Go Los Angeles Card

Comments about Smart Destinations Go Los Angeles Card:

We purchased a 7 day card for the 5 members of the family for August 2011. Our 12 year old had to have an adult card in order to be able to get into the studio tours, but was not a problem. Day 1 - was used to go to Knott's Berry Farm. We got there at opening and managed to get quite alot done by lunchtime. We left at 2pm as we'd done what we wanted. Best Ride - Excelerator! Day 2 - we went to Newport Beach and did a whale watching cruise at 9am. Word of warning - the parking lot is valet and can take time when the queue builds up, so turn up early so that you don't miss the boat, however, the boat was 45mins late! We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, and got to see Pelicans, Seals on the buoys and some dolphins which swam alongside the boat at one point. We didn't see any whales, so got a half price voucher to return for another cruise (which we didn't have time in the itinerary to repeat). As we were late starting out, we were also late returning and we had to drive from Newport Beach to Santa Monica to do the Malibu Movie Stars Homes Tour. We left Newport at 12.30pm and didn't get to Santa Monica till 3pm - 2.5hrs! We wanted to drive p[art of the way along the Pacific Coast Highway and because of all the traffic lights on this particular route - caused the length of time to get there. We therefore missed the tour and spent the afternoon looking around Santa Monica. This was very disappointing. Day 3 - Universal Studios for our 19th Wedding Anniversary. We got there well before opening. Had to call at guest services to get proper tickets to get in (very quick process). Once inside we waited for "rope drop" and decided to do the studio tour first. We are so glad we did as the waiting time after that was 1hr 30mins all day after that! I had planned out the rest of the day and we managed to get most of it done, except the Waterworld show as by 5pm, we'd had enough walking around. The experience was great (but much prefer Universal Florida). We did the House of Horrors and I have to say - I don't think any of us realised just how many people jump out at you and did frighten us all, and we were so glad when we finally got through as it was longer than we expected! We then spent the evening at Citywalk and enjoyed a lovely meal at Hard Rock, afterwards doing some shopping. Day 4 - Hollywood and Movie Star Homes Tour with LACity Tours. We got there very early to secure a seat for the 10.30am tour. We were upgraded to the 3 hr tour instead. This tour was fantastic. I took sooo many photo's of places that were used in the movies and little anecdotes of hollywood of the past. Only downside - I didn't take a pen and paper to write down who's houses I was taking photo's of and because you see so many, you can't remember them all when you're finished. Got to do a little research now! LOL. We then went to Madame Tussauds, which we though appeared very crowded, but once inside, we managed to spend as much time as we wanted and at points had a whole room of exhibits to ourselves! They take their own photo's if you want which you can pay for at the end to have (of course I wanted the one of me with Johnny Depp as Ctn Jack Sparrow! Day 5 - We had pre-booked the Paramount Studio Tour for 10am. We got there half an hour before and went through the security gate before meeting our guide at the coffee shop - you need to take the card inside the coffee shop to register on the tour (security prints you off a map of the lot and checks to make sure you are booked on a tour before letting you through). It was a very informative tour, which we thouroughly enjoyed. They were filming glee that day and my girls got to see "Emma - the ginger haired girl" (sorry I'm not a fan) she waved at the girls and said Hello, which we were told was rare from the cast of glee. We also saw Dylan McDermott sitting in a cart close to ours - he was filming an American Horror Story. He went and hugged another actress called "Angela" (we didn't recognise her as we're fro the UK). We touched the bronson gate and sat on the bench used in Forrest Gump! It was amazing. We then drove over to Santa Monica, arriving at 1pm to book onto the Malibu Stars Homes Tour. We were told that to reserve for the 3.30pm tour we'd have to pay $8 per person!! I said no way, but we could book places on the 5.30pm tour for nothing, so that is what we did. It was very cold driving down to malibu in the open topped minibus. The guide appeared quite well informed and slowed down/stopped to allow photo's. I did expect some time on malibu beach itself, but that didn't happen, so you see the homes streetside and in most cases all you see is a wall and a gate, but interesting nonetheless. Day 6 - We went to Hollywood Museum at opening (10am) and we enjoyed looking around the old Max Factor place, which has a floor dedicated to the old hollywood days when max factor did the make-up for the greatest hollywood stars. Downstairs was the horror section (the girls frightened that someone would jump out again - remnants of universal!), the 1st floor dedicated to Lucille Ball and the top floor had a mixture of props from the old to the new. Interesting, but only took us 3/4 of an hour to tour, not as big as we thought it was going to be. In the afternoon we did the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. They are very much more geared upto tours and feels more like a production line in itself. Some nice Harry Potter props in the foyer/coffee shop area. You then go into watch a 10 min film presentation of films that Warner have shot. You then meet your tour guide and go to your cart. For both this tour and the paramount tour - there is no videotaping of any kind on anything. You can photograph anything outside, as long as there is no filming taking place. If that area is being used for filming - you cannot photograph and in Warner's case - they lock up your cameras. You also cannot photograph any stars you see on the lot! Back to Warner - we saw alot od sets, explanation as to what was filmed where - saw an area used for Ghost Whisperer - I asked the question as the guide wouldn't have said (but I recognised it). We were allowed to photograph inside the transportation building, where they house some famous vehicles used in some well known films. You also have a free photo taken in there which superimposes a well known vehicle next to you! We also got to see an actual "Friends" set, which was cool. We weren't allowed to photograph in the props building. This was a very informative tour, which we also greatly enjoyed. Day 7 - Six Flags Magic Mountain. Didn't take us a long as we thought to drive from Westwood to here. We arrived an hour before opening. Had to go to customer services to process the card for tickets to scan in at the turnstiles. We were very disappointed with this park, only achieving a ride on 3 rollercoasters. Warning - the park does not list waiting times anywhere. If you ask a CM they do not know. 2 rides broke down out of the 3 and so caused an extra wait. We lost patience in the end and with rudeness of staff and the ride quaue on the platform being completely disorganised, we left the park and vowed never to return. This was the worst days use on the card, and had we known would have planned much better use of the card for that day. Overall though - if we were to retun to LA again (or indeed anywhere else that Smart Destinations offers this card for) - we would definately buy it again.

