If you are planning a visit to New York City with kids and you have a girl under the age of 12 with you, you might want to add a stop at the American Girl Store to your places to see list. If your daughter has or has always wanted an American Girl Doll, this will be the highlight of her vacation.

There are only a few of these stores throughout the country, so if you have the opportunity to check one out, you definitely should. Even if you don’t plan on buying a doll, your daughter will be sure to enjoy it. The store in New York City is pretty close to Central Park so if your entire family is not interested in seeing this doll heaven, then you can plan on sending them off to the park for an afternoon while you and your daughter check out the store.

Many people wonder how much time they should plan for spending in the store. This depends on the kind of shopper your daughter is. If she loves to browse and see everything, I would say to give it a couple of hours on the schedule. If you think she would also want to eat at the restaurant and take her doll to the hair salon, you should allow for more time. If she isn’t a shopper, but she just wants to see what it is like, then I would allow about an hour to an hour and a half.

If you don’t choose to eat at their restaurant in the store, you might want to go to Ellen’s Stardust Diner in Times Square for lunch or dinner. The waitresses and waiters are wanna-be Broadway stars and they sing while waiting on tables. When we went there after buying our American Girl Doll there were some fabulous girls and guys singing. Our girls really loved this part of the trip too!

If you can’t make it to the New York American Girl Place, here is a list of all of the American Girl Stores throughout the country.