Wandering around the West Coast – Day 4 – Warner Brothers tour, Santa Monica, LA traffic and Burbank

[jocat]

Index is here.

Day 4 – Friday 28th July 2017

We woke up at 7:15 am and jumped in the shower, before meeting for breakfast at 8:15 am.

The breakfast was included in the room rate, and although there wasn't a great deal of choice, what was there was fine. There was a choice of 3 different cereals, sausage, scrambled egg, toast, bagels, bananas, oranges, plus tea, coffee, orange juice or water to drink. I was quite happy with my toast and orange juice as a big American breakfast just isn't for me. No photos of breakfast I’m afraid, as I left my phone in the room.

By 9:15 am we were all in our friend’s car and headed for the Warner Brothers Studio tour.

After going through security and checking in, we were given a card for Tour Group G. We waited in the reception area for our tour to be called. There was a café here, so you had time to grab a drink or snack while you waited.

We were soon called to a line, then taken to a little theatre/cinema for a short pre-tour introduction, which was a compilation of WB films and TV shows filmed there. The man introducing this was hilarious – if only we could have had him for a guide, my cheeks would have ached from laughing so much. He really played up his part, but not at all in an obnoxious way.

The tour guides were called in and we were allocated Elizabeth as our guide. She led us to the tour tram and off we went. She started by asking who liked certain shows, with us tour guests answering or cheering for the ones we liked. There was silence for the ones that she was most enthusiastic about - nobody in our group had watched Pretty Little Liars or Gilmore Girls and it seemed that these were the two shows she had the most to talk about. We started off viewing the outdoor sets, driving past some of them and getting off to explore others.

I think the lack of response from our group this morning had perhaps unnerved our guide, as she lost her trail of thought so many times when she was showing us around and struggled to answer questions about other shows or films, keeping bringing the subject back to Pretty Little Liars or Gilmore Girls, as well as talking a lot about the US version of Shameless. She also had a quiet voice, so we struggled to hear her at the times we were away from the microphone on the vehicle.

The whole group had cheered for The Big Bang Theory, but she only mentioned it once in passing, and that seemed almost an afterthought, as it happened right after another tour cart went by and we heard their guide mention that the building on the right had been used in the show.

We did recognise the coffee shop from La La Land though, which has been recreated on the lot for a limited time.

After viewing the outside sets, we went to the Archive department, which had a range of props and costumes. Downstairs were lots of superhero memorabilia and costumes, and upstairs were props from the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beast films. I have no interest in the Superhero stuff, and as we were only allocated 15 minutes to spend here, promptly headed straight upstairs.

The first part was dedicated to Harry Potter, and as well as looking at the props, we took our turns being sorted into our houses. I got Gryffindor and probably gloated a little bit. Martin was sorted into Hufflepuff. We booed our friend when he got Slytherin!

We then enjoyed looking around the Fantastic Beasts exhibits.

Our tour guide collected us all together, then took us to the soundstage for the Ellen Degeneres Show . Now we’d read that photos weren’t allowed inside the soundstages, but this must be the one exception as we were encouraged to take as many photos as we wanted to.

Next, we moved on to the Prop House, which was fascinating. This is a four floor warehouse of props and set dressings. Each floor is the size of a football pitch. I was in my element looking around near the entrance, but unfortunately this part was cut short when somebody wanted to leave the tour.

We were hurried out by our guide, into another area opposite which contained a variety of vehicles from the Batman films, while our guide dealt with the issue. We spent quite a while looking at the various Batmobiles, but still ended up sitting on some benches waiting for our guide to return.

Eventually, we got back onto our tour vehicle and caught a fleeting glance of the Big Bang soundstage from the outside, as they were setting the lot up ready to start filming soon in the next couple of weeks. I just caught a glimpse of the painting of Penny and Amy on the wall, but wasn't quite quick enough to catch it on camera as we drove by - we were on the wrong side of vehicle really. If you look closely on the wall by the stairs, you can just see Amy.

Finally, we were taken to an area called Stage 48, which is a self-guided soundstage based on the whole production process, with regular exhibits mixed with interactive ones – you could take part in the green screen process linked to Harry Potter, plus there was a forced perspective part linked to Lord of the Rings.

It started with the exterior window of a very familiar sight.

We spent a little while looking round, before having a drink and a snack at the café there. We then bought a few souvenirs for home from the gift shop.

We left Warner Brothers at 2pm, and passed by the Disney Studios, before heading on the freeway towards Santa Monica.

The journey was quicker than I expected and only took 40 minutes. However I expected it to be much sunnier than it was - it was very cloudy and the temperature was a good 15 degrees lower than LA.

We parked and wandered to the pier. We purchased tickets for the big wheel and rode that first, before walking to the end of the pier and making our way back close to where we'd parked, pausing to people watch several times.

Thankfully, blue skies started to appear before we left, so we could see the beach as it should be.

We were back in the car by 5:15pm and heading back towards LA, as we were intending to drive through Beverly Hills.

