Chol Hamoed Ideas Needed

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Forum -> Yom Tov / Holidays -> Pesach

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JustAFrumMom

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 9:26 am

I don't want to do the same old trips: zoo, beach, aquarium, museum. I'm looking for ideas anywhere within the NYC area or even an hour or so away. I need to find places that are friendly for young children but not utterly boring for teenagers. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Goldie613

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 12:02 pm

Do you have the NYC ID card? It's free and gives free admission to a lot of places (museums, zoos, etc), so that might give you some ideas of places you haven't visited yet. Even if you don't have the card, the website's list of museums may still give you some new ideas =

http://www1.nyc.gov/site/idnyc......page

What about one of those historic farms or houses? Some of them have animals, which might be cute for the kids, while the historical houses and the lifestyle from years ago may fit more for your older teens. There's one in Prospect Park (in Brooklyn), one in Staten Island and another in Long island. The link for the Long Island one is =

http://www.obvrnassau.com/

And the Staten Island one = http://www.historicrichmondtown.org/

Prospect Park is having extra events for families on Chol haMoed (including at their historic house) =
https://www.prospectpark.org/n.....04-30

What about a boat ride? The Staten Island ferry is free. When I was a kid it was a big deal for us to go out on a boat and watch the city go by - and if you go at night? The stars, the water - it's lovely = http://www.siferry.com/index.html

You can play tourist in Manhattan, if that would work for your kids. The Nintendo store lets the kids play the games for free, and it's fun to browse in some of the other nearby stores (depending on your kids' interests). I would suggest that you tell the kids that this is a browsing trip, not a shopping one, unless you want to get asked to buy them everything they see Smile

creativemama

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 1:06 am

I second Staten Island Ferry, and my recommendation is to be on the water at sunset. Beauty like that, on New York's polluted waters no less, is wonderful oneg yom tov. My kids (ok, my kids and I) also love the S.I. terminal, featuring a gigantic tanks of tropical fish courtesy of the Staten Island Zoo; and people-watching while you wait around for the next ferry. It's a spacious, clean, safe place, but full of you-gotta-see-this interesting people and their interactions.

JustAFrumMom

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 10:56 am

Thank you for the tips! I think we are going to Legoland one day, so maybe the Bronx zoo the next. I'll see if I can convince everyone that the ferry would make a fun trip. It sounds like a nice day to me.

amother

Mint

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 11:02 am

If you are willing to travel a bit, Mohonk Mountain Preserve is a beautiful place. There are three paths, you can do the easy paved one with a stroller, the middle one which gives beautiful views of the water or the hardest which is real hiking. With little kids I'd do the first or, if you have enough chaperones, the second is very doable, but there are no gates so you need an adult or older child to be responsible for each younger one. An umbrella stroller can be taken along and folded for the difficult parts of the trek. We did the middle path up and the easy path down.

becky55

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 11:08 am

creativemama I went to legoland with my kids and my two nieces and there kids and it was on royal disaster its not what they make it sound like its in a shopping strip its like if you are good when we shop we will stop in for ten minutes just make sure you check out rly well before you go. but can I suggest sky zone that is a trampoline park and its amazing the kids love it its worth checking it out

amother

Yellow

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 11:13 am

Legoland is a waste of money. I went and was so disappointed they gave me 4 complimentary tickets to try it again....it was plain dumb and dirty.

amother

Mistyrose

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 3:49 pm

Just to confuse you Smile

We loved loved loved LEGOLAND and spent hours there (and plan to go back in the summer) and my kids hated skyzone. They thought it was so boring. they did like pump it up though which is also jumping.

JustAFrumMom

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 10:54 am

I will definitely look a little deeper into Legoland before we buy tickets. I talked to them about relaxing their rules and allowing us to bring our food into their cafe to eat due to Passover, but they said no. So, we would be having a picnic in the van. I'm ok with that, so long as it's a worthwhile and really fun day. Thank you for all the tips!

cnc

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 11:02 am

If you're referring to Legoland in Westchester, I was told the same as most posters.
My friends and sils that went all said it's nice but you can spend maximum 45 minutes there!

I heard Diggerland is great, but last year when I tried booking tickets online in advance they were all sold out.

sky

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 12:44 pm

Diggerland is fantastic!
(I never went chol hamoed but we once went in the summer. For very young children there isn't as much to do so check heights before going).

thunderstorm

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 2:55 pm

sky wrote:

Diggerland is fantastic!
(I never went chol hamoed but we once went in the summer. For very young children there isn't as much to do so check heights before going).

Never heard of this place, but I just looked it up and looks like it would be a great trip for our all boy family. Thanks

mommyla

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 3:29 pm

sky wrote:

Diggerland is fantastic!
(I never went chol hamoed but we once went in the summer. For very young children there isn't as much to do so check heights before going).

Yes yes yes!! So much fun. But when I went it was very new and they weren't all that well-organized... very long waits and it wasn't even that crowded. If you go on a busy day, be prepared to wait on lines. (Unless they've gotten more professional since then.)

doctorima

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 4:48 pm

What age range would you say would be appropriate for Diggerland?

On a semi-related note, I was shocked to see their ad in a local frum publication that said that their "sister" property Sahara Sam's Oasis would be specially open for Passover, but also said it's open to the general public. On previous Chol HaMoeds they've had separate hours, so I called to ask, and they told me that they're open for Passover but with no separate hours, which was quite disappointing to hear. I'm not sure why they've changed from previous years in this regard.

sky

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 4:51 pm

ON the younger end the height is important. Young kids will love it but are limited in what they can do alone. I can see older kids enjoying it (I loved trying out some of the big tractors and activities alone embarrassed

)

When we went it was pretty empty which was good because I saw the potential for very long lines, most things can only be done by one person at a time and take a long time to complete.

amother

Brown

Fri, Apr 15 2016, 7:43 am

Diggerland is great. My boys and my girls both enjoyed it. There is not much shade there though and there tend to be lines at times.. I suggest going earlyer in the day

amother

Slategray

Thu, Oct 06 2016, 9:35 pm

Would diggerland be good for older teenagers?

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