Hollywood and DL 6 day tour

[mikeishere]

Yes thats a common mistake Europeans make, thinking LA is like London , but to compare this is Google Maps set at 5km for London and LA.

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Even driving it would take almost 2 hours depending on time of day. Universal is in Burbank, LA county and Disney is in Anaheim, Orange County. Google Maps says 40 miles between them, but thats not like going 40 miles in UK.

It takes about an hour driving to go from LAX airport to Hollywood. Think Heathrow to Oxford Street.

Thats why I do a half a day in each place and allow 1 hour to travel from A to B.

This is The Chinese Theater to Farmers Market / The Grove. Google Maps says just over 3 miles, but that bus journey took about an hour.

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Thinking it might be better for us to fly out to San Francisco and go to Walt Disney Museum. However we have been lucky enough to do San Francisco in 2012 so I don’t think their is a lot else we haven’t seen before but haven’t don’t the Walt Disney museum before.

Anything close to Walt Disney Museum to see since 2012 as done most of San Fran before?

 

[sayhello]

Thinking it might be better for us to fly out to San Francisco and go to Walt Disney Museum. However we have been lucky enough to do San Francisco in 2012 so I don’t think their is a lot else we haven’t seen before but haven’t don’t the Walt Disney museum before.

Anything close to Walt Disney Museum to see since 2012 as done most of San Fran before?

If you're going to head to San Francisco from the Disneyland area, you can fly out of SNA (John Wayne Airport) in Santa Ana. *MUCH* closer and less insane than LAX.

Sayhello

 

[Ross Kratter]

Yes thats a common mistake Europeans make, thinking LA is like London , but to compare this is Google Maps set at 5km for London and LA.

View attachment 543222

View attachment 543223

Even driving it would take almost 2 hours depending on time of day. Universal is in Burbank, LA county and Disney is in Anaheim, Orange County. Google Maps says 40 miles between them, but thats not like going 40 miles in UK.

It takes about an hour driving to go from LAX airport to Hollywood. Think Heathrow to Oxford Street.

Thats why I do a half a day in each place and allow 1 hour to travel from A to B.

This is The Chinese Theater to Farmers Market / The Grove. Google Maps says just over 3 miles, but that bus journey took about an hour.

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Agreed - you can NEVER underestimate LA traffic!!!! The only times I've had no traffic in LA have been late at night.

 

[mikeishere]

Agreed - you can NEVER underestimate LA traffic!!!! The only times I've had no traffic in LA have been late at night.

So theirs no way I could just get an Uber / cab to each place I wanted to see?
Like cab from hotel to Warner bros studio tour and back
cab from hotel to Hollywood cemetery.
cab from Disney to universal
for example?

I might see if theirs any tours similar to ABD that cover what we’d like to do after Disneyland. Unless anyone knows of any tours / day group tours?

 

[Ross Kratter]

So theirs no way I could just get an Uber / cab to each place I wanted to see?
Like cab from hotel to Warner bros studio tour and back
cab from hotel to Hollywood cemetery.
cab from Disney to universal
for example?

I might see if theirs any tours similar to ABD that cover what we’d like to do after Disneyland. Unless anyone knows of any tours / day group tours?

You could, but again, the traffic in Los Angeles is just comically bad at most hours.

 

[mikeishere]

You could, but again, the traffic in Los Angeles is just comically bad at most hours.

Arrrrh ok. Wish everything was a lot closer. How much longer does everything usually take with the traffic? How much extra time you looking at?

 

[Ross Kratter]

Arrrrh ok. Wish everything was a lot closer. How much longer does everything usually take with the traffic? How much extra time you looking at?

Figure at least an hour and a half to two hours from Disneyland to Universal, despite it only being a 34 mile drive. I’ve had it take an hour and a half to go 20 miles in LA traffic before. Your best bet may just be to rent a car.

 

[mikeishere]

Figure at least an hour and a half to two hours from Disneyland to Universal, despite it only being a 34 mile drive. I’ve had it take an hour and a half to go 20 miles in LA traffic before. Your best bet may just be to rent a car.

Oh my, why is it so bad?

 

[Ross Kratter]

Oh my, why is it so bad?

Congestion. Too many cars on the roads. Some of the freeways are 6-7 lanes wide in each direction and that’s still not enough.

 

[Mathmagicland]

Oh my, why is it so bad?

