Live From: Bliss 5 Day Coastal Mar 31-Apr 5 with Hollywood Pre Cruise

[ceilidh1]

Another early start this morning as we headed to the Warner Brothers studio tour. I braved the included breakfast at the hotel - toast, bagels, waffles, oatmeal , coffee, juices. Pretty basic. It’s a little nuts as they have one staff member serving all the food and it’s impossible for her to keep up. Still, it’s free and it filled the hunger gap.

 

Uneventful Lyft ride and we are at the studios awaiting our tour. So far it’s been a lot “wait here”, go into this room, wait another 10 minutes, go into this room, wait another 10 minutes. Not a lot of touring or info just yet 🤣

[lennythenose]

3 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

undercover Tourist site. We’ve used them a lot for Disney and universal and they are great. The Universal site was sold out for the day I wanted!

Love, love undercover tourist. We used it for Disney twice and stay on their email list even though I have no trips planned just so I don’t forget the site. 

[ceilidh1]

I might be fan- girling a little right now! On our tour at Warner Brothers I spotted Missy from Young Sheldon and may or may not have shrieked. She turned and waved to me.,,

[fethiyeden]

4 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Things I wish I packed part 2

 

- Toilet paper: Yes, the hotel provides it. BUT it is not the triple soft, super thick, cashmere, velour brand I use at home. Not sure if anyone here is familiar with the “paper” they used to have in British elementary school bathrooms. This was actually boxes of what can only be described as squares of plastic. I know it’s not really plastic, but it sure as heck wasn’t paper either. This stuff was stiff, waxy, slippery, crinkly and not designed to serve the purpose for which it was attended. The hotel paper isn’t that bad, but of all the paper I have ever used, this one is up there as second worst. 
 

- Sunscreen: I know, always use it even when there’s no sun. I know this. I don’t follow this. I only ever use sunscreen if I’m somewhere super hot or I’m heading to the beach. For this time of year it never even entered my head to bring it to LA. My face is a beautiful shade of lobster this morning!

Haha. Izal toilet paper it was like the non stick grease proof paper you use in your oven for baking! 

[ceilidh1]

Just finished the Warner Brothers tour. Very enjoyable. The first hour is on a tram where you drive around with a guide. We got to see the sets of a bunch of different movies and shows and were able to get off the tram and walk around in some of the spots. DS was excited about the Young Sheldon and Abbott Elementary sets as he recognized them. 
 

The next two hours or so were self guided and we got to see and learn about how different aspects of movies and shows are made. Soundwork, lighting, special effects, etc. We had photo opportunities on the Friends couch and Harry Potter stuff. There was some cool interactive stuff for Harry Potter and DC which we both enjoyed! Very fun morning out.

[ConnieTact]

On 3/26/2024 at 10:06 PM, ceilidh1 said:

An uneventful flight got us into LAX 20 minutes early! I am plagued by seat kickers whenever I fly but @YVRteachergave me a tip to choose seats in front of the emergency row. We did that this time and no seat kicking. Now I need to figure out how to get rid of this from the person in front of me..

A pair of scissors? 😅

[ConnieTact]

Following with interest as we are on the Bliss in early May. Thanks for doing a Live! 

[ceilidh1]

After the studio tour, we got a Lyft back to the hotel for a quick bathroom break and freshen up then headed down to Hollywood Boulevard for the hop on hop off bus. The narrated tour was ok, but the actual timings were off so some things they were talking about we had either already passed or were nowhere near! We did see the major sights, though, and hopped off at La Brea tarpits. We spent an enjoyable afternoon at La Brea then hopped back on the bus to complete the loop and end where we began. 
 

I realized that I hadn’t had lunch (DS had pizza at Warner Brothers at 11am) and I was starving. However, DS was wilting fast and I figured that rather than go find something to eat we should just grab something to take back to the room and enjoy our white castle burgers that we had got in target!

 

Back in the hotel we feasted on White Castle, chips, sprite, and mango mimosa. I almost had a meltdown when I couldn’t get the top to pop on my mimosa bottle. I pulled so hard that the cork snapped. Luckily, the front desk had a corkscrew so I was able to ease the remains out in an unconventional champagne cork popping style.

[ceilidh1]

On a side note, what’s the deal with the price of chips in this city? I have sticker shock every time I buy chips in Vancouver, but they are even more expensive in Hollywood! I literally paid the same in USD as I would pay in CAD so that’s a 30% higher price!!!! Why???

[ConnieTact]

10 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

After the studio tour, we got a Lyft back to the hotel for a quick bathroom break and freshen up then headed down to Hollywood Boulevard for the hop on hop off bus. The narrated tour was ok, but the actual timings were off so some things they were talking about we had either already passed or were nowhere near! We did see the major sights, though, and hopped off at La Brea tarpits. We spent an enjoyable afternoon at La Brea then hopped back on the bus to complete the loop and end where we began. 
 

