Nick's April 2023 Anaheim/LA Trip Report

[ninjahertl48]

really glad you were able to check out waterworld, and that you enjoyed it.

 

[Jerroddragon]

It sounds like a pretty good USH trip

If you have not seen Water World at night, I'd suggest seeing it at night next time. To me WW is great during the day but night time is where its at for me. It feels just better and the fire effects feel more powerful.
So next time if your at USH and have time I'd see it at night.

As for the tour, Jimmy Fallen might just be on the sign because they just dont want to update it. Supercharged is great for fans but if your a local like me who doesn't care for the films I can't wait for the coaster mainly because I dont have to end every tour with FF.

 

[Nick]

So I don't think this is something that is known yet, but is it expected that a Power-Up Band bought in Hollywood could be used in Orlando or vise-versa? I wonder if anyone has tried to use a Power-Up from Japan in Hollywood as that would help give insight into if they work across resorts or not.

It sounds like a pretty good USH trip

If you have not seen Water World at night, I'd suggest seeing it at night next time. To me WW is great during the day but night time is where its at for me. It feels just better and the fire effects feel more powerful.
So next time if your at USH and have time I'd see it at night.

As for the tour, Jimmy Fallen might just be on the sign because they just dont want to update it. Supercharged is great for fans but if your a local like me who doesn't care for the films I can't wait for the coaster mainly because I dont have to end every tour with FF.

Yeah, was fun.

Thanks for the tip on Water World, next time i'll make it a point to see it at night. We actually were pretty close to missing the show. We were rushing to make the 4:45 show so we wouldn't have to go to the show at night given it was going to be in the low 50's, but I can totally see how it would be a show that's great at night. We got a fairly decent seat for when we showed up, although I somehow got absolutely soaked while my friend just two spots over was still completely dry lol.

So with the F&F Coaster coming, is there any rumor on what Supercharged will be turned into?

Really enjoying reading this. Glad to hear that long waits in Nintendo didn’t keep you from doing everything you wanted to do and overall it sounded like a nice day at the park.

I’ve often wondered what I was missing in terms of the “pay to play” nature of Nintendo World; given this board’s disdain for the Galaxy’s Edge upcharge options I figured I was missing something but seems based on your review that they’re real similar in that regard. I agree that a couple of extra rides will help with that aspect in Orlando.

Also surprised to hear the Mummy was a little unimpressive relative to Orlando—I’ve never ridden it but was under the impression it was more roller coaster which I think I would like.

Looking forward to more!

The crowds in Nintendo were pretty thick but manageable. I mean, everyone was pretty much trying to do the same thing since there's only one ride in the land. I do have hope that Orlando's land will feel a bit more whole.

One thing that was pointed out by my friend that I agree with is that with the USH land, there's pretty much nothing to discover. No little hidden corners like in Diagon (which also only has one ride, but feels like there's a lot more to do and explore). The second you walk in the land there, you see from Peaches castle all the way over to Mario Kart with little in the way. Nothing to make the land feel like theres an exploration aspect to it. Orlando should be different in that aspect since there's simply going to be more things and you won't be able to see everything the second you enter the land.

As far as Mummy goes, it is more of a coaster, but it cuts out pivotal show scenes so being more coaster isn't better imo.

Thanks for following along! One more day. It's our LA/Hollywood exploration day where we go full. Was a fun day of just sort of going with the flow!

 

[Jonathan]

So I don't think this is something that is known yet, but is it expected that a Power-Up Band bought in Hollywood could be used in Orlando or vise-versa? I wonder if anyone has tried to use a Power-Up from Japan in Hollywood as that would help give insight into if they work across resorts or not.

Thankfully my band from Japan works in Hollywood’s SNW as well.

 

[Nick]

Thankfully my band from Japan works in Hollywood’s SNW as well.

Was it as simple as i'm hoping it is which is just scanning the QR code again into the USH app instead of the USJ app? I bought it literally just hoping that it'll work in Orlando and I guess i'll have to wait and see. Fingers Crossed it'll be no issue though.

