My daughter is singing with the Rockettes so of course we came but it's terrible right now. So packed. Do not recommend. We came in April and it was nice and no biggie. Every restaurant is full, ever store you'd wanna visit has a line around the corner to get in. Our youngest wanted to go to FAO Swarz but looked like over an hour wait to get in.

1/10 WNB

Hmmm not my experience at all last year in mid December, now restaurants I made reservations for. I know we went to FAO Swartz at opening time and went right in. I'll be there on the 17th. I will report back with my experience is

what did you expect?

We booked a Toy Soldier experience and didn't have to wait in line or anything.
https://faoschwarz.com/pages/vip-experiences-at-fao-schwarz

We did the "during store hours" and yeah it cost money, but it was nice having the customized tour for our son.

I flew to NYC on 12/26 last year and thought it was pretty manageable as long as you avoided 5th avenue in midtown. We were able to drop in for dinner a couple of times and change a reservation at Le Bernadin same day. I will say that if feels like the crowds have grown since Covid. I was up for work in mid December in 2019, and it was much different than what I experienced last year. I will also echo that getting out of midtown and checking out other parts of NYC (Upper East Side or DUMBO / Brooklyn Heights) can help with getting away from the crowds and make the experience much more enjoyable.

I got back from NYC this morning. My wife likes taking the kids for the Christmas stuff. It was more crowded this weekend than I've ever seen. It is what it is and what you should expect.

We were there last week. I've gone for work during the week after Thanksgiving for 3 or 4 years. This was the busiest I remember but still fun. Christmas is peak time especially when the weather is good and the on the weekend.