Does this bumper car experience look fun to you? It did to me, so we went so we could share the Bryant Park bumper cars with kids experience with you.
The bumper car ride is 10 minutes, which sounds short, but we did not feel like it was too short, if that makes sense. We purchased tickets ahead for a one-hour window (or 45-min window). You show up in that timeframe and go in a separate line than the “stand by” people. It’s first come first served in your window. Hint: if you go when it is 10 degrees outside, like us, the line is pretty short. You have to walk out onto the ice (you can hold the rail) which is a bit scary when wearing sneakers.
You’ll awkwardly slide into the seat and strap in. There are two controls – one to go backwards and forwards, and one to spin. You’ll pick it up after a bit, but also you’re on ice so it’s not precise. They will stop the bumper cars when someone hits the padded separators for the ice rink, and then move the car off and adjust the barrier. That happened several times to us and you can’t always control it, because if you’re close to the barrier and someone hits you, oh well. We had fun zooming around and bashing into everyone, and also spinning in circles (not too much of that for me – I got dizzy).
You do not feel the cold when you’re in there. Which is awesome. You’re too busy having fun.
We brought our backpacks into the car with us – they didn’t seem to care that we had stuff. But also be careful that things are tucked in. Someone in our group lost their water bottle on the ice because it fell out (the attendant returned it). Someone else lost their hat (again, returned) and I had to be careful about my phone as I took a few pics when we were stopped and didn’t want it to fall overboard and break.
Bryant Park bumper cars with kids details
Kids must be at least 7 and riders must be 42 inches tall and under 300 pounds (I didn’t see a scale there). You cannot have kids riding on your lap. One person per bumper car. It costs more Friday-Sunday – $27.04 per person with taxes and fees. There are no discounts for kids (or seniors, for that matter). The weekday prices are $22.88 per person with fees. I was not able to find any promo codes online. You can also do a group booking, though for this year, there are currently only 3 days available (next week). The pricing is the same per person, so I’m not sure what the advantage is. It still says you have to go in your time window and then wait.
Bumper cars are available through February 28, 2026.
Bryant Park’s Winter Village features skating through March 1, 2026. The skating is actually free, so bring your own skates or rent theirs. You can get bumper car tickets by clicking on the “bumper cars on ice” tab in the above link. I’m not sure if the booking link will change in the future, so I don’t want to include the direct link, but know that it is not a Bryant Park link (it’s an outside booking service – currently book.peek).
While the holiday shops you visitfrom Thanksgiving to early January are now gone, there are some food stalls facing the rink and close to the fountain. So you can still get food and drinks from those. And bonus – when it’s 10 degrees, lines are super short.
The Lodge is open until March 1, 2026 as well. Inside the lodge you’ll find food and cocktails, plus a big screen TV. It’s open-air and open to the public, so you don’t have to partake in winter ice activities to go in and enjoy it.