Rockefeller Center and 5th Ave

Getting Started

While we had a number of breakfast options planned, we all decided we liked Fresh & Co, and it had the distinct advantage that it was only a few doors down from the Affinia Manhattan on 7th Ave. The bagels were good, as were the parfaits. The coffee was average American, but it was what we were expecting and would have to do.

We walked down 7th Ave, past Macy's, Andrews Coffee Shop (one of our planned breakfast options), and into Time Square, where we stopped for a few obligatory photos in front of the towering billboards. As we passed Toy's R Us (which is so large it has a 3 story Ferris Wheel inside), we were approached by this Puss-In-Boots, who we assumed was a toy store promotion. However, once the photo was taken, he quickly flipped over his shoulder bag labelled "Tips" and stuck out his paw. We are seasoned enough travelers to know better, but we must have still been suffering from jet-lag. Good thing cats in boots can't run...

Top of the Rock

On a previous trip to New York, we had been to the top of the Empire State Building, and it was on our initial list of sights to show the girls. However, after a bit of research, we changed our minds and decided to scale the "Top of the Rock" (GE Center at the Rockefeller Center) instead.

Rising 70 floors, the "Top of the Rock" is not as high as the Empire State Building (86 to the first deck, and then 102 to the second deck),  but it has a number of significant advantages:

1. Most importantly to me, there is no queue. You book your time online, and when you arrive you can pretty much go straight into the elevator.
2. To the North, you get pretty much a full view of Central Park. From the Empire State building, this view is largely obscured.
3. To the South, you get a full view of the Empire State Building, which you cannot (of course) see from the Empire State Building itself, while still being able to see the other landmarks (the Chrysler Building, Freedom Tower, etc)
4. The tickets are cheaper (adult tickets if you take the 2nd elevator, and child tickets regardless). 

We spent a very enjoyable 40 minutes at the top, searching the city for landmarks, talking to the security guards, and taking lots of photos.

Rockefeller Center

The Rockefeller Center is a great place to take a family at any time, but particularly at Christmas. The tree and the decorations are beautiful, and everyone is there with a smile on their faces. Skating on the open air ice skating rink is an iconic New York experience, however, before you rock up planning to skate, you should consider that its $27 for adults, $15 for children, plus $12 for skate rental. That would make it $183 for our family of 5! On top of that, the rink is tiny, and there are often long waits. If you really want to ice skate in New York, you should go to Bryant Park where the rink is much bigger and its only $15 per person (including skates). We had planned to do that later in the week.

What we really enjoyed at the Rockefeller Center was the Salvation Army volunteers. They played music and danced for hours on end, regularly getting the passers-by to join in. 

We also looked through the MOMA gift shop and the Lego shop. We were particularly amused by this fairly pathetic model of our Opera House.

NBC Studio Tour

We had booked our NBC Studio Tour online, and picked up our tickets in the NBC store on the 2nd floor in the Rockefeller Center. The tours leave every 30 minutes or so, and we were called to line up about 10 minutes in advance. The first stop was a short video on the "history" of NBC - but it was not too informative and is really just a long promo. Once through security, the stops for us were:

• A memorial for news staff that have died in service.
• The electronics hub.
• The main news studio.
• A smaller studio, where a volunteers from the tour get to reads the headlines and weather. 
• The Today show studio.

It is interesting to see the News and Today studios up close, with their fake windows and backdrops and masses of lighting, but with no action going on its a bit dull. All in all, the NBC Studio Tour it was one of our least memorable experiences in New York and on our entire trip. 

Update: It seems they have now shut the tour down at the end of 2013 to re-invent it.

5th Avenue

To re-charge, we had a late lunch at Applebees, which is about 5 minutes walk up W 50th at 7th Ave, before returning to 5th Ave. This was going to be an afternoon for the girls, and I'd just have to hang in there...

We first stopped at American Girl, which is apparently every young American girl's dream. The main attractions are the look-a-like dolls, which come in 50 varieties of hair colour and style, skin colour, and eye colour. They are somewhat creepy. They also sell clothes, books, etc, and are the ultimate destination for a birthday party. Even if you have no interest in dolls, its worth browsing through to see the spectacle.

We managed to pass Saks of 5th Ave without venturing in, but we did spend time in Sephora, Ann Taylor, and Victoria's Secret. Other stops included Tiffany's, the Trump Tower, the Apple Store, and a quick visit into the foyer of The Plaza Hotel.

Our youngest daughter was most looking forward to FAO Schwarz, which is the oldest toy store in the US (opened in 1862) and is featured in movies such as Big (Tom Hanks) and The Smurfs. The range of stuffed animals is huge, and being a collector of tigers, she was fascinated with them. She also loved "FAO Schweetz", where they sell candy in ridiculously large packages.

Before long, she found what she really wanted for Christmas: a large reindeer on roller skates with a leash. Unfortunately, there was no way this was going to fit in our suitcases and travel with us to California and home, so we had to convince her to keep looking. We finally hit on a winner when we found the someone demonstrating an Air Hog (a four rotor remote controlled helicopter) with an incredible degree of control. My daughter really liked it as well...

Back to Midtown

We hopped back on the subway at the 5th Ave station, and took the N line to Herald Square. While still underground in the Herald Square subway station, we saw a troupe of 6 street dancers with the music blasting and a crowd gathering. We stopped to watch, and were blown-away by some of the moves they were pulling. These guys were seriously good and this was one of the best things we saw in New York.