HEY THERE BEETLE-HEADS!!! I just got back from my week-long CALIFORNIA VACATION and decided to bring back a trip report for all you normies (normal people) out there.
Let me start off by saying that California isn't exactly as they portray it in the movies. It's not all clean and shiny ( some parts are ex: Rodeo Drive, Bel-Air, Beverly Hills...to name a few). In fact some areas are pretty dirty and need some cleaning up (Hollywood Blvd...the area looks nice but is populated by moochers and homeless peeps...kinda freaked me out). As long as you stay in the "Right" parts of town you'll be fine.
So I got there around noon on Monday and it took us a good 2 hours to reach our hotel. We stayed at The Sheraton Universal City ( 2nd time roomin there...LOVE IT!!) which is located in the heart of Hollywood, a short distance from most of the popular attractons. Our room just happenned to overlook most of the Universal Studios Hollywood Theme Park. The staff at the hotel was really nice and accomadating. They gave really great directions and were pretty knowledgeable. If you're going to Hollywood this is the hotel I MUST reccommend. It made alot of potentially tough parts easier.
So our first day we headed off for Universal Studios Hollywood. The theming there is (in my opinion) much better than the park in Orlando. Unfortunately, the Universal Studios Hollywood park is lacking in rides but has plenty of shows, this adds up to alot of walking which can get tiring after a while.
For rides there's Simpsons (Fun), Jurassic Park (Prepare to get soaked), and Mummy (Wild, fun ride...but Orlando version is much better). For shows it has Creature from The Black Lagoon ( a surprisingly adult campy musical that I Loved), Terminator 2: 3-D ( Much better than the Orlando Version. The queue is much better, more in-theatre effects, and the theatre is alot bigger as well), Waterworld, Backdraft (Think Twister...but with fire instead of a tornado...great show), etc.
The main attraction at the park is the "World Famous" Universal Studios Tram Tour which takes guests right into the Universal Studios Backlot where they film movies. The tour guides are usually a bit hokey but there's plenty to keep you interested and entertained for the tour. You'll see The Bates motel, The Psycho House, The War of the Worlds Plane crash set, etc etc etc. It's pretty cool and is definently a must-see if you travel over to USH while in California.
Overall USH (Universal Studios Hollywood) is a great park and is definently a DO-NOT-MISS.
On Tuesday we got up bright and early and headed off to take a tour of the Warner Brothers Studio. While there we saw where they filmed the Spiderman upside-down kiss, Annie, The Way They Were (under the theatre Marque scene), Casablanca (The Paris set...last remaining set from the film), Whatever happened to Baby Jane, Eastwick ( we actually got to travel onto what was more or less a hot set of the town of Eastwick. The show is premeiring this fall on ABC), Oceans 13, etc.
After we were done there we headed over to Hollywood Blvd and visited the famous Manns Chinese Theatre ( where all the handprints of the stars are...in WDW a replica of it houses the Great Movie Ride). We got to take a tour inside of the theatre which was very interesting..the inside is beautiful. Afterwards we saw The Collector there ( Started out with a great plot and interesting characters, then once the serial Killer is introduced the plot conviently dissapears and the film turns into a torture porn...we left a good 20 minutes before the end). We then cruised around Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, etc and grabbed a bite to eat at Mels Drive-In.
On Wednesday we traveled over to Disneyland for the day. The park is filled with rides and is gaurenteed to keep you occupied until closing time. I thought it was alot better than WDW in Orlando in terms of Ride quality and stuff. My favorite rides there were the Finding Nemo Sub Voyage, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Matterhorn, Pirates Of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones Adventure, and Space Mountain ( got to go on this one 3 times...last time I rode it I had a couple of hotties waiting in line in front of me, they got to sit in front of me as well...so that was kool).
On Thursday we traveled up to Santa Monica Beach and it's pier. We ate at Bubba Gumps ( get the Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp...It's amazing) and spent a few minutes babe-watchin and then headed over to Malibu. Now, I was really excited about goin to Malibu...I had heard that it was bikini central and sunny beaches and all tht Jazz. I was wrong. They have all these houses built in front of the beach that are, like, interconnected so that you can't get over to the beach. You have to drive a few miles until you reach the entrance to the beach...it costs 10 bucks to park. So we forked it over only to find that the beach was extremely under-populated, the water was cold, and that it wasn't at all how they portrayed it in the movies. I was very dissapointed. Later that night we ate at House Of Blues (one of my favorite restaurants...Get the Elwood or the Pulled pork BBQ Sandwich..both are fantastic.)
On our drive back to the hotel we passed by The manns chinese theatre where we found tons of limos lining the street. It was the premier of GI Joe. The stars were all in front of the theatre but they were so clumped together we couldn't make any of them out.
On Friday we traveled back to USH for another day then chilled at Citywalk for a few minutes, takin in the atmosphere. I like the Citywalk in Hollywod alot more than the one in Orlando. I think it's alot cooler looking and has a better atmosphere.
On Saturday we cruised around town for a while and visited the Whatever Happenned To Baby Jane House, Nightmare on Elm Street House, and The 2 Halloween Houses (Michael Meyers house and the one where he is shot off the balcony). Afterwards we ate at The Ivy, a very fancy restaurant where the stars are known to eat...we didn't see any though. It was still pretty cool, except for the prices.
We left Sunday.
I've always loved California. The weather is usually pretty nice ( certainly better tha Florida's), it has a lot of things to see and keep you interested, and there's plenty to do there before you leave. The only downside to Cali is the roads are really bumpy and the traffic is usually insane...but that's how California's been for a while.
A trip to California is ALWAYS an Adventure ( trust me).
DO NOT MISS
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Universal Studios Hollywood
Disneyland
Rodeo Drive
Manns Chinese Theatre
Santa Monica Beach
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