Los Angeles: Day Trip from Disney

Part of the joys of having children, is the opportunity to play during the summer months. This summer, we were offered an opportunity to go to California. Specifically, we were to go to Disneyland for a five day trek for Dance the Magic. In actuality, this area has so much to offer that with six days on the ground, we took the first full day to explore and well…not Disney.

First, I should mention that renting a car from LAX really doesn’t make sense if you are staying near Disney and if that is the focus of your vacation. There are plenty of rental cars in the area and most resorts/hotels have ways to link you to their favorite rental car places. We were able to acquire a Mustang for a day for $30.00. There are so many options to choose from in the Los Angeles area, that it was hard to decide where to head that Mustang to.

Eventually, we opted for grocery shopping and then the Warner Brother’s Studio Tour. I had done Paramount on a previous trip and was trying to find a tour that would suit the children. Everything in LA is overpriced and really, this tour is no different. $54 a person. However, the guide was bubbly and very knowledgeable and catered the tour for our group. We had time to see the museum on site that had the Batman memorabilia and the important Harry Potter collection. I loved being “sorted’ by the official sorting hat. Other things to note about the tour is that it does start with a video and you have to go with a guide. Bring water! The guide is at the mercy of taping and shows happening on site so you need to be a bit flexible. The kids really enjoyed it so it was good fun. Take lots of money for the souvenirs. From there, the top went down on the car.

We piled in and we drove to the Griffith Observatory. This was an unexpected find. It was free admission to the observatory. From here, there are incredible views through the smog to the Hollywood sign and downtown LA. There is also some amazing space related exhibitions and the seismograph detailing earthquakes. There is the main telescope and a planetarium. The planetarium was closed at the time. Best of all, in the heat of the day it is air conditioned. They have very helpful staff and lots of things to see and do. I would actually recommend a good couple of hours here.

Then, we drove through Beverley Hills to Rodeo Drive. We saw an awesome car and kept going to the beach. In this case, we hit the Santa Monica Pier for beach time and coffee. There is a wicked playground and we happened to see search and rescue practising. We spent some lovely downtime in the sand before heading back with a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf coffee…my favorite.

Warner Brothers Lot

Batman costumes

Being sorted

The drive back to Disney was long. It was so worth it to explore and escape the crazy that was and ever will be downtown D for the rest of the crazy in downtown LA.

Burbank on Dwellable