Warner brothers studio tour

Scrapdolly

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 3, 2007
imknow it’s not a theme park but has anyone any experience of Warner brothers as we think we might go visit
 
It's fun if you are a big movie/TV fan. About a 3-hour experience total. Not really any discounts unless you are a SoCal resident. You tour outdoor backlots, go inside a soundstage, get to see a few special exhibits on moviemaking and TV shows. The guide can somewhat personalize it on what his tour group is interested in and what is available that day, so speak up if you have a favorite (see the website).

It pairs nicely with other activities in the Burbank/Griffith Park area like the LA Zoo, Griffith Observatory, etc. It's a long way from Disneyland, up to a 2-hour drive one way.

PHXscuba
 
@PHXscuba I don't mean to hijack this thread, but since you've experienced the tour... if I book one that starts at 9am, can I reasonably expect to be done by 12pm? We have to get back to Loews Hollywood Hotel to pick up our bags, grab a quick lunch, and would like to be on the road to LAX by 1:30pm. This would be the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Just wondering if we're cutting it too close. Thanks!
 
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I did this in June 2017. Warner Bros Studio Tour is located in Burbank.

Sundays you would have a better chance of seeing more of the backlot. It is a working studio and most shows shoot Monday to Friday. They shoot on the backlot so the tours work around the shooting schedule. So you could be unlucky and be there on a Wednesday when half the backlot is closed.

The tour is in 2 parts, the first part is the van ride around the back lot sets. Its a lot better than Universal backlot as they park the vans in the different areas and take you on a walking tour though the buildings. The focus in 2017 was on Pretty Little Liars and Gilmore Girls as these were the most recent high profile shows. But the guide's know their history and will focus on older films and shows if you ask or recognise a set.

The second part is the Batman cars exhibition.

The third part is the DC and Harry Potter exhibition. When I was there, it was Suicide Squad, but it might be changed for 2019

The last part is the Friends and everything Warner Bros area. They have a real Central Perk coffee shop, with branded coffee cups and other merchandise. They also have the Central Perk set with the sofa which is an interactive area. The interactive area is where you can play a member of the cast. They get 4 people to sit on the sofa and some others to be background extras. The ones on the sofa read some real dialogue from the show off screens. This is taped and then through the magic of TV the real people are "in" the the real episode.

After the Friends area there was a Pretty Little Liars exhibit, more interactive Harry Potter areas, some Warner Bros down though the years exhibits and at the very end a merchandise shop.

This is how the tour is laid out

1. At the main entrance building you watch a 5 minute into show and then get loaded into a van with a tour guide.
2. The tour guide drives the van to the backlot area where you spend about 40 minutes to an hour. There are about 3 stops where the tour guide parks the van and everyone gets off for a walkaround in different areas and buildings
3. Once done on the backlot everyone gets back on the van and the tour guide drives to different buildings on the property.
4. One building is where the DC and Harry Potter exhibitions are. The DC costumes and props are on the ground floor and the Harry Potter exhibition is up the stairs. You get about 30 minutes to walk around this building. There are restrooms in this building.
5. Another building is the set for The Big Bang Theory. It is located in a soundstage. The actual set is behind a glass wall but you can see everything from the audience bleachers to the camera positions. Everything is left as if the cast, crew and audience had just left after a day of filming.
6. Once everyone is done, everyone gets back on the van and the tour guide drives to another building. This is where the Batman cars exhibition is.
Once everyone is done seeing the Bat cars, about 20 minutes, I think, everyone gets back on the van to the last building, which is where the Friends set, Central Perk coffee shop, Pretty Little Liars, Harry Potter Interactive areas and the merchandise shop are.

The Harry Potter Interactive areas are broom flying photo ops and House Photo photo ops.

You cant just go to the Friends set and Central Perk or just to the Batman cars or just to the backlot, you have to do everything. There is also a ton of merchandise in the shop, but again the shop is only accessible from the tour, its not in the main entrance building.

