Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Anyone been to LA?

Hi all

Next week, I'm travelling to Canada for my son's wedding. After that, my family is spending a week in Los Angeles, staying near Disneyland.

Anyone got any tips? Good restaurants? Things we should avoid? Things we should do? There will be 7 of us - my husband and myself, and the kids (+ 1 gf) aged between 14 and 25.

Thanks in advance,

Corrina.

The La Brea Tar Pits, the Getty Center, the Museum of Natural History, the L.A. Zoo, the Aquarium of the Pacific (in Long Beach), the Queen Mary (also in Long Beach).

If you're going to be near Disneyland, you're actually going to be in or near Anaheim, which is in Orange County. Orange County is on the ocean, so there's lots of beaches (not in Anaheim itself, but not terribly far, either, and the weather may be nice; it's hard to predict in early December). Anaheim is also home to Angels Stadium. Disneyland itself is fun, and there's also the California Adventure theme park.

There's a Metrolink station in Anaheim that can take you into various parts of the L.A. area.

I used to live in LA (Hollywood proper, literally 2 blocks of Hollywood Blvd. - not recommended). First of all, Disneyland isn't in LA. It's in Anaheim, Orange County which is about 45 minute drive (if you get good traffic) south of LA. It's roughly half way between LA and San Diego.

Since you're going with teenagers and above, you might like Universal Studios better than Disneyland as it's based more on PG /PG-13 movies than Disney is (such as ET, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park) and also includes the hokey Universal Studios Backlot tour (Psycho House and Jaws tank - also where, I believe, they shot that scene from Vatman with the dueling Supermen). We used to eat at the Universal Studios City Walk a lot. It's the shopping area outside of the amusement park. We used to take the red-line subway there from Hollywood and go to the bars and restaurants. Very touristy and crowded, but still fun. (I, personally, liked the dueling piano bar... but I'm cheesy in that sort of way).

Disneyland is still fun without little ones, but keep in mind that food is very expensive. Don't think about leaving the park to eat as it's just a waste of time. We went the summer before last with two young kids and enjoyed both the main Disneyland Park and some aspects of Disney\'s California Adventure . We ended up spending 2.5 hours in line at the new Cars ride (but it had just opened 10 days before we got there). If you can get FastPasses to any of the rides, get 'em. It lets you speed to the front of the line. Other DisneyLand Tips . Disney's California Adventure is geared more toward the older kids set. I still love Disney movies (maybe even more so than my kids), so we enjoyed the Main park more. I like the International section, but the Tomorrowland is a bit out of date. I definitely recommend Splash Mountain and the Bear County Mountain (both water rides) if it's hot. Might want to skip them if it's not, because 9 times out of ten, you'll get wet. Parking is expensive ($15, if I'm recalling correctly) at both Disney and Universal Studios (actually, it's expensive everywhere), so if you're staying at one of the Disney hotels, take their shuttle over.

If you're hitting Disneyland during that last week of November, you'll be there during Thanksgiving Holidays (you'd have to check with MouseRocks who'd know better than I, whether the park will even be open on Thanksgiving Day). The school holidays runs from Nov. 27-Dec 1. ALL kids are out of school, so it will mean long lines at the amusement parks. If you end up going that first full week in Dec. because everyone will be back in school and the lines will be perfect!

Airports, train stations, and stores are going to be major packed on Wednesday and, especially, on Friday of that last week of Nov. as it's the beginning of the holiday shopping season.

If you like art, my husband used to spend many of his days off at Getty Museum .

If you ever wandering around Southern CA and need a fast quick lunch, my hubby LOVED the fish tacos at Rubios . California Pizza Kitchen is a popular sit-down chain restaurant, this time pizza instead of Mexican. I wouldn't say the pizza is the best, as they are known for their off the beaten path toppings, but I have been known to lick clean the plate after one of their Chocolate Lava Cakes. /much to my husband's embarrassment/

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is LA's equivalent to the Sydney Opera House.

If you want to catch a classic film shown on the big screen (and are in Hollywood), I recommend the Egyptian Theatre We saw 'Singing in the Rain' there (among other class films) and it's lots of fun. Also, in the neighborhood are Mann\'s Chinese Theatre (with the Marilyn Monroe and others' hand prints) is across the street and Disney\'s El Capitan Theatre , which does both live action and films. We saw 'Pirates of the Caribbean' there and they had an extra exhibit of props from the film. The mall next door to the Chinese Theatre houses the Kodak theatre, which is where they host the Oscars.

