Going to Hollywood, California in 5 days....any tips?

[SandraC]

Hi All ~ We will be going to Hollywood, California for dd15's WISH trip in 5 days, any tips and advice? We'd love to hear about outlet malls, restaurants and things not to miss. These are things on our TO DO list so far:

Disneyland
Universal
Beach
Beverly Hills
Rodeo Drive
Hollywood Trolley Tour
La Brea Tar Pits
Walk of Fame
Hollywood Sign

 

[LSmith]

Here's a few things that we learned:

We've been to DisneyWorld many, many, many times. Disneyland is very small comparatively. As I said in another post recently, we did 3 days but you could very well do it in two. Just my opinion.

A good place to take a picture of the Hollywood sign is at the Hollywood and Highlands Center which is a mall. On the second floor there is a sort of bridge or walkway. If you stand there you can get a great picture of the kids with the sign as a backdrop.

The mall is very close to the Walk of Fame in front of the Kodak Theatre. The street is Hollywood Boulevard. This area reminds me of Yonge and Dundas (Downtown Toronto). A bit seedy as there are lots of “characters” dressed up like Hollywood stars that you can get your picture taken with for a price. Entrepreneurs if you will. They will come right up to you or your kids and put their arm around you to get you to take a picture.

The beach that we went to was Huntington Beach. It was fine but I really wanted to go to Malibu Beach. Most of the entrances going into Malibu Beach are privately owned (although the beach itself is not private from what I understand). You should research ahead of time where you can enter without being accosted by security guards.

Beverly Hills was fun to drive around. It’s too big to walk around.

We didn’t take a tour of the stars homes. Instead my dh thought he’d just buy a $5.00 map of the star’s homes and we drove around ourselves. I do not recommend this as the area is too big and the maps are not up to date. It was a pain. Take the tour but don’t pay full price. There are people selling tickets outside of the Kodak Centre for half price. Just wait until a tour is almost ready to start. It is not a cheap tour. Also, most of the stars homes are gated and have so much foliage in on the high gates that you’d be lucky to see a roof.

Your best bet if your kids want to see a star would be on Rodeo Drive. Park somewhere and then walk along the shops. It’s not that big of an area.

Finally, traffic around Los Angeles can be brutal.

 

[Sillyminny40]

I was in Los Angelos 2 yrs ago and can share my experience. I loved it! Study the map carefully! I assume you are driving and bad traffic does not bother you. We have driven in Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, Orlando, L.A. so it was fine for us. Very fast and great distances.
Remember it is one HUGE city and takes forever to get anywhere. For example, form DL to Downtown Hollywood it is about 45 minutes in good traffic (and our bil is a professional driver)...we were staying in the very south of L.A. so we planned to avoid rush hour traffic. Also, everything in H'wood is usually quite expensive so the outlet malls are a great idea. You will not miss them they are ad'd everywhere!

Disneyland: look online for passes. stay in a hotel close by.
Universal: Do in a day, look for passes on line, 2 yrs ago they were cheaper this way than walking up. Faster too no lineups
Beverly Hills & Rodeo Drive: One stop event. Rodeo drive is in the heart of Hollywood. Go to 2 Rodeo Drive valet parking (underground) for next to nothing. Use your GPS. You take elevator up and you are on the coolest little hill in the heart of the action. Just walk the streets, go to Starbucks where lots of stars go.
Hollywood Trolley Tour, yes do this before Rodeo drive
La Brea Tar Pits: never done it but looks great.
Walk of Fame: you should see this on the tour. Go back later.
Hollywood Sign: never done this but takes a while to get there.

There is a board for southern Calif tips, have a look at that too!

 

[Sillyminny40]

Funny how LSmith and I posted within minutes of each other almost same sentiments! We must be right!

 

[LSmith]

Funny how LSmith and I posted within minutes of each other almost same sentiments! We must be right!

Great minds...

 

[Cruiser1969]

Regarding the Hollywood sign: If you go to http://www.hollywoodsign.org/index.php you can some information about four different locations to view the sign. If it is a BIG deal for you to get close to the sign, then I suggest the Lake Hollywood directions from the website.

