We made the mistake of going during the Christmas break. It was crazy. It took 40 minutes just to get into the museum. Once we were in, the crowds were not bad at all. My son's favorite part was the blue whale. He lay on the ground and stared up at the ceiling. It was great. He was amazed at all the animals. We brought snacks and water with no problems. Taking the train in was no problem. The subway goes directly into the museum so in the cold winter months you don't have to walk through the city.

I went with a one year old and a two year old. There's a little toddler water works section that was fabulous for babies. They could spend hours there. The Count's splash castle was a lot of fun too. Those are the two water places that didn't involve lines so they could just play indefinitely without having the time end.It's really prices so I would suggest brining your own food. You are allowed to bring a small cooler. We brought our own stroller. People parked them everywhere so I didn't really worry about leaving our stuff behind. We carried a waterproof case with us with our money and keys. My son still talks about it and we went around five months ago!

We've been on the Rip Van Winkle a bunch of times. Before kids, we would go to check out the fall foliage. There's a snack bar, regular bar, bathroom, etc. There are two levels. When we brought the kids, they were 1 and a half and a newborn. The one year old liked it as much as a one year old could, but I wouldn't suggest it. It's around two hours and it loses its novelty for the little ones in that period of time. We brought toys so it was good.

If you live locally, it's definitely worth going if your kids is into trains. It's affordable to ride the trolley. It's a little comical because the trolley goes through Millens car junk yard. But the tour guide makes a joke of it. But, once you get to the end of the destination, you get out at Kingston point park and it's gorgeous. There's a bathroom there too. The entire trolley tour is around 30 minutes total. My three year old got to ring the bell and pretend he was driving. It was fun.

It's a tiny little zoo, but it forms a loop and there's only one entrance so the kids can run in two different directions and it's not that scary. They have a bull, a bunch of different birds (peacocks, chickens), goats, turtles, ducks, rabbits. The best thing in Forsythe park is their annual fall festival. It's not crowded. There are a ton of activities for kids and the best part is that all the money goes to the park.