Day/Night out with my 18-yr old nephew

November 16, 2017 6:15 AM

My husband and I want to take my 18-year old nephew out for his birthday and I'm stumped on what to do.

He's turning 18 and we live outside of NYC. We do spend some time together, but it's every few months and I haven't been able to find any good windows into what would be an extra fun thing to do with him. He's super into hockey and other sports, but he's unimpressed with going to a game that's not one of his teams, which he already goes to all of the time and for which tickets are expensive.
The last time we hung out we went to a movie and dinner, which was fun - but I'd really like to do something special. He's not really into geeky stuff or music. My best thought at this point is maybe finding an 18 & up comedy club?

posted by moogs to Human Relations (14 answers total)

My 19 year old nephew in NYC loved one of the Escape the Locked Room activities. I don't know if this was the specific one, but it was a locked room escape game in NYC -- and he had a blast on a special day.
On the other hand, my 17 year old would absolutely hate doing this and would find it extremely stressful, so make sure you check first to see if it sounds fun for him!
posted by flourpot at 6:27 AM on November 16, 2017 [3 favorites]

I would just ask him. "Hey, we'd like to have a fun time with you, so what would you like to do when we get together?"
posted by xingcat at 6:39 AM on November 16, 2017 [10 favorites]

If he likes Harry potter there's an off Broadway play about the hufflepuffs.
posted by brujita at 6:41 AM on November 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Upright Citizens Brigade is all-ages and was one of my go-to things when I was looking for under-21-friendly nighttime activities. Some comedy clubs are 21+ (and some are for some shows only) - I believe Gotham is, for example.

Escape rooms and off-broadway shows are also both fun. There are a lot of ways to get discounts to the latter so it doesn't need to be any more expensive than dinner and a movie. Many of them experiment with format more than traditional broadway plays - for instance, I loved Drunk Shakespeare but unfortunately that's 21+1.

Other ideas - would he enjoy some sort of class? Food-related or handywork-related (I personally really want to take basic woodworking)?

If he doesn't already know the city well, walking food tours can be a lot of fun.
posted by mosst at 7:22 AM on November 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Also archery tag looks like an amazingly fun thing if that's up y'alls alley.
posted by mosst at 7:24 AM on November 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

Also consider all the other things that indoor extreme sports offers. You can do a lot of them (like rock climbing) elsewhere as well but it might help with brainstorming.

Other ideas: ping-pong place like Spin, pinball at Modern Pinball. I'll stop now!
posted by mosst at 7:26 AM on November 16, 2017

There is a VR arcade on 34th street called VR world - haven't been but walking past it looks kind of cool. Modern pinball is set up in a similar way - you pay by time not by games played.

Bonus for VR world is the almost adjacent Xian famous foods for northern chines deliciousness or the easy access to Koreatown if you wanted to do that.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:41 AM on November 16, 2017

Bowling, arcade, gun range, archery range, laser tag, horseback riding, fencing lessons, and paint your own art are all things we have done with our nieces and nephews aged 16-19.
posted by dpx.mfx at 7:50 AM on November 16, 2017

A very well reviewed VR experience based on Ghostbusters is at Madame Tussauds. Here is a recent reddit post on it. It includes full access to Tussauds and the Marvel 4D Cinema .
posted by Sophont at 8:17 AM on November 16, 2017

Maybe take him out to a ridiculously memorably good dinner, whether high end or Little Italy family style. The kind that both reads as "this is what adults do" and also is something an 18yo might not do for theirself.
posted by zippy at 8:36 AM on November 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

iFLY is an indoor skydiving place and one opened near me recently. It is on our list to do with my college age kids when they are home over break. It seems to appeal to a lot of ages and everyone I have talked to had a great time doing it. Combine that with a dinner or lunch .
posted by maxg94 at 10:18 AM on November 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

Are you near the K1 Speed in Poughkeepsie?

Indoor electric go-karting is really fun, and at 18 you can drive the cars at full speed (they put electronic limiters on the cars for juniors)
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:18 AM on November 16, 2017

Has he been to the Statue of Liberty?

Coney Island.
posted by at at 11:30 AM on November 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Maybe give him some choices? At that age I would have been really grateful for the offer but wouldn't want to ask for something too expensive/extravagant/etc.
posted by onecircleaday at 3:06 PM on November 16, 2017