when millenials become parents

October 29, 2019 6:45 AM

My 3.5 year old really wants to "see Spiderman" on a day trip to NYC next week. Where should we take him for the highest likelihood of success?

I am not above taking him to Times Square and dropping a fiver into the bucket of one of the people who dresses up in costume, if there is reliably a person who does that there. A live person dressed up like Spiderman would be best, but if we don't run into one, should we take him to Midtown Comics? Do they have a statue of Spiderman?

Please note that it does not need to be super-convincing. Basically, a live person willing to play along with an excited, happy toddler for 30 seconds would be totally fine.

posted by joyceanmachine to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (5 answers total)

times square for sure. I’m not there often enough to know if the Spider-Man folks are usually in the same spots or how many there are.
posted by bilabial at 6:49 AM on October 29, 2019

You'll probably see a live Spiderman in Times Square and the Midtown Comics site also shows a Spiderman mannequin in the interior photos.
posted by LizardBreath at 7:17 AM on October 29, 2019

Yes, there are usually multiple Spider-mans in Times Square. The better looking ones command more money. $10 for a good one; $5 for a dirty costume, unfit build, etc. I find that it breaks the spell quite a bit because of there being more than one, and them negotiating for payment in their own voices, plus hanging out with all the other characters in various stages of dress (e.g. Mickey Mouse with his head off). Plus you have to keep off the characters that you don't want to pay, like when Iron Man muscles into your photo and then you've got to come up with another tip. If you can find an event that has hired actors, that would be better, because they are much more sensitive to kids. For example, our local aquarium had a superhero day and you could line up to pose with the characters.

If your location is accurate, this exhibit has life-sized statues of the characters to pose with.
posted by xo at 7:23 AM on October 29, 2019 [4 favorites]

There's also a lifelike model at Madame Tusseaud's (also in Times Square)
posted by Mchelly at 9:15 AM on October 29, 2019

nthing xo....I've also read of too many incidents of women being groped by costumed characters in times square.
posted by brujita at 8:46 AM on October 30, 2019 [1 favorite]