Beaches and Hollywood Blvd. in November?

[TikiTikiFan]

Sometimes in our trips we do a super touristy tour on our day off from Disneyland- the company we use offers a LA and Beach Tour we've never done before.

We'll be there the week of Thanksgiving so here's my questions:

• Are the beaches too cold to enjoy in November? We weren't thinking about swimming but the tour stops at Santa Monica and Venice Beach so we'd explore the piers/etc. Past few Decembers we came to CA it was pretty cold so not sure how November would fare. We wouldn't enjoy it if it's freezing.. we've been to the beach a few times before so not like we haven't seen it.
• Hollywood Blvd/Farmers Market/Rodeo Drive- do they decorate for Christmas? Are there some cool holiday displays or other things to see?
• Rodeo Drive/Beverly Hills- is it worth seeing? I'm not really interested in over priced shops so I have a feeling that won't be a thrill for us.
• Grove/Farmers Market- is that worth seeing? Anything besides just shopping and food?

Basically I'm trying to decide between the tour that includes Hollywood Blvd, Rodeo Drive, Farmers Market and beaches OR the tour that just gives us a day on Hollywood Blvd.

My son has a list of stores on Hollywood Blvd he'd like to see so we could easily do a day there. Crime wise, does it feel fairly safe there to spend a day walking around? We're not small town people (I grew up in Denver) so been in large cities with plenty of homeless, crime, etc. so not naive to it but also like to be cautious when traveling.

Thoughts? Thank you!

 

[DLgal]

So, I just spent a weekend being an "LA tourist" with an out of town friend. My takeaway is that I wouldn't waste money on these kinds of tours you mention. Instead, I HIGHLY recommend the Warner Brothers Studio Tour followed by an afternoon of self exploration around Hollywood. The tour was SO good and relatively inexpensive (around $60 per person). You can find info about it online. I'd just rent a car for the day.

Driving around, you can park at Hollywood and Highland mall and walk the length of Hollywood Blvd. Be aware, the sidewalk is full of homeless people either sleeping or panhandling. Its excessive, to be honest. The eastern half of the street is a bit sketchy. We walked about 3 blocks down from the TCL Theater and turned around because we didn't feel safe (and my friend lives in Chicago). I am not sure what stores your son wants to check out, but there is a Funko warehouse that is cool.

Driving through Beverly Hills/Rodeo Dr is cool. You can at least see the shops and they will have some decorations, although nothing extravagant. You can also drive up to see the Hollywood sign up close (PM me for an address) and you can drive Mulholland Drive if you're up for some thrills. Lots of big name celebs have houses up there and the views around some corners are breathtaking.

The Grove is just an outdoor mall, but the Farmers Market is worth a trip. There is a lot of good food there.

I'd personally skip the beaches in November. It will likely be cold and windy.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

So, I just spent a weekend being an "LA tourist" with an out of town friend. My takeaway is that I wouldn't waste money on these kinds of tours you mention. Instead, I HIGHLY recommend the Warner Brothers Studio Tour followed by an afternoon of self exploration around Hollywood. The tour was SO good and relatively inexpensive (around $60 per person). You can find info about it online. I'd just rent a car for the day.

Driving around, you can park at Hollywood and Highland mall and walk the length of Hollywood Blvd. Be aware, the sidewalk is full of homeless people either sleeping or panhandling. Its excessive, to be honest. The eastern half of the street is a bit sketchy. We walked about 3 blocks down from the TCL Theater and turned around because we didn't feel safe (and my friend lives in Chicago). I am not sure what stores your son wants to check out, but there is a Funko warehouse that is cool.

Driving through Beverly Hills/Rodeo Dr is cool. You can at least see the shops and they will have some decorations, although nothing extravagant. You can also drive up to see the Hollywood sign up close (PM me for an address) and you can drive Mulholland Drive if you're up for some thrills. Lots of big name celebs have houses up there and the views around some corners are breathtaking.

The Grove is just an outdoor mall, but the Farmers Market is worth a trip. There is a lot of good food there.

I'd personally skip the beaches in November. It will likely be cold and windy.

I hate driving (I know, it's weird) so I always avoid it all costs on vacations which I know does limit our scope. I'll just get so stressed out especially not knowing where I'm going it won't be worth it to me.

Warner Bros does sound like a great idea though! I'll have to look into that, I forgot it was there. My son is definitely interested in the Funko store... he also wants to go to this store that apparently sells some BTS (kpop) merchandise or something haha. Bummer about the sketchy issues, is it crowded enough where you don't feel isolated while shopping there at least?

Also toyed with the idea of just saying screw it and making it a Universal day but they usually don't start their holiday stuff until after Thanksgiving. And that's not really a 'rest' day.... Decisions, decisions.

 

[DLgal]

I hate driving (I know, it's weird) so I always avoid it all costs on vacations which I know does limit our scope. I'll just get so stressed out especially not knowing where I'm going it won't be worth it to me.

Warner Bros does sound like a great idea though! I'll have to look into that, I forgot it was there. My son is definitely interested in the Funko store... he also wants to go to this store that apparently sells some BTS (kpop) merchandise or something haha. Bummer about the sketchy issues, is it crowded enough where you don't feel isolated while shopping there at least?

Also toyed with the idea of just saying screw it and making it a Universal day but they usually don't start their holiday stuff until after Thanksgiving. And that's not really a 'rest' day.... Decisions, decisions.

It is only really crowded in front of the theater. It can be pretty isolated elsewhere along the boulevard. If you are not FULLY comfortable around homeless people, drug addicts and aggressive people trying to get you to come into their shop/selling you a tour, don't go to Hollywood Blvd. You will not enjoy it. Especially don't go at night. Also, you might get a Marijuana contact high walking around so be aware of that.

