Trip Completed> Los Angeles - Food, Sights, Tours?

[Kerlo]

Hey All, I'm leaving for LA on the 19th and since i'm travelling on a student's budget for 6 days, I was wondering if anyone that's been there could recommend a few things.

Does anyone know of any cheap places in LA to eat that's not fast food? ie. buffets and stuff?

Also since we are only there for six days, of which about four are fully occupied, are there any good (cheap or free) sights/tours that we should do for the other two days?

Things that are already on our schedule are:
Six Flags Magic Mountain
A general bus tour of Hollywood (recommendations?)
A taping of "Listen Up" (Anyone heard of/like show? It's with George from Seinfeld and Theo from the Cosby Show. I've never seen it myself but it's free :lol: )
Beach (recommendations? Temperature isn't that good right now though . . .)

Keep in mind we are doing this on a budget!

Thanks,

Kerlo

[mtevie]

Food is not cheap man!!

I went to a burger rest but can't recall the name in IRVINE!

[Carnage]

Things that are already on our schedule are:
Six Flags Magic Mountain


Too bad you're going to be there 1 weekend too late. I'm going to be there the weekend before there.

Going down there for 2 coaster events which offer ERT(exclusive ride time) during off park hours.

If you're looking for other amusement parks there is also Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland/Disneys California adventure. Those 3 parks are in Anehiem(just south of LA). There's also Universal Hollywood close by.

Edit: Oh an just in case you didn't know Six Flags season passes are good for all Six Flags parks. This includes La Ronde which is in Montreal, and Darien Lake in Buffalo. Probably too soon to get a season pass from there. But SFMM is offering play passes this year. Basically the regualar admision of like $40 something gets you a season pass. So if you plan on going to La Ronde at all it would really pay off.

[Jaytee]

I would go on the Warners Bros. tour. I enjoyed it, check out real sound stages and see how they make movie props and stuff. I saw the Friends set while I was there. They were also filming Constantine which opens tomorrow.

I thought the Universal theme park was crap. Shrek ride was ok, everything else was gay.

I would also check out the Desert Hills outlet mall. Its east of LA, not too far out. Like any outlet, it takes digging but there are gems. Bought 3 pairs of Nike Shox for $30 US each. Bought a wool/cashmere blend Ralph Lauren suit for $150 US.

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/store_listing.asp?id=6

[zefal]

Does anyone know of any cheap places in LA to eat that's not fast food? ie. buffets and stuff?



i highly recommend mimi's cafe, good food at reasonable prices. you'll find locations all over socal: www.mimiscafe.com

[Jaytee]

A couple of fast food burger joints worth checking out in California is "In and Out" and "Phat Burger". Both good burgers.

[NDman]

Sorry for thread-jacking a little bit. Carnage, how did you get those ERT package? Do you have to be a member of some sort, or you can actually buy packages like this?

[eelfliw]

Rent a car and drive to Vegas for a night of wild gambling.

Winter is also a good time to visit Death valley because it's not too hot.

Joshua Tree National Park.

If you drive fast, you can go surfing @ Santa Monica and then drive to Bear Mountain for skiing. Now you have experienced surfing & skiing in 1 day.

Santa Ana for Vietnamese food. Better than Toronto's. Even the Chinese food is different/better. Way too many Cantonese restaurants here. In LA, there's more variety.

[Carnage]

Sorry for thread-jacking a little bit. Carnage, how did you get those ERT package? Do you have to be a member of some sort, or you can actually buy packages like this?

I'm a member of a coaster enthusiast club. Gets me into club events. Most major parks have events each year.

Saturday at Knotts is the parks official event, they have a few coasters open before the park opens from about 6am to 10am, and then 2 coasters open after the park closes from 10pm to midnight.

Then sunday at SFMM is an event run by my club. 3 coasters open up for us from 8am until the park opens at 10. We'll probably be expecting at most 300 people. So it pretty much ends up being 2 hours riding with no waits.

Kind of the perks of being an enthusiest. ;)

[NDman]

Nice!

[Kerlo]

Thanks for all the help guys!

Keep posting ideas, I'll try to give updates throughout the week.

[StarStrike]

Food is not cheap man!!

I went to a burger rest but can't recall the name in IRVINE!

Regular food is much much cheaper in Los Angeles than in Vancouver or anywhere else in Canada.

