LA Itinerary: Help Me Figure Out the Logistics?

[nancy drew]

We are heading to LA for a few days before going to DLR. I had planned on having a rental car, and have another thread about that somewhere, but our plans have changed a little and I'm trying to work out the details.

We fly in to LAX, and are staying at the Magic Castle Hotel. I am fully aware that there is not much to do in Hollywood, but the kids want to go, and I think they will LOVE the hotel, and we have brunch reservations at the club, so that's set. We for sure want to go to Warner Brothers Studio, and the walk of fame/theater etc. We are still deciding what else we may or may not want to do.

I think we would like the La Brea Tar Pits, since DS really likes fossils and paleontology. We have a great natural history museum here with an awesome history of the Earth exhibit, so we have seen a lot of fossils, but this seems different and worthwhile since there are active dig sites.

DD wants to go to the American Girl Store, which we have 2 miles from our house but I think it would be fun to get a souvenir from a store in another city, so I thought maybe we could go to The Grove/Farmers Market.

So that's a long-winded intro.

How much time do we need for each of these things? And in case you skipped my intro (no judgment, it was long), how much time for:

Walk of Fame etc.
Warner Brothers VIP tour
Grove/Farmers Market (just going to American Girl and market, probably nothing else)
Brunch at Magic Castle
La Brea Tar Pits

If we do the WB tour through a tour company once we are in Anaheim, do we still need a car for the other activities in LA?

 

[catmom46]

I would not do the WB tour from Anaheim - it's in Burbank, 35 miles away, but you need to factor in traffic, which can be horrendous even if you're not the one actually driving in it.

You probably don't need a car for the other activities. A lot of people out here use Uber or Lyft nowadays, rather than cabs.

As for time to do each activity, Walk of Fame and Grove can be fairly short, no more than an hour each. Tar Pits would probably take at least a few hours. Don't know about brunch.

 

[mr.bungle]

We are heading to LA for a few days before going to DLR. I had planned on having a rental car, and have another thread about that somewhere, but our plans have changed a little and I'm trying to work out the details.

We fly in to LAX, and are staying at the Magic Castle Hotel. I am fully aware that there is not much to do in Hollywood, but the kids want to go, and I think they will LOVE the hotel, and we have brunch reservations at the club, so that's set. We for sure want to go to Warner Brothers Studio, and the walk of fame/theater etc. We are still deciding what else we may or may not want to do.

I think we would like the La Brea Tar Pits, since DS really likes fossils and paleontology. We have a great natural history museum here with an awesome history of the Earth exhibit, so we have seen a lot of fossils, but this seems different and worthwhile since there are active dig sites.

DD wants to go to the American Girl Store, which we have 2 miles from our house but I think it would be fun to get a souvenir from a store in another city, so I thought maybe we could go to The Grove/Farmers Market.

So that's a long-winded intro.

How much time do we need for each of these things? And in case you skipped my intro (no judgment, it was long), how much time for:

Walk of Fame etc. as long as you want. Maybe research where certain stars are that you may want to see. I loathe Hollywood Blvd. It is so busy and scummy.
Warner Brothers VIP tour - No idea, never been.
Grove/Farmers Market (just going to American Girl and market, probably nothing else) - Good idea. The grove is an overrated outdoor mall. The Farmer's Market next door is iconic and has some great food options. Plan a couple of hours there and have a meal. Or go down the street to Canter's Deli.
Brunch at Magic Castle
La Brea Tar Pits Pretty close to the Grove/Farmer's Market. I haven't been since I was a kid on a field trip. I'm sure a couple of hours would be good. I would also recommend at least going to the outside of LACMA to the streetlamp art installation.

If we do the WB tour through a tour company once we are in Anaheim, do we still need a car for the other activities in LA?

A car would be recommended. While the walk of fame, Farmers Market and Tar Pits are all relatively close to each other, remember this is L.A. and it's a sprawl.