From Frommer's.com
La-La Land Loves Kids, Offering Free Admission to Attractions
Destinations: Los Angeles
Provider: Expedia
Activities: Beach, Road Trip, Theme Park
Dates: Ongoing
Author: Sascha Segan
June 16, 2003 -- Los Angeles is extending its arms to small stargazers this summer, offering free admission to a slew of local attractions -- in fact, to most of the area's major draws except Disneyland. Combine this package with some of the many cheap airfare deals to LA or with Amtrak's perpetual kids-ride-free promotion (
www.amtrak.com), and you'll have a great, inexpensive West Coast vacation.
The "Kids Free LA" package delivers at least one free child's ticket with the purchase of each adult ticket at 19 LA-area destinations (the official announcement says 25, but it includes some places that are always free to kids.) The exact details -- and the definition of "kid" -- varies from place to place. At most attractions, it means a child under the age of 12, but some places may include 12-year-olds or exclude 11-year-olds -- check the individual attractions' Web sites for details.
There's a catch, of course. You have to book your hotel through Expedia (
www.expedia.com). Fortunately, Expedia usually has pretty good rates, although you can often beat their prices by using opaque-hotel sites such as
Hotwire and
Priceline.
The list of attractions includes some that are sure to be winners with the Generation Z crowd and a few that won't appeal to many tykes, like the Pasadena Museum of California Art. Frommer's especially recommends the Natural History Museum, the California Science Center, the zoo, and Six Flags Magic Mountain. Li'l cowpokes might like the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, and aquariums are always big with the littles. Although you only save $2-4 on
tickets to most of the attractions, free
tickets to Universal Studios are a $35 value,
tickets to Six Flags Magic Mountain are a $27 value, and Kodak Theatre tours for kids are usually $10.
For independent
reviews of many of these attractions, see our independent
reviews in our online coverage of the LA area by clicking here.
"Kids Free LA" promotion includes all of the following attractions:
Aquarium of the Pacific
Autry Museum of Western Heritage
California Science Center Titanic exhibit and IMAX
Hollywood Entertainment Museum
Japanese American National Museum
Kodak Theatre
LA County Museum of Art
LA Maritime Museum
LA Philharmonic/Hollywood Bowl
LA Zoo
Museum of Latin American Art
Museum of Tolerance
Natural History Museum of LA County
George C. Page Museum (La Brea Tar Pits)
Pasadena Museum of California Art
Petersen Automotive Museum
Queen Mary
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Universal Studios Hollywood
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Not a bad deal when you tie it in with a DL vacation