If you are looking for a good place to eat in Los Angeles, it depends on what you're in the mood for.

Best Burgers: In n Out Burger or Fatburger (obviously there are a lot more good burger places in LA but they are much much more expensive) IN-N-OUT burger is an awesome restaurant and is always jam packed with ppl. IN-N-OUT is the reason that so many McDonald's store were shut down in California. IN N OUT everything FRESH. They cut their own potatoes and make their own patties. They have no freezers unlike the crud you get at McDonald's.
Best Chinese food: Hoy's Wok in Hollywood (located at Sunset and La Brea) It would be a perfect choice for dinner if you're in the mood for chinese food. Hoy's Wok is to the left of El Pollo Loco and to the Right of Wendy's (food at Wendy's is double the price in American Dollars).
Persian Food: Massoud's on 1300 S San Pedro St (Downtown Los Angeles near the Santee Alley) or Santee Falaffel on Santee of course ;)
Best Pancakes: Original Pantry Cafe on 877 Figueroa Street (mouth watering pancakes). This place is right next to the Staples centre in Downtown and there is always a huge line to get inside the restaurant, but it's worth it.
Best Steak: Original Pantry Cafe. They have Sizzler's and the Keg too.
Japanese Food: Yoshinoya Beef Bowl (they have chicken and shrimp too).

In Los Angeles there is no shortage of food. You can find absolutely anything you want and anytime of night/day. You can also stick to the generic food there if you don't trust these restaurants. You may be wondering how I know so much about LA, it cuz I've been there so many times in the past 10 years. If you plan on going to Las Vegas, I can also help you out with stuff there if you need it ;)

Also, in Los Angeles, refrain from eating at Mexican restaurants since they usually get C's for cleanliness and health inspections. Don't go into a restaurant unless it got an A or B rating. These ratings if you're wondering are the samething as health inspections we have in Canada. In the States they assign businesses Letter grades based on how well they do on these inspections. In Canada I believe you have to be at an A standard otherwise you'd be shut down; although I've seen many stores here that aren't so clean ;) :rolleyes:

As for safety, DO NOT walk around Downtown after 7pm; it get's dangerous there after 7, that's why you notice all the businesses there are closed and gone by 7pm. That's when the Gangsters come out to play and the homeless camp out outside stores. Also stay away from going to deep into Crenshaw BLVD. One of the hotel attendees said that Crenshaw blvd. is a really dangerous area where lot's of crimes occur, so you should keep away from that area. Other than that it's pretty decent.

[a3000]

A general bus tour of Hollywood (recommendations?)
A taping of "Listen Up" (Anyone heard of/like show? It's with George from Seinfeld and Theo from the Cosby Show. I've never seen it myself but it's free :lol: )

I took a bus tour of Hollywood and I found it pretty boring.. not worth the money. A few of the stars' homes are obscured by gates and shrubbery (ie. the Playboy Mansion :mad: ), and from a moving bus, it's hard to tell them apart, anyway. You might want to try buying a Star Map and take your own tour, instead.

You can also get free tickets to a number of talk shows and game shows, especially the lesser known ones. You'll see ticket distributors at many tourist shops and spots (ie. Ocean Front Walk at Venice Beach). And I agree with an earlier poster that Universal Studios is not worth your time. It's outdated -- unless you really need to see a big mechanized shark and ape.

You might also want to visit the Museum of Radio and Television (http://www.mtr.org/) .

In-N-Out (http://www.in-n-out.com/) is outstanding -- highly recommended. If you only eat one hamburger on your trip, this is it. And make it a double-double. :cheesygri

[StarStrike]

i highly recommend mimi's cafe, good food at reasonable prices. you'll find locations all over socal: www.mimiscafe.com

Or COCO's is good as well.

[StarStrike]

You'll see ticket distributors at many tourist shops and spots (ie. Ocean Front Walk at Venice Beach). And I agree with an earlier poster that Universal Studios is not worth your time. It's outdated -- unless you really need to see a big mechanized shark and ape.

