New York City Travel Forum

Hi, my friend will be flying into Orlando via New York.

There is a 6h 25m between flights and as she is travelling with 2 children (12&5) she is wondering if anyone can recommend anything for her to do?

Obviously she has to clear customs on arrival and collect and re deposit her luggage but the airline have confirmed that she can leave the airport after this! I am guessing this will take at least an hour and then the airline said she would have to be back at the airport 2 hours before her flight. Taking all this into consideration I think she will only have 3-3.5 hours to kill - this is still to long to be waiting around a terminal with 2 children!

I don't think she has enough time to go to Mahattan, can anyone recommend anything else? A shopping Mall or Cinema near by - open to any suggestions!!!

You do not mention which NY airport she is flying into. There are three of them. If she's coming from overseas, she'll likely land in either JFK or Newark, and the answers to this question will be very different depending on which airport you're talking about.

Personally, I would not bother leaving the airport, as the time/cost of getting out and back probably outweigh the benefit.

Hi, Sorry - completely forgot the most important part!

It's JFK!

She'd consider a day room at a hotel but as you said this is expensive! staying at the airport for 6 hours just isn't an option for 6.5 hours though! The 12 year old would be fine but not a 5 year old - not after getting up in the middle of the night and doing an 8 hours flight and then with a further 3 hours to fly!

I have rang around to see how much day rooms are but the ones I've called have said they dont do day rooms and are quoting $100.00 + Tax minimum!

If I were five years old and had gotten up in the middle of the night to take a long flight, I think I'd be pretty satisfied if my mom brought a blanket and let me stretch out and take a nap on the floor of the gate area. (Come to think of it, I'd be pretty happy with it even now!)

Queens (where JFK is located) is not my area of expertise, so I'll leave the shopping mall/movie theater question to someone who knows better.

believe it or not, there is astoundingly little to do near jfk.

No, I would not go to Manhattan from JFK. She'd have to negotiate the subway which is not fun with two tired children - taking a taxi or driving is not practical because the road to the airport can suddenly become a parking lot.

Like the idea of the blanket, and maybe save an activity to do when they arrive.

The terminals at JFK are also unpredictable depending on what airline and where she's going (I've had good, and atrocious terminals using the same airline) - so a comforting item and a game or book for the children should be good. Maybe she can find a travel related book and discuss experiences.

Is she going to Disney? If yes, maybe she can print out some of the park plans and save them for the layover, then talk about the park and what they will do - it will be helpful.

6.5 hours is not enough time for a round trip to Manhattan. If just one thing goes wrong, on just one of the many legs of journey (monorail, Airtrain to Jamaica LIRR station, sick passenger once aboard the LIRR, or a sick passenger on the LIRR train in FRONT of yours, fallen tree on tracks, derailed train in front of yours, etc.), then you could miss your flight. Read a book to the 5 year old, or supervise them while they go online. Or take a well-deserved nap, as another VT'er advised. JFK is in a run-down "dodgy" area, to say the least. Then again, which airport IS in a good neighborhood?!

I agree with all the replies. I'll be stuck at JFK for 7 hrs. next month on my way to Spain and even with my experience flying into and staying in the city, I would NEVER take that chance. Even if all the stars were aligned and everything went well, the stress would not be worth it. I suggest buying a good movie that the little one hasn't seen and packing a small dvd player. There are also plenty of shops and if the mom is desperate, give her a little cash and let her stock up on things that are new to her. Let the 12 y.o. come up with a scavenger hunt and keep them both occupied. Maybe a little exercise will get the wiggles out of them for the remainder of the trip.

This is the Web site for JFK -- http://www.jfkiat.com/ -- although it focuses on their new Terminal 4. It has a list of shops and restaurants in that terminal, which kind of sounds like it might be the international terminal.

If she searches some other travel sites, or if you search them for her, you might be able to find a better list of what the airport provides, and then they can make their way around. There is an XxpresSpa, maybe they can all get their nails done? It'll be a bit of a treat for the kids, but it'll keep them busy!

Oh -- something else just occurred to me -- the wait will actually be a little shorter once you count the time you're supposed to spend at the departure gate. Not that six hours isn't still long, but they could always explore every terminal to kill some time.

Take them for a ride on the Airtrain and visit every terminal. It is free.

I'm admittedly a nerd when it comes to things like monorails -- I'm 30 and that sounds like something I would do!

Here's a much better Website: http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/airports/html/kennedy.html

You can go through all the terminals to see what shops, restaurants and services they have. The kids might like the MoMA store -- not quite as big as the museum, but still fun to look at.

Agree with previous posters - adding even more travel stress to already travel-tired children is probably not a good idea, and the layover time really isn't long enough to comfortably risk leaving the airport. A blanket for a nap ( and maybe an ipod of soothing music?), board games, monorail rides to the other terminals, etc are all great ideas and much less stressful activities for the wee folk - and for mom!

When I have time to kill near JFK, I like to go to Lenny's Clam Bar in Howard Beach.

Thank you to you all for helping - I think it's a dead cert thats she's staying in the Airport!

I'm more stressed than she is - she agrees with the blanket option - only she said it'll be for her to go to sleep!!! lol

I have told her to look on here and to check out the websites that have been mentioned and she said she will - She said the 5 year old can sleep anywhere so she'll get her to go to sleep on the flight so she'd got energy for walking round the airport!

If any of you ever need help in England or specifically Manchester let me know!

You're a peach for helping your friend - tell her we hope she and her children have a wonderful time in the US! Now go have a lie-down and lose that stress! :)

NYTim beat me to the punch with the monorail which can be taken to the terminals in Queens, uses up time, may be of interest, at no cost. Jet Blue's brand new terminal 5 is crowded and overrated.

acprincess, you have me intrigued. i know i said i would never leave the airport, but if have 3-4 hours and i'm with 2 other adults i might have to try lenny's. can you tell me more???? how far is is from jfk? difficult to get to by taxi? you may make me a risk taker. :)

Lenny's is 6 miles from the terminal. I think you might be able to take the AirTrain part of the way, but I also think that costs $5 each when you leave the airport, so it's probably cheaper and faster for a bunch of you to take a cab.

It's an old-fashioned Italian seafood place. I don't know the hours, but here's their website. http://lennysclambar.com/