FAO Schwarz

A couple weeks ago we headed into Manhattan to visit FAO Schwarz. We were on a mission to find a little something for our nephew and three nieces in Idaho. who we would be seeing soon. Our trip would fall in between their birthdays, and we wanted to get them each a present. Our one and only previous visit to the toy store happened three years ago, and we decided it was time for another one.

I loved these cute tiled penguins at the 5AV/59th St subway stop. I always love to see the different designs in each station. 

We found these tiled horses in the station on our way home. I'm sure we've seen these before, but it's been so long that they seem new.

As always, walking out of the subway into Manhattan takes my breath away a little (still after four years). It's just an impressive city. FAO Schwarz is located in the GM Building (far left in the picture below), just across the street from the Plaza Hotel, Bergdorf Goodman, and the lower east corner of Central Park. It's a busy section of the city with tourists, horse pulled carriages, rickshaws, shoppers, food carts. and regular New Yorkers. We felt both like tourists and New Yorkers if that is possible-- it's a unique experience to still feel the awe of the city but also be familiar with it, and slightly grumpy with the other tourists stopping to take pictures, getting in your way, and walking SO slow. I guess you could say we are hybrid New Yorkers -- although we've been here for awhile, we are still transplants.

After wading through the traffic and weaving around the slowpokes, we found ourselves at the front doors. I made the mistake of grabbing one of the doors and holding it open for some people coming out...I quickly turned into a doorman. After a few minutes I realized what was happening and let go of the door, dodged my way through the exiting stream of bodies, and plunged inside

FAO Schwarz is a magical place. From the moment you step inside you feel like you're in a wonderland, and childhood feelings of Christmas excitement start to bubble up -- even though you're 31 years old and its been over two decades since you've believed in Santa. The front section of the ground floor is filled with shelves and shelves of stuffed animals in every imaginable kind and size. I would love to bring my animal-loving niece Kaylee here, she would be in heaven.

We headed to the escalator first and rode up to the second floor, while passing by life-sized versions of stuffed wolves, teddy bears, panda bears, and dogs. After wandering through the barbie, action figure, game, and dress up sections, we came upon the legos. Brian was quite excited to find this life-sized Batman figure. 

Brian took my picture with the lego figures Wild Style and Emmett so I could send it to my nephew Carson, a big fan of the movie.

We stopped to watch the kids dancing on the giant piano for a moment. I have been telling my nephew about this toy store and its giant piano, so I had to get a picture for him. 

We rode down to the ground floor, where we wandered back through the candy section. They have so much candy there that the air smelled of sugar. We found our mouths watering more than once, but were good and didn't get anything.

Some items that caught our eye, were the presidential Pez dispensers. We've been on the lookout for anything Lincoln for Layne and Kris, so we had to snap a picture.

Just below the presidents we found this giant Wolverine Pez, and we both burst out laughing at the same time. That's a pretty ridiculous and intense face for a Pez dispenser.

I love the build-a-Muppet station they have a FAO Schwarz. Too bad we don't have kids, because I would totally take them here. Brian and I have been on a Muppet phase lately and have been watching all the movies -- well, the newer ones and the oldest ones. Hilarious! One of Brian's favorite characters is Sam the Eagle, so he was delighted to find this photo hanging on the wall. "You're all weirdos" has become a frequently spoken quote in our home.

If you keep walking back, past the candy and the Muppets, you will find an escalator that takes you down a floor to all the baby stuff. Since one of our nieces just turned one, and the other is only two months, we headed down to take a look. Hanging on the wall above the escalator, is this clock face. It was creepy and cute at the same time if that is possible. It used to hang on a clock tower inside the store's main entrance from 1986 to 2004.

The clock's eye's, mouth, and hands move and it plays a song -- all of which adds to it's creepiness. I took a video so you could get the full effect.

In the end, we didn't get anything. It was all a bit out of our price range. However, it's a fun store and worth a stop if you are ever in New York -- whether you have kids or not!