Lol, those two attractions you referred to are both a part of the tram tour, which has been with Universal studios since it has opened. Universal Studios isn't cheap by any means; It's $50US for an Adult and $40 for children under 48 inches in height. If you've never been to Universal Studios before, then it's totally worth it to go once. They have many awesome attractions. Personally I find it much more intersting than Disneyland. A few of these awesome attractions are Jurassic Park the Ride, Back to the Future, Terminator 2:3D (This is a WICKED 3D show! TOTALLY AWESOME!), Shrek 4D (This is another wicked attraction, You absolutely love this attraction), Backdraft (You can really feel the heat on this one and you can see what a jumbo fire feels like first hand), Van Helsing Walkthrough ( you get to go through the sets of Van Helsing, there are special effects and everything and every now and then there are a few scares too ;) ), the Tram tour as previously stated, and an Awesome new attraction called "The Revenge of the Mummy". This roller coaster ride is wicked, it beat's out the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland any day for scares, highspeed forward and reverse travel in the dark, scarabs, Mummies, and extreme drops in the dark, which were both in forward and reverse directions not to mention the sudden jerks along the way. You should've heard how loud people were screaming on this ride.

Aside from the rides, Universal Studios has many shows that you can catch for free. Some of these shows are a Special Effects studio, Waterworld the show, Wild Wild West, Spider-man Rocks, some musicals and more.

[a3000]

Great posts, StarStrike! I forgot to mention the CityWalk outside Universal Studios.. it's pretty cool (I'd rather skip the theme park), and it's free! :cheesygri

[StarStrike]

Great posts, StarStrike! I forgot to mention the CityWalk outside Universal Studios.. it's pretty cool (I'd rather skip the theme park), and it's free! :cheesygri

Oh yeah, there are loads of things you can do there as well. It's extremely happpening. There is an area where every few seconds water squirts up from the ground. Good way to get yourself wet lol; you could also go watch a movie there if u get bored. The theatre there is HUGE! but nothing compared to the class and quality of our Famous Players theatres in Canada.

[samo147]

I went back in Janurary but it wasnt that great of a time. Kind of got ripped off by the cost of everything. hotel, transport and eating
I'd like to go again but better planned this time.

Commuting with a car is almost impossible... but the traffic, drivers and freeways are crazy.

Starstrike can u list some more dangerous areas of la?
I'd like to avoid those for next time haha

also how did u get around? did you rent a vehicle?

Another good thing i had down there were some honey ribs from chinatown it was so cheap like 2-3 bucks for a good pound or so i think...

Most tour groups i dont think are worth joining they rip off big time with tips and the cost of the tour.. but they do offer transport and convience but i felt that i was often rushed to places and didnt really get the enjoy it..
it was like get off the bus, "okay here u are", spend an hour here walking around dont go too far cause we gotta leave soon. and they wanted lots of tips i think its okay if ur with friends or by yourself but if your with family the cost of tips add up..

[Kerlo]

Hey everyone!

I made it back safe and sound from LA! It was an eye opening experience, very different city from sleepy Ottawa or even 'busy' Toronto.

Some things I learned in case I want to go there again are:

1. LA's transit system (Metro) is EXTREMELY cheap. It only costs $1.25 to ride it in one direction and $3 for a day pass. Day passes are are useable on the busses and the trains. Downtown LA also has it's own small transit system called the DASH. It costs only 0.25$ and goes to all of the downtown area sights and sounds.

2. If you want mobility rent a car! Yes, traffic is REALLY bad (there's no such thing as rush hour there since traffic is bad all hours fo the day), but if you want to get somewhere easily, your best bet is to rent a car since taxis are expensive and LA is HUGE. We used the Metro system everyday except one and Metro could only get us so far.

3. There is a GREAT LA tourist information centre on Figuroera street. Right across from the 7th street Metro station. They can tell you how to get ANYWHERE by any means of transportation in LA. They know their stuff and will be able to help you with almost anything.

4. Bring only US dollar traveller's checks, if any at all. I had two left over canadian ones that I brought along with me on my trip and found that banks in my area (ie. bank of america) wouldn't cash them. I had to go downtown to the financial district to get them cashed and there was a fee charged on top of the normal exchange charge.

5. There are plenty of restaurants in LA, it's pretty overwhelming. Knowing which places you want to eat before you even go on your trip would help alot. A lot of time was wasted wondring if tsome place was too expensive . . . or if you wanted to eat at such a location . . . etc.

6. Know the layout of LA before going . . . It would've been nice to know where everything was before the trip so that time wasn't wasted trying to get somewhere which was too far to get to in the first place.

