Disneyland - Hollywood split stay help!

[Coffee50]

I moved this thread to the Southern California forum, as it's more about SoCal activities than it is about Disneyland planning...

I agree with sheetz. A stop at the Original Farmers Market on Third and Fairfax -- which is right next door to The Grove, a place where TMZ hangs out undercover, waiting for celebrities -- is worthwhile. The array of food there -- some of it can be found at newer establishments, and some of it can be found at longtime family-run counter service places -- is amazing. It's a historical site in Los Angeles, and it's one of the city's true treasures (touristy or otherwise)!

Plus, according to something that was on the Farmers Market Facebook page last year, "...when Walt Disney worked on early designs for Disneyland, he did some of his work while dining on Farmers Market patios."


The Tar Pits are just a few minutes south of Farmers Market, and they are next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (which has already been mentioned in the thread).

At the front of LACMA (Wilshire Blvd. side) you will find the wacky street lamp installation, as well as the free sculpture garden. At the back of LACMA (6th Street side), you will find Levitated Mass -- which is an art installation that is a gigantic boulder (you can walk underneath the boulder, and the forced perspective is kind of interesting)!

There is also a restaurant that is part of the Patina Group located at LACMA (Patina is the same company that operates Catal, Uva Bar, Naples and Tortilla Jo's in Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort).

Going along with the "Disney theme", if you did visit LACMA, you'd be near another interesting area.

Although the actual theater isn't there anymore, you're just a few blocks away from "Carthay Circle". (This is the theater that premiered Snow White & inspired the building & restaurant at DCA)

At this point, the place where the theater was is just office buildings, but there is a large stone sign on San Vicente that says Carthay Circle.

That's all there is & obviously, this isn't anything to go out of your way for, but if you're at LACMA, it might be cool to take five minutes & drive by it.

 

[Marthasor]

Thank you all SO MUCH! I am writing all of this down and I'm going to get a touring plan together. This all sounds awesome! We are now going to spend 3 nights at Loews Hollywood before heading to DL and I'm renting a car. This will give us 3 days to explore the Hollywood area and I'm super excited! Thank you so much!

 

[Luckymommatoo]

Okay, now that you're staying and renting a car -- the California Science Center is free and houses the Space Shuttle Endeavour as well as tons of hands-on exhibits. One of our favorite places. (You can get inexpensive timed tickets to see the space shuttle.) Just in case any of you are into space stuff. (My kids' favorite part of the museum is the Ecosystems section.)

Also, there is an enormous candy store in Hollywood & Highland called Sweet that my kids adore. Make sure to stop by there. They make candy there and it's fun to watch. Plus they have a lot of international candies.

 

[Sherry E]

I forgot to mention earlier that up the street from the Petersen Auto Museum, and right across the street from LACMA and the Tar Pits on Wilshire Blvd., is an exhibit featuring 10 sections of the real Berlin Wall (it's called The Wall Project). I think it is still there -- it was still there late last year.

As I just mentioned in another thread, a lot of people don't even realize that those pieces of the Wall are there. It is not something that had been widely promoted and publicized. I live in the area and I didn't even know it was there until a couple of years ago!

 

[SMorgan711]

I'm loving all this info! DH and I are spending 4 nights at the Grand Californian, 1 night in Huntington Beach and 2 nights at the Loews in Hollywood! We're so excited!! Can't wait to visit some of these destinations!

I hope you have a great trip

 

[Marthasor]

I'm loving all this info! DH and I are spending 4 nights at the Grand Californian, 1 night in Huntington Beach and 2 nights at the Loews in Hollywood! We're so excited!! Can't wait to visit some of these destinations!

I hope you have a great trip

I know! This thread is awesome and I thank all those who gave these fantastic recommendations! We have now expanded our 1 day trip to Hollywood to 3 days! So excited!!

 

[dragonflymom]

With my 10 y.o. son, I found that he is usually not into all the touristy sightseeing stuff, but he always loves bike tours and it may solve your transportation issues too. If you go on tripadvisor, there are two top-rated bike tour companies with one of them featuring a 2-hour tour that covers Hollywood and Griffith Observatory, or 4-hour/6-hour tours that cover Hollywood, downtown and Santa Monica. Our family is hooked on bike tours now, having done them in London, Paris, San Francisco and Washington DC and find that it's the best way to cover a lot of ground in metropolitan areas. We always do that on the first or second day because the tour guide typically has tons of "secret" local tips with restaurants, sightseeing and shopping, all printed on one sheet or emailed to you. The biking keeps our kids engaged and some of the tour guides are really good with story-telling.

Another place of interest that I recently discovered is the Magic Castle close to Hollywood. If your son is into magic, you want want to check it out. It's a private club and admission is by invitation only, but if you stay at the Magic Castle Hotel next to it, they can help you book brunch. We have not been there yet but will visit in Feb. The reviews of the place are excellent (even though the food can be a bit hit-and-miss). Before or after brunch, you go from room to room and watch magicians perform their acts--one performance is in a small room seating only 15 and you're up close (definitely volunteer if called upon!) with the magician. Just google the place and check out the reviews on tripadvisor. They have a dress code.