We viewed the sign from a park up in the hills. It was an amazing ride for us and one of the highlights of our trip!!! We used our GPS and had a blast driving through the winding Hollywood Hills until we reached our destination. It was so off the beaten path and NOT typical . . . there was not a tourist in site . . . we were among the locals, and I believe the view is probably the closest you can get.

From the Hollyood website:
"Lake Hollywood
This one's a little tricky, but getting there is half the fun. Exit Barham Blvd. From the 101 freeway. Take Barham east to Lake Hollywood Drive. Turn right on Lake Hollywood Drive and follow to top of hill. At the top of the hill, Lake Hollywood Drive will bear sharply to the right. At the bottom of the hill, bear sharply to the left onto Montlake Drive. Follow Montlake to Tahoe. Turn left on Tahoe to Canyon Lake, turn right, then proceed up the hill. You'll notice a park on your left - topped by a big, beautiful white Sign."

 

[Cruiser1969]

Regarding Beaches:

We visited Venice Beach and Muscle Beach and walked the strip . . . typical touristy spot, but had a very artsy vibe to it!! I'm glad we did it.

Not far from there is the Santa Monica Pier which is in quite a few movies and TV shows. We didn't get a chance to stop by, but will do it next time around

 

[Cruiser1969]

Regarding the Walk of Fame:

Walk of Fame is a MUST do when in Hollywood, but I found it rather anti-climactic . . . it's a road with stars on the ground!!! Nonetheless, it must be done when in Hollywood!!!

Grauman's Chinese Theatre is nearby and also is a MUST SEE . . . I do find it interesting to think that some big name stars of the past (eg. Shirley Temple) once stood on the spot where she signed her name and imprinted her hand/foot prints.

Oh, and the newer celebrities, like Johnny Depp, are interesting too

 

[Cruiser1969]

Sorry . . . one more thing . . .

When you are down in the Walk of Fame area, be sure to visit Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store. It's an ice cream shop right beside El Capitan Theatre (we saw Wall-E here). Here you will find the "Disney Vault: . . . you know, the place where all the older Disney movies come out of for a limited time and then go back in!! and a bunch of different photos of celebrities in the ice cream shop. Oh, and you can eat ICE CREAM, of course!!!

 

[michelle1]

I would suggest taking a GPS for sure and it will get you everywhere. Make a list before you go of all the places you want to see and the addresses to make it easier once you are there to plug into the GPS. We did a tour of the star's homes but many of them are hard to see due to gates, trees etc but if you do it make sure you are on an open air bus which makes it easier to get pictures. We did one of the Starline tours which also went through Rodeo Drive, Sunset Strip etc. Venice Beach is definitely worth seeing but go on a weekend day if you can and do not go at night. By luck, we came across a movie premiere and saw a bunch of stars on the red carpet so I suppose your hotel might have an idea if there is anything going on when you are there. Have a great time...we loved California so much we are thinking about going again this summer!

 

[Ham Ham]

Why not see if you can see the Tonight Show or Jimmy Kimmel Live?

Lego Land, San Diego Zoo, The Grove, The Block at Orange, Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, Knots Berry Farm, LACMA, Pinks Hot Dogs, IN'n'Out Burger home of another kind of double double, Baja Fresh, PF Changs. Never been to SoCal but as you can see I have a to do list.

 

[Sillyminny40]

Great minds...

Great minds think alike and fools seldom differ...........lol!

 

[Sillyminny40]

Why not see if you can see the Tonight Show or Jimmy Kimmel Live?

Those shows start early and take a whole day. Really research which show it is and ticker availability and the time you have to be there...just my experience. One game show line up was at 6 am. Depends on the talk show may not be so bad nowadays.

 

[iluvwesties]

Thanks for posting this info

I'm going at end of March and am lost at planning this one

Going to get the unofficial guide to Disneyland book to help but am looking for all other tips

Carol aka iluvwesties

 

[LSmith]

Great minds think alike and fools seldom differ...........lol!