Is there no one else in your party who can drive? It's not hard to get around if you have a smartphone with Google maps. It's almost a straight shot from DLR area up I-5 and over to 101.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Oof, that doesn't sound appealing what so ever. Pretty disappointing. It would be up to me to drive but I could probably suck it up. Thanks for all the info- glad I posted here or that would have been an unhappy surprise. We deal with enough for that in our downtown area and I'm pretty burnt out on it as is.

I'm starting to lean more towards Universal but six days straight of theme parks with no break is pretty intense. But rest is for the weak right? Universal at the holidays is pretty, especially in the Harry Potter area.

 

[DLgal]

Oof, that doesn't sound appealing what so ever. Pretty disappointing. It would be up to me to drive but I could probably suck it up. Thanks for all the info- glad I posted here or that would have been an unhappy surprise. We deal with enough for that in our downtown area and I'm pretty burnt out on it as is.

I'm starting to lean more towards Universal but six days straight of theme parks with no break is pretty intense. But rest is for the weak right? Universal at the holidays is pretty, especially in the Harry Potter area.

My friend and I also did one day at Universal. It was fun but it might be overkill. Really look into the WB Studio tour. I honestly did it for my friend and didn't expect to love it and it exceeded my expectations greatly. We were there for 4 hours. There is a lot of Harry Potter stuff there and DC Comics exhibits that I'm sure your son would love. The guided portion of the tour is really interesting as well and you learn so much about the process of making movies and TV.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

My friend and I also did one day at Universal. It was fun but it might be overkill. Really look into the WB Studio tour. I honestly did it for my friend and didn't expect to love it and it exceeded my expectations greatly. We were there for 4 hours. There is a lot of Harry Potter stuff there and DC Comics exhibits that I'm sure your son would love. The guided portion of the tour is really interesting as well and you learn so much about the process of making movies and TV.

I will definitely look into it! We've done Universal plenty of times so might be fun to do something new but the kid loves Universal.

I remember a few years ago Warner Bros were doing a Gilmore Girls tour around the holidays- I would die of happiness and nostalgia if they did that again.

 

[DLgal]

I will definitely look into it! We've done Universal plenty of times so might be fun to do something new but the kid loves Universal.

I remember a few years ago Warner Bros were doing a Gilmore Girls tour around the holidays- I would die of happiness and nostalgia if they did that again.

They ARE doing it again! My friend was so bummed because she LOVES Christmas but we were like 3 months too early. It's not a separate tour, they just "dress up" the Stars Hollow set for Christmas. Spoiler alert: the "town" is part of the regular tour and you get to take a photo at the gazebo...

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Hollywood Blvd was pretty sketchy, just be aware. I did enjoy the tour I took inside the Chinese Theater, it was inexpensive and informative. The Farmers Market has some good places to eat, and the ice cream stand there is tasty. I never explored the Grove end of it. The La Brea Tar Pits are near the Farmers Market and they are cool to see, the pits are free to walk around and see and there is a museum (for a fee). The museum was more interesting than I thought it would be and well worth the $$.

 

[oakleycat]

Hollywood Blvd is definitely sketchy right now. My kids love the Funko store and the various pop up stores, so we have been a couple times lately and had a great time, going to a museum or the theater or just a movie at El Capitan and going to one of the great restaurants. But be aware that you will park in parking garage that smells like urine, pass homeless people begging everywhere and even openly using hard drugs, and there will be clouds of pot smoke everywhere. I have never been afraid (they have a good police presence in the tourist areas) but I won't go out there without my husband at night (he works there). WB is definitely the best studio tour, and Universal is always a hit with my boys (we had passes for years). You can take the Metro (subway) from Universal to Hollywood Blvd but it is super sketchy and I would recommend Uber if you choose to not drive.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

They ARE doing it again! My friend was so bummed because she LOVES Christmas but we were like 3 months too early. It's not a separate tour, they just "dress up" the Stars Hollow set for Christmas. Spoiler alert: the "town" is part of the regular tour and you get to take a photo at the gazebo...

Ahhhhhh it starts Dec. 21st and we'll be there Thanksgiving week. I would LOVE to see that, I'm a huge Gilmore Girls fan haha. Oh welllll.

Yeah I think it's a definite no on Hollywood Blvd, glad I came here to ask! As always this board gives you the best info.

We love Universal, we're big Harry Potter fans, and it's so pretty at xmas. But we do it all the time so was trying to think of something different. Warner Bros sounds like a good option to consider though.

Does anyone know when Universal starts decorating for Christmas? I know it officially starts the day after Thanksgiving but if went the Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving I would imagine they'd have decorations up by then.

 

[DLgal]

Ahhhhhh it starts Dec. 21st and we'll be there Thanksgiving week. I would LOVE to see that, I'm a huge Gilmore Girls fan haha. Oh welllll.

Yeah I think it's a definite no on Hollywood Blvd, glad I came here to ask! As always this board gives you the best info.

We love Universal, we're big Harry Potter fans, and it's so pretty at xmas. But we do it all the time so was trying to think of something different. Warner Bros sounds like a good option to consider though.

Does anyone know when Universal starts decorating for Christmas? I know it officially starts the day after Thanksgiving but if went the Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving I would imagine they'd have decorations up by then.

I don't know about the decorations, but there is a LOT of Harry Potter presence on the WB Studio Tour, including some really fun photo ops and special effects personalized souvenir video opportunities (you can get a video of yourself flying on a broomstick). There is even a sorting hat that will tell you what house you belong in.