 

[Jonathan]

Was it as simple as i'm hoping it is which is just scanning the QR code again into the USH app instead of the USJ app? I bought it literally just hoping that it'll work in Orlando and I guess i'll have to wait and see. Fingers Crossed it'll be no issue though.

Yep. Just scanned it into the Hollywood app and was good to go.

 

[TheGentTrent]

After taking in the Lower Lot at night, we mercifully took the escalators for the last time of the night (it really is a pain getting between the upper and lower lot), we took some night pictures on our way to SLOP and then got in line. Absolutely loved the queue for this ride. So many physical set pieces and AA's all around you and best of all, it's not a tease situation where the queue is better than the ride! The queue is a setup to get you ready for the kind of ride it's about to be, which is how it should be. I'd never even seen SLOP, and I was smiling the whole time on this ride and I enjoyed it so much that i've since watched the movie due to how much I liked the ride. More of this kind of ride please!

And this is exactly why I never understood all the complaints about Fantastic Beasts going to Epic Universe. A good ride can be a good ride, regardless of the source material. Heck, it can even inspire love for the property if done right. I was always kind of indifferent towards Avatar as a movie, but I love the land at Animal Kingdom so much that I've softened up to the films.

 

[Nick]

And this is exactly why I never understood all the complaints about Fantastic Beasts going to Epic Universe. A good ride can be a good ride, regardless of the source material. Heck, it can even inspire love for the property if done right. I was always kind of indifferent towards Avatar as a movie, but I love the land at Animal Kingdom so much that I've softened up to the films.

Yeah, i've long said IP popularity or having a large fanbase doesn't matter as long as the actual ride/show is fun or flat out great and I think the results bear this out (Splash, Pandora, SLOP, WaterWorld, TRON, Bourne, etc, etc).

I think more what they were probably worried about when it came to FB was merch sales maybe? Which to be fair have proven to not be as good on less popular IPs. Pandora has never sold well, I never see anything selling much for Bourne, Fallon stuff always ends up in TM bargain bins, and I don't see a lot of this TRON merch they are trying to push selling as well as they'd hope.

Final day of the trip report in the works now.

 

[Nick]

Day 4 - Being absolute tourists in Hollywood! - Part 1

Our last day in California and we really had very little plan. The only thing we knew for sure was that we wanted to hike to the Hollywood sign. Of course we didn't even decide on which trail to take until the day of. Originally, we were going to start at Griffith Observatory and hike from there, but that hike is less interesting than from Cahuenga Peak from the looks of it and doing this trail saved us time as well since the one from the Observatory is longer. Only downside was that we didn't actually get to go to the Observatory. Not as big of a deal for me, but friends wanted to go since they hadn't been.

Anyway, the hike was fun, if a little tiring, especially considering this was the one day of the week it was actually decently warm out during the day (low to mid 70's) and the sun was out in full force unlike the other days so we worked up a bit of a sweat. I somehow forgot we were going to hike during this trip and forgot to pack shoes that were meant for hiking in any real way at all (and I own hiking boots). So while one friend had on hiking boots and another at least had on running shoes, i'm doing this with vans on and it literally felt like rocks were entering my feet at almost all times. All-time terrible packing mistake. The flowers were in full bloom however so the mountainside looked beautiful.

One of our friends had a bit of trouble with the first part of the trail, which is decidedly the toughest part. Getting up to roughly a midway (or maybe a little less than midway) point in the trail where there was an American Flag planted in the area of what apparently is called the Wisdom Tree was a good resting sport for a little bit to sit under the tree and drink some water. The tree was also basically right near the edge of the peak allowing for some great scening overviews of the Burbank Studio lots and also Universal Hollywood.