We spent about 4 hours there. We bought tickets in advance online. They time the tours to leave the main building every 30 minutes, so that the different areas and buildings dont get over crowded. They have a limited number for each time slot, the number of people they can fit on the van.
 


@PHXscuba I don't mean to hijack this thread, but since you've experienced the tour... if I book one that starts at 9am, can I reasonably expect to be done by 12pm? We have to get back to Loews Hollywood Hotel to pick up our bags, grab a quick lunch, and would like to be on the road to LAX by 1:30pm. This would be the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Just wondering if we're cutting it too close. Thanks!

I think you can do it. Be at WB before 9:00 as they load groups as they check in, no matter what time your official reservation is for. The last part is very much "do at your own pace" and then you catch a waiting golf cart back to where you checked in and parked. I'd say the organized part of the tour runs about 2 hours before dropping you off at the last exhibit building.

PHXscuba
 
We did this with our three kids and they loved it. We toured the sets of the Ellen show and Big Bang Theory. Of course a highlight for them was the Friends set as well. The outside portion was interesting too. We were all happy we included it in our CA trip.
 
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We did this tour several years ago and it was a highlight of our week. We all enjoyed it and got to visit the set of The Big Bang Theory. They had wrapped up shooting for the day and we got to go inside and sit where the audience would sit when filming. It was cool even if we didn't get to see them actually filming. There is a little museum part where you can hold an actual Academy Award (Oscar) if you ask. (I thought that was pretty cool!) When we did it, there was a AAA discount of 10 percent. Not sure if it's still available or not.
 


Another positive vote. We did this Aug 2017 and really enjoyed it. I always find Hollywood behind the scenes things quite neat and so it was cool seeing sets and stuff of what I've seen on tv (eg. Gilmore Girls). My husband quite liked the Batman area and our son loved the Harry Potter stuff. It's a good mix of stuff,
We got there before our booked ticket time and they took us earlier as they had room (for person asking if they had time before a flight )
 
We are back from our trip now and did the tour this past Sunday! We enjoyed it, but I will caution that its a lot of looking at empty shells of sets and sound stages. I was not familiar with a lot of the shows and movies filmed there, so it was hard for me to envision what we were seeing in any frame of reference. We did get to walk on the set of the Ellen show which was very cool, and it was neat to see the set of Central Perk from Friends. They still have the Batman car exhibit, and the Harry Potter museum area. The other museum area rotates and its currently Wonder Woman and Aquaman props. A lot of the tour was explaining and showing us how they film there, what they can offer productions (i.e. they have their own millwork area which we saw), and exactly how movies trick us to see different things on-screen by using different sets and soundstages. So it was more than just showing you sites from different TV shows and movies. That part was interesting.

We unfortunately had drizzly and cold (58 degrees!) weather, and much of the tour is on a golf cart outside. People were not dressed appropriately. The guided tour on the golf cart was a little over 90 minutes, and we probably spent 20-30 minutes on the self-guided part at the end, where Central Perk is.
 
We were there on Friday, the first day they had the Big Bang Theory set open! It was so fun to see it. We got to sit in Sheldon's spot, ha! It was funny because I didn't realize until the morning of the tour that the BBT stuff was going to be on display. Even the guide that did the golf cart part of the tour didn't know that it was open until we told him about it. Overall, we enjoyed the tour and though it was a fun few hours and worth the cost.
 
Bumping this somewhat old thread to ask a question: we will be in LA on Sunday October 13 and thinking about doing the WB tour. But we’re sort of wavering on it. Does anyone know whether we can get tickets last minute or is it advisable to get them early?
 
I just checked the website, there seems to be availability for all the times for Sunday October 13 right now. I would just keep checking every few days and then book when you are ready.You should be able get tickets the day before if you have to leave it that last minute. I wouldnt chance on the day tickets.
 
We went Friday August 23 and we kept checking leading up to that day as there was a ton of availability times wise that day. We checked the drive time and DW bought them as we were pulling out of our hotel at 1030a for the noon tour.
 

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