PTR: Year 12 Graduation Trip 2020 - Hollywood/Universal/Disneyland

[lffamDSon]

Hey all, long time no see! Welcome to my Pre Trip Report for my upcoming graduation trip to LA!

The Who

Mate 1 (17 when we leave), Myself (17 when we leave) and Mate 2 (18 when we leave).
+ the mums

It all was born in a Year 10 Modern History class with Mate 2 (sorry Mrs Ackerman) and the whole trip was pretty much planned in 24 hours. We were (and still are) conscious of cost, so decided to stay in California.

Itinerary

The plan is to leave the week after we officially finish school.

BNE-LAX

Then we are in Hollywood for 5 nights - with 2 days at Universal Studios.
Looking at staying at the Hollywood VIP, which is nicely priced and just off Highland.

Then at the conclusion of the trip - 2 nights at the Camelot Inn - just off property at the Disneyland Resort.
We have 3 days at Disneyland - flying out on the night of the third day.

Hollywood/Los Angeles
We are planning on hitting the Warner Bros Studio Tour, other assorted tourist traps. Mate 2 is quite into Foo Fighters and I believe they have a studio somewhere in LA?

Universal Studios
Pretty self-explanatory.

Disneyland
Back home I finally go. Looking forward to Galaxy's Edge and Avengers Campus.. eek!

So that's the plan as it stands. I'm going to go into a lot more detail soon - our google doc is insane!

TTFN!
Ta ta for now!

 

[ColinA]

Good plan for a trip without the oldies!

 

[Montanabel]

Nice! Wish I had thought to do a trip like this when I was your age.....

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Great plans. You’ll have a brilliant time. Makes my friends and I trip just to the Sunnie Coast to a rental (country kids) over 40 years ago look tame but that was then and this is now. Back then it was unusual to do anything. Like my DD has done, this will just be the start of some amazing adventures around the world for you on your own (and sometimes with the parents still too no doubt). Good luck with your Uni apps. Hope you get into the program you want first choice too.

 

[lffamDSon]

Itinerary

Date	What we doin	Accommodation
23/11	Hollywood	Hollywood VIP
24/11	Warner Brothers Studio Tour	Hollywood VIP
25/11	Hollywood	Hollywood VIP
26/11	Universal Studios	Hollywood VIP
27/11	Universal Studios	Hollywood VIP
28/11	Disneyland Resort	Camelot Inn
29/11	Disneyland Resort	Camelot Inn
30/11	Disneyland Resort	Camelot Inn

So that's the itinerary!

Accommodation

So in Hollywood and at Universal, we're staying at the Hollywood VIP, which is just off Highland Avenue.
It's nicely located and nicely priced for our student budgets.
We just plan to either bus/metro or Uber it to Universal for the days we're there.

Then at DLR, we are at Camelot Inn just off property - nicely located as well.

One thing I'm not 100% sure about is if we should go with the packages offered on the Disneyland site with Camelot Inn that include park tickets and accommodation. Any advice from anyone who has done these packages would be welcome!
Not seeing too much monetary value in doing it, but if there are other perks we'd be open to it!

Alright, I gotta study now! See you when I see you

 

[Montanabel]

Gosh, you leave in less than 2 weeks! I assume you will be spending all three days at Disneyland at Galaxy Edge?

 

[LivingforDisney]

Gosh, you leave in less than 2 weeks! I assume you will be spending all three days at Disneyland at Galaxy Edge?

Thought it said 2020 at start of report?

 

[sjmac42]

They leave in 2020 Montanabel.
OP, there are zero perks for booking a package except maybe a pin, certificate or something similar. Just book it all yourself assuming the hotels will rent to an 18y.o.
As for tickets, aRes Travel seem to be the cheapest at the moment and their tickets don’t expire until the end of 2020. Undercover Tourist are a couple of buck more. Last Minute Travel Club are usually the cheapest but they’ve been in and out of stock lately although may be worth a call. They recently had 5 day hoppers for US$332 each.
All the best.

