it's been awhile since I lived in LA, so my info isn't the most current, but your plan sounds like a good one. I'd say one of the tours is plenty, but you might enjoy getting something to eat, and taking in the sites on Universal Citywalk.

Santa Monica is a good place to stay, and your son might enjoy the Third Avenue Promenade and just doing some "people watching".

Also, check out Audiences Unlimited or other sites to see if you can get into a studio audience for a tv show - guaranteed way to see some "celebrities" (although the filming is usually pretty boring and time consuming).

He might also enjoy visiting Westwood and UCLA campus which is convenient to Santa Monica.

I can’t comment on the studio tours, some are kind of hokey.

Disneyland is always great. One day should cover it. You can go early and stay until you are done.

Santa Monica is a good area to stay. There are posts that discuss hotels in the Santa Monica area. You will want to check out the Third Street Promenade while you are there.

Venice Beach on the weekends is a crazy fun place.

A drive out to Malibu would be nice, weather permitting.

I would also check out The Getty, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Huntington Library Museum, Farmers Market (3rd and Fairfax) and The Grove.

My advice for bumping into stars, is to stay at the Chateau Marmont. There is an interesting book about all the Hollywood action that has taken place there, so it is educational as well. It has gotten pricey, but it is worth it for a couple of nights, I think. You can hang out at the pool, and mingle in the lobby, and poke around the bungalows, and even have a key to the pool area you can get to off Sunset. It is a feast for the imagination, and the adults who stay there can go to the Bar Marmont next door. I've seen Tommy Cruise (Penelope days) and Robert Downey Jr. (pre rehab days) and others.

I think if you go to the Hollywood Bowl, and cruise the front rows you'll see some stars. I've seen Warren Beatty, and Val Kilmer and others at Bob Dylan shows there.

I think if you want to go to the Magic Castle, you have to stay at the hotel there, unless you are invited by a member. It is really fun, in a musty, over the top way. I really like the Magic Castle Hotel, and I have spent 2 nights there, and 2 nights at the Chateau Marmont for the perfect LA trip. The Magic Castle is walking distance to Grauman's Chinese, and even the Hollywood Bowl. It's a fun area to walk around, and there is an interesting Japanese restaurant, Yamashiro's, just up the hill.

Another motel is the Farmer's Daughter. When I stayed there last, there was a big Maxim party, so lots of stars that I didn't recognize at the pool. That motel is right by the Farmer's Market, another place to look for stars with babies.

It's fun to see a television taping, even when it is a dumb show. We saw Dennis Miller HBO show, and it was impressive for my son to see the beyond the scenes audience rituals.

Does Julia Roberts still live in Venice Beach? I was there just walking around, and there is a section on the beach boardwalk where papparazi wait for stars.

You should have lunch at the Ivy, or some other other celebrity restaurants, and shop in Beverly Hills. I bet you'll see some domesticated stars at the Beverly Hills Farmer's market. Also at good seats at Dodger's games.

The Griffith Park Observatory is beautiful, and many movies have been filmed there.

Everybody else's ideas are great! Just remember traffic is cumbersome.

Also try eating at Joan's on Third and Urth Cafe, and shop till you drop (too bad it's a son and not a daughter) on Robertson Boulevard in BH. Lots of celebs hang out there.

Thanks for the advice so far. Still no comparison of different studio tours - any comments on Sony vs Warner Brothers vs Paramount?

Yes, we do plan to try and see a tv show taping if we can. Unfortunately, they only post available tickets a few weeks in advance. The sites I've found for tv tickets are http://www.tvtickets.com/
http://www.tvtix.com/
http://www.jeopardytickets.tv/
http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Tickets/
http://www.ocatv.com/shows
Do you know of any others?

Also, how far is it from Hollywood to Disneyland? I was thinking we could stay a few days in Santa Monica and then a couple days at Magic Castle (so we can see a show there). Don't want to move 3X, but don't want to drive over an hour to get to a day at Disneyland either.

We were in LA a couple of months ago and took the Warner Brothers studio tour - our 16 year old loved it! In fact, we all enjoyed it!

I'd start checking with places in Santa Monica now. I undertand most of the reasonable hotels are booked through summer. That might determine where you end up staying.