7. Some things are closer than you think. LA's layout doesn't make sense. For example I thought that all movie studios and such would be on the outskirts of the city where there is more space, instead some are located right in downtown Hollywood. Paramount Pictures Studios was a 'walkable' ( I walked it . . wouldn't recommend it . . .) distance from Hollywood & Highland (the main tourist district in Hollywood).

8. You can find free tickets for anything in LA. Leno, Dr. Phil, and Jimmy Kimmel had tickets for shows that were filming that same week (even day). One bit of advice is to arrive EARLY. Sometimes the tickets that you get in LA are the last of the lot and even if you have them you may not get in. Best bet is to get them over the internet before you go, but if you have nothing planned for a night then by all means get some tickets! Even if you don't get into the show, you get to meet really interesting people in the 4 hour+ line up! :P

9. There is nothing to do in downtown LA, all the entertainment is surrounding it. Downtown LA is really small maybe about 10 blocks or less of high rises and all they have are offices and food courts. Even the downtown tourist center told us that there is nothing to do in downtown LA. Head to Hollywood.

10. Ensure that you know which areas of LA to stay out of during the DAY and NIGHT!!! This is VERY important!!! Some places are great during the day but at night you would wish that you stayed in nice and normal Canada. There are quite a few dangerous areas in LA, I remember seeing communities on the Merto train and hoping that the train would keep going and not stop at that station.

Always remember to be street smart! Don't entertain the homeless, don't flaunt your digital camera in the Metro terminals, always have your wits about you and you'll have a great trip.

LA is a nice place, there's lots to do and see and I would love to go back for a second trip.

I'll post a bit later on with some of the events that we did on the trip.

Here are some highlights:

Six Flags Magic Mountain
Ripley's Beleive it or Not Museum
Hollywood Wax Museum
GuinessBook of World Records Museum
Hollywood Homes Bus Tour
Hollywood Area Tour
The Price is Right

We tried to get into Jimmy Kimmel Live, but it became full with about 10 ppl ahead of us. The Kodak Theatre was closed for Oscar preparations.

Things that I would want to do If I went back:

Paramount Studios VIP tour (only about $35US for a 2 hour tour)
Kodak Theatre Tour
Jimmy Kimmel (easy show to get into and the line wait isn't that bad)
A Sitcom Taping
Be an extra in a movie of film segment (easy thing to do when you are there)

That's it for now,

KERLO [:-)

[Carnage]

Glad to know you had a great time.

So I have to ask, what did you think about Six Flags Magic Mountain? I've only been there once(twice will be next week), and really enjoyed it. However the park is kind of the whipping boy of the enthusiest comunity. For being Six Flags flagship park it tends to get ALOT of criticism for how it is run. For instance how they have 16 coasters, but one of them(flashback) hasn't run in like 2 years, and will probably not run again. But yet they still claim it as a coaster. ;)

I'm always curious as to what the general public think about the parks. I'm too used to reading the more snobish reviews from coaster enthusiests.

[Kerlo]

I really enjoyed the rides at six flags, but the park itself was kinda dull . . . I guess because it's off season and alot of the park stands weren't open.

The park was essentially empty, there were no lineups longer than ten minutes for any of the rides, except for 'The Riddler's Revenge' which was about 20 mins and for 'X' which was about 30 mins.

Unfortunately we were in LA during the floodings and the landslides, and it rained hard the day before and in the afternoon on the day of our Magic Mountain excursion.

Quite a few of the rides were closed such as Superman The Escape, Dejavu, and i guess flashback or switchback whatever it's called. Viper closed in the midday due to technical problems (i really wanted to ride that one). The log ride across/near bugs bunny land closed for maintenance or repairs. I think Ninja was closed, but i think that's the same ride as Vortex at Wonderland. I rode Colossus in the morning but i think it closed when it started rainning. Psyclone was also closed.

The rides that I rode were:

Goliath - great fun, no loops but a really big first hill, probably the best ride in the park aside from what I heard about 'X'

Colossus - big double train, wooden rollercoster . . I actually found this one kinda dull after riding Goliath, only thrill was the fact that it felt like the train was gonna fall apart or derail it was a really bumpy/rough ride.

Batman - alot like Top Gun at Wonderland but i think it has a slightly different layout . . . but that could just be my bad memory.

The Riddler's Revenge - fun stand up coaster, very smooth ride, way better than the stand up coaster at Wonderland.

Scream - I didnt' find myself screaming on this ride, but it was a good ride very smooth and comfortable.

