WB Studio Tour

[TheDisneyOutsider]

My family and I are planning on taking the Warner Brothers studio tour on our trip to LA in August. I've been doing research on the tour but I'm having trouble deciding if we should do the cheaper VIP tour or the deluxe tour. (I was leaning towards the deluxe until I saw people saying it might not be worth the extra $) Can anyone tell me the major difference between the two tours? I've read that the VIP tour is 12 people per tour. Is the Deluxe less per tour? What exactly do you get for the major price difference and extra 2 hours? (besides lunch) I don't know if this matters but I'm a huge Gilmore Girls fan so seeing the 'Stars Hallow' town is a priority for me. I also love Full(er) House and the Fosters. I appreciate any info you guys can give me!!

 

[TheDisneyOutsider]

Anyone??

 

[rmm7e]

I'm considering this as well! But I need to find a way to get from Disneyland to the WB studio without a car. Please help us!

Edit: OK, I found the Anaheim Tour Company online and they do a 10 hour combo tour of Hollywood and WBS (the VIP one) for $125. And apparently they pick you up at your Anaheim hotel. Trip Advisor reviews are good.

 

[my*gracie*girl]

We have only done the regular tour, so I just cannot really help. We went on a Saturday in March hoping we could get a glimpse of something GGs while they were filming, but no such luck. Well, we saw some slices of the snow covered Stars Hollow street, L's jeep, Luke's truck and her house for a half second as we drove by the road that led to it and a few places of interest (R's study tree...random things like that are just places on the lot somewhere and our guide would point them out). We would really like to go again now that filming is done, but are nervous to book on our July trip because they do use the same street for Pretty Little Liars (and other things) and they could not guarantee that we would see any GG stuff even now that filming is done. One tour guide did tell us that the longer tour would give us a better chance of seeing what we want, but he also said that some people have come back 3-4 times before finally getting to the spot they were hoping to see. It all depends on what is filming that day and they are not told ahead of time. The people we were on the tour with were huge PLL fans, so they got to see a lot of stuff of interest to them. Our guide was a really really really big Batman fan and there is so much Batman stuff on the tour that we were a little overloaded with Batman. HA! I am not 100% sure, but wonder if they longer tour is the only way to get off the 'cart' and have a picture with something of interest (ie Lorelai's house). Our shorter tour had stopping spots, but we got off and went inside somewhere. There was no random stopping just any old where. Good luck making your decision and if you go, I hope you see everything GG that you are hoping to see!

 

[SMD]

There are several good tour reviews from 2010-2014 that have pictures of what the exterior sets have looked like at various times. Luke's is pretty much always there, but it's not always a diner. Lorelai's house is there, but it's not always accessible if anything is filming in the area. The church is always there too, but the tour has to drive by it to see it, because it faces the other way. They could always be dressed a different way for something else. When they're not filming there won't be any signs that say "Stars Hollow" like there were when the show was still on the air.

 

[melk]

We just did the regular tour last week. We loved it and thought it was a highlight of our trip. We don't watch Gilmore Girls but it seemed our guide was always pointing out things related to the show but we couldn't relate as we have never seen it.

 

[bsj1701]

regular was fine, haven't done deluxe...

 

[TheDisneyOutsider]

We have only done the regular tour, so I just cannot really help. We went on a Saturday in March hoping we could get a glimpse of something GGs while they were filming, but no such luck. Well, we saw some slices of the snow covered Stars Hollow street, L's jeep, Luke's truck and her house for a half second as we drove by the road that led to it and a few places of interest (R's study tree...random things like that are just places on the lot somewhere and our guide would point them out). We would really like to go again now that filming is done, but are nervous to book on our July trip because they do use the same street for Pretty Little Liars (and other things) and they could not guarantee that we would see any GG stuff even now that filming is done. One tour guide did tell us that the longer tour would give us a better chance of seeing what we want, but he also said that some people have come back 3-4 times before finally getting to the spot they were hoping to see. It all depends on what is filming that day and they are not told ahead of time. The people we were on the tour with were huge PLL fans, so they got to see a lot of stuff of interest to them. Our guide was a really really really big Batman fan and there is so much Batman stuff on the tour that we were a little overloaded with Batman. HA! I am not 100% sure, but wonder if they longer tour is the only way to get off the 'cart' and have a picture with something of interest (ie Lorelai's house). Our shorter tour had stopping spots, but we got off and went inside somewhere. There was no random stopping just any old where. Good luck making your decision and if you go, I hope you see everything GG that you are hoping to see!