Enjoy the planning--that's actually the favorite part for me!

 

[SMD]

You might want to check, I think the Petersen is closed for a long term renovation. If you're doing 3 days, I'd look to branch out from Hollywood. Check out the Santa Monica Pier and maybe add Griffith Park. There's Travel Town, the carousel and the Griffith Observatory. Plus the LA Zoo and Western Heritage museum, but I'd look at the other 3 places first. The Science Center (space shuttle and IMAX) and Natural History museum are both reachable by metro. Take the red line to Union Station and transfer to the Expo line.

 

[Sherry E]

You might want to check, I think the Petersen is closed for a long term renovation. If you're doing 3 days, I'd look to branch out from Hollywood. Check out the Santa Monica Pier and maybe add Griffith Park. There's Travel Town, the carousel and the Griffith Observatory. Plus the LA Zoo and Western Heritage museum, but I'd look at the other 3 places first. The Science Center (space shuttle and IMAX) and Natural History museum are both reachable by metro. Take the red line to Union Station and transfer to the Expo line.

Yes -- the Petersen Automotive Museum is undergoing a lot of changes throughout this year. I don't think anyone suggested going to the Petersen (or, if they did, I missed it), but I was using it as sort of a landmark in my above explanation of where the (Berlin) Wall Project is located.


ETA: Yesterday I walked past the backside of LACMA (6th St. side, past the giant rock, a.k.a. Levitated Mass art installation), and I could swear that the enormous boulder is tilting more than it used to! I watched that rock as it was first being 'installed' at LACMA a few years ago, and of course I saw it after it was first officially open as an art installation for the public to enjoy. Any time I have walked past it in the last few years, I have only barely glanced at it and not paid it too much attention. Yesterday was the first time in a while that I actually stopped to look at it, and it seemed as if it was more angled and tilted than it was the last time I looked at it in detail!

 

[missesdisney]

Be sure to stop off at the Farmers Market on Fairfax for lunch.

If you are restricting yourself to just the immediate Hollywood area then there's not that much to do, but if you're willing to branch out to other areas within driving distance there's TONS of stuff to do depending on your interests.

We will be going in August for 6 days in the area - after 5 at DL (including D23). Mon - Sat staying in Marina Del Rey with a car. Have been before love the studio tours and will do at least WB and Paramount and probably GO LA card again to hit some other things, but I am trying to find good off the beaten path kinds of things to do - touristy or not in the area - can you share some other favorites? Two adults and a 14 year old and all three of us are go go go tourists

 

[sheetz]

We will be going in August for 6 days in the area - after 5 at DL (including D23). Mon - Sat staying in Marina Del Rey with a car. Have been before love the studio tours and will do at least WB and Paramount and probably GO LA card again to hit some other things, but I am trying to find good off the beaten path kinds of things to do - touristy or not in the area - can you share some other favorites? Two adults and a 14 year old and all three of us are go go go tourists

This other thread has a good list of things to do around the area.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/your-must-dos-thanks-in-advance.3411994/

Those are mostly the "highlights" but there are lots of other things to do if you have any particular interest like museums, shopping, outdoor activities, ethnic neighborhoods, etc.

 

[mdsd8700]

There's also a beautiful carousel in Griffith park, the one Walt used to take his daughters to , before creating Disneyland. On certain days, you can see walts carollwood barn. There's also travel town training museum. and if you want to eat where Walt and the other Disney execs used to eat, go to the tam o shanter in los feliz

After I read your post I checked on the Griffith Park site to see what the hours are as I would love to visit this place of Disney History! It states that it is open everyday during the summer. Do you know what is defined as the "the summer"? We are going in early September but will only be in the LA area during the week not on the weekend. Generally summer is considered June, July, August however the if going by the solstice/equinox the change in season would be September 23rd. I called the number and a recording stated "summer" without being specific. I am going to assume it means June, July, August but thought I maybe you might know for certain when the summer hours would go through. Thanks so much for any insight.

 

[GoBears 1980]

We will be going in August for 6 days in the area - after 5 at DL (including D23). Mon - Sat staying in Marina Del Rey with a car. Have been before love the studio tours and will do at least WB and Paramount and probably GO LA card again to hit some other things, but I am trying to find good off the beaten path kinds of things to do - touristy or not in the area - can you share some other favorites? Two adults and a 14 year old and all three of us are go go go tourists

You might want to ask your own question since the original poster has been here and gone. People might see it is old and skip over it. I almost did.

You can spend some part of a day in Malibu. Check out Pepperdine University (never too soon to start grooming the kiddo), Maibu Country Mart, Adamson House, Malibu Lagoon, Paradise Cove, lunch overlooking the Pacific, run into a celeb or two at Nobu or The Reel Inn.

You can head to Pasadena for the Huntington Library & Gardens, the Rose Bowl, Pasadena City Hall, Old Pasadena, Lake Avenue, the Norton Simon Museum, lunch at the Langham Huntington Pasadena and more.

You can visit some of LA's ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Thai Town, Koreatown, Little Armenia, Little Ethiopia, Little Moscow, Little India and more.

It just really depends on what interests you....