LA is very much a car-based place, never had an easy or very efficient public transportation system. The metros were all built well after the freeways & cities, almost an afterthought, and people are hard to change from driving. Also, not as many stops or lines as you find in places like NYC or London, so maybe not seemed as convenient. Also, as @BadPinkTink noted, it is a large geographic footprint.

I’m on the far west side of LA just over in the next county; it takes me about 75-80 minutes to get to Disneyland if I leave at 5am as minimal traffic, and it takes anywhere from 2.5 to 3hours to get home...because of horrible traffic.

 

[sayhello]

Figure at least an hour and a half to two hours from Disneyland to Universal, despite it only being a 34 mile drive. I’ve had it take an hour and a half to go 20 miles in LA traffic before. Your best bet may just be to rent a car.

I had it take me 2 hours one time to get from Redondo Beach to Santa Monica. No accident, just traffic! I could have walked it faster!

Sayhello

 

[mikeishere]

I had it take me 2 hours one time to get from Redondo Beach to Santa Monica. No accident, just traffic! I could have walked it faster!

Sayhello

taking about it today think we just going to do the ALB stay and few extra days in Disney then go home, so like 8/9 or 10 day trip.

 

[dina444444]

I had it take me 2 hours one time to get from Redondo Beach to Santa Monica. No accident, just traffic! I could have walked it faster!

Sayhello

Wow. I’ve never had it take that long between but I can’t believe it.

 

[dina444444]

If you go to universal I highly recommend the VIP tour experience. We did that day before our ABD 2 years ago and as an LA local I felt it was worth the money we spent.

 

[Kit Jackson]

Can they fit the Getty Center into their plans?

The Getty Villa is fantastic. I did two different tours and both were wonderful. Also, the food at the Getty Villa was really good.

do any other movie studios do tours or just Warner Sony Pictures and Universal?

I think your list has sort of helped me.

id like to do :
The Grove / Farmers Market
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Staples Centre
LA Live
Grammy Museum
Sony Pictures Tour
Warner Bros Studio Tour

but from your experience (or anyone else who can help) what are close to each other / could do on same day / what should do on different days ?

The Grammy Museum is fantastic. If you are going to do a studio tour, do the Warner Brothers one. Universal is more of a theme park ride. Warner Brothers takes you behind the scenes of an actual working movie studio.

Once you hit the Welcome Dinner the first day, you'll be on the go for much of the week. Some really early mornings and some late nights. Don't start off with a sleep deficit. Get well rested beforehand.

I am thinking about doing this ABD tour at some point in the future. I need at least seven hours of sleep to function. Is that going to be a problem? Should I plan on taking caffine pills during this trip?

Thinking it might be better for us to fly out to San Francisco and go to Walt Disney Museum. However we have been lucky enough to do San Francisco in 2012 so I don’t think their is a lot else we haven’t seen before but haven’t don’t the Walt Disney museum before.

Anything close to Walt Disney Museum to see since 2012 as done most of San Fran before?

If you are a serious Disney fan, the Walt Disney Family Museum is fantastic. I would highly reccomend it.

 

[OKW Lover]

I am thinking about doing this ABD tour at some point in the future. I need at least seven hours of sleep to function. Is that going to be a problem? Should I plan on taking caffine pills during this trip?

It probably won't be a problem. Remember, you don't have to do everything. A big pitfall is deciding to meet others in the lounge after the day's events are over and staying until they close.

 

[AquaDame]

I am thinking about doing this ABD tour at some point in the future. I need at least seven hours of sleep to function. Is that going to be a problem? Should I plan on taking caffine pills during this trip?

I'm the same way & I do not use caffeine as it can trigger a migraine - I had no issues. I also only take ~40 minutes to get ready in the morning though, so it probably depends on your needs. None of the evenings are very late - the evening shows in the parks were all "optional" but even seeing the fireworks and such didn't stop me from getting plenty of sleep!

 

[SingingMom]

Took us over an hour to go 13 miles from Santa Monica to West Hollywood for dinner - I couldn't even eat due to the headache I had from the drive. Later that night, our return to Santa Monica took under 15 minutes. I will NEVER live in California! lol

 

[amyamya]

I thought if I stayed at a hotel near Universal Studios after Disney or a Universal hotel (if they have their own resort hotels like Orlando?) would this be a good idea?

If you do end up staying near US I recommend the Hilton. Ask for a room on the east side of the building and you overlook the park including Hogwarts, which looks incredible at night. The hotel is an easy walk to US and City Walk which is full of shops and restaurants, like Downtown Disney. The hotel itself is pretty basic, but the location is ideal and the view rooms are a nice perk.