Revolution - a great one loop rollercoaster, it winds and dips through trees and shrubbbery, it give the ride a great atmosphere.

A friend of mine did 'X', he had a more solid stomach than I did at the time and the rain was getting to me at this point. He LOVED that ride, and said it was the scariest rollercoaster that he's ever been on. From looking at it, I would have to agree. It looked like an amazing coaster though, I kinda wish I did itsince i'm generally not scared of coasters but I wasn't feeling that great and I think riding that coaster may have sent me over the edge.

We were lucky that we didn't have to pay full price for the day pass, which is normally 47$ US. They have tickets online for 26$US but as canadians there was no way order them, you had to choose a state. We called their help number and they said that they would have tickets set aside for us at the park. When we got there they didn't have our names on record but we explained the online ordering situation and they gave us tickets for $24 US. Since half the park was closed it's a good thing we didn't pay the full price.

The carnival games were pretty good, prolly cause I won two of the games with three tries total! Only cost me $4 total and I got a spiderman and scooby-doo doll out of it!

Anyway, (I wrote way too much) I hope this answers your question about my Magic Mountain experience!

Later,

KERLO [:-)

[Evil Techie]

hey
thats great that you had a good time

im planning to go to LA in april
have a week to make the most out of it
gonna go to price is right i hope
any other shows there worth going to?

how long do we have to be at the taping?
i dont want to spend my whole day...

[The Shirker]

hey
thats great that you had a good time

im planning to go to LA in april
have a week to make the most out of it
gonna go to price is right i hope
any other shows there worth going to?

how long do we have to be at the taping?
i dont want to spend my whole day...

From CBS: At 8:00AM, the CBS Pages will start issuing the priority numbers and if you receive a priority number you will return at 9:00AM for the 1:15PM taping and 12:00PM for the 4:30PM taping (Mondays) and at 10:00AM for the 2:30PM taping (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays). From the time you return until the start of the taping you will go through processing while sitting on the covered benches. Your I.D.'s will be checked, you will receive a handwritten nametag and the Pages will go over the general rules for contestant eligibility. Prior to entering the studio, there is a brief interview by the production staff and that's how the contestants are selected. You must be present at CBS for the entire processing.

[gilboman]

you went to LA and didnt do any shopping????

[Carnage]

you went to LA and didnt do any shopping????

Not everyone likes to shop. What's there you can buy there that you can't get here?

Kerlo: Yeah, that's about average for SFMM. Deja Vu is presently down for rehab(it tends to be in rehab more then it runs), Superman runs occasionally and breaks down often, and flashback is nothing more then a giant paper weight by this point.

You probably made a good choise on skipping X. Even though it is an amazing ride. That first drop as you get rolled from your back to your stomach is just unreal. But the ride is pretty rough, especially when sitting in the outer seats. So if you weren't feeling good it would have probably made you feel worse.

[Evil Techie]

From CBS: At 8:00AM, the CBS Pages will start issuing the priority numbers and if you receive a priority number you will return at 9:00AM for the 1:15PM taping and 12:00PM for the 4:30PM taping (Mondays) and at 10:00AM for the 2:30PM taping (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays). From the time you return until the start of the taping you will go through processing while sitting on the covered benches. Your I.D.'s will be checked, you will receive a handwritten nametag and the Pages will go over the general rules for contestant eligibility. Prior to entering the studio, there is a brief interview by the production staff and that's how the contestants are selected. You must be present at CBS for the entire processing.


ive already read that
it just doesnt tell you how long each taping is
so be there at 10am for the 2:30pm taping
thats the first wait
how about how long it goes from 2:30pm?
thats the question i was asking
an hour show doesnt just tape in 1 hour u know

[Kerlo]

ive already read that
it just doesnt tell you how long each taping is
so be there at 10am for the 2:30pm taping
thats the first wait
how about how long it goes from 2:30pm?
thats the question i was asking
an hour show doesnt just tape in 1 hour u know

Hehehe, that's what I thought too, that it wouldn't tape in an hour and no word of a lie they were herding us out of the studio at 3:30pm!!!

The taping was very short for tv production standards, but maybe game shows are different.

The price is right was an eye opening experience. Don't go by what the CBS website says, if you do that, you won't get into the taping and will have to try again the next day.

Here was our schedule that day (it was a thursday):

-Woke up at 3am.

