This fall I spent a week in Los Angeles doing all the fun tourist stuff OLV readers are always asking about, including the Warner Brothers VIP Studio Tour.
I have to confess the reason I chose the WB tour over the others was only because I wanted to see the town square and gazebo that was once Stars Hollow on The Gilmore Girls and is now Bluebell on Hart of Dixie. But, unfortunately, that set was being used for the movie Jersey Boys the day I took the tour so I wasn’t able to see it.
I was extremely lucky though that I did get to see the Hart of Dixie soundstages instead. Touring Zoe’s Office, The Butter Stick, and the Rammer Jammer totally made up for it!
That’s the only problem with this particular tour – you never know what you’re going to get. I was ecstatic to spend time in “Bluebell” but the older folks on the tour had no idea what Hart of Dixie was and probably would have enjoyed seeing something (or anything) else much more. I’ve also heard from fans who have taken the tour and only got to see the Pretty Little Liars sets which is great if you’re a PLL fan but you can’t know which set you’ll see on which tour and they rarely take fans through both.
On the plus side, the WB guides are great. They’re knowledgeable, personable and they don’t push the guests too much like some other tours where you’re constantly getting “called on” (I’m looking at you TMZ).
Overall, I think any movie or TV fan would find the drive around the studio interesting since there is so much to see. Our guide stopped in front of Ashton Kutcher’s parking spot outside of Two and a Half Men, the helicopter landing pad from ER, a small strip of grass that doubled as Central Park in Friends, the courthouse used in Night Court and other TV shows, some prop trucks for Pretty Little Liars, the studio’s offices that double as a motel when needed, and other notable locations on the lot.
Our guide also let us walk through a display of famous cars, like the Batmobile, the Soyuz from The Big Bang Theory, and the Scooby Doo van, a prop house with everything from Presidential seals to $100,000 chandeliers, the Central Perk set from Friends where everyone got to sit on the couch and have their picture taken (a big hit with the old folks), and a small museum with a display of costumes and props from Harry Potter, Man of Steel, and other popular movies.
The best feature of the WB tour is the tram size. Each tram only seats 10 or 12 people so everyone has a good vantage point and when you do stop you’re only waiting for the guide to gather 10 people, instead of 30 or 40.
Overall it was a good experience. I didn’t see any celebrities (though I’ve heard others have) and I didn’t see the one spot I was most looking forward to but I’m still glad I did it and would highly recommend it.
If you go, definitely buy your tickets online in advance as the tours tend to sell out and get there early. The tours meet in the gift shop and you will have to check in when you get there so it can be kind of chaotic.
Tickets are $52 and can be purchased at: https://viptourstickets.warnerbros.com/ecommerce/itemlist.aspx.
Check out a few photos from the tour below:
My friend and I took the WB tour back in 1988. The was a writers strike on so no work or star were suposed to be there. On the walking tour I was almost run over by a car leaving the set. I was just about to say something to the driver when I froze to the spot, mouth open speachless. Clint Eastwood was the driver, he stopped and spoke to the group but I couldn’t say a word due to being star struck. Beside the Clint meeting the rest of the tour was fantastic well worth it. We are coming back to WB August 2014. We have been on other tours when in LA but WB was the best
[…] Luke’s Diner was a favorite breakfast spot for the residents of Stars Hollows, especially regulars Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, who just couldn’t start their day without a cup of Luke’s joe. “Gilmore Girls” fans will be disappointed to know the diner doesn’t exist in real life, but you can see where the set once stood on a VIP tour of Warner Brothers studio in Los Angeles. […]