Here comes the sun

I want to book the flights in two weeks time, for the 20-30th August. We are stopping over in Los angeles, Auckland And welly (staying with family here) before getting to Dunedin.

I have a four year old daughter and would like some hotel/holiday resort recommendations or fun places to visit in any of the stop overs.

We will have four days in LA (but i dont want to drive)
Four days in Auckland (would drive here!)

I want some fun before work starts so any suggestions or previous experiances welcomed,

Thanks!

Ted Logan

Go whale watching in Kaikoura !!!!

happynz

Disneyland is easy enough to arrange along with other theme parks such as Knott's Berry Farm and Universal Studios. A stroll along Venice Beach is good for people watching.
Oh yeah, since you will be in the States you are gonna have to have a burger. LA institutions like Fat Burger or Tommy's Famous Burger should give you the requisite trans-fat rush. In-n-Out burgers will do as well.

donnaf

We took our kids (9, 8 and 2) to Universal Studios and they loved it, we went back the following day as they enjoyed it so much. The hotel we stayed in provided a shuttle bus so no tranport problems.
Te Papa museum in Welly is great, specially on a rainy day - you need full day to do it all though! We've been tons of times and rarely make it past the 2nd floor.

Here comes the sun

Thanks,
Which hotel did you stay in? would you recommend it?

Here comes the sun

Cant wait! I havent been to America since i was 8 years old so im looking forward to the all you can eat diners and buckets of coke!! (the drink that is)

donnaf

I'll check with Danny but I think it was the Beverly Garlands hotel / motel.(I can't remember if it was called a hotel or something else) We liked it there, it was quite small but had a nice restaurant and pool. We had a family room for 5 which was huge and it met our needs. We were only there for 3 days and didn't have a car, they organised airport pick up and drop off for us and they also organised our trip to Universal Studio and we got a decent deal from them. There wasn't much to do around the hotel though, there were a few restaurants in walking distance and some shops. This was also 2 years ago so I don't know if it has changed much, but I said it met our needs at the time.

Ted Logan

Ain't that the truth

Marika 38

We're flying via LA too, we 're so excited aswell, I went once to LA when I was about 19, I remember the beaches along the Highway 1, that was pretty, Universal was great then, so must be 100% better now, as it was 20 years ago when i was 19!! A walk down the pavement of stars is great for making you really feel like you are in tinsel town. A definite for us is Magic Mountain theme park, loads of roller coasters. We have just booked into a hotel this evening, in Santa Monica, spent 3 hours trawling through sites and reviews, then only to be told a couple of the ones we really fancied were fully booked. So made our decision, its called the Delfina, got it through a hotel booking firm, cheaper than going direct to hotel. If you fancy something different you can stay on the Queen Mary at Long Beach, very very reasonable rates, found that through ebookers site. Hope this gives you some ideas.

donnaf

We went yesterday and started on the 4th floor - I saw things that we've never seen before! We still had to go to the earthquake house though for the zillionth time - and the shop!
Are you at "work"? see you Sunday