Comments about Smart Destinations Go Los Angeles Card:

We brought a 5 day Los Angeles Go Card via the net when they were on special, before the price rise, and utilised it to the full. We planned our visit to LA in 2 parts; 5 days in Anaheim; 5 days in Westwood, and were pleased to be able to use the card any 5 days over two weeks, which makes it incredibly flexible.Day 1 was spent at Knots berry Farm.Day Free we rode the buses to Long Beach with the intention of visiting the Queen Mary, the aquarium and doing a harbour cruise, but sadly the Queen Mary was closed to the public for a private event. We managed to get aboard to lunch in the restaurant and were encouraged by a QM employee to take a tour by ourselves with the map she pressed into our hands. So with a saving of not using our card, we decided to head back to Disneyland and save using the card that day.Day 2 was Sony Picture Tour, pre booked the night before. A great tour with a couple of surprise gifts which were greatly appreciated. Then onto Santa Monica, where we checked out the small aquarium there. Then onto to our next pre booked tour; the Starline Malibu Celebrity Homes tour. When we arrived around 2 p.m, we checked in to be told they had booked us on the 9:30 that morning. We had thought we were all speaking the same language when we had booked the 3:30 tour the previous day but something was lost in translation. They were, in the end, very helpful, and gave us tickets for the Hop On Hop Off bus in the event of there not being a place for us on the other tour. Luckily for us, some booked people failed to turn up, so off we whizzed up the Pacific Highway in the late June gloom. The sound system wasn't too good, but the warm blankets were much appreciated. After the tour, we managed to get aboard the last hop on for the day; a bone rattling, bum numbing old English double decker bus with a canned commentary you could only hear when the bus was stationery.Day 3 was spent at Universal Studios which was absolutely fabulous. It is quite possible to do everything on offer within the opening hours but we arrived just a couple of hours late. The only negative comment was the long wait for the one shuttle bus to take us back down to the Metro.Day 4 saw us starting off with the walking tour of Paramount Studios, as the driven tour was full. Amanda our guide was great and the tour awesome. I enjoyed watching a movie on the plane on the return trip to NZ with new eyes! From there we jumped aboard the bus to Hollywood where we booked a Movie Star Homes Tour by LA City Tours which departed in about an hour. So we had enough time to grab some lunch, then climbed aboard the bus for a great two hour tour. Our driver/guide was great and we enjoyed the info and the sites (no one famous though!)Day 5 was back to Hollywood where visited the Hollywood Museum, something that wasn't on my list to do, but so pleased we did. What a hidden treasure. Our last use of the Go Card was Madame Tussards and this was fabulous. Incomparable to the wax museum at Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco that we has visited last year.So in summary we paid [$] each for our cards and they returned a $318 each value (more if the Queen Mary had of been open to the public as with the Kodak Theatre which was also closed due to refurbishment) We would recommend the Go Cards, but be prepared to swot up before you leave home!!

