dogs for ten days, cat-sitter, etc.—very expensive trip overall, at least for us.</p>
<p>H bought Yankee’s tickets yesterday for $60.00 each! Since S had just gone to a Giant’s game for less than $20.00, I said “how can Yankee’s tickets be $60.00 each?” H told me a $20.00 ticket would put us standing for nine innings, and then I got mini-lectures about how this “is the YANKEES, which is AMERICA’s TEAM” and then my S quoted from Moneyball, which is a movie I didn’t think was that great, but he has seen three times in theaters and bought the DVD. </p>
<p>I asked the family their three top things, and from what I can remember H said Ellis Island, liked the idea of walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, S wants to see Wall Street, Times Square, and 911 Memorial, D wants to go on a double-decker bus tour, see 911 Memorial and all want to see a Broadway show. I want to see and do as much as possible of the “major” things to see when one is in NYC. </p>
<p>The kids mentioned The Lion King for the Broadway show. Any opinions on that? </p>
<p>I checked the 911 Memorial site mentioned here and reservations are for the evening only. Does that sound right?</p>
<p>Thank you, thank you for all the ideas and suggestions! It sounds like there is far more to do than the amount of time we have, so we’ll have to plan well.</p>
<p>The 911 memorial is open the entire day, likely only the evening tickets are left for the days you want. i would grab them and keep looking for openings.</p>
<p>As we have said, it’s best to organize your sightseeing by geography - much of what you list is lower Manhattan (Brooklyn Bridge, 911 memorial, Wall Street & ferry to Ellis Island - I would add the Staten Island ferry!) and all easily walkable. </p>
<p>Where are you staying? </p>
<p>regarding food, there is an abundance of delis & pizza places in NYC, so you can stretch your budget.</p>
<p>We are staying at the Courtyard NY Manhattan/Midtown East</p>
<p>campbellmom, in my opinion, for a non-theatre-going family, The Lion King is probably a good choice. It is a familiar story, with recognizable music, and is a visually stunning production. It is a very popular show with tourists, however, and you are visiting in peak tourist time, so you will not find discounted tickets. I would advise you to order your tickets ASAP because this show runs at 100%+ attendance.</p>
<p>Lion King is spectacular - but I still think Wicked would even be better. LOVED it. </p>
<p>Campellmom - Oh my! If you are a vegetarian you must stop at the original Candle Cafe for something to eat! It is only a mile away on 3rd Avenue between 74th and 75th. This is not a fancy restaurant - great smoothies, unbelievable sandwiches, etc.</p>
<p>[Organic</a> Vegan Food Fresh from Farm to Table: Candle Cafe - Upper East Side](<a href=“http://www.candlecafe.com/east/index.html]Organic”>http://www.candlecafe.com/east/index.html)</p>
<p>The food is sooo good. We have taken many carnivores and they have loved the place. There is something about walking into a place and knowing you can order anything on the menu and it will be vegan that is such a treat. If we are in NYC for a couple of days we alternate between here and Candle 79. OK - you get the picture. I am nuts about this place.</p>
<p>I would vote for Jersey Boys, great story,great music for everyone…I think the men would prefer that over Lion King…</p>
<p>^If you want something the men would like go to Spiderman. :)</p>
<p>Mathmom - When did you see Spiderman? We saw it last year before it officially “opened” and boy did it need a lot of work. I understand it is much better - if I had unlimited funds I would go again just to see how they improved it.</p>
<p>I suggest against The Lion King - it’s a very good show but again, consider the age factor. <25s are not going to be impressed by the visuals (we’ve grown up eating Michael Bay’s popcorn), and other than that the show is well done, but lulls quite a bit. Reminded me of The Phantom of the Opera in that respect. That said, if you’re going mostly for the visual aspect it’s probably one of the best. I’m still going to hang out a shingle for Wicked, because I love the current cast so much.</p>
<p>It would be expensive but Wicked is my choice over Lion King. The music and visuals are outstanding. My kids (both teens at the time) LOVED Wicked.
Memphis seemed to have great reviews from people around us in the TKTS line–one person said it was the only play that she’d seriously go back to see again. Many echoed that it was one of their favorites.