Unless you want to spend all day in line waiting and waiting and waiting (or unless someone is absolutely obsessed with a certain sitcom), I wouldn't recommend trying to get in to go see a live taping of a television show. We lived in LA for 3 years and only were able to get in to see a live taping of a live variety comedy TV show we didn't really watch. (Sadly, the line to go see 'That 70's Show' cut us off TWICE within 10-20 people ahead of us. )

MouseRocks is the best person to ask about LA, because she's lived there more recently than me, and she's closer in age to the "kids" in your group. Plus, I'm guessing here, the "Mouse" in her name is from that 85 y.o. Mouse made famous by Disney.

Have a terrific trip. If I can think of anything else, I'll add it in later. My mind is blanking on me at the moment.

Mickey Mouse does indeed rock, Virginia.

I never lived in SoCal, but I've stayed down there long enough that I may as well have. :p

So far what everyone else has said covers just about everything. Anaheim and L.A. aren't exactly in the same place, and keep close in mind that EVERYTHING takes about 30 minutes to an hour to get around in the greater Los Angeles area. Minimum. Keep in mind traffic is always rough, so plan accordingly.

Depending on where exactly you are staying changes what you should do. Disneyland is always fun (and FYI DL is always open 365 days a year. The only time it's restricted is if you have a certain kind of season pass). I agree it's not the most thrilling amusement park for teenagers, but the atmosphere itself is always a blast and it's definitely worth seeing if you've never been. Personally, I love Disneyland (both parks-- I've been more times than I can count) and I'm quite the Disney fanatic (I know more about Disney than I do about Superman, and that's saying something). But it's not always for everyone. I personally am not a huge fan of Universal Studios, but it is really cool. Magic Mountain is the best park for straight up rides, but I'm guessing that's on the other side of where you're gonna be at (plus they've got a Superman ride and the new Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom!). One other DL warning-- while November is technically the off season, you might be cutting it a little close to Thanksgiving break, but I still think you'll be fine. Nowhere near as bad as summer (just don't go then). Another warning: expensive!! Depending on where you're staying, it's really pricey. Because I've got it on lock in my memory, 3-day parkhopper passes with hotel and food is about $2000 for 3 people. (Although that might be including gas for my drive down and my brother eats a LOT.) But I don't mean to scare you, because it's worth it.

I always say the beach is a great option. Weather might be iffy, but honestly the weather's usually not too bad down there, so it's nice. Plus I love the ocean in the rain.

Otherwise, I totally recommend the more tourist-y side of Hollywood. The walk of fame, Chinese and El Capitan theatres, etc. Getty Museum is awesome. Maybe hit up a live show (not a tv one, but like a dinner and a show one-- "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show" or Medieval Times shows, very fun for the whole family). Maybe check to see if they're taping a session of Jimmy Kimmel or some late night comedians. There's probably not any baseball going on right now, because we're out of season. LA Opera, Walt Disney Concert Hall....

Also, you can get all kinds of food. My suggestion is Mexican or Sushi. Although if you're looking for cheap fast food go to In-n-Out for a burger (Tommy's is all right too) for a west-coast-only chain. I'm sure there's more but none that I can think of off the top of my head.

Honestly, LA is just like any other big city. There's tons to do, just have fun!! Enjoy your trip!

The best time to go to Disneyland is when it's raining. Hardly anyone goes there then, so the lines are short and the crowds are sparse.

Congratulations! I hope everything goes off next week with a hitch!

Griffith Park and Observatory is a beautiful park with a family friendly science museum. The Hollywood sign is also on the same ridge. A lot of movies have used the observatory -- Terminator 2 and The Rocketeer for example. Great views of the city, interesting architecture and Free!

I agree with Mouserocks on Magic Mountain. Knotts Berry Farm (another amusement park) is also a lot of fun. I highly recommend the boysenberry pie.

My experience with Hollywood is that it's interesting but I'd advise you not to stay late. Unless things have changed in the last few years, you don't want to be around the crowd that comes out late at night.

In-n-Out is good and I'm still waiting for an el Pollo Loco franchise in Michigan. Unless you're hungry for pizza it doesn't seem like there are a lot of mom and pop Italian restaurants out there.

On paper Los Angeles and Anaheim are different cities--in practice it's all one city and you'll probably never notice where one ends and the next begins. Plan on using surface streets only to get to and from the freeways. Otherwise you'll spend way too much time sitting in the car stopped at traffic lights.