Comments about Smart Destinations Go Los Angeles Card:

I must say I am very impressed by this service. I ordered L.A. Go Cards for my two daughters and myself for a week long trip to Los Angeles and couldn't be happier. I received my cards less than two weeks after I ordered them along with a booklet of all the places we could go. There are so many great places to choose from. We saved quite a bit of money on our trip. We enjoyed Santa Monica Pier, Universal Studios, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and the Hollywood Museum. My only regret is we didn't get to see the Kodak Theater since it is closed through the end of July due to the Cirque to Sole performances. I would recommend these cards to anyone visiting L.A. next time we go to L.A. I will buy these cards again and hope to have more time to see other attractions. I see on the website that they sell San Francisco Go Cards as well. We are going there in August so I'm planning on buying them.

Comments about Smart Destinations Go Los Angeles Card:

This pass saved us literally hundreds and hundreds of dollars over 3 days. We saw ALL the major attractions in LA and Hollywood, including studios, museums, boat rides, whale watching, water parks, amusement parks for no extra cost! This pass is incredible and the cost is great for what you get. It is far more flexible than the NY Pass that I purchased last year. For that pass,you have to use it on consecutive days. The LA pass allows you to skip a day if you want to relax at the pool of your hotel in between, and then resume usage later. My ONLY complaint is that they should have a Southern CA pass that incorporates both the San Diego attractions AND the LA attractions. I would have purchased a 5 day pass if they had done this.

Comments about Smart Destinations Go Los Angeles Card:

We pre-purchased our five day passes about one month before travel. I like to have all of my travel documents and tickets in advance. With careful planning we were able to take the Warner Bros Tour, Paramount Tour, Sony Studio Tour, Legoland, San Diego Harbor Tour, Universal Studios, Knottsberry Farms and the Discovery Science Center! I wish we would've know prior to our trip that when using your GO card at Universal Studios, you would be given a separate 3 day pass. That would've allowed us more time at Universal during our trip at the beginning had we known. I HIGHLY recommend the Warner Bros. Tour and the Paramount tours to anyone who watches any tv or movies! Sony was lacking in comparison. We look forward to taking advantage of other Smart Destination cards as well as using the GO LA card again! Thanks for offering such a great product! It allowed us to do other attrations we wouldn't have normally done ala carte!

Comments about Smart Destinations Go Los Angeles Card:

