I have lived in Los Angeles for almost 8 years now and there are still plenty of tourist attractions I haven’t visited. The Warner Bros. Studio Tour was one of them. My husband and I live 15 minutes away from the studio so we had no excuse not to check it out! Better yet, Warner Brothers just decided to start offering locals a discounted ticket price! I really think this will encourage the people of Los Angeles to check out the tour! If you are into film or television, this tour is perfect for you. You can check out the different types of tours and ticket information here: https://www.wbstudiotour.com/

You need to check in 15 minutes before your scheduled ticket time. There is some street parking but I would not advise parking there, as it is only 2 hour parking and the tour can run up to 3 hours. You will definitely be ticketed by parking enforcement officers if you park there. There are marked signs, pointing you in the direction of the parking lot. Parking was $15 but you don’t have to rush back to your car after the tour is over. Once we parked, we went through a metal detector and then we waited in a line to get our tickets. If you already have your tickets printed, there is a separate line for you! Once we had our tickets, we sat down and waited for our group to be called. There is a Starbucks inside, near your waiting area. Our group was called shortly and we sat in a viewing room and watched some clips from famous Warner Brothers productions. Once the video ended, we were immediately directed to our tour guide, who showed us to our tour cart for the day!

Our tour guide was named Dom and she was FANTASTIC. I could not have chosen a more perfect tour guide. Not only was Dom knowledgeable and excited, but she allowed our group to stop and take photos whenever we wanted too. It was very exciting to walk around the back lots, where many famous films and television shows have been filmed. It was so bizarre to see buildings that seemed real but were really just sets! I am a big fan of Gilmore Girls, so you can imagine how loud I screamed when Dom said we were going to walk INSIDE RORY AND LORELAI’S HOUSE! We also got to walk inside Luke’s Diner, although it doesn’t look anything like it anymore. I loved that the tour was a mix of walking and being drive around. The big set of the day was the cafe from La La Land. Many people on our tour were so excited to take their photos there. If you are a fan of Pretty Little Liars, you will love this tour because you get to go inside the high school from the show.

After walking around on the back lots, we were able to go inside some of the sound stages. We saw the sound stage for Big Bang Theory, The Conan O’ Brien show and The Fosters. I learned that the Big Bang Theory shoots in front of a live audience. When we went inside Conan’s stage, my husband was able to stand on Conan’s star (where he delivers his monologue everyday)! You are not allowed to take any photos or videos in the sound stages but it was a cool moment to see Andrew on Conan’s stage. When we went to The Fosters set, it was a complete house! It had a backyard, fake garage door and stairwells and even fake fruit on the table. It looked SO real though. Of course, this was all built on a set. The actors aren’t outside at all when they look like it on the show; they are on a set!

One of the best parts of the tour was that you get to stop at various points and see all of the costumes and props from your favorite movies and television shows. Andrew is a huge Batman film so he was pretty excited to be up close to the Batmobiles from the past movies. Are you a Harry Potter fan? There is a whole level devoted to Harry Potter and the props/costumes from the films. You can even sit and get sorted by The Sorting Hat! I think that children would also really like this tour, as it sort of brings their favorite films to life.

At the end of the tour, we were dropped off by our guide to check out more costumes/props/sets, including the famous Central Perk couch from Friends. You can also try out several interactive green screen experiences, which put you in some of your favorite films like Batman and Harry Potter. There were also costumes from Mad Max and Two and a Half Men, which I learned is Warner Bros. longest running sitcom to date. Of course, you cannot finish a tour without going through the gift shop. If you want to get a t-shirt from your favorite films and televisions shows, this is the place. They had everything, from shirts, magnets, toys, hat and mugs.

I think the Warner Bros. Studio Tour is the perfect way to spend an afternoon. We went on a Saturday and the back lots and sound stages were empty, as productions don’t do anything on the weekend. If you can attend a weekday tour, you have a higher chance of seeing a celebrity! This would be a perfect activity for individuals truly interested in seeing behind the scenes of their favorite films and television. I also think this would be a great family activity, as everything is very PG rated on the tour. My tips are to bring water, walking shoes, and a hat if you sunburn easily. Although you do sit on the tour cart, half of the tour is walking around in direct sun. There are restroom stops along the tour so no need to worry about that. I can now cross Warner Bros. Studio Tour off of my Los Angeles to-do list!

Again, you can check out the different types of tours and ticket information here: https://www.wbstudiotour.com/

You can check out the tours and ticket here: https://www.wbstudiotour.com/