Disneyland is only a 45 minute drive from LA.

Also near Universal, I highly recommend the Warner Bros Studio tour. In addition to the backlot tour there is a section on how movies are made where your kids can make a greenscreen video riding on a broomstick out of Harry Potter.

The California Science Center is also good for younger kids. Not sure if the exhibit is still going on, but when we were there earlier this year they had a great exhibit about the science of Pixar movies.

I took my 9YO son there for spring break and we did Universal VIP; La Brea tar pits; a brief visit to the Santa Monica pier (very grungy), a brief stop at Venice beach - too chilly then. In & Out Burger and a fun sushi restaurant where you sit with your feet in a below ground pit.

I'll add that we visited a really cool car museum near LAX airport where you can get into each & every car in the warehouse/hangar. Surprisingly delightful for my DS.

I'll also add the reason the Universal VIP was so worth it: the Tour Leader organizes your day and you as parents are followers. You do the attractions in a certain order so you don't have to field a day's worth of requests to do this or that next or stop for funnel cakes or buy a toy. She said we needed to wait 'til the end to shop - so we did. Lunchtime is when she says it is! The Tour Leader will hold bags for you during the ride and even provided ponchos for the water ride. If Mom needs to pull off with the baby, she'll give you a meeting place to rejoin the group.

Anonymous wrote:My Dd loved Getty Museum (everything about it!) as much as we did. Gorgeous - plan on half a day there.

Disneyland is so much nicer in summer than Disneyworld as it is all the fun things and no heat and humidity (or at least bearable!) Nights are chilly even. The ages of your kids makes it difficult though as one of you will always have to be with the baby.

I love LA but if you don't need to be there - agree beach based so much nicer. We go to LA at least once a year as we tag along on my DH 2 wk work trip. Sometimes he does the heavy commuting if it is an easier agenda and we base at the one of the beach towns but fun city

I want to do Disney. DH is the one who doesn't after hearing about the drive. He thinks it may be a nightmare with a baby who doesn't like to sit in the car for too long. DH also doesn't think of LA as Orlando where you mostly do theme parks.

Anonymous wrote:LACMA - they frequently have hands-on activities for kids esp on the weekends, and I agree with the Getty Museum (not the Villa).

Will add Getty to the itinerary. DH and I went there when we were dating and I really liked it there. Would not think it would be a kid attraction but we'll check it out.

Anonymous wrote:La Brea Tar Pits might be good if your kids are into paleontology. Lots of fossils, open scientific dig sites, etc. My 5yo DS liked the modern art at LACMA, too. They're very close together, so you can park once and go to both, which is a huge bonus in LA traffic.

OP here. Kids were obsessed with all things dinosaur for years. They will love this. Thank you.

Check out the museum The Broad. Really cool modern art that little kids will like. You have to reserve a pass in advance to get in.

LACMA - they frequently have hands-on activities for kids esp on the weekends, and I agree with the Getty Museum (not the Villa).

La Brea Tar Pits might be good if your kids are into paleontology. Lots of fossils, open scientific dig sites, etc. My 5yo DS liked the modern art at LACMA, too. They're very close together, so you can park once and go to both, which is a huge bonus in LA traffic.

We ended up picking Santa Monica as our "home base" for the LA trip because it has a nice relaxed beach vibe and we found a hotel with a good pool for our kid. It was nice to go out and about on adventures, but then be able to come back and unwind a bit at the pool. Also, there are lots of kid friendly restaurants within walking distance in Santa Monica, so once we parked the car for the day, we didn't have to pull it back out. The Shore Hotel and the Fairmount are both kid-friendly with pools and are right along the ocean.

So definitely Universal Studios. We did the VIP package and it was worth EVERY FREAKING DOLLAR.

One day down at the hollywood hoopla area--there's a big open-air mall where stuff is filmed (I think its called Universal Citiwalk?) and of course the hollywood stars. Not sure my kid was necessarily into any of it in particular, but she thought the filming was cool and just all the people/business. The wax museum.

The La Brea tar pits were the most appreciated thing. That and the whole beach/pool at Santa Monica.

There is a bike shop at the base of Santa Monica pier that rents bikes, strollers, roller blades, etc. My kid was 8. We grabbed skates and skated along the boardwalk to the weirdness of Venice Beach. She enjoyed that. There's a "freakshow" on Venice Beach with two-headed turtles and a sword-swallower. Looks sketch but it's very tame and family friendly.

There are websites you can check to see if anyone is filming anything. I think summer is their slow season though....

Also, check to see if there is a baseball game while you're in town!

My Dd loved Getty Museum (everything about it!) as much as we did. Gorgeous - plan on half a day there.

Disneyland is so much nicer in summer than Disneyworld as it is all the fun things and no heat and humidity (or at least bearable!) Nights are chilly even. The ages of your kids makes it difficult though as one of you will always have to be with the baby.

I love LA but if you don't need to be there - agree beach based so much nicer. We go to LA at least once a year as we tag along on my DH 2 wk work trip. Sometimes he does the heavy commuting if it is an easier agenda and we base at the one of the beach towns but fun city

Too late to rebook to San Diego instead? I found that at the age of your kids, SD had more things they enjoyed in proximity. LA traffic makes moving around within it rather restrictive.

Otherwise, Griffith Observatory is nice.

Here are some other things:

https://la.curbed.com/maps/things-to-do-los-angeles

Anonymous wrote:What are you planning to do in Santa Monica? There's the pier and an outdoor mall. Not a ton to see. If your kids like riding bikes, your older ones might like riding down the Strand to Venice beach.

Thought we could hang out at the beach and walk along the boardwalk.

What are you planning to do in Santa Monica? There's the pier and an outdoor mall. Not a ton to see. If your kids like riding bikes, your older ones might like riding down the Strand to Venice beach.

Just booked a week to LA. I know we will do 1 day at Harry Potter at Universal and go to Santa Monica. Have to figure out what to do for our other 5 days. We have not yet booked our hotel(s) yet. We have 2 boys ages 6 and 8 and a 5 month old infant.

Can you recommend other fun attractions?

Undecided about Disneyland. Was originally planning to check it out but realized it is 2 hours away.