 

[BadPinkTink]

LAX Airport to Hollywood VIP
www.supershuttle.com
Shared 9 person van. Buy tickets online and print out confirmation email. After the long haul flight your brains will be scrambled so don't bother faffing about with phones. Just have the print out confirmation and go out the door of the airport. Stay on the same side and just walk down a little and you will see the Super Shuttle Agent and check in point. Just show the agent the print out and you will be assigned a van. Usual wait is less than 10 minutes. The journey time from LAX to Hollywood is about an hour, depending on traffic. The worst traffic is usually exiting LAX property. The journey from LAX to Hollywood will be on a freeway / motor way, first past Downtown area with skyscrapers and then into Hollywood. Depending on your travel mates you will have a few stops before you get to your hotel. You can even pre-pay the tip for the driver so you don't have to worry about that when you eventually get to your hotel.

Hollywood VIP
Great location for a first timer, you can walk to the Hollywood and Highland Mall and are right beside the most touristy part of Walk of Fame. You will be able to see the Hollywood sign from the hotel

Transport
You should check out the LA TAP CARD. https://www.taptogo.net/ This is a credit card sized plastic travel card which you can load with pre pay money. It is valid on the underground metro and the bus network. You can get it at the ticket machines at any underground metro station.

Universal Studios
Take the Red Line Underground Metro direct from Hollywood Boulevard. https://media.metro.net/documents/b4f1f223-c6b4-4b6e-bd18-648dbca1e7e9.pdf The station is just down from Hollywood and Highland Mall. The journey time is about 20 minutes. Get off at Universal City stop and come up to street level. Go across the street and take the free Universal Studios shuttle bus up the hill to Universal City Walk.

Buy Universal Studios tickets in advance online, as they are cheaper than on the day tickets.

Warner Bros Studio Tour
Take the 222 bus from outside McDonald's, beside Ripley's Believe it or Not on Hollywood Boulevard to Burbank. https://media.metro.net/documents/c82e1de5-d512-4b4d-a087-235dd93ab16e.pdf Get off at the stop Hollywood Way / Riverside and then you will have to walk up the street - W Riverside Drive to the building where the Warner Bros Studio Tour will start. Allow about an hour to get from Hollywood to Burbank. Check the map to see what Im talking about. Buy the studio tour tickets online in advance. https://www.wbstudiotour.com/ On the day you will need ID when you check in for the tour, so make sure to bring your passports.

Transfer from Hollywood to Anaheim for Disneyland

1. Take the Red Line Underground Metro from Hollywood and Highland to Union Station - approx 30 mins journey
2. Take the Amtrak Pacific Surf-liner train from Union Station to Anaheim ARTIC Train Station - approx 40 mins journey time. Buy train tickets online in advance, The cheapest tickets approx $17 are unreserved seating on the upper level of the train. https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/
3. Take the ART shuttle bus, route 15 from Anaheim ARTIC Train Station to Disneyland Transport Center. https://rideart.org/
4. Walk out of Disneyland property and across the street to Camelot Inn.

Camelot Inn to LAX Airport
Return journey with supershuttle. You put in your flight details and they will suggest a 15 minute pick up window. I usually choose the one before, to give extra time to allow for traffic. I usually allow about 90 minutes travel time from Anaheim to LAX. For a long haul flight you need the 3 hours before your flight. Check in and bag drop usually opens about 3 hours before departure, but people do start to queue before check in opens. Depending on your flight and where you are in the check in queue , it could take a while to check in. Then you have to go through the passport and security checks. Again, depending on the terminal and what other flights are departing the same time as you, there could be a back log and delays.

 

[Montanabel]

They leave in 2020 Montanabel.
OP, there are zero perks for booking a package except maybe a pin, certificate or something similar. Just book it all yourself assuming the hotels will rent to an 18y.o.
As for tickets, aRes Travel seem to be the cheapest at the moment and their tickets don’t expire until the end of 2020. Undercover Tourist are a couple of buck more. Last Minute Travel Club are usually the cheapest but they’ve been in and out of stock lately although may be worth a call. They recently had 5 day hoppers for US$332 each.
All the best.

