Lisa's Letters from La La Land: Hooray for Hollywood....

Well, today was going to be a day of firsts for me… I had planned to see Hollywood when I first arrived, but as we know, that got cancelled, so I was really excited to finally see those big white letters perched high on a hilltop where dreams are made.

Like a lot of little girls, I fancied myself as a famous actress in Hollywood for a good 10 years of my childhood, but just being on this hallowed ground as an adult with half a lifetime under now under my belt, this will be as close as I get at this point.

So the day started early as they tended to do, and in already scorching heat, dressed in unison in our ‘Travel Dominatrix’ shirts we boarded our bus for the trek through the LA traffic and over those massive, eye-popping, 4 lane over passes that surely must the be hardest thing in the world to navigate, and arrived right on time out the front of Universal Studios with the help of our favourite driver Don.

Naturally, the first stop was to take a gazillion photos of the iconic Universal Studios globe while it rotates in the mist – which sounds easy, but getting it with Australia in the right spot, and without other tourists proved a trial, but me being me, I persevered and ended up with a few shots I was happy with.

This place was not high on my list of must do’s but it turned out to be a fun day of things that I really didn’t expect.

We trouped through the turnstiles and made a long B-line through much of the upper level of the park, towards the corralling area to board the bus for the Studio Tour – and even at the beginning of the day, the lines were formidable. But one thing that Universal has ALL over Disney is the misting bars that are in most of the outdoor areas. With this glorious mist of cool water periodically landing on your shoulders it made the wait bearable and before too long, we were aboard the convoy of little trollies and off to see where magic is made.

Now while this is a long tour, it’s a very interesting one if you love movies like I do. Many of the sets were recognisable from both TV and movies and it was cool to see them IRL. Down Wisteria Lane we went, past a small chunk of Whoo-ville, through the carnage of War of the Worlds, past the clock tower from Back to the Future, down ‘any street’ New York and other sets that could be any town in any part of Europe. We drove past the huge warehouse sets of Pitch Perfect and Guys with kids, and through a VERY scary 4D King Kong recreation with dinosaurs fighting 20 foot spiders, not to mention the gorilla himself throwing themselves at the trollies and making us lurch like nobodies business. We saw the massive green screen with lawn all over the base of it, which when filled with water, was used to film a lot of the last Pirates of the Caribbean offering. And that blew me away that such a boring bit of nothing could become cinematic wonder. Jaws, of course, leapt out of the water to take a crack in interestingly, the same set where Murder She Wrote was filmed. A wall of water hurtled towards us on a back street to nowhere, conveniently stopping before we got soaked.

But the best part of the tour was by far the times when we were told in no uncertain terms to be ‘quiet on the set’ as we passed through the filming area for ‘Saving Mr Banks’ which for me as a massive Disney fan, was a real treat to see the extra’s in costumes and some of the set pieces.

After the tour, we explore the lower part of the lot, as the Park is split into two parts, one part on top of the hill and the other way down a lot of steep escalators to more rides and exhibits below. We started at the Jurassic Park ride, which when queried about the ‘get wet level’ I was informed that it was ‘nothing more than a sprinkle’ and I trustingly loaded into the second row with other equally ignorant first timers.

Now, while the ride was interesting, and yes fun, given I am a big fan of the movies, the end bit is literally a tidal wave and I climbed off that ride soaked to the skin, but more devastatingly, with wet hair and makeup running down my cheeks.

Drowned rat-like.

I was not happy.

So after a lengthy drying session in front of the hand dryers in the ladies, I emerged recovered, and ready for lunch.

From here, we split up and explored, me going in and seeing all the movie props that I so love, and a big chunk of the others riding The Mummy ride – which given that I hate the movie, was not going to happen.

Meeting back up at the Transformers ride we rode as single riders – the regular line went on into next week – and it was SO GOOD that I promptly threw myself back into the single rider line and did it again. AWESOME doesn’t cover it, and hands down, my favourite ride of ALL TIME. Brilliant in its execution and so immersive that it was hard to tell you were not actually part of the scene. Loved it with a capital L.

After a quick photo op with Optimus Prime, it was time to hit the associated gift shop, and just enough time to do the Shrek 4D experience on the upper level before meeting back up the City Walk shopping mall outside the park.

The Shrek show was fun, but the waiting area was a bit freaky. All in the dark, in the quiet, rather like hundreds of herded cattle. I couldn’t help the scene from Twilight where tourists were rounded up in Rome to be lunch for the vampires in the catacombs popping into my head, and just as that thought was really starting to take hold, they opened the doors and we took our seats for the show… just in time… I have a vivid imagination.

The funniest part of the show was when the spiders ran across the floor ( or felt like it) I was too short for my feet to reach the floor in the special seats, so I missed that bit all together – which I was delighted about.

Out of the park, I wandered down the outdoor mall of City Walk and as always over here, I marvelled at the array of stores. After dining at the famous Pinks Hot Dogs ( which I probably won’t do again as it was just ok, but you gotta do it right? cos its an institution over here) I shopped a while, buying souvenirs and a Hollywood Hard Rock Café T shirt – as you do.

Back at the bus, we boarded for our night tour of Hollywood BLVD and Rodeo Drive.

This was also a bucket list moment for me. Just walking along the Boulevard of dreams seeing all those stars was a highlight for me… and while Hollywood is a bit seedy at that time of the night, we were fortunate enough to be there right as the premier of Disneys new movie Frankenweenie, with some of our number seeing Tim Burton himself. I was more focused on getting as many stars in my camera as possible. Old Hollywood has an endless fascination with me, and the stars I ended up taking photos of reflected that. Along with Drew Barrymore, I also found Ethel Barrymore – her great Aunt. Along with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Abbott and Costello, Jerry Lewis, Marilyn Monroe and a great deal more. These are the people I still think of when you say Hollywood… They built this town.

In all my fervour to photograph famous stars on the walk, I really didn’t give Graumans Chinese Theatre as much attention as I wish I had now.

Back on the bus just in time, we headed for Rodeo Drive, and drooled over shops that most of us will likely not visit again or be able to afford to shop in.

I love fashion, and while I did recognise most of the labels, it impressed me less than I expected it to… which I guess is a good thing.

After the long drive back, it was time to hit the hay because another big day was just around the corner… just enough time to eat the delicious cake pop that Sandie gave me and off to sleep.

And I did see those Hollywood letters, from a very misty distance out of windows on the other side of the bus… so that is still on my bucket list to do properly.