ShareThis

Yum

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Warner Bros Studio Lot Tour

A few weeks ago, my husband and I spent a long weekend in LA. We had a blast the entire time. On the Second day we were there we were fortunate enough to visit the Warner Bros Studio in Hollywood. We are huge TV fans, so this was kind of on our bucket list.



If you are like me and need a wheelchair, please let the studio tour customer service know upon buying tickets. This way they are prepared for you and have a chair ready for you to use. You are in the tour car most of the time, but there are times that you get out and may need it. They were very kind and patient for me to get in and out of the carts during those times.When you first arrive you need to go through a metal detector and security checks your bag (I had zero issue with this, I want to be safe). Then you go into a waiting area. While you wait you can get snacks or just look around at the pictures. Once your group is called you go into a small theater and watch a very short film and then you are on your way.

Since the studio tour is on an actually working lot, each and every tour is a little different. Everyday something different is going on. Some days you don’t see much film shooting, but other days you might. We missed Gilmore Girls by a week (my daughter would have been so jealous as we love that show).

The first part of the tour is taking us around the back lots and showing us the exteriors of sets. There is nothing inside the structures that is of use. They only use it for outside shots. I watch way too much TV so I know they reuse a lot of sets, but it’s so cool to see them in person. All they have to do is change up a few signs and add something here and there and it will look completely different. It’s also so crazy on how small the areas are and how large they look on TV or the movie screen. Take for example the picture below with the trees and the building in the background. This is used for many school scenes. Buses, and cars are often lined up outside the school to pick up the kids.


One of my favorite shows of all time is Friends. So when our tour guide mentioned that this is the location that Rachel and Monica hid during the episode with Jean Claude Van Dam. I have seen every episode of that show a few times so I know the scene well. It was so cool to see. We also got to see where they shot the Central Park scenes, like where Rachel and Phebe would run, or any time they needed to be in the park. I loved every part of the tour but the best part for me was simply sitting on the Friends couch. That alone could have been the tour and I would have been happy.


If you are a fan of Pretty Little Liars we got to see a few of the houses they use for the show as well (the outsides). Inside those houses are offices. Great use of space in my opinion. One of the facades we saw is a house that most everyone knows at once glance. One of my favorite shows as a kid and one that has been brought back for us. Full House. Since almost everyone on the tour was a fan, our guide stopped and let us take some pics closer up to the house.



I motioned before that my daughter and I love Gilmore Girls. It was so cool to see all the sets from the show (since that is coming back as well for 4 90 minute episodes. We got to see Lorelai's house, Miss Patty’s dance studio, Luke’s Diner and of course the town square. Once again, I was surprised that it was so small. If you also watched the show Heart of Dixie you will recognize the town square and the gazebo as they are the one and same. If I paid closer attention, I would have realized that, but I didn’t, so I thought that was neat. I told you I watch a lot of TV.



For the next part we were on our own for about 20 mins to a half hour. We were able to wonder around the archive museum and look at costumes from Superman, Wonder Woman, and Suicide Squad etc. We also got to look at the first copies of some of the comic books. They were of course wrapped in plastic and protected in cases so nobody could actually touch them.


I think my husband’s favorite part of the tour was seeing all the vehicles used in the Bat Man movies. I have to admit, I thought it was pretty cool as well. The vehicles were ones that they actually used in the movies. I think Darin would have loved it if he could actually take one for a spin in real life and not just on the green screen. He did have an opportunity to get on a bike and have a video made of him riding it, and of course wearing a cape (can’t forget the cape). He had so much fun. While we were looking at the vehicles we were also able to turn the bat signal on and off.




The last stop of the guided tour was to see some of the lots. We were able to go inside Ellen’s lot and see where she shoots the show. We also got to see the riffraff room. I wish we were able to take pictures but it wasn’t allowed at that time. If you want to get tickets to her show, plan about 6 months in advance as they are very sought after and takes time to get in. If you go and aren’t able to get inside and sit, you go to the riffraff room. However, if that happens Ellen does give you another ticket that guarantees the next time you will sit in the audience. You can find tickets to, Conan, Ashton Kutcher’s show The Ranch and other talk shows free of charge.



