This is a great place to see a lovely collection of historic airplanes. One of the members of the staff is very friendly and eager to explain the airplanes and their history. There are some other buildings on the historic grounds of Auckland where you can see old church and school as well as early pilgrim’s houses.

Took my 13 year daughter to MOTAT - she'd never been. We had such a good time, the lady at the front desk advised that we'd need a couple of hours to visit both sites, but we spent half a day just at one! Highly recommend to anyone interested in history, technology and/or how society has changed. Really interactive and interesting experience for kids too, my easily-distracted daughter was highly engaged throughout. We also visited the cafe which had a carefully thought-out selection at food at very reasonable prices. We'll be back for another visit soon!

There were longg queue awaiting an excited event cleared by 8.30 pm and the crowd was properly managed to start event for the X mas Light show. Awesome lighting gave much excitement and gaiety for variety events welcoming the lively musicians in full swing. Decorations were perfect giving nostalgia of various events of good memories especially to kids. Carol singing attracted many joining merry making mood. Eatables of variety tasty items were available although big queues. Jovial bus trip viewing the areas were exciting especially for kids. Selfies and photos were in full swing for celebrations and memories for for a merry X mas and Happy New Year.

We parked on Great North Road by Western Springs and walked to MOTAT from there. We got tickets there. The tickets also included the tram ride which leads to the aviation hall down the road. We started in the main area. There were quite a few different buildings with different displays. We went numerically. Most of the building had displays of items but also things that you can touch and play with. There were a few areas where you can play games or talk to each other on a phone. There was also a discovery area which was fun to play with. There was a children's play area nearby too. There was also a "truck" ride inside which did a small tour of the inside area. After looking around the main area, we caught the tram and ended up at the aviation hall. The hall was quite amazing with the very large planes inside the hangar. There was plenty of information as well as a short movie about NZ aviation history. The hanger was very nice to stroll around and there was a helicopter that you could play inside. The souvenir shop here also has different items from the main area. There is a carpark on this end but I think it was paid. We caught the train back to the main MOTAT area to get back to the car.

I had never been and didn't really know what to expect. I thought for the price it was going to be lackluster, but I was completely wrong. I was just as enthralled in the exhibits as my kids were (9-6 y/o), and we could have spent the whole day there if we had the time. The tram running between locations was really helpful as well. The cafes were closed when we were there but you're allowed to bring your own food and there's comfortable places to eat. I will definitely take the kids again when new exhibits are open.