Thanks for your response! So did you guys not get to get off the cart at all? I know that nothing is actually 'Stars Hallow' anymore but I was hoping to maybe get a picture in front of 'Luke's' building at least. (I will be wearing my Luke's diner shirt so it would be a cool photo!) Do you think that would be at all possible on the shorter tour or do they really just drive by everything? I know it also has to do with filming that day which I understand. We would be going on Monday August 29th so I don't know what kind of things will be filming at that time of year...I'm hoping the shorter tour will be enough because the deluxe is crazy expensive with the Canadian exchange rate right now...

 

[TheDisneyOutsider]

We just did the regular tour last week. We loved it and thought it was a highlight of our trip. We don't watch Gilmore Girls but it seemed our guide was always pointing out things related to the show but we couldn't relate as we have never seen it.

Hopefully our tour guide will do the same! Thanks for the response!

 

[TheDisneyOutsider]

There are several good tour reviews from 2010-2014 that have pictures of what the exterior sets have looked like at various times. Luke's is pretty much always there, but it's not always a diner. Lorelai's house is there, but it's not always accessible if anything is filming in the area. The church is always there too, but the tour has to drive by it to see it, because it faces the other way. They could always be dressed a different way for something else. When they're not filming there won't be any signs that say "Stars Hollow" like there were when the show was still on the air.

I was really hoping to get a pic in front of the building used for Luke's! I know nothing will really look like Stars Hallow but I'm kinda happy they aren't filming anymore so hopefully we can go through the town! Thanks for your reply!

 

[my*gracie*girl]

Maybe call them and ask! They were helpful when I called. We got off the cart, but at pre-determined buildings. We didn't get to just walk around any of the streets or outdoor location. There were buildings that held collections of cars/props and then we got to go inside a couple of studio buildings and see sets (Big Bang Theory and Pretty Little Liars). Our driver slowed down in front of anything he knew we wanted to see, but the entire Western Street (Stars Hollow) was closed during our tour. He did slow down when he passed a crack between two buildings so we could see it was covered with snow (from afar). We couldn't even drive down that one. I had hoped if we went on a day that they were not actively filming, we could at least drive down the street but it was all completely closed off even though no stars were there or filming taking place. Since they use that street for PLL (I think?), that might be an issue for you as well. If you call and talk to them, they can give you some scenarios....they cannot tell you what filming is taking place when, but they were helpful in telling me what we would be able to do in different scenarios. In the end, we decided to take a chance as it would have been beyond cool to see Stars Hollow when it was actually dressed as SH. It was still a super fun tour and we are glad we went on it!

 

[TheDisneyOutsider]

Maybe call them and ask! They were helpful when I called. We got off the cart, but at pre-determined buildings. We didn't get to just walk around any of the streets or outdoor location. There were buildings that held collections of cars/props and then we got to go inside a couple of studio buildings and see sets (Big Bang Theory and Pretty Little Liars). Our driver slowed down in front of anything he knew we wanted to see, but the entire Western Street (Stars Hollow) was closed during our tour. He did slow down when he passed a crack between two buildings so we could see it was covered with snow (from afar). We couldn't even drive down that one. I had hoped if we went on a day that they were not actively filming, we could at least drive down the street but it was all completely closed off even though no stars were there or filming taking place. Since they use that street for PLL (I think?), that might be an issue for you as well. If you call and talk to them, they can give you some scenarios....they cannot tell you what filming is taking place when, but they were helpful in telling me what we would be able to do in different scenarios. In the end, we decided to take a chance as it would have been beyond cool to see Stars Hollow when it was actually dressed as SH. It was still a super fun tour and we are glad we went on it!

Ya maybe I will or see if they have an email. I guess I'll just hope that luck is on our side! And also hope that PLL isn't back to filming yet! (I'm not sure what their filming schedule is like). The revival filming was so top secret I'm not surprised try wouldn't let you guys see the sets even when they weren't filming. Too bad it would have been awesome!!