In the hot summer you really need to stay by the shore, but it's not convenient to most of what you plan to do. Prepare your son for lots of traffic, which is a sure-thing, but not many star sightings, they're hit-and-miss.

Universal is more an amusement park than a tour, especially if do the WB tour. Try to do an afternoon WB tour then a WB show that night, you could visit Hollywood Walk of Fame that morning as they're only 5 minutes away from each other.

If you're from the east coast, you'll probably be waking up early and take advantage of that fact to head down to Disneyland at 6:30am before traffic, have breakfast nearby . Between 8 and 10am can be a nightmare on the freeways. Otherwise it's maybe 40 min drive from Hollywood.

Museums, and "tour of Beverly Hills" should be done on Sat/Sun when traffic is much easier, especially before noon.

I am no where near a teenager, but took my first trip to LA last year to visit. I was prepared to dislike everything but loved it all! Can't comment on tours, but all the suggestions so far are great. Definitely Graumans, the 3rd street Promedade, the Grove and Venice beach would all be interesting to your son. You might enjoy the ride through the hills and canyons down to the coast and the Griffeth Observatory area, and Silverlake(?)area from which you can see the Holly wood sign.

We'll be there over July 4th. I checked online & it looks like Santa Monica has their festival & fireworks a week in advance. Any advice on where to spend the 4th?

Redondo Beach has Fireworks shot over the ocean on July 4th. You can reserve seats at the Seaside Lagoon.

http://www.redondofireworks.com/index.php?link=fireworks

If you like art at all, you should really go to the Getty. The architecture and the grounds alone are fantastic.

We have reserved a week at the Doubletree Suites in Santa Monica. Probably will cut that short a couple days and spend 2 days in Anaheim, but haven't yet made that reservation. Is there anything else in the Orange County area worth seeing?

Also, what other suggestions do you have re the 4th of July? It looks like Redondo Beach is pretty far from Santa Monica. We're from the DC area, so are used to bad traffic, but that doesn't mean we enjoy it.

Also, does anyone know how to arrange for surfing lessons at the beach? Can we do it at the last minute or do we need to make arrangements before we get there?

Thanks for your help.

Marina del Rey has a fireworks show and is closer to Santa Monica:

http://beaches.co.la.ca.us/BandH/Events/July.htm#fireworks

Traffic will be miserable getting in and out of any fireworks show. Maybe you can rent some bikes to get down there.

For surf lessons, check: www.kanoaaquatics.com/

I just want to agree with several posters about where to see the stars in their natural habitat: Joans on Third, Urth Cafe and The Ivy. And Chateau Marmont is a divine hotel.

I think u should also go to Beverly Hills or Long Beach, if that isnt too mush of a drive for you. If your son is celeb crazy yeah you should go there. Also take him to Universal Studios but last I heard part of it was burned down.

GO TO DISNEYLAND!!!11 However, if your son's school is traditonal and not year round, it would be painful to get to Disneyland late because of the long
lines.

Go to Disneyland at around opening time.

I think I would be impressed if I saw stuff from old movies. Especially movies that are black and white and silent and aren't sold anymore.

I'm the man you want to talk to on this subject. I live in Santa Monica right off of Montana St. which is a big celebrity hang out. They have small boutique shops and layed back yet expensive little restaurants. I do strongly suggest Father's Office. The best burger and fries you will ever have but it is busy all the time. I go there at least once a week. Bratt Pitt, Angelina Jolie and all their kids seem to be there pretty often. This place is swarming with celebs but I do warn you that this place is kind of this communities little secret and one of the few places celebs can be left alone to eat their food in peace. So if you swarm to them and bug them they will just not go here anymore and it will ruin the experience for everyone. Just sit in a corner and stare. Besides you might be booted from the place pretty quickly if the staff see their being bugged. These people are after all regulars of this place.

I wouldn't recommend staying on Sunset just because it's not great for teens. Lots of crime and druggies. People always so there are tons of celebs on Sunset which is kind of true. They are usually driving in their car or sitting in a nice hotel somewhere at a bar.

More celebrity hot spots are Robertson Blvd. It's real easy to spot celebs here. Just look for the paparazzi and poof....there's a celebrity, usually not a big one though. Those celebs shop on Montana where there is no papa or tourists.

