California part 3 what to do

I will end this 3 part series on what the F**k to do in La La Land.  Before I begin, let me warn you about the L.A parking scene. If you have read my previous postings I talk a lot about parking, the lack their of and the cost. There are free things to do in L.A, but depending on how busy an area is you may end up having to pay to park, again just a warning.

Grand Central Market
First off stop Grand Central Market. Now I know this is a place to eat, but I think you could literally spend hours here. Not to mention the Angels Flight Railway is right next door! I didn't take a ride on the rail, but the history is pretty cool and I'll attach a link to the website here! Even though this is a dining experience I feel like markets are a great way to get to know a city and this one is open everyday! As previously stated, I have no clue about street parking in downtown L.A, but there are a few pay to park garages. On the Grand Central Market Website they give you a map of where to find their parking lot. It's much cheaper than the one I ended up in, I didn't read to much about the place before deciding to go there so better I make the mistake than you!

I didn't take a ride, but it's only a $1!

Universal Studios
This trip I decided to go to Universal, I had the Disney experience last visit.  I will go into a little comparison of the two just in case your torn.

Let me start with Universal.... Located in Universal City, yes they have their own city. With mild traffic it took about 40 minutes to get their from the LAX area, about the same distance as Disney, but after our day we were so close to good restaurants and other attractions like the Griffiths observatory it made it easy to keep the evening going.

 General parking was $25 and premium was $35. We went with premium, it was closer to the park entrance and was easy to get to the main road when leaving. But not knowing how far or difficult to exit general parking was who knows if it was worth the extra $10. I'm telling myself it was!

Let's talk ticket prices. Maybe because of the location, so close to the center of L.A, but the tickets were much more expensive than Disney. I think we paid maybe $90-$100 for general admission to Disney and Universal was a whopping $129!! Universal also doesn't have general fast pass tickets at the ride entrance like Disney , you have to pay for a special ticket costing $180+. Since it was only two of us we learned we could ride single rider to skip the lines, but if your in a big group be prepared to wait, but that's like any park.

 Once your in the park itself it's really cool, I was most excited for Harry Potter world and trust me it was just as magical as I was expecting. The details were amazing and I'm not even that big of a Harry Potter fan and it made me want to re-watch all the movies! They really paid attention to detail in all the "areas" of the park really transporting you into the movies.

On to the rides. They were all kind of the same, using wrap around projection screens and "seats or cars" that move around to the video. Aside from the Jurassic ride, the mummy roller coaster and the Harry Potter roller coaster they were basically all this movie screen style ride which was kind of disappointing. Honestly, the best ride was the Universal tour, which I don't think even counts. I love to know the behind the scenes stuff, but that maybe because I'm a nerd. Like most theme parks you can bring your own food and beverages and I would suggest at least bringing a snack and drinks just cause I'm cheap and shits expensive! The only downside to bringing a big backpack or bag is that some rides force you to use these cubbys that use your finger print. So if you don't trust that kind shit then pack light!

Now for a quick Disney break down, tickets were again about $90-$100. You can get fast pass tickets without paying any extra cost, but you can only get 1 at a time if I remember correctly. Parking, honestly don't remember the cost. The only downside is that it's located in Anaheim, which is about 40 minutes south, so if you'd like to stay near other Los Angeles attractions then this maybe out of your way.

Hogwarts was amazing!

My best friends!

God I love minions!

Conan
Every time I'm in L.A I always go to Conan. First I love Conan he is hilarious, second it's free and lastly you get to walk through the Warner Brothers lot! The prospect of running into a movie star is always exciting! If you decide you want to go to a showing, not just Conan, you can get tickets online about a month a head of time. You first make a profile and request tickets, you can get up to 4. Then they email you a confirmation ticket and that is used to get your actual ticket the day of your show. You also won't know who you'll see until the week of, that's when they post their lineup.

The day of you start in a parking lots outside Warner Brothers and their is a waiting section for Conan. Get there around 2:00 to get your ticket and they start to take people to the studio around 3:30. The earlier you get your tickets the closer you'll be to the man himself! At 3:30 they start to shuttle the groups in and from there it's about 2 hours of music, jokes and newly developed smile lines. The whole experience goes from  about 2:00-6:00, so about 3-4 hours depending on how early you get your tickets.

If you get them early you can also leave and come back, their is an In & Out and other restaurants about 10 minutes away so you can always grab a quick lunch! There are a lot of other shows that you can see in the fall and early spring, summer is a down time for most t.v shows so he is one of your only options.

I was most surprised by how small the studio is in real life. When you watch it on T.V it just seems like it would be so much bigger!

Beaches: Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu

Yay, another free activity if you can find street parking and don't mind a little walking!!!
Santa Monica is really cool at night, so check out the pier then, but it gets really crazy so just be prepared for big crowds! Venice is always a fun place to walk and people watch. So grab a coffee or pressed juice and people watch the day away. If your into bike riding you can basically bike up and down the coast to all of these places, me not so much so I just drive! Malibu is much more relaxed and a great place to picnic or spend a day away from the crazy crowds. Also, their is a fancy shopping center perfect for window shopping! If you go further south you can hit up Manhattan and Hermosa Beach, again a little less crowded in my opinion than Santa Monica. Redondo Beach Pier is supposed to be one of the biggest. I've never made it down there, but also something else you can check out if you go south of L.A.

View from Santa Monica Pier

Rose Bowl Flea Market
If your in town the 2nd Sunday of the month you should totally check out the Rose Bowl Flea Market. It's a $9 entry fee, but you can leave and go back in if you buy something and don't want to lug it around. Since it's summer, it was hot as hell and you need sunscreen (if you're a vampire like me) there is very little shade if any! This is a thrifters paradise that's all I have to say! I didn't even buy much, but it was just so cool to see all the stuff people were buying and selling. Again, this place is a labyrinth of vintage tees, furniture and so much more and you could totally spend an entire day here. Like most places, you can pay, I think it was about $15 to park or you can search for a spot and walk. I was so glad I go to go and it's a pretty big event every month, so if it works for your trip you need to check it out!

Other places to explore and get your culture on:
Griffiths observatory (A MUST)
The Getty Museum (go if it's hot outside, perfect AC)
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles  & La Brea tar pits
Petersen Automotive Museum  (Go if your with a guy he'll love it!)
Disney
Hollywood Cemetery (they have shows one the weekends)

Comment below if you like what your reading and want to see more similar posts or let me know things you'd like me to hear me review, or really, rant about! Check out my instagram izzababy9 as well!