That was the end of the guided tour. They dropped us off at studio 49, and from there we could go at our own pace. This is where I was able to take the picture on the Friends Couch, where Darin had the video taken. This studio is very hands on and you can dive more into how things are done and create your own batmobile. We were also able to look at some props from shows like the cross from the Exorcist, Phoebe’s guitar, and the trophies from the Emmy’s, Oscars and Golden Globes.  




The Warner Bros Studio is open Daily and main tours last around 2 hours (minus the self tour part at the end). If you want the deluxe tour that is possible as well, however the times aren’t as open as space is limited and takes about 6 hours. If you love TV like I do, I recommend you take a look at this tour and visit the next time you are in LA.




Please like us on facebook so you can get updates, new giveaway listings, and more

Disclosure: The above item was received in order to facilitate review. I have not been compensated for this post. Top Notch Material blog will always provide honest opinions, beliefs or experiences on products reviewed. We will only recommend products or services that we feel are of benefit to our readers. If you have any questions, please contact me at katrina dot gehman {at} gmail com. The disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

34 comments:

  1. This was awesome! Thanks for a great post. I would love to go there one day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, that is so awesome. Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us. I am home bound a lot of the time, so the only way I get to travel all over the world is virtually.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like a great trip! Thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would love to go visit here sounds like alot of fun

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wish I had money to see the movie.Looks interesting.Not a big fan of CGI though.That motorcycle is very nice!Thank you for the trailer!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This looks like something we would enjoy...Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Out of all of the TV shows you mentioned, I've ony seen one, lol. "Full House".

    ReplyDelete
  8. This studio looks worth checking into visiting next time I am vacationing. The Victorian home looks a lot like Full House.

    ReplyDelete
  9. would love to do that, live in indiana so probably no chance for me but i'm glad you got to go really looks fun

    ReplyDelete
  10. That looks like so much fun!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Looks like you had lots of fun!
    The flashy sofa cough looks like a musical theater stage I played music for in pit. Fun.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a fun adventure! This isn't far from where I live. My family must check this out. Looks like a fun time. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is awesome. Something I will have to keep in mind for the future.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Id love to do this,and you told me about wheelchair access which really helps! Awesome pictures here too

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a fun place to visit. We have Universal here which is a lot like this.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Looks like a great experience! Thanks for sharing :]

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh wow. The sets look so cool. I'd love to do this with my boys. You musta had so much fun!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sheila M. My favorite thing to see would be the superhero costumes and the batman vehicles. It would be really fun to take pictures with these!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow!!! Thanks for sharing your trip, looks like you had a great time.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow! That is so awesome! Looks like a great trip!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh my gosh this looks so fun! What a great experience. So amazing what they do for backdrops and sets.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I would love to visit half of those places you went to, I really love how you was able to sit and relax in that picture,

    ReplyDelete
  23. Awesome! Thanks for sharing with us... Looks like you all had a great time!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow everything from Batman cars to the rifraff room to Phoebe's guitar - and sooo much more. I'd love to do this sometime!!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. What a great experience! It sounds like a lot of fun!

    Nancy
    allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  26. this looks so fun. i am not a huge tv fan these days but would be like this on the gilmore girls set, lol

    ReplyDelete
  27. Fantastic adventure..much like the Twilight Zone adventure t Disneyland..oly more elaborate

    ReplyDelete
  28. This really looks like a great family time ! I'd love to bring my stepson.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'm so jealous you got to see the Full House house! Oh childhood, those were the days!

    ReplyDelete
  30. This looks like so much fun, now it's on my bucket list.

    ReplyDelete
  31. What an awesome tour! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  32. So fun, wish me and my family could experience this.

    ReplyDelete