NYC with grandparents
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Anonymous
| In-laws are joining us for their first trip to NYC. She has mobility issues. Thoughts on fun, easy things to do? |
Anonymous
| A bus tour. Maybe a hop on/hop off type bus tour. |
Anonymous
| How old are the grandkids? How much of an issue is the mobility issue? Would the person be willing to use a wheelchair in a museum? |
Anonymous
|
This unusual bus tour looks fascinating to me. If you try it, please give a review.
https://experiencetheride.com/ I really think the Lion King on Broadway is a wonderful all ages show. I only recently made it there for the first time, and it was worth the splurge. |
Anonymous
+1 need more info |
Anonymous
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Shows, good dinners and meals out. Could you do museums with a wheelchair?
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Anonymous
| What time of year? |
Anonymous
| Circle Line. It's a boat trip around Manhattan island, with commentary. You'll get to see the sights and the boat is--or was, the last time I took it--a heck of a lot more comfortable than a bus. |
Anonymous
Kids are tweens. Mobility in that she can walk, but not long distances. She’ll refuse a wheelchair. Going in February. |
Anonymous
|
I'm a fairly frequent visitor to NYC and have mobility issues, too. (Chronic illnesss, can walk only limited distances without pain, stairs are hard.) My coping strategies for the best visit are:
1) In general, take advantage of what the city offers in terms of saving walking energy so the limited walking tolerance can be used on museums, etc. 2) Take busses, because dealing with the stairs in and out of the subway can be difficult. CityMapper app is great for strategizing transit. I like to choose a hotel that's right on a bus line convenient to a lot of places I'll want to go. 3) Don't be afraid to take taxis. My frugal grandparents are shouting at me from beyond the grave, but in a city full of cabs, why suffer? 4) Prioritize smaller museums. The Met is wonderful but overwhelming and involves a lot of walking just within the museum. (Ditto MOMA.) Go to the Whitney, the Cooper Hewitt, the Museum of the City of New York, the Cloisters, the Morgan Library—all places where there's plenty of opportunity to sit and contemplate art, as well as nice cafes in most. On the Circle Line: for me, that would be kind of cold and miserable in February and it bored me silly even in nice weather when I was a tween. |
Anonymous
+1 we did this last summer and it was excellent – although a cold windy day in February not sure I’d want to do this. |
Anonymous
| What’s your budget? Tea in the Plaza’s Palm Court would be an excellent (and stationary) way to spend the afternoon. |
Anonymous
Tea at the Plaza is a great idea if you can afford it. Another place that is fun with kids is Alice's Teacup. They have one on the UWS and UES. You'll probably need to take cabs or Uber everywhere. Depending how many of you there are, a horse drawn carriage through Central Park. Bundle up! It will be very cold in February with the possibility of rain/snow/wind. A Broadway show is a great idea. Take a cab and get as close as you can to the front doors. Leaving can be a challenge to get a car. We usually walk for a ways and get something not so close to the theaters. Pizza at John's in the Theater District can be fun for the kids, and is great pizza with beer and wine for the adults. Music on The Barge in Brooklyn is wonderful, though I've never taken a cab to get there, and there is a lot of stairs involved taking the subway. Plus, the train station is a good trek away from the actual barge, which is on the East River. I haven't seen it in a while, but I used to see this sideways bus thing that toured different areas. Like stadium seats facing out for better viewing. The last time I saw one some ballet dancers came out from behind on of the statues in Columbus Circle and danced as the bus went by. On the other side of the circle some other kind of entertainer appeared with whatever they did to entertain. Something like that might be better than one of the double decker buses, which are mainly good when you get to sit on the open top. Not in February, though. I'm another naysayer for the Circle Line in February. You'll have to be behind the plastic curtains and those are hard to see through. There's a dinner cruise that leaves from Chelsea Piers that goes down to the Statue of Liberty. It is a ship and indoors. But make sure you don't sit by the band. It is LOUD. We took my parents and they were not fans. We did it again with friends (and we were all drinking) and that was fun. |
Anonymous
Honestly, I’d try to find a hotel with an indoor pool so your tweens can burn some energy, since your other activities are basically going to be seeing a show or eating at yum restaurants but not a lot of anything super active, and it’ll probably be too cold for grandma to sit outside in February if the kids wanted to ice skate or something. |
Anonymous
| In addition to what others have said, carve out time for you & your immediate family to explore independently. Walking NYC is the best way to do it. We traveled with our in laws. We spent the evening with them - dinner, shows, cabs to places. But we blocked off whole afternoons to explore on foot. My in laws were HAPPY. They rested in their room and relaxed in the lobby. Pick a hotel with a good lobby. |