Southern California Hollywood and vicinty with kids

[katclicks]

My hubs and I are planning 1 day to visit the Hollywood area before our 3 days in DL. Our girls are 2.5 & 6.5. We will be visiting the Disney soda fountain for a snack and probably pinks hot dogs for lunch. My hubs would like to walk around grauman's/walk of fame but otherwise we don't have any real plans. Any suggestions about what else we can do/see? I'd love to keep the cost as low as possible

 

[PHXscuba]

Depending on how far you want to drive, the California Science Center is less than 20 minutes away. $10 parking but free admission. The Space Shuttle is there now; I think it's a $2 service charge to reserve tickets in advance.

PHXscuba

 

[ArielSparrow]

Depending on how far you want to drive, the California Science Center is less than 20 minutes away. $10 parking but free admission. The Space Shuttle is there now; I think it's a $2 service charge to reserve tickets in advance.

PHXscuba

Strongly agree. I haven't been yet but it's at the top of my list and I hear great things. And the tar pits are right there in the same complex, so walk over and take a look (it's free but the attached museum costs). There is a also a free rose garden next to the science center that is nice to take a break in.

A completely free option would be Griffith Park. There is a Travel Town, which hosts a travel museum and several trains. Especially great if you have a little engineer in your family. If you go on a Sunday, LA Live Steamers is open, where you can ride a model train for free (but there's a suggested donation of a few bucks). There's also a bigger (kind of like Casey Jr size) train at Travel Town that you can ride for a fee. If it's a third Sunday, you can visit Walt's Barn, which his daughter relocated from his house. The Lily Belle and lots of other interesting things are housed there. Then there is Griffith Observatory, which you can visit day or night. My husband and I easily spent hours there on two separate trips and still haven't been able to watch a planetarium show. Parking and admission to all of these are free. There is a museum and the LA Zoo at the Park as well, but they cost (LA is much more affordable compared to San Diego, and while smaller still takes at least the whole day).

 

[PHXscuba]

Strongly agree. I haven't been yet but it's at the top of my list and I hear great things. And the tar pits are right there in the same complex, so walk over and take a look (it's free but the attached museum costs). There is a also a free rose garden next to the science center that is nice to take a break in.

One correction: The Tar Pits and Page Museum are not on the same campus as the California Science Center and the Natural History Museum. They are about 7 miles northwest right next to the LA County Museum of Art. Not too far to drive (we are doing both the Natural History Museum and Tar Pits this summer), but not walking distance.

PHXscuba

 

[ksu93]

Go to a movie at the El Capitan. If you can, stay at the Renniscience(sp?) which is the hotel right there. It has an attached shopping district with a Build a Bear Workshop. It offers really reasonable rates. When we stayed there we also drove out to El Matador beach in Malibu which is an incredible beach to walk. The drive out is quite a Hollywood sight seers paradise. We also toured Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank (with 4 year olds) and really enjoyed that.

 

[ArielSparrow]

One correction: The Tar Pits and Page Museum are not on the same campus as the California Science Center and the Natural History Museum. They are about 7 miles northwest right next to the LA County Museum of Art. Not too far to drive (we are doing both the Natural History Museum and Tar Pits this summer), but not walking distance.

PHXscuba

You're right. I was getting Page and NHM mixed up. I knew LACMA was by Page and CSC was by NHM, so in my mind I kind of clumped them all together. I have been to both LACMA and NHM recently on different trips so my memory is kind of jumbled. I recommend any of those museums (granted, I haven't been to CSC but hopefully I'll find a free day this summer). They could fill a day on their own, and I could have spent two full days at NHM.