We came back via Wiltshire Boulevard, into Beverly Hills then took a turning off down Rodeo Drive for a good look at the shops where we couldn't afford to shop.

We intended to carry on back to our hotel to get showered and changed for dinner, however the traffic was horrendous. The trip that had taken 40 minutes earlier, took two and a half hours on the way back. I also confess to being a bit grumpy on this journey. Other than the muffin at lunchtime, I’d had nothing since breakfast and I was hungry, thirsty and in need of a restroom. We also weren’t in our car which contained the emergency Pringles. :cry;

A decision was quickly made to go straight out for dinner, as I don’t think we’d have made it out if we’d gone back to shower and change. We went to an Italian in Burbank called Tony’s Bella Vista. It was nothing at all to look at from the outside, but was full of locals inside. Apparently Ron Howard has been going there with his family since he was young. It turned out to be fabulous, with extremely friendly service and delicious food.

I had lasagna, Martin had chicken parmigiana, while our friends shared a pizza. Ours came with a salad each, and we ordered a portion of garlic bread as an appetiser, to suppress my hunger pangs. Two huge baskets of garlic bread was delivered, all for $5. No wonder they have half portions available for $2.50 - that would have fed all of us!

With diet cokes, prosecco, a bellini and beers, the bill for all four of us came to $124. We rounded it up to $150, and went back to the hotel with our leftovers, feeling absolutely stuffed.

[tocpe321]

The Warner Bros. tour sounds good. Santa Monica looks nice. We drove through it a bit on the way up the coast, but didn't get to see it properly.

[Melbatb]

I hope the poor guide didn't impact on your enjoyment of the tour!

I don't know how LA locals put up with the traffic!

Dinner sounds lovely!

[WileyCoyote]

Shame about the tour guide being a bit meh good . Oh dear on the traffic, I would have had a meltdown, thank goodness for a fab looking dinner to restore the day !

[jocat]

Originally Posted by tocpe321

The Warner Bros. tour sounds good. Santa Monica looks nice. We drove through it a bit on the way up the coast, but didn't get to see it properly.

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I can see how you end up missing bits out - there's so much to see, you can't do it all.

Originally Posted by Melbatb

I hope the poor guide didn't impact on your enjoyment of the tour!

I don't know how LA locals put up with the traffic!

Dinner sounds lovely!

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Unfortunately our tour guide at WB did spoil it a bit. Don't get me wrong, it was still a good experience, it just wasn't as great as my expectations.

I could not cope with that traffic at all in day to day life, although the locals probably know all of the short cuts!

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

Shame about the tour guide being a bit meh good . Oh dear on the traffic, I would have had a meltdown, thank goodness for a fab looking dinner to restore the day !

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Maybe the guide was just new and a bit inexperienced. Our friend had tried to make a joke with her, as we were first walking to the tour. He asked if she'd done this before - he got absolutely nothing back other than a nervous laugh. Perhaps she hadn't!

Dinner definitely restored my mood after a missed lunch and the traffic.

[Jake71]

Shame about your guide, I hope we don't get the lovely Elizabeth when we go. However, the tour does sound fab and I'm so excited to go on it now. Can I ask about parking - is there a parking lot for tourists? Your whole day sounds amazing to be honest, apart from the 2 1/2 hour drive back from the beach.

[jocat]

Originally Posted by Jake71

Shame about your guide, I hope we don't get the lovely Elizabeth when we go. However, the tour does sound fab and I'm so excited to go on it now. Can I ask about parking - is there a parking lot for tourists? Your whole day sounds amazing to be honest, apart from the 2 1/2 hour drive back from the beach.

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That traffic really wasn't good, but was definitely down to traffic for the Hollywood Bowl.

There's so many tour guides at WB, you'd have to be really unlucky to end up with the same one as us!

Parking for tour guests is at 3400 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505. It's directly opposite the entrance to the tour building, and from memory was well signposted.

[Pussycat Doll]

Tour looks fab, food looks really good too. Must admit we didn't like Santa Monica really but might have caught it on a bad day! Looking forward to more.

[tonymc]

We're up early today to do the Warner Bros Tour -really looking forward to it. Having just read your reports so far, we may also be giving Big Boy Burgers a visit when we finish the tour, then down to Hollywood for a quick visit, and hoping to drive through Beverley Hills and onto Sunset Boulevard down to the coast and then back to Marina del Rey.

[jocat]

Originally Posted by Pussycat Doll

Tour looks fab, food looks really good too. Must admit we didn't like Santa Monica really but might have caught it on a bad day! Looking forward to more.

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To be honest we didn't see a lot of Santa Monica, as we were only there for a couple of hours. Perhaps the cloudiness meant it was a bit quieter too.

Originally Posted by tonymc

We're up early today to do the Warner Bros Tour -really looking forward to it. Having just read your reports so far, we may also be giving Big Boy Burgers a visit when we finish the tour, then down to Hollywood for a quick visit, and hoping to drive through Beverley Hills and onto Sunset Boulevard down to the coast and then back to Marina del Rey.

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Sounds like a busy day you've got planned! Hope you enjoy it all.