Another older play is Chicago–great also.</p>
<p>I highly recommend going for a walk on [The</a> High Line](<a href=“http://www.thehighline.org/]The”>http://www.thehighline.org/)</p>
<p>It’s a park built on an old elevated railroad track on the west side. Amazing views, and beautiful gardens.</p>
<p>I saw the final version of *Spiderman *and enjoyed it. The sets are fabulous. I’m not a fan of current style musicals (I like the old fashioned tap dancing ones and the handful with rock scores - loved the new Jesus Christ Superstar) so this was IMO better than usual.</p>
<p>I’ve done the Circle Line Cruise and really enjoyed the trip <em>around</em> Manhattan. </p>
<p>I’m also going to suggest the Lower East Side Tenement Museum – a tour of a tenement building with three apartments recreated to feature the actual tenants that lived in the building. Not a real mainstream attraction – but helps you understand the history of the city.</p>
<p>We recently went to the 9-11 memorial – it’s unbelievable and a must-see to understand the events of the day, especially if you are not a New Yorker. My son was in 9th grade on 9/11 and now works in Building 7. We live about 50 miles from the city.</p>
<p>I have a couple of general suggestions for a visit to New York. First, don’t eat or shop anywhere that’s part of a chain you have back home. Pick up a restaurant guide (Zagat is OK) for some ideas. Personally, I would avoid mega-shows that travel all over, unless you really rarely see anything. I like going to TKTS and getting half-price tickets for something I don’t know that much about (tip: at the Times Square TKTS booth, there is a separate, much shorter line for non-musical plays. If they have The Best Man, I strongly recommend it. We also liked One Man, Two Guv’nors.)</p>
<p>Second suggestion: There is so much to do in New York that you shouldn’t waste your time waiting in long lines. This is why I might skip the Statue of Liberty, since (I believe) you can’t go up in it now anyway. Ditto for the Empire State Building–Top of the Rock might have a shorter line. Same for Serendipity–can have extremely long waits.</p>
<p>Final suggestion: as soon as you get into town, get a copy of Time Out New York (a magazine). It has great listings of things to do.</p>
<p>I’m interested to read everyone’s Broadway show recommendations. Last weekend, I was with my son who’s a working actor in an Off-Off-Broadway company with rising reputation in the city. We concluded that it makes sense for visiting families to choose one famous Broadway show, as it’s a slam-dunk to entertain. Every suggestion posted in this thread would be a real family-pleaser, and I’d love to see any of them.</p>
<p>In addition (not instead), I have another recommendation for you.</p>
<p>**A tourist family should also know about Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions. There’ a wide range of choices every night. **</p>
<p>This is not a geographical description, but rather expresses the size of the audience and ticket pricing structure. “Off-Broadway” means 100-499 seats in audience, generally priced around $35 - $70 per ticket. “Off-Off-Broadway” has 99 or fewer seats, priced between $12 - $18 per ticket. Given the size of the audience, you have greater intimacy and proximity to the stage in the smallest venues. Shows are located all over Manhattan and sometime in the boroughs, too.</p>
<p>You don’t have to decide much in advance for Off-Off-B’way as they rarely sell out (although sometimes my son’s company does; he;s also their marketing director so that’s a brag…). You can buy tickets weeks or days ahead online, or take a chance there will be some left at the door.</p>
<p>Many independent Off-Off shows are “Equity Showcase” which means they include equity actors (experienced in various ways). Because of this, the shows only run 3 weeks, by Equity contract to "showcase’ but not overuse the actors on long-run productions. And some of these are amazing in production qualities - writing, acting, directing, staging. They are very competitive with each other, so some of the companies are superb.</p>
<p>To decide to go to an Off-Off show, yuou need about as much forethought as to attend a movie, and the costs are similar. You can research the synopsis (I’ll link below) and decide as a family. Take a chance! At those prices, you can afford to take a risk. You’ll sit close to the stage, and if you liked the show you’ll feel as sense of discovery. If you dont’ like it, you’re not out hundreds of dollars to entertain a family of 4. Often seating is “first-come” so it’s wise to arrive 30 -40 minutes before curtain-time when the “house opens” for first-come seating. If not, in general there are no bad seats in a house of 99 seats! They might be on folding chairs, but you’ll be close-up.</p>
