Following The Smurfs in Central Park with On Location Tours

My two youngest have an absolute fascination with The Smurfs. To me this is super funny because they aren’t really cartoons that have been around much on television during their life time. But in preparation for the opening of The Smurfs in theaters today, there has been quite a lot of buzz for weeks. Because the film and all the smurferific adventures happen here in the Big Apple, there’s been extra hype about the film around town. So much so that this past week we celebrate Smurf Week in NYC, with smurf-focused activities throughout all the five boroughs.

And this is because we New Yorkers are pretty proud of the fact that the beloved Smurfs’ latest story takes place in our wonderful city!

With all the excitement, the boys and I decided to partake in all the fun, so we joined On Location Tours as they guided us and a few other families through Central Park, a main protagonist in the film as well, highlighting throughout locations where scenes seen throughout the film took place.

Normally, and now that Smurf Week is over, this tour, albeit a bit longer and covering a lot more information and details, is On Location Tours Central Park TV and Movie Sites tour, and some of the content talked about in the tour may not be appropriate for young children, not to mention that it may be harder for them as it is also a walking tour that is 2 hours long.

But for the purpose of this specialized tour, I told the boys that we were on a mission to seek out the Smurfs and help them escape the grasp of the evil Gargamel! With the mission set in place, the boys were excited and ready to go. It helped greatly that Paige, an aspiring actress and our lovely tour guide, was so great with them – super friendly, incredibly sweet to all the kids on the tour, and also willing to guide us in our search for our little blue friends.

Our lovely tour guide, Paige.

And so off we went, past Shakespeare Garden to Belvedere Castle, overlooking Turtle Pond, which Gargamel takes over as his laboratory, then to the Loeb Boathouse (located on the East side of the park near 74th st) where the Smurfs meet their first human.

Gargamel caused a huge mess in this castle!

We checked out the bandshell and sat on the bench along The Mall and Literacy Walk (located in the middle of the park, runs from 66th to 72nd Streets), where Gargamel and his cat had a moment.

Ariel, Gargamel’s cat, did something on this very bench that grossed out my 6-year-old (as you can see by his face)!

We even got to check out the location of the portal that brought the Smurfs to NYC (the bridge is located near the 5th avenue and 59th street entrance to the park, near the Plaza Hotel)!

The small waterfall on the lower right-hand side is the portal where the Smurfs crossed from their world to ours.

We ended our tour at FAO Schwarz, where a major action scene from the movie takes place and where guests can pick up everything and anything Smurf.

Gargamel’s evil contraption in the film on display at FAO Shwarz.

Of course, it wasn’t as quick a tour as that, and despite it being super hot and muggy that afternoon, we got to see a lot of our favorite Central Park locations that weren’t in the film, but that are fun to check out when you are there anyway.

Like Bethesda Terrace (located off of 72nd Street in the center of Central Park) and the Conservatory Water (located on the East side of the park, near 74th St).

The boys were troopers and enjoyed each minute we explored around the park looking for the Smurfs. Sadly, we didn’t see any in the park that day, but we did get to check out the moving on opening day and loved it!

I am thrilled that I got to see my hometown displayed in such a beautiful way in a film that brings back happy childhood memories for me. To now be able to share a childhood favorite with my kids is beyond anything I can really describe and to kick it all off with such a great tour? Truly a memorable experience.

When we met up with my husband the boys couldn’t stop talking about all the great things they saw at the park (their favorite was seeing “the portal” and the castle where Gargamel was).

I invite you to check out the various tours that On Location Tours has going on. Like I said, some may not be suitable for younger kids, but they are nonetheless a lot of fun, especially with friends and visiting guests. You can read more about my review of them here.

In the mean time, I also leave you with this preview of the film The Smurfs. If you loved them when you were a kid, like I did, if you have kids of your own, and especially if you love New York City, you will really enjoy this fun film.

Thank you to our tour guide Paige (she’s so great!) and to On Location Tours for this truly magical New York City moment!

Disclosure: The Smurf Tour with On Location Tours was complimentary for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

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Tags: Events, family activities, nyc, tours
Posted in Adventures, Latest Adventure, Museums/Science Centers/Tours | 2 Comments »