As far as a tour, being a local I've never been to one. As far as the Magic Castle. You must be invited or be a member. Even if you were lucky enough to get a pass, which you won't, you must be 21 or over to enter which isn't good for your teen. But you can drive by it and see it from the outside. It's up on a hill so you might miss it if you didn't know it was there.

You should stay at the Huntley Santa Monica. Beautiful views of the Pacific, the pier and Malibu, especially from the top floor restaurant. The food aint that great and the service sucks but this is LA so expect that with a hefty price tag. The hotel actually is a great value. Very hip, trendy, a celeb hot spot at the bar at night. As far as the Doubletree goes you probably won't be rubbing elbows with the stars there.

You have to do Hollywood Blvd, Third St Promenade, The Grove, Rodeo Drive and Santa Monica beach just to get the whole LA experience. After that try what I suggested, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I'm also a local, but I have had the opportunity to tour the area with out-of-town relatives (my late sister's husband and four kids) a few months ago.

The Santa Monica recos are all good. As far as hotels go, the Huntley is reasonably-priced and indeed in a good location, despite the lousy restaurant. I like the Art Déco gem on Ocean, the Georgian, as well, and the Fairmont Miramar. Shopping and people-gawking on the Third Street Promenade is fun, and the occasional famous person can be seen walking around (recent sightings: Diane Keaton and her little girl, Jamie Lee Curtis and her son).

Good eateries in the SM downtown area: The Lobster, Ocean Ave. Seafood, Border Grill, Mélisse (VERY expensive), i. Cugini, Bar Pintxo (food can be a bit over-salted).

The places on Robertson where the most blatant attention-hungry "celebs" go would include the Ivy (bad food, good views for paparazzi), Kitson and Fred Segal. It's all a bit pathetic; if they had real talent, they wouldn't need to engage the paparazzi, but....

Of the studio tours you list, the ONLY choice IMHO is Warner Bros. Great, informative tour.

Hollywood was the least favorite part of my family's visit, but at least they can say they had been there. YMMV.

Long Beach?! I live there, I love it, but it's not a particularly essential part of an LA area tour. Other than, I suppose, the Queen Mary, which is fun, and maybe the Aquarium of the Pacific, or some of the historic adobes, or the Museum of Latin American Art. Few "celebs" live in the area-- I can think of Vicki Lawrence offhand, and Sandra Bullock and Jesse James take their dogs to my vet in Los Alamitos (they live in Sunset Beach).

Oh, if you're still wondering about the drive between Hollywood and Anaheim/Disneyland: It takes about an hour. I want to say 35 miles, taking US-101 and I-5 all the way.

Other than Disney, Orange County has some good stuff. Huntington Beach is fun for an afternoon watching the surfers, walking around the downtown area at the base of the Pier, having lunch at Ruby's at the end of the Pier (my family loved it!).

Laguna Beach is gentrifying a bit too much for me-- it's getting a little too generic Rich Orange County and less Funky Artists' Community. But it still has the world-famous Festival of the Arts, with the Pageant of the Masters (tableaux vivants). And the beach is lovely, and the drive down PCH is beautiful too.

Newport Beach is ritzy, gorgeous, and Balboa Island is a bit of an oasis of funkiness amidst the ritz.

Well worth your time, if you can deal with the traffic driving down there.

Thanks again for the responses. Now I'm trying to coordinate the various things we want to do. Perhaps some of you local folks can help.

We have tickets to to see Deal or No Deal at 2pm on July 3rd at Culver Studios. We also want to see standard Hollywood sites, take the Warner Brothers tour (only offered Mon-Fri) and maybe go to the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum (if we can get our son to agree). In addition, as mentioned, we want to try a couple restaurants/shopping areas recommended above where we may see celebrities.

I don't have a good sense of which of these can be combined together in the same day. Don't want to spend all our time driving. Any advice?

Also, I'm thinking we'll spend Friday, the 4th & Saturday, the 5th in Santa Monica. Someone on another site said there would be fireworks from private beaches in the area that we could probably see. Does anyone here know about this?

There are no private beaches in California. Every beach is open to the public even if it's in someone's backyard.

