Hi, my 15 year old son and I are stopping over in LA for a day and a half, on our way from Australia to New York, is it worth the time and money to go to universal studios? Also, is it a good idea to go on one of the tours to see everything or a waste? All thoughts gratefully appreciated.

For a 15 year old it's worth it, yes. It's more rides/attractions related however, only about 45 mins is an actual tram tour of the studio/movie history etc. It's not close to LAX airport or particularly quick to reach, however, what time is your arrival and your departure from LAX? Probably best to spend the night right at Universal Hilton or Sheraton. They have tour desks that can help you with any other tour you want to take though I doubt you have time for much. From Universal, however, you can easily take the subway down to Hollywood Walk of Fame which is a 5 min walk + 5 min ride from the Universal hotels.

And a little farther on the subway from Hollywood is downtown L.A. You and/or your son might enjoy the Grammy Museum.

www.grammymuseum.org

Thanks, I think we will give universal studios a visit and then head into Hollywood. You've been very helpful, thanks

I don't care for it myself and would rather take a real studio tour, Warner Bros has very frequent ones that last about two hours in small groups. Paramount and Sony also have tours. However your son might well enjoy it.
Are you looking for a movie tour or a theme park? Universal is both. For a good theme park, maybe look into Six Flags Magic Mountain, tons of roller coastes. However you need a car to get there. Via public transit would take several hours and 2-3 changes from bus-metro-bus each way.