Six Teenagers Review A Day In Manhattan!

Who wakes up and decides to take six kids to New York City alone? Me, that's who!

So, I decided a fun family adventure before my oldest son moves to Florida would be a day in the City - me, my three sons, JD, 20, Ryder, 18, and Jesse, 17, and their girlfriends, Kaytlynn, 18, Jazzy, 17, and Abby, 16. We drove two hours from our home in Pennsylvania to the Staten Island Ferry to get into lower Manhattan on Thursday and had an interesting fun-filled day.

While my boys, Abby and Jazzy have all been to the city before, especially Jesse, who used to be a child actor and work in the city weekly, Kaytlynn has never been to NYC before (she lives in Florida). We decided to make it an even better adventure by rating each place we visited on a scale of one to five stars (one being the worst and five the best). And while you might think they would like certain things and not others, and that would be a correct assumption, it was cool to hear why they liked and disliked the places they did.

We started in downtown Manhattan at the ferry station and worked our way all the way up to Rockefeller Center and then back down to the ferry. The miles we walked...oh, so many! But we did opt for the subway twice because it was hot and our time was limited in each spot since we wanted to cover lots of areas.

We left the house at 9 a.m. and got back at 11 p.m. so it was a full day! The plan was to visit One World Trade, Wall Street, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Hudson Yards, and a variety of stores including the Lego store, NBA Store, Nike, and some souvenir shops. We made it to all but the Lego store and Hudson Yards (but that list was super ambitious, so it was expected that something would get left out.)

Rating: (Estimated between the six kids) 5 Stars

While none of them were around during the 9/11 tragedy, they all know a lot about it. Being at Ground Zero is an experience that most people agree is a very somber feeling. The kids really appreciated the memorial fountains and seeing the names of everyone who lost their lives.

"It was beautiful. I liked seeing the fountains and the memorial for the people who lost their lives," Jazzy said. All the kids agreed it's a must-see place when in NYC. The only complaint, one of the fountains was out of order, but they were working on it while we were there.

The Oculus was an interesting addition to the area. While we did not venture inside, you could see it all from the huge windows outside. It appears to be a high-end mall with tons of shopping opportunities. I think it would make for a great stop the next time we are in the area just looking for something to do.

Rating: 5 stars

The kids all really seemed to love everything about Rockefeller, but their favorite part was something I wasn't quite expecting them to enjoy so much - St. Patrick's Cathedral. I really assumed the beauty of it would just not be an appeal for them, but I was wrong. Not only did they love the outside, but they also loved walking around the inside.

"It's massive and very well built," Jesse said. "It was very unexpected from the outside, but just an amazing sight to see. All of the workers inside the church were very friendly and it was free to go inside and walk around."

While in the area, we also visited the NBC Store and the roller-skating rink. The kids also enjoyed seeing the building that "30 Rock," "Saturday Night Live" and many other shows they love are filmed in.

Rating: 3 stars

"We need to leave." "Why are there so many people just sitting around?" "What's that smell?" "People wear diapers to stand here all day to see the ball drop on New Year's Eve? Why?"

So many funny things can be said and asked about Times Square, and leave it to the kids to have some funny opinions about such a crazy place.

Times Square is so over-hyped that anyone who's never been there, wants to experience it. And anyone who's been there, wants to avoid it at all costs. It's ultimately the essence of NYC, but if you dare to visit, or even just walk through, be ready to have your space invaded, be knocked into, cut off, separated from the people you are with, and stuck in gridlock just walking on the sidewalk. It's an experience for sure.

My kids are not big fans of heavily crowded areas. I mean, who is anymore, right? They are good sports to even entertain the idea of walking through the area, but after we pushed our way to the other side of all the insanity, they were glad to be done with it. And let's not even get into the costumed characters (terribly cheap and sad costumes, I might add) walking around trying to make a buck. I think we can all agree that's a huge downfall of being in that area.

A recent article from Secret NYC gave our sentiments exactly, saying that New York City's most disappointing tourist attraction is Times Square! I'm pretty sure the kids would agree wholeheartedly.

Rating: 5 stars

So my NBA addicted, sneakerhead kids LOVE visiting the NBA Store, Adidas, Puma, and Nike anytime we are in the city. They love everything about all of these stores.

From seeing Shaq's actual shoe and comparing their feet to it to checking out all the shoes they want to buy, these stores are fun and interactive. You can even verse each other in a game of NBA 2K on a big screen in the Puma store.

We also stopped at Lindt chocolate store, some overpriced souvenir shops, and a pizza place to grab a slice of NYC pizza. Let's talk about the pizza place.

We stumbled into Bravo Pizza in midtown because when in NYC, pizza is a must. Ordered some slices and sat down to wait for them to be heated. By this point, it was about 5 p.m. and everyone was starving. I went to pay for everything - 9 slices of pizza and 7 drinks (waters and iced teas) - $85! When I asked how much each slice of pizza cost, the man rudely said, "$6 a slice. As it should be." Blown away. The rudeness was super off-putting after being charged a literal arm and a leg for average tasting pizza.

"The minute he said $85, you should have told him no thank you and left," JD said to me after hearing how much the pizza cost. Had I not been starving and thinking straight, or if he was standing there and said that to me, I would have done just that. Live and learn.

Yes, it's my own fault for not checking prices first, but I've eaten at many NYC pizza places in the past and never paid that much money for slices.

Rude, not the best NYC pizza I've ever had (the $1 slice places are SOOOO much better), and just disappointing all the way around. The kids rated the pizza place and the pizza a collective 3 stars (and they were being generous).

Overall, the day was successful. The ferry ride was smooth with great views of the Statue of Liberty and downtown Manhattan. And did I mention it's FREE to ride the Staten Island Ferry? Can't beat that!

The subway was actually quite peaceful and a nice change from walking the day away. We clocked approximately seven to eight miles of walking, witnessed many interesting sights along the way (but no NYC rats, which believe it or not, everyone was a little disappointed about not seeing), took lots of perfect pictures, and had a great bonding experience.