FYI, traffic will be worse than usual on 7/3. Locals will have 7/4 off, and 7/3 will be "get away" day for a long weekend. Traffic in Santa Monica on 7/4 will be excruciating and not much better on 7/5. This is the busiest weekend of the summer, especially with 7/4 falling on a Friday.

There will be Fireworks in Marina del Rey on July 4th. I'd suggest staying there if you can still get a hotel reservation somewhere. Maybe the Marriott.


JULY 4 FIREWORKS EXTRAVAGANZA, MARINA DEL REY, 2008
The traditional fireworks extravaganza over the main channel in Marina del Rey will be
presented on Friday, July 4th, starting promptly at 9pm. This event is sponsored
by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. The fireworks are
choreographed to patriotic music, which will be broadcast in sync with the pyrotechnic
display over FM radio KXLU, 88.9 on the dial. The music will be relayed over loudspeakers
in Chace Park for those watching there. Call 310-305-9545 for more information.
Street Closures and Map of street closures

Actually, there are private beach clubs in Santa Monica. It is only the part of the beach below the mean high tide line that is in the public trust. The area above the line (the dry sand) needs to be owned by a public agency such as the State or County to be a "public beach".

There is a fireworks show at Santa Monica College. I don't know if the beach clubs were permitted to have fireworks this year.

http://www.smgov.net/news/releases/archive/2008/com06102008.htm

You can do Tar Pits, Hollywood, WB all in the same day, and don't miss Griffith Observatory either day or night (have your son watch Rebel Without a Cause beforehand).

You'll probably want to wait out the morning traffic so have breakfast in Santa Monica and then around 10am head for the Tar Pits, 10:30am. (You might skip the fossil museum and just explore the pits themselves depending on your son's interest.) Nearby is the Grove shopping mall and the Farmer's Market, you could kill time here from 11:30 to 1pm, then head up to Hollywood and Highland for a couple of hours. Check out the Walk of Fame, the Kodak (Oscars) theatre, the footprints at the Chinese theatre, etc. There really isn't a lot to do here unless you hang around for souvenir junk shops etc. Book the latest tour of the day at Warner Brothers which is probably around 3:30pm. After the tour, around 6pm, have dinner nearby to sit out the traffic hour. McCormick Schmicks seafood is next door to Warner Brothers, or visit the Toluca Lake neighborhood about a mile away, where Bob Hope, Henry Winkler, Roddy McDowall, Ron Howard etc have all lived. A few good restaurant choices here including Paty's Coffee Shop or Bob's Big boy.
Afterwards you have an easy drive (after 7pm) down to Griffith Observatory and you can hang there until 9 or 10pm taking in the spectacular views of the city all the way out to the ocean. Sunset there will be something your son will always remember.

A jam-packed day for sure, but if you plan wisely and move along briskly, you can fit it all in and you will b glad that you saw everything.

"... move along briskly." That's what I'm saying will be so difficult. This is a Thursday before a long weekend. Traffic is going to be awful and will not improve as the day goes on.

I'd get to the Tar Pits when it opens at 9:30 a.m. Go to Grauman's if there's time before you need to head to Culver City for the "Deal or No Deal" taping at 2:00 p.m.

Unless you plan to eat lunch on the run, you might consider going to:

Ford's Filling Station
9531 Culver Boulevard
Culver City
310-202-1470

The restaurant is about 2 long blocks from Culver Studios. The chef-owner is Harrison Ford's son. It's a little pricey and a little noisy, but the (American) food is very good.

For the Magic Castle---Under 21 is allowed on Sundays. In fact, many of the magicians that day are teenagers getting their start. I would guess that since you have a teenager along, there might be an added benefit to that. As for getting in, If you stay at the Magic Castle Hotel (which is right next door and very reasonable in cost) you are automatically allowed to go to the Castle although you'll still need to make reservations. You have to pay, it's not free, but you and your family can get in.

I just researched the Griffith Observatory,and we did not end up going because there is a theatre nearby that makes parking very difficult (or so it said). You may want to read up on that.

I would recommend you stay in Anaheim so that you can get an early start. In the summer the park opens at around 8 am depending on the day.