After our pitstop at the Wisdom Tree, we kept going onward towards the Hollywood sign as that was our ultimate goal. This hike turned out to be a lot more challenging than I think any of us thought it would be, but for the most part we didn't have too much trouble. We did come across a couple who apparently spotted a rattlesnake so we were a bit more cautious, but would've been more worried if the sun wasn't blazing down like it was. The views were just absolutely great from up here as we kept progressing, blew away anything I expected. Universal's Park and Studio can be seen on the left and WB's Lot on the right of the picture below

We still had one more peak to go over, but we were running out of water so the thought of climbing up again (at least for me) was not the most ideal thing and there was some really rough parts to navigate over this hill. Once you got all the way up, the view was insane and we just sort of took it in for a bit, but going down we needed to be a bit more cautious as it was much easier to fall completely off if you tripped or slipped. Once across that hill though it was pretty smooth sailing to the Hollywood sign. It was fairly flat for a good stretch which gave us a bit of a break. Before long we had reached what I was surprised to find out was called the "Hugh M. Hefner Overlook". Man was it worth it.

Disney Studios Burbank from the trail:

So after sitting up there and just taking in the view and talking to some locals who helped form the rest of our day (that to that point (around 2pm) was still uncertain. I could've condensed hiking up to the sign, but I ended up deciding that this was more of its own thing and the views were just so great.

Also, if anyone else was thinking about doing this hike in the future, i'd highly recommend it! Just come prepared, especially if it's going to be a hot LA day. Someone with a lightly pack backpack with some supplies just in case is probably best. Definitely make sure to have water, if you have a backpack, bring sunscreen so you can reapply as the day goes on, and while i'd recommend wearing long cargo pants for this due to the nature of it, if you are going to wear shorts you're going to get scuffed up a bit so maybe bandages or ointment.

Luckily we came at a time of the year where it wasn't too hot, but even still we all left with a good sweat. The last time I hiked was in 2019 in Alaska and while I do walk a decent enough amount, if I can do it, you probably can too. It's not going to feel easy, but it will be rewarding.

 

[ninjahertl48]

for those interested in why Hugh Hefner's name adorns the Hollywood sign lookout... it's actually a pretty great story! and it's a great hike. another cool, slightly off-the-beaten-path hike around Griffith is the "Old LA Zoo" hike, which ends, as the name implies, on the site of the original LA Zoo. it's sick!

 

[Nick]

for those interested in why Hugh Hefner's name adorns the Hollywood sign lookout... it's actually a pretty great story! and it's a great hike. another cool, slightly off-the-beaten-path hike around Griffith is the "Old LA Zoo" hike, which ends, as the name implies, on the site of the original LA Zoo. it's sick! View attachment 18746

I'll have to give that article a read! And I've heard about the old LA Zoo hike, just haven't gotten to it yet. Maybe next trip!

 

[Jerroddragon]

Thanks for the tip on Water World, next time i'll make it a point to see it at night. We actually were pretty close to missing the show. We were rushing to make the 4:45 show so we wouldn't have to go to the show at night given it was going to be in the low 50's, but I can totally see how it would be a show that's great at night. We got a fairly decent seat for when we showed up, although I somehow got absolutely soaked while my friend just two spots over was still completely dry lol.

So with the F&F Coaster coming, is there any rumor on what Supercharged will be turned into?

Rumors are USH is looking into moving the Tram loading area/Q and using Falls Lake (which includes FF Supercharged) for new rides/lands

 

[Nick]

Day 4 - Being absolute tourists in Hollywood! - Part 2

Continuing on with the day! It was a little before 2:30 by the time we got back in the car and got going. We had sort of jokingly thrown the idea of doing the WB Studio Tour earlier in the trip, but then one friend actually was being serious about it so we looked into if they had reservations. They said yes, but their final reservation slot was for 3pm. So we put our name and information in, and then rushed to get a quick lunch since we were starving at this point.


We stopped at the Dog Haus in Burbank not too long before the tour, so we went in, ordered, went to the bathroom, grabbed our food and drink and ate in the car. I got the Das Brat which was a Bratwurst, caramelized onions, sauerkraut, and spicy mustard. I'm normally not big on mustard, but with the rest of the ingredients it combined really well. The Bratwurst was really good and it was not only cheaper but way better than the crappy hot dog I had at USH the day before. We then went over to WB.

So a little about this Studio Tour - It was $69 per person with $15 for parking for a three hour tour. They had a longer tour, but we didn't even look into it since we didn't have the time for that and I think we may have been too late anyways. We were a bit skeptical about this tour, but after looking into it we just decided to go for it. Even if we didn't think it was worth it, it was still only $70.