-Arrived at CBS television city (corner of Beverly blvd and Fairfax) at 4:15am.

-Stood in line until the CBS Pages came out at 6am to hand everyone in line little pink slips (colour may change) and told us to come back at 7:30am.

Note: The pink slip of paper has a number on it which tells you what number you are in the line up. I got #81 and that was from being there at 4:15am!!!the rest of my group got numbers 82, 83, and 84. If you want to get there earlier, go ahead, I recommend it and you'll see why later. The people in the front of the line were there at 1am. Across the street form the lineup there is a coffee shop which is open, they rent out chairs for 5$ to ppl in the lineup.

- Once we got our pink slips we went to Starbucks by the Farmer's Market to warm up and get something hot.

- At 7:30 they let you into the studio lot and organize you into lineups depending on your numbers.

- At about 8:00 they started to mark tickets with your priority number.

Note: My priority number was 80. Once he marked my ticket, he when to the speaker system to tell everyone else in the lineups that all normal tickets have been marked and that from here on they will be marking tickets as standby tickets. My friends got Standby's 1, 2 and 3. As a normal ticket holder I was to return at 10am and my friends with standby's were to return at 11:30pm.

- At 10am they started processing people with tickets #1-80. This is where we got our contestant numbers and name tags. Also during this time big groups start to arrive. If you have a group reservation of over 20 people you are essentially guaranteed entry and only need to arrive after 10am.

- At about 12pm they made an announcment that they will be allowing 120 standby's in today. The studio capacity is 325 and two of the groups that they were expecting did not show yet. The groups showed up later but it was way too late to process them. Around this time I realised that I would not be able to sit with my group i was #80 and their number was #218+.

- At 1pm they started the interview process. Everbody in the audience gets interviewed by the show's producer. They do this in groups of ten but they esentially do it while you are still in line.

Note: The interview is VERY short and it's the interview that they use to determine whether or not you will be a good contestant for the show. Really it seemed like a futile effort to try to make the producer notice you. The producer takes one look at you and he almost knows immediately whether or not you would be a good contestant on the show. Then he asks you "where are you from and what do you do." You answer him, he makes a joke about what you say, you should joke back at this point to attempt to get his attention and if he's interested he will continue the conversation, if not he'll move on to the next person. I've seen him move to the next person right after your initial answer to his question. During the interview his assitant is taking notes on each person and their reactions to his jokes. It really helps to show alot of energy during the interview, but it's very important to be yourself and let your personality shine.

Some things that may boost your chances:
- be in a large 20+ group (guaranteed one of you will get picked as a contestant, be sure to wear matching clothes)
- be in a group of people from the military or affiliated with it in some way (in our show we thought we were lucky to have no military in the auience and this one woman gets called down and Bob made a comment that she's with a group of military wives!....... sigh . . .)

Things that don't necessarily boost your chances:
- having a really great t-shirt (one of the people in my group had an amazing t-shirt, it wasn't tacky or anything) In the lineups quite a few people asked me if I saw the guy with the cool shirt, them not realizing that I was part of his group. It was a really good shirt, but during the interview the producer apparently didn't take any notice of it.)

- being Canadian and having travelled ALL THE WAY from Canada to be on the show. (I really do believe that Canadians are at a disadvantage since so few of us get on the show and there are quite a few Canadians in every audience. I was sitting next to some.)

Anyway back to the schedule . . . .

- after the interview you pass through security (you are not allowed any cellphones, pagers, or cameras, you will have to check them with security) and you are led to another waiting area for all the interviews to finish. We are still outside the studio building for all of this.

- at about 2:15 they herd you into the studio, and Rich (new announcer guy) does the audience warm up.

- at 2:30 they start the filming and at 3:30 they herded us out of the studio and off the premises.

So it really is about a 12 hour affair if you want to go to the show. You can request tickets through the mail before going or get them online. If you are already in LA, they have tickets for the shows at all the tourist information centers and at the CBS studio.

Some other things to note:

- Even though you are Canadian, you MUST pay the taxes on the prizes. You need to pay 37% to the state and some other amount to the federal.

- You need to supply and AMERICAN address for prize delivery. For Canadians it would most likely be Canada Customs at the border. The delivery to the border is free but after that you'll have to pay shippping to get it from the border to your residence.

- you need a photo ID like a passport or driver's license AND your Social Insurance Number. For your SIN if you don't have it you have 30 days to produce it if you win something.