Knew that was coming! LOL

 

[Ham Ham]

When in production Tonight Show and Kimmel tape around 18:00 PST.

I've been to Letterman in NYC arrived around 16:30 show started at 18:00 was back on Broadway at 19:20

 

[BraMax]

We were in Anaheim for 2 weeks this past summer and did some new things this time.

If you are looking for Outlet shopping we went to Cabazon to the Desert Hills Premium Outlets. just outside of Palm Springs. They have wicked stores and it's a beautiful drive through the valley.

The Disney Soda Fountain is cute. The store was open when we were there but they weren't selling food yet.

Another cool beach to check out is Santa Monica Pier. It's cute. If you go to Huntington Beach you have to walk the pier and have a Cherry Coke for me at Ruby's Diner. It is a cute old fashion Diner.


We also went to the Peterson Automotive Museum. We went there instead of the LeBrea Tar pits (which was just down the street). It was great but I have 2 boys and a husband who likes cars. I did get to see the car from Grease that Danny and Sandy fly off in at the end of the movie.

I can't remember what else we did. We did drive Rodeo Drive. If you drive it don't blink you may miss something lol. It's really short. We didn't walk it because it was a Saturday that we went and parking was a premium lol.


I hope you have a wonderful trip and can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[TimNDansMom]

Sandra, there's not much that I can add that hasn't already been mentioned but you might drive by the Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by Frank Gehry. http://www.arcspace.com/architects/gehry/disney2/ It's really amazing! We managed to find a parking spot nearby and went into the little gift shop in the lobby but couldn't see into the theatre itself unfortunately.

I also second going to the Hollywood & Highland Center beside the Kodak Theatre. http://www.hollywoodandhighland.com/ We like to have a Starbucks on the patio with the Hollywood sign in the background. Check out the map at the link for parking. We usually park in behind off Orange Ave or Highland Ave and got Starbucks to validate the parking ticket for a cheap rate. If you're looking for a place to eat, we usually go to Mel's Drive-In just around the corner on Highland Ave. http://www.melsdrive-in.com/hoursandlocations/hollywood.html

One thing I really noticed was all the homeless people around, everywhere. Even outside the Disneyland pedestrian entrance on Harbour Blvd!

We are planning a spring return trip to Disneyland and to visit a friend down San Diego way. Can't wait! I'll look forward to reading your trip report, Sandra!

 

[andysgirl360]

Just did two weeks in LA/Disneyland this summer...lots of good ideas here.

I would also suggest Griffith Park Observatory. You get a great view of the Hollywood sign, and the observatory/planetarium is free to tour, a small fee for the actual show. Rebel Without a Cause was filmed here, and there is a statue of James Dean. If you frame it right, you can get the statue and the Hollywood sign in the background. Cool!

We did La Brea Tar Pits - I also liked this very much (I love museums!). The outside with the actual Tar Pits is free to tour (it's in the middle of a park on Wilshire Blvd) and again a fee to enter and tour the museum. DD7 also liked this - you can look at the actual pit where they are doing current excavations and see the bones sticking out. Contrary to popular belief, no dinosaurs here, just wolves and sabretooth tigers etc.

Something else I would suggest, though you might think it strange for Canadians - the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It's in Simi Valley, north of LA. Not only is the view SPECTACULAR from up on the hill (very arid desert type landscape), but they have an actual Air Force One that you can tour and get your photo taken with. Displays of Nancy Reagan's dresses are there too - DD7 was fascinated with that. The cafe on the premises is good too.

It was our first time at DLR - and we fell in love with it. Indiana Jones is the best ride EVER. Loved walking back and forth between the two parks and back to HOJO - what a difference from waiting for WDW buses.

Have a great trip - I fell in love with SoCal and I can't wait to go back again!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

not sure how much time you'll have to shop but I absolutely love South Coast Plaza. Hope you get some beach time, Newport is nice, La Jolla is a drive but it's amazing if you go south at all.

Have fun!!!