So you kinda just start off in an area that's not included in the three hours and more just something that anyone can mill around in if you pay to park. It's sort of like a small WB showcase showing off their history, and some of their classic films. Then after you scan your ticket, they have you go into a small theater with some others. As soon as you enter the theater it becomes apparent that you're about to watch some corporate fluff video. It was short and to the point, just sort of letting you know who WB is.

So moving on, the carts fit 14 guests + our driver/guide). We sat in the second row to be close to the guide in case we wanted to ask any questions (which I recommend if anyone does this as you can make this as much of an interactive tour as you want). Our guide Dan was absolutely great - the fact that I still remember his name without having documented it should at least tell you something!

He was very personable and it was very inviting in asking him questions. He started off by asking us what some of our favorite shows are so he could cater the tour to us a bit. He wasn't looking specifically for WB shows as he worked in even some Marvel at one point in the tour, but I mentioned The Last of Us just to see how he would work back around to that.
Our first stop off of the cart was to their backlot sets

We moved onto their Midwest village in the backlot where there's things like the gazebo from Gilmore Girls (which I actually know plenty about because my sister happens to be watching the show right now). There was actually a decent amount of Gilmore Girls used houses in the area here as well. Funny enough, in the picture above that has the Gazebo in it, the midwestern street there was actually recently used to film Our Flag Means Death which is about one of the last things you'd think would film in this midwest area. The opening musical scene in 2011's The Muppets was filmed along that street as well for the song "I've Got Everything I Need". The church has been used in many things and has an actual inside to it and isn't just a facade so that funeral scenes can be filmed there. I believe our guide said it was used quite a bit in Riverdale.

So remember I said that our guide asked about some of our favorite shows so he could have the tour be a little bit more personal? Here's where he worked in The Last Of Us for me. If you don't recognize the house, I envy your youth, as it's the Growing Pains house. How did he work in TLOU? He brought up that Ashley Johnson, who portrays Ellie in the game, got her start as a part of the main cast on this show in some of its later seasons. Won't lie, I found that to be a really cool way to incorporate TLOU into a tour like this where they didn't have any sets or anything (since it was filmed in Canada).

We then went down the street a bit more to another Gilmore Girls used house where it was a full walkthrough house but the facade was the front side of the house on both sides which was a first for me and i've spent a decent amount of time actually filming, although I guess when I have it's been either on location or in a soundstage as an extra, not a backlot. Certainly makes sense in terms of cost savings, etc.

We then passed the exterior for Abbot Elementary which was cool and building used as Gotham PD in 89's Batman. Our guide also showed off one of the few Marvel related productions that we went by, which was the exterior of Scott Lang's house while he was on house arrest in Ant-Man 2. We also did go near, but not directly by the fire escape used for the iconic kiss scene in 2002's Spider-Man so I couldn't get I good picture.

We couldn't take any pictures, but we did go into a soundstage that is gearing up for filming a new season of the WB produced CW show "All American" (which I only know from Netflix trying to get me to watch it). From having been inside of soundstages for filming, it's about what I expected on that front, although our guide did show us some interesting things about the set.

We then went past the tallest soundstage in North America and one of the largest as well. Stage 16 on the WB lot was built in the 1930's and is roughly 9 stories tall and just absolutely massive to see in person. I believe it's over 30k square ft so you can do a lot on that type of space, especially considering the height. Lastly for now, we passed the on lot WB theater and they were getting ready to seemingly have a cast & crew premiere or party for Peacock's Mrs. Davis, something to that effect. There was a bunch of people walking over to it when we went by so something was happening right around that time.

Anyway, that was a lot to go through. It actually wasn't quite the end of the tour, but that's the backlot part with the exception of one thing which i'll show when I do the next and probably last post in the trip report. So to quickly answer did I think the tour was worth it? I was skeptical going in as I said, and maybe that helped it exceed expectations, but I really enjoyed the tour overall. I think the real reason we ultimately did this is because we told a local that we ran into we were thinking about it and he said he thought this one was the best tour you could do. He also led us to a great dinner spot so props to that guy