- you cannot be a contestant on the show if you work for ANY television station no matter how small or who it is affiliated with. They do thorough background checks if you win any prizes.

- once you've been called down to contestant's row you can never be a contestant on the show ever again. It's a one shot deal thing.

- You can't be a contestant if you've been on a television gameshow in the past year. Again it doesn't matter what the affiliation.

- Even though Cameras aren't allowed bring them anyway!! We knew we weren't allowed to have them for the show so we left them at the hotel. BAD IDEA. Alot of good pictures went untaken during the long hours of waiting.


Again sorry for the long post.

Feel free to ask questions and i'll answer them to the best of my ability.

KERLO [:-)

[CSR]

Great review..

[Evil Techie]

wow
thats one of the most informative post ive read on RFD

unlike CSR's posts...

thank you kerlo
i really didnt expect to be showing up at 4am or something
that is just too early!
i dont really intend to be on any game show
just want to get into the tapings of any tv shows or sitcoms and watch how hollywood does things...

looks like the schedule has killed my interest in going to the Price...
that is one hectic schedule
my gf and i only have 6 days to spend in LA and we dont intend to spend it waiting in hours of lineups
hehe

thank you so much though kerlo

which areas of LA should i avoid during the days and where to avoid during the nights?

im planning to drive when im there
is parking in hollywood fairly easy?
any good beaches worth going to?
venice beach?

are there any good tourist maps of LA i can get here in vancouver before going on the trip?
got some decent restaurants you would like to recommend?

sorry to be asking so many questions, just seem that you are such a nice guy so ive gotta take advantage fo you :cheesygri :razz: :razz: :p
hehe its ok if you are busy, i can look it up else where

thank you!! :)

[Kerlo]

just want to get into the tapings of any tv shows or sitcoms and watch how hollywood does things...


If you want to see sitcoms you may be too late since taping is ending soon for the summer.

We got our tickets from www.audiencesunlimited.com and that's the site that the LA tourist bureau recommends. There is also www.tvtix.com for other shows as well.

Also if you want to be an extra try out www.beinamovie.com they are the biggest supplier in allowing the general public to be movie extras for Hollywood.



im planning to drive when im there
is parking in hollywood fairly easy?
any good beaches worth going to?
venice beach?



We did not get to go to the beach since the weather was so bad. Even without the rain it would've been about 20 degrees celcius max this time of year. We were looking to go to venice beach as that seems to be the most popular tourist beach.

I would've liked to go to Long Beach since they have the original Queen Mary docked there as a floating museum.

As for crime in LA we checked out this site before booking hotels:

http://www.losangelesalmanac.com/topics/Crime/cr03.htm

KERLO [:-)

[sptembergurl]

Here are a few tips:

Buy a Hollywood Homes map (you can get them anywhere on Hollywood Blvd) and rent a car! It's much more fun! I saw Phil Hartman's house where he got shot, Jon Tesh's house and even the home of David Hasselhoff. Pathetic! Even worse, I even went into the washroom that George Michael "got caught" in!! LOL!! (Yes, I'm a bit wierd!) I drove down the street that the Wonder Years was filmed on too:)

L.A. is disappointingly dirty. Don't be surprised if you walk through smog.

Get this:

I was on Hollywood Blvd and I noticed a limosine appear at the red light beside me. For fun, I decided to wave at it. And all of a sudden, the tinted window started rolling down...and guess who waved at me??

LITTLE RICHARD! LOL! That was a classic moment in my life. Plastered with makeup and hair-gel! What a guy!

-Sptembergurl

[Evil Techie]

i guess sitcoms will take pretty much 10 hours to go thru too eh?
damn

thanx for the tips, sptembergurl
i not sure i want to do some of the stuff u did
lol

ill remember to wave at every limo at the red lights though
hehe

[Sting]

I'm a member of a coaster enthusiast club. Gets me into club events. Most major parks have events each year.

Saturday at Knotts is the parks official event, they have a few coasters open before the park opens from about 6am to 10am, and then 2 coasters open after the park closes from 10pm to midnight.

Then sunday at SFMM is an event run by my club. 3 coasters open up for us from 8am until the park opens at 10. We'll probably be expecting at most 300 people. So it pretty much ends up being 2 hours riding with no waits.

Kind of the perks of being an enthusiest. ;)

Very Nice !