Auckland airport in transit

[5ofus]

I have no idea what we need to do in Auckland. We are flying from Sydney to LAX with a three hour stopover in AKL. We are changing planes so obviously we will need to deplane and reboard, but do we have to do anything with our bags? Immigration? Customs? Are we able to get to Maccas or is that outside the security area? From what I understand Maccas has a playground attached and we'd love for the boys to burn off some energy there before the big flight.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

If it's the McDonalds I'm thinking of then the playground is tiny and it's outside customs in the upstairs public area of the airport.

I'm not sure what your process will be and whether or not you'll be allowed to leave the airport, but there is a great pirate themed mini-golf place about a 3min taxi ride from the airport. Next door to the mini-golf is a place called Butterfly Creek with lots of animals, including of course butterflies. A 3 hour stopover might be cutting it a bit short, but just so you know, you could very easily fill an hour + in either if you had the time. I think the Treasure Island mini golf is open quite late during the summer months. There is also a shopping centre next to the airport.

Within the airport there is the usual - shops and restaurants. But I've never noticed anything particularly child-orientated other than sitting at the window watching the planes.

 

[Jade+3]

When you get off the plane, they will direct you to another screening point where you will enter the international departures area. You won't see your checked baggage.

There is a Hungry Jacks / Burger King in the terminal. My kids were happy enough running around, probably annoying everyone else, and watching the planes.

The airport stores took AUD (well Burger King and the coffee shop next to it did) so no need to get NZ currency.

 

[Kristin5]

I have no idea what we need to do in Auckland. We are flying from Sydney to LAX with a three hour stopover in AKL. We are changing planes so obviously we will need to deplane and reboard, but do we have to do anything with our bags? Immigration? Customs? Are we able to get to Maccas or is that outside the security area? From what I understand Maccas has a playground attached and we'd love for the boys to burn off some energy there before the big flight.

Don't think you do anything with your bags, they get checked straight through.

And 3 hours is a fairly short time considering it will probably take half an hour to exit the plane, then you need to board again half an hour before take off, leaving only 2 hours. We took the opportunity to take DS to Burger King for his dinner (knowing he wouldn't eat airplane food, *** he's extremely fussy, and also on a strict low fibre diet so there's a lot of foods he can't eat) and he made some friends with some other kids and they watched his portable DVD player together. There's a huge world map there which DS found entertaining, and I did some shopping of course

Maccas wasn't in the transit area, so I think you'll have to make do with Burger King.

 

[5ofus]

Thanks guys! Ohhhh Kristin, that world map sounds like something DS1 would really enjoy. Do you remember where it is or what it's near?

 

[Jade+3]

There were some big chairs in the downstairs area the kids liked, and also a wall/ramp thing that all the kids (not just mine for a change) were climbing on.

 

[Kristin5]

Thanks guys! Ohhhh Kristin, that world map sounds like something DS1 would really enjoy. Do you remember where it is or what it's near?

You can't miss it (unless they have removed it! Lol)

It's on the wall in the transit area, just before you head back to the boarding area (but still in the waiting/seating area). You can see it from Burger King, from memory (it is after all the shops, but closest to actual boarding, if you know what I mean? Probably not - I barely make sense to myself!).

 

[Kristin5]

There were some big chairs in the downstairs area the kids liked, and also a wall/ramp thing that all the kids (not just mine for a change) were climbing on.

Are they those round, spherical/dome chairs? My son liked them too (so did DH!)

We had a 5.5 hour stopover on the way over, so had a looooong time to explore! (And 8 hours on the way home, but we did clear customs then and went outside, and visited the Butterfly Creek farm that WanderlustNZ mentioned).

 

[Jade+3]

Are they those round, spherical/dome chairs? My son liked them too (so did DH!)

We had a 5.5 hour stopover on the way over, so had a looooong time to explore! (And 8 hours on the way home, but we did clear customs then and went outside, and visited the Butterfly Creek farm that WanderlustNZ mentioned).

Yes, those chairs. Once we got one they did not want to give it up.

 

[Andona]

Our experience was that the flight out of Sydney was so delayed that we had very little time at Auckland. The walk from one end of the terminal to go through security and then all the way back again to the gate was plenty of exercise.

Andona

 

[5ofus]

Thank you so much one and all! I like to be super organized when traveling (as opposed to the rest of my life), especially with the munchkins in tow. Having never been through Auckland before, I felt completely lost! Feeling better now . I'm sure the kids will find something to amuse themselves - if we have the time. It's all starting to feel real now!

 

[australiankaren]

Our experience was that the flight out of Sydney was so delayed that we had very little time at Auckland. The walk from one end of the terminal to go through security and then all the way back again to the gate was plenty of exercise.

Andona

the auckland sprint.....good for the heart...bad for the blood pressure

 

[MsMinne]

Our experience was that the flight out of Sydney was so delayed that we had very little time at Auckland. The walk from one end of the terminal to go through security and then all the way back again to the gate was plenty of exercise.

Andona

How long did it take? We have 1 hour stopover. I was concerned that this wouldn't be enough time and even rang AirNZ beforehand to make sure it was right. They assured me that if it wasn't enough they wouldn't have had the flights on offer.