I realized that I hadn’t had lunch (DS had pizza at Warner Brothers at 11am) and I was starving. However, DS was wilting fast and I figured that rather than go find something to eat we should just grab something to take back to the room and enjoy our white castle burgers that we had got in target!

 

Back in the hotel we feasted on White Castle, chips, sprite, and mango mimosa. I almost had a meltdown when I couldn’t get the top to pop on my mimosa bottle. I pulled so hard that the cork snapped. Luckily, the front desk had a corkscrew so I was able to ease the remains out in an unconventional champagne cork popping style.

Fab pics!

[ceilidh1]

I’ve done some research into these cute little robots that are everywhere here. Apparently they are used for Uber eats delivery. So now, of course, I want to order Uber eats to get a robot, but you can’t request a robot. It’s random. Today I spent 15 minutes stalking one of them until it got “stuck” as it couldn’t get down from the curb. I wanted to help it. I literally stood there debating if I should do something for a good 5 minutes. It was like the robot just gave up all hope. ***** off its lights, closed its eyes and just shut down. I need one of these in my life!

[cruiseny4life]

11 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

On a side note, what’s the deal with the price of chips in this city? I have sticker shock every time I buy chips in Vancouver, but they are even more expensive in Hollywood! I literally paid the same in USD as I would pay in CAD so that’s a 30% higher price!!!! Why???

Frito-Lay is just killing any chip desire in the US. How they're still selling them, I do not know! $5 for a bunch of fried potatoes? Nope! We've cut down chip consumption to probably 75% of what we used to consume two years ago. I don't care if it's inflation, supply chain, or (more accurately) corporations being greedy, I'm not paying chip prices! The only exception is when we're at BJ's and see they have a decent mix and match deal (not every trip this happens). 

 

Please know, I'm not judging you purchasing chips! If I were on vacation, in a foreign city, I would too. Just not in my every day now. 

 

As to more fun things though - your trip looks great! I'm glad you and kiddo are having a lovely time. 

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Frito-Lay is just killing any chip desire in the US. How they're still selling them, I do not know! $5 for a bunch of fried potatoes? Nope! We've cut down chip consumption to probably 75% of what we used to consume two years ago. I don't care if it's inflation, supply chain, or (more accurately) corporations being greedy, I'm not paying chip prices! The only exception is when we're at BJ's and see they have a decent mix and match deal (not every trip this happens). 

 

Please know, I'm not judging you purchasing chips! If I were on vacation, in a foreign city, I would too. Just not in my every day now. 

 

As to more fun things though - your trip looks great! I'm glad you and kiddo are having a lovely time. 

Ok, so this chip insanity is a thing! I thought I was going crazy. It’s ok though as I did girl math and paid $3.99 for pringles rather than $5.49 for lays. DS was quick to point out that pringles have half the amount of chips. He doesn’t understand girl math,

[edspec]

@ceilidh1 I have a question for you, can you send me a message at leslie_gene   at yahoo?  Thank-you.

[ceilidh1]

Our hotel has been very quiet at night and in the morning, but this morning (ironically the only morning we weren’t needing to get up at stupid o’clock) we were rudely awakened by yelling, screaming kids playing what appeared to be tag in the hallway outside the door. This was 7am. I mean, come on! I’m a parent. I get it. Kids are excited and having fun. But i would never have let my kids do something like that - heck mine wouldn’t be allowed to run up and down hallways, period. Never mind at 7am. I sometimes wonder about parents…

[tcmagnum]

3 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Ok, so this chip insanity is a thing! I thought I was going crazy. It’s ok though as I did girl math and paid $3.99 for pringles rather than $5.49 for lays. DS was quick to point out that pringles have half the amount of chips. He doesn’t understand girl math,

He will never understand 'girl math'.  But I got it immediately!!

[ceilidh1]

Today was our hike to the Hollywood sign with LA Bikes and Hikes. We chose the easy/intermediate hike so knew we wouldn’t be going to the very top. The hike meeting point was Innsdale Trailhead, which was a $20 Lyft fare from our hotel. The group doing the hike was huge - lots of kids and families. Tour guide Sarah mentioned several times that she usually didn’t have such big groups.

 

The hike itself was very easy - I would put it at a walk rather than a hike. Very well defined trails and, for this one at least, you could do it without any kind of guide. Sarah was great for pointing out landmarks and interesting bits of info. She showed us the former homes of Mama Cass, Mick Jagger, and Madonna. 
 

I was in my happy place the whole time. I love being in nature (though my first live is the ocean) and seeing the cacti and succulents just filled me with joy. DS was not so thrilled and was counting down the minutes until we were done. We had great views of both the sign and the LA landscape, and I enjoyed every second. The entire hike took just under two hours, so this was perfect for us!