I bought the 3 day cards for our 5 day visit for 2 adults. Our original plan was to go in July but had to push it off until October. Luckily they are valid until December of the year you get them as long as you don't activate them. We were staying in Hollywood so day one we just walked around the Hollywood blvd and did the touristy shopping stuff. We had a tentative plan on where we wanted to go, and what we wanted to see and when. Well it rained pretty much everyday we were there so we had to change our plans, but with the card it was so easy. We Went to Universal Studios one day. Then because of the weather we just flipped through the book to see where else we could go and see that would not be effected by the rain. I had been to LA a few times before but we went places I had never even gone to, let alone heard of. We went to the Page Museum (which is free the first Tues of every month anyway) and visited the tar pits which were incredibly interesting. Never would have even considered it before. We toured The Kodak Theater, Madame Tussauds, Hollywood Theater, Aquarium of the Pacific (which is awesome) and the Queen Mary. If it hadn't been for the weather we would have done more. We had planned on renting bicycles and cruising around Santa Monica, checking out their Aquarium and hitting Pacific Park before the 530 time limit but didn't get to do that. My only real complaint was the time limit. It was really difficult to plan more then a cple things each day unless they are short tours or visits. Plan your time wisely but don't be set on certain things because had we set our mind to doing everything we had planned we would have been sorely dissapointed. Plan ahead, but have your fallback and definately utilize public transportation! Traffic in LA sucks..the metro is gonna be the quickest way to get to most places and the book they send you with the card helps you plan that as well!

Comments about Smart Destinations Go Los Angeles Card:

We used this card in October and was a little disappointed on some of the areas we tried to use it. We went to the pacific park at Santa Monica on a Wednesday and even though some of the rides were running, the ticket booth was closed, and were told it could not be used except on weekends, the book did not say this and my kids were disappointed. Tried to use the Harbor cruise on Monday and once again told the card was good on the weekends only. If you want to use this during an off season you better call ahead and see what is available during the week and the weekends. Overall the card saved us money and we enjoyed everything else we did, just PLAN AHEAD.

Comments about Smart Destinations Go Los Angeles Card:

Ok, so we brought the 5 day gocard L.A we watched the prices online for a few months and waited for it to go sale and got it for $188 and I also used the discount code "SHIPFREE" to avoid the extra fee that is added if you want to collect the card in person from hollywood. we saved over $120 usd,be sure tp plan your time well.

Comments about Smart Destinations Go Los Angeles Card:

We paid full price for our Go Cards....could have gotten them cheaper on line. We bought two adult and two children cards for five days. I wished there were more places to purchase the Go Cards...getting them was inconvient. Our children were 10 & 11. My best recommendation....plan, plan, plan! Get going early! Also, do quicker visits in the morning and save things that will require longer amounts of time for later in the day. Like Universal, Lego Land and Knott's Berry...do them later in the day just get there before 5:30 and then you can stay into the evening. Here's what we did with the card. Some days we didn't use the card...we were in CA for 10 days....so the days that we used the card, we squeezed a lot in! Day 1: Universal Studios (crowded stayed only 4 hours) then went to Hollywood and did the Double Decker Starline Bus Tour...last ride of the day! Day 2: Madame Tussauds Hollywood, Hollywood Museum, Kodak Theatre guided Tour. Then drove to Santa Monica and did Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier. Then drove to Gardena and did the K1 indoor Karting. Slept in Irvine. Day 3: Woke up and went to Wild Rivers Water Park for a few hours. Left, drove down to Lego Land and stayed until early evening. Then drove down to Mission Beach area in San Diego. Day 4: Stayed in Mission Beach. Woke, went on the first San Deigo Harbor Cruise of the day...did just one hour (call ahead for reservations!), then did Belmont Park for an hour. Then we drove back up north and stopped in Long Beach at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, stayed about an hour. Had time so we dashed north more and went back to the K1 Karting...boys loved that place! Day 5: Went to an Angels/Red Sox game....hey, we're from Massachusetts! This was not on the Go Card. But nearby was Knott's Berry Farm, so after the game we went there. Overall....very good value if you go quickly through stuff. We would have NEVER done all of these things without the card. But with the card...we really wanted to get our money's worth out of it. If you are slow moving and late sleepers...this might not be the thing for you. But my family likes to move, move, move when we are touring and doing vacation touristy things. Also, plan on traffic. If GPS says something is 15 minutes away....it will take you an hour in the L.A. area.

Comments about Smart Destinations Go Los Angeles Card:

This is a great way to see some of the most popular destinations in LA! Some advanced planning is helpful to make the most of your time, since passes are not honored after 5:30 p.m. Even without planning ahead, we were able to see and do most of the things we wanted to do.