I have visitted FAO Schwarz in New York several times now during some shopping trips to the city. It is located at 767 5th Avenue at 58th Street and is close to Central Park making it quite easy to locate. The first time I visited this store I was very impressed and amazed by the variety of toys available. There were a lot of toys aimed at the wealthy and whilst I could never afford these kinds of toys they were still great to look at. When you first enter you can't help but notice the life size stuffed cuddly animals. Whilst my kids loved soft toys, I think I would have to draw the line at having a life size giraffe or elephant in their bedroom, but if you ...  Read the complete review

I got really excited about visiting the FAO Schwarz in New York as it features in one of my all time favourite films - Big. I really wanted to have a go on the huge piano that Tom Hanks plays chopsticks on. However when I saw the piano I was a little dissapointed! It wasn't like the one in the film and it was really difficult to get on to have ago. They do daily displays where they dance which is quite fun to watch though! Anyway, once I'd got over my dissapointment at not being able to go on the giant keyboard we were able to have a mooch around the rest of the store. It's like no other toy store I've ever been in. This isn't really the ...  Read the complete review

A few weeks ago, during my visit to New York City, I had a look in FAO Schwartz …twice! I loved it, there are only three floors, but each floor is huge, and packed. There are free demonstrations; however the popular illusion that they let you try whatever you want is false. They do however allow you to try out the latest Playstation, Dreamcast, and N64 games ,for free. When I went, they had one of those scooters on the bottom floor for people to try out. My big buy was one of those indoor Quazar things. I got it for $50, and it’s really fun! However, my favourite thing about the store, even better than the console demos was that half of the top floor is ...  Read the complete review

FAO Schwarz is advertised as being the world's greatest toystore. Personally I'd rate Hamleys of London higher, but it was nonetheless a great visit for my children. The unique selling point, according to the literature we read, was the store rule that "any kid can play with any toy." This was not obvious in the shop - although nobody appeared to be stopping anyone from doing what they wanted, it would have felt quite uncomfortable to start unwrapping a boxed toy and asking for batteries! But there were plenty of working demos. All the toys you could think of were there, and there is also a large candy department in the middle of the ...  Read the complete review

No visit to Manhattan is complete without a visit to FAO Schwarz, especially if you have kids... it was top of my kids list-of-things-to-do in the Big Apple, and we went there at least 4 times during our stay. FAO Schwarz is the toyshop to beat all toy shops....the *mother* of all toy shops, no toy shop will ever seem quite the same after coming here! If Barbie is your thing, then there's a whole *floor* nearly, devoted only to the pink and glittery......if soft toys are what you want to cuddle, then the ground floor will not be easy to pass through without stopping to lift the little (and the not so little) creatures off the shelves for a quick hug....you ...  Read the complete review