<p>Off-Broadway (100-499 seats) is a compromise. They do plan further in advance and run longer than 3 weeks each, so you can plan longer ahead. Prices, as I say, are a compromise between the Off-Off-B’way and the big B’way hits mentioned in this thread.</p>
<p>Here’s a link of what’s happening THIS week in NYC, for Off and Off-Off B’way, as reviewed or summarized by the NY Times:
[Off</a> & Off Off Broadway Shows - Reviews and Tickets - New York Times](<a href=“Theater - The New York Times”>Theater - The New York Times)</p>
<p>I agree with alwaysamom. Lion King is spectacular. The staging is from the theater in Bali where Julie Taynor studied.</p>
<p>Everyone has his/her own favorite, but it really is beautiful.</p>
<p>Better than when CATS was the tourist show. I thought they should have paid me for the second act.</p>
<p>But there are many wonderful shows.</p>
<p>I am dying to see One Man Two Guvnors. Our local art movie house had a streaming, but we didn’t make it. DS was in a production of the italian original, A Servant of Two Masters. He didn’t have the showy part, but it brings wonderful memories.</p>
<p>Whatever you decide, I’m sure it will be wonderful.</p>
<p>It is very easy to get a good, inexpensive vegetarian meal from an Indian restaurant. The Italian restaurant I referenced as having a prix fix of $14 has vegetarian and vegan options, but I’m not sure about vegan desert. You don’t have to order the prix fix. And you can sit outside.</p>
<p>All your choices are downtown except for Broadway, and you may consider the 70’s may seem out of the way, but restaurant is on the West side where the theater district is. Anything in the theater district is more expensive.</p>
<p>There are felafel carts and such which might be an option.</p>
<p>Have a wonderful time!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ain’t that the truth!! :)</p>
<p>I feel the, perhaps silly, need to clarify my recommendation of The Lion King, because so many here ask me theatre-related questions and I wouldn’t want anyone to think that TLK would be my #1 recommendation for a Broadway show. As I said earlier in the thread, none of the shows that the OP mentioned would be my choice but since, with regard to TLK, her kids had indicated they might like to see it, my comments were in response to that. The OP admits that they are not a theatre-going family and are, thus, looking for a Broadway experience as such. TLK is, in my opinion, the perfect type of show for families in that position. It is, as I said, visually stunning, especially if you sit in the mezzanine, which is not something I usually recommend. There’s a reason that the show has lasted as long as it has and that its weekly grosses are still 100%+. It was Julie Taymor at her creative best, long before the Spiderman debacle.</p>
<p>Mythmom is absolutely right, there are many, many wonderful shows. For a family heading to the city for a theatre week, my recommendations would be different. For this family, I think they’d all enjoy TLK. Probably Wicked, too, but it’s not as familiar as TLK is, to the general public, so that was yet another reason for my choice.</p>
<p>The Lion King is soooo expensive, and H is not interested in Wicked. Would you choose Jersey Boys or Memphis or ?? I had no idea there were soooo many shows!! And I was really clueless about how expensive it is. This is a big learning curve.</p>
<p>I got the 9/11 passes!</p>
<p>Definitely go to the top of the rock instead of the empire state building - You have a perfect view of the empire statebuilding from there and can take pictures of it with the rest of NY’s skyline in the backdrop.</p>
<p>I just was up for three days a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>You can’t go in the statue of liberty right now as it’s closed for renovations but you can still take the ferry over and walk around and take great photos. If you go, i suggest going early. It gets very full. Also, order your tickets online ahead of time for the ferry. It will take you to ellis island as well for no extra cost.</p>
<p>If you like NBC you can go on an NBC studio tour. We got to see the SNL set, monday night football set, and a few others.</p>
<p>You could go to coney island… or to the bronx zooo. I love the bronx zoo. </p>
<p>Yankee Stadium is nice but expensive depending where you sit. The 60 dollar seats in Philadelphia are like 1000 (or something close) there. </p>
<p>MOMA is great.</p>
<p>Agree with the above, NYC is a grid so you won’t get lost.</p>
<p>Central park is very pretty - especially if you are there at sunset. </p>
<p>I’m a dork but one of my favorite things to do up there this time of year is go to a Cosi, sit outside, and order smores. They bring you a little fire thing to make them with.</p>