If you were still ambivalent about one day versus two at Disneyland....a one-day ticket as I understand only gets you into one or the other of the parks. A two-day park hopper allows access to both.

I think you can now park at the Griffith Park Observatory. No theatre. Not sure what you're talking about.

The Greek Theater. On nights with performances, you'd be better off approaching and leaving the Observatory using Western Canyon Road rather than Vermont Canyon Road (and having to get past the Greek). Parking in the Observatory's lot is limited, but parking is allowed on the roads. Theater-goers will also park on the roads.

There is shuttle service to the Observatory on weekends.

http://www.griffithobs.org/vshuttle.html

My teen daughter loved the Third Street Promenade, all of Santa Monica, really, the Getty, Westwood, Farmers Market (my favorite place, great place to eat) and the Forum. You might think about tickets to a Dodger game if they are in town. They are fun to watch. And maybe tickets to some kind of theater. I know Wicked is in town, not sure what else. They Disney Hall downtown is supposed to be pretty amazing to see. Hollywood is OK for a little while, but it is easy to tire of the crowds and the lack of celebrities. Rodeo was a waste of time in our opinion, and so was Universal Studios. Disneyland rocks and teens never tire of all there is to see. Disneyland is for all ages. You might plan to eat out of the park, though. I have never found any decent food at the Park. Maybe head to Downtown Disney for a meal. Have fun and stay cool. The traffic can really grate on your nerves. Just plan ahead and make sure he brings is IPOD to cope...

From Heavens' suggestions:

The Dodgers have no home games from late June until July 7th.

Goldstar.com has available orchestra section tickets for "Wicked" at about $65 per person for the following performances:

7/2 at 8:00 p.m.
7/4 at 8:00 p.m.
7/5 at 2:00 p.m.
7/5 at 8:00 p.m.
7/6 at 1:00 p.m.

You have to "join" Goldstar, but it's free. Just go to their website and enroll.

If you want to get two birds (or three depending on your loyalties), you could go to the Hollywood Bowl's Dodger Night on 7/2, 7/3 or 7/4. There will be fireworks (albeit small and limited due to the setting), Randy Newman will be the guest performer (with the L.A. Philharmonic), and some Dodger greats of the past will be introduced. I didn't check all the seating options, but there are tickets available for each night. Best available on 7/2 and 7/3 are excellent but cost $120 per person. Best available on 7/4 are halfway back (not bad at all) for $50 per person. If you decide to do this, look into the various Hollywood Bowl shuttle bus services available from many locations in L.A., or buy a parking ticket with your performance tickets.

There are also Hollywood Bowl tickets available for 7/5 which is Warner Brothers Broadway Night. No guest artists, and I'm not sure what type of music will be performed. It could be that Warner Brothers is just sponsoring the event, and the music will be Broadway tunes. But I really couldn't tell from the TicketMaster website.

Thanks for the helpful advice so far. Here is our tentative updated itinerary. What do you think?

Wednesday, July 2 - arrive LAX, pick up rental car and check into Doubletree Suites in Santa Monica.

Thursday, July 3 We have tickets to see Deal or No Deal in Culver City at 2 pm. That's the checkin time, not the show time. Maybe combine it with LaBrea/Page Museum and/or auto museum.

Friday , July 4 Had been thinking to hang out at beach in Santa MOnica, but maybe if it's running on the holiday, take a tour of stars' homes. I know, it sounds bad, but I think our son wants to do it. Maybe then we can get him into one museum.

Saturday, July 5 Beach day. Maybe rent bikes to Venice Beach. Also, if he can, our son would like to take a surfing lesson or two. Does anyone know if we can we arrange that once we get there? The Hollywood Bowl would be cool, but I don't know if he wants to hear the symphony. (BTW, we took him to see Wicked in NYC. We all really enjoyed it.)

Sunday, July 6 Made reservation to have lunch at The Ivy. Then will probably look around at some Hollywood sites - Grauman's theater, Walk of Fame etc.

Monday, July 7 Plan to take Warner Brothers tour. If we sign up for the 10:40a time slot that will hopefully avoid rush hour traffic. We also have tickets to another show, Championship Gaming Series at 5:30 in Santa Monica. May cancel this one to do more sightseeing.