[ceilidh1]

After the hike, we got a Lyft back to the hotel and dropped our stuff before going in search of food. Today was DS’s turn to choose where to eat. Much to my dismay, he had his heart set on Johnny Rocketts. We used to have one in Vancouver and it was his favourite place. He was so sad when it closed down, so as soon as he spotted one here he made up his mind to eat there. So, off to Johnny Rockets we went!

[ceilidh1]

After lunch we went to Madame Tussaud’s. This is a place I have wanted to visit for as long as I can remember, but it has never quite worked out. DD is literally terrified at the thought of being among people who look real but aren’t, so we have always just not done it. Today, I got to fulfil my wish as DS was more than happy to visit. Let’s just say that I’m glad I went and got it out of my system, but I will never need to return. In a word, it was “creepy”. I expected those figures to just come to life any minute - like when someone is pretending to be a statue and then jumps out at you. I think I set a record for how quickly you can get through that museum. On the plus side, the 4D Marvel movie they showed was very well done and one of the best 4Ds I’ve seen.

[ceilidh1]

When we were researching this trip, we decided that we would each choose 2 activities we wanted to do. My two were Warner Brothers Studio and the Hollywood sign. DS chose Universal and going to see a movie at the Chinese Theatre. I’m sure the latter was a form of revenge for my making him hike today. I’m not a movie theatre person at all and I was not thrilled at the thought of going. I was even less thrilled at his choice of movie - King Kong vs Godzilla. What now????? How is this even a thing? I despise made up monster movies such as this. But this was his choice, so off we went. Firstly, the theatre is beautiful and the seats were so comfortable. It’s a much nicer theatre than any I’ve been to previously. On to the movie…I can safely say it was probably the worst movie I have ever seen in my life!!

[ceilidh1]

After the movie, DS spotted the Ghirardelli store and decided an ice cream was needed. This is what a $22 sundae looks like..,yes, that’s $22

[ceilidh1]

Back at the hotel I did some laundry and need to get packed up as tomorrow we head to San Pedro for our pre cruise tradition of staying the night before at Crown Plaza.

[ricksurf]

Good Saturday Morning; loved your photos and your visit to Southern California. Sadly, it's raining this morning; not our fault here. Blame it on Mother Nature.  If you are going to Long Beach, then a good place to visit in the rain would be the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach Shoreline Village.  Also, many nice places to eat in that area.

[ceilidh1]

5 hours ago, ricksurf said:

Good Saturday Morning; loved your photos and your visit to Southern California. Sadly, it's raining this morning; not our fault here. Blame it on Mother Nature.  If you are going to Long Beach, then a good place to visit in the rain would be the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach Shoreline Village.  Also, many nice places to eat in that area.

We are moving over to San Pedro this morning and have no plans to do anything other than eat dinner at San Pedro brewing. I’m more familiar with Long Beach and San Pedro than with Hollywood but we are just going to chill and decompress today. Tomorrow is cruise day!!!!

[ceilidh1]

Bye Bye Hollywood, Hello San Pedro…

 

Parting Thoughts: I’m glad we chose to stay in Hollywood as a base as it was the closest place to all of the attractions we wanted to visit. That being said, I think our biggest expense while here has been Lyft rides to and from each place. 
 

Hotel: I don’t foresee us ever having to stay in the Hollywood area again but if we did I would definitely consider staying here. It’s literally around the corner from Loews Hotel so very central and safe (for this area). The hotel was clean and quiet and the staff were wonderful. The breakfast is very basic but this was one of the few places that even offered breakfast. My only complaint would be the lack of coffee throughout the day. Once breakfast is over the coffee is taken away. Even though we had a room with a kitchen, there was no coffee maker or kettle so no ability to make your own. Still a solid 8/10 for the hotel though!

 

Area: As you can imagine, the place is packed with tourists and everyone wants those tourist dollars. I’m savvy enough to know not to accept those offers of “free” photos, or take those cards being thrust in your face as you navigate the walk of fame. This was all too much for my nervous 12 year old and he was in full sensory overload the whole time. I loved the energy but he was not comfortable in this environment at all.

 

Food: Lots of options to get food but it was definitely higher priced than I’m used to in the U.S. it was more akin to Vancouver pricing! Even Target and CVS were way over priced…and why is laundry detergent and deodorant locked away???

 

Things that made me smile: On our hike in the hills, the guide pointed out a big 3 bedroom, beautiful house with stunning views that just sold for $2 million. Everyone was horrified. Living in Vancouver and knowing you wouldn’t even buy a 2 bedroom crummy apartment for that price…I smiled. Maybe it’s time to move!