Oops! I guess I got too excited about the trip! Sorry!

 

[Zosha]

Ooooh how fabulous! What an epic schoolies! Look forward to hearing about it. Much safer in LA than down the Goldie!!

 

[lffamDSon]

LAX Airport to Hollywood VIP
www.supershuttle.com
Shared 9 person van. Buy tickets online and print out confirmation email. After the long haul flight your brains will be scrambled so don't bother faffing about with phones. Just have the print out confirmation and go out the door of the airport. Stay on the same side and just walk down a little and you will see the Super Shuttle Agent and check in point. Just show the agent the print out and you will be assigned a van. Usual wait is less than 10 minutes. The journey time from LAX to Hollywood is about an hour, depending on traffic. The worst traffic is usually exiting LAX property. The journey from LAX to Hollywood will be on a freeway / motor way, first past Downtown area with skyscrapers and then into Hollywood. Depending on your travel mates you will have a few stops before you get to your hotel. You can even pre-pay the tip for the driver so you don't have to worry about that when you eventually get to your hotel.

Hollywood VIP
Great location for a first timer, you can walk to the Hollywood and Highland Mall and are right beside the most touristy part of Walk of Fame. You will be able to see the Hollywood sign from the hotel

Transport
You should check out the LA TAP CARD. https://www.taptogo.net/ This is a credit card sized plastic travel card which you can load with pre pay money. It is valid on the underground metro and the bus network. You can get it at the ticket machines at any underground metro station.

Universal Studios
Take the Red Line Underground Metro direct from Hollywood Boulevard. https://media.metro.net/documents/b4f1f223-c6b4-4b6e-bd18-648dbca1e7e9.pdf The station is just down from Hollywood and Highland Mall. The journey time is about 20 minutes. Get off at Universal City stop and come up to street level. Go across the street and take the free Universal Studios shuttle bus up the hill to Universal City Walk.

Buy Universal Studios tickets in advance online, as they are cheaper than on the day tickets.

Warner Bros Studio Tour
Take the 222 bus from outside McDonald's, beside Ripley's Believe it or Not on Hollywood Boulevard to Burbank. https://media.metro.net/documents/c82e1de5-d512-4b4d-a087-235dd93ab16e.pdf Get off at the stop Hollywood Way / Riverside and then you will have to walk up the street - W Riverside Drive to the building where the Warner Bros Studio Tour will start. Allow about an hour to get from Hollywood to Burbank. Check the map to see what Im talking about. Buy the studio tour tickets online in advance. https://www.wbstudiotour.com/ On the day you will need ID when you check in for the tour, so make sure to bring your passports.

Transfer from Hollywood to Anaheim for Disneyland

1. Take the Red Line Underground Metro from Hollywood and Highland to Union Station - approx 30 mins journey
2. Take the Amtrak Pacific Surf-liner train from Union Station to Anaheim ARTIC Train Station - approx 40 mins journey time. Buy train tickets online in advance, The cheapest tickets approx $17 are unreserved seating on the upper level of the train. https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/
3. Take the ART shuttle bus, route 15 from Anaheim ARTIC Train Station to Disneyland Transport Center. https://rideart.org/
4. Walk out of Disneyland property and across the street to Camelot Inn.

Camelot Inn to LAX Airport
Return journey with supershuttle. You put in your flight details and they will suggest a 15 minute pick up window. I usually choose the one before, to give extra time to allow for traffic. I usually allow about 90 minutes travel time from Anaheim to LAX. For a long haul flight you need the 3 hours before your flight. Check in and bag drop usually opens about 3 hours before departure, but people do start to queue before check in opens. Depending on your flight and where you are in the check in queue , it could take a while to check in. Then you have to go through the passport and security checks. Again, depending on the terminal and what other flights are departing the same time as you, there could be a back log and delays.

Wowie! Thanks for that - so much great info!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Here's hoping you have a great trip!