Tuesday, July 8 Check out of Santa Monica and check in to Candy Cane Inn in Anaheim. Visit with relatives in Orange County. Depending on relatives' schedule, we may want to do something on the way. Any suggestions? Possibly a different beach, depending on the weather & our mood.

Wednesday, July 9 Disneyland

Thursday, July 10 Return to DC

Just a comment on the Hollywood Bowl. Yes, it's the L.A. Philharmonic, but on 7/5 it won't be Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc. I'm guessing Broadway show tunes or music connected to Warner Brothers Studios (cartoons, movies, TV shows). Anyway, the Hollywood Bowl experience is as much (or more) about being there, having a picnic during the performance and enjoying sitting outside on a warm L.A. night. There may even be celebrities there, but I think that's more likely on the Dodger nights.

Lots of surfing websites:

http://learntosurfla.com/html/index.htm
http://www.surfingla.com/
http://www.surfacademy.org/home.php
http://www.malibulongboards.com/

It sounds like a good trip to me, Jerirl.

And Jean, yes, it was the Greek Theatre I was reading about. Thanks for explaining that.

I would definitely try to get Hollywood Bowl tickets for July 3, after Tar Pits. (If you're running late you can skip Tar Pits). Whether he likes the music or not, it is probably one of the only places that your son will run into celebrities. (And he has to keep a sharp eye out...they don't have a sign on them that says "I'm famous!", nor do they look like they do on the red carpet!)It's also a very memorable only-in-Los-Angeles experience. Park at Hollywood & Highland mall, grab some quick picnic food-n-drink somewhere, and walk up to the Bowl with the crowds of people. (Don't try to park up at the Bowl, it's a nightmare to exit.)

Another must-visit place is The Getty Center, even if you think your son is "not into art museums". Reservations for a fine dinner there on Saturday night would be recommended....then you could get your son there under the guise of "it's a restaurant" instead of "it's a museum". Again, very memorable and only-in-Los-Angeles.

Griffith Observatory is another must. Open until 10pm so you can surely fit in a visit.

If you set your son up for seeing celebs, he may likely come home sorely disappointed. But not if you fit in all of these unique L.A. experiences that you all will remember for a very long time. He's at an age when you should be trying to open his eyes to the world, not planning your itinerary around his current likes & dislikes....don't you think?

The Ivey is incredibly overpriced, $30 chicken ceasar salads. Be forwarned. There are two locations, one in Hollywood and one in Santa Monica. My understanding is that the Ivey is not where the stars hang out, but the producers. But I could be isinformed. There might be better star gazing restaurants out there is my point...

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/

This site might have more suggestions. My experience is that you run into stars when you least expect it. We have seen quite a few just doing things in Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Haven't seen anyone on Rodeo Drive or in the real posh areas, more in restaurants and dashing by on the streets.

Good luck and be sure and give us a report when you get back as to how many stars you saw and/or recognized. That is half the battle, you might see one and never know it, or never know just who they are, there are so many young ones these days...

I agree the Ivy is grossly overpriced. There will probably be one or two recognizable people at the Robertson Blvd. location (and paparazzi hanging around), but they will be of the desperate-for-attention-and-looking-for-work types and not the A-list stars you probably hope to see. Lindsey Lohan, yes. Reese Witherspoon, no. Then again, maybe your son would rather see Lindsey or Paris.

I also agree that you probably wouldn't notice a star walking down the sidewalk. I often see actors near my office in Beverly Hills, but it takes half a block for the light bulb to go off in my head.

Just a word on Disneyland good eats for "Heavens":

There is some good food to be found in Disneyland if you know where to look: New Orleans restaurant for monte cristos, Bengal Barbeque in Adventureland for beef and chicken and asparagus skewers, Dole whips in front of the Tiki Room, bratwursts at the Fantasyland Theater, chocolate honeycombs on Main Street, fritters at the mint julep bar and clam chowder at the veranda in New Orleans Square are some of my favorites.

Last time I went to Disneyland there was fresh fruit in kiosks all over the park.

Have a great trip!

Renee...don't forget the broasted chicken at Plaza Inn!

The Tonight Show is a fun one to see. The minimum age is 16. From this site you can get all the information, as well as the guest schedule:
http://www.tonightshowinfo.com/