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Warner Bros Studio Tour

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lilangel
lilangel
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
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5
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Warner Brothers Studio Tour

  • June 6, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by lilangel from Ocala, Florida
Warner Brothers Studio Tour

The tour of the Warner Bros. studio and back lot allowed visitors to see sets from movies and television shows including "ER," "Gilmore Girls," "Dukes of Hazard," and "Growing Pains." We also walked through a sound stage from "Gilmore Girls" and viewed items of memorabilia in museum and prop manufacturing areas.

The tour began with a brief video featuring many of the famous shows that have been filmed at Warner Bros. We met up with our tour guides and travelled by tram to the lot. Our guide was friendly, very knowledgeable, and he appeared interested in making our tour as worthwhile as possible.

On the tram we drove past many of the large facades that have been used as the sets for street scenes in everything from "As Good as it Gets" to "CSI". We stopped to take pictures along the way and our guide took care to point out many sets from all genres of television and movies. He also told us which shows had been taping in various locations for upcoming episodes so that we could watch for the certain sets.

We were allowed to step off the tram at several spots including the ambulance bay from ER. While outside the bay, our guide shared with us several anecdotes about the cast and explained how some of the imagery is created for television.

Additional stops included a warehouse where props including the Tiffany lamp from "Batman" are housed and a museum where props and memorabilia from productions including "Harry Potter" and "Friends" are displayed. Some of my favorites were the chimney with letters flying out from "Harry Potter" and Monica's