The Griffith Park Observatory was also famously used in James Dean's 'Rebel Without a Cause' and is the basis for the observatory in 'Planet 51'. They started remodeling it the week before we moved there and didn't finish until after we left. Big disappointment that we weren't able to visit it again. Remodel is totally finished now though.

You can get a great view of the Hollywood sign from one of the elevated walkways at the mall next to the Mann's Chinese theatre (for some reason, the name of that mall is totally blanking on me -- it's not really a place to go shopping as there are only very expensive shops there, and the Renaissance? Hotel I think.). I, literally, lived 6 blocks from there and it's where we took the subway from (hence the about the name) but we took our picture with the Hollywood sign in the background from there before we moved out of town. The Hollywood sign itself isn't really a place to "visit" (in fact, it's discouraged), more something you see on the hills.

Right the Queen Mary ! Duh. Yes, that's much closer to Disneyland than the places I mentioned. It's an old timey cruise ship, now a museum and hotel. If you've ever dreamed of what it would've been like to go on the QE2 or one of the cruise ships they used before flying became the rage, definitely worth a look-see. Plus, if I recall correctly, it was used during WW2 to transport soldiers.

If you head south into San Diego, I would recommend the San Diego Wild Animal Park . It's much less "zoo like" (no cages), much more wide open spaces. We used to be members and went all the time, when we lived in San Diego. Other bonus, is that it's on the North side of town, just east of Oceanside (the northern most "suburb" of San Diego), so you don't have to deal with San Diego's crazy traffic to go downtown. LegoLand is also in Carlsbad (just south of Oceanside), but it's more geared for the under 10 set.

Just North of San Diego (or on the south side of Orange County) is an old Mission museum called San Juan Capistrano . The town is also a nice place to wander through.

I'm not really a beach person. There's an okay beach in Oceanside (see above). I liked the one in Carlsbad and Leucadia (just south of Oceanside) better. I'm not sure about Orange County, but in LA I wasn't all that impressed with the beaches, mostly because I prefer silence and few crowds and city beaches aren't either of those things. Most of the decent ones are on the north side of the city and not what I'd call easily accessible (if one considers the drive there from Anaheim). Venice Beach is a popular one (also famous for having a gym on the beach, Muscle Beach). It has a boardwalk with shops nearby and is used as the go-to beach for LA in most TV shows and movies set in the area. Basically, if you drive along the Pacific Highway #101, you're driving along the coast and you're bound to come across a beach or two... dozen.

Santa Monica is fun, too (it's right next to Venice Beach). I go there a couple of times a year. There's the beach, the pier (which has amusement park rides, restaurants, a small aquarium, street performers, street artists--I have a small painting I bought that I watched being painted; it's actually a finger painting, though I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself). There's also the 3rd Street Promenade, which is a giant indoor/outdoor mall with street performers, restaurants, shopping (much of it reasonably affordable), and even a 3-story Barnes and Noble .

Also, agreeing about Carlsbad--that's the beach I most often went to as a kid. Oceanside is nice, too. Newport Beach is great for walking, but trying to find a parking space is like finding a needle in a haystack. Knott's Berry Farm is great for teens--the high school I work for has an annual trip there for the students who raised their scores on the standardized tests (or stayed at the top). The kids love going on this trip.

Thanks so much. You've given me so many ideas that 8 days is *not* going to be enough. Oh well, we'll have to go back!

When I first began looking at nearby attractions, I dismissed Knott's Berry Farm because December is berry season in Australia, so I figured it couldn't be berry season in America!

Then I discovered there is a whole lot more than berries!

The rides there look incredible - we're very much a roller coaster family.

Believe it or not, I hadn't even thought about the Thanksgiving holiday. (We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Oz.) However, by good luck rather than good management, we will be in Canada during American Thanksgiving and by the time we get to LA, the holiday will be over and the kids will be back at school.

Thanks again! So much to do. Can't wait.

Corrina.

L&C used it too -- check out the "EPRAD" scenes in "All Shook Up." When Lois is rushing to the bank of telephones and shoves Clark into the other reporter; that's on the right-hand side of the observatory. I enjoyed my visit there.

The WB Studio Tour, for sure! You see lots of cool stuff from tons of different movies and shows, but most importantly you see the outsides of Lois and Clark's apartments and a bunch of other sets commonly used on the show.

I don't think they usually point out stuff from LnC so much anymore, but you can tell your guide it's what you're interested in and they should be able to help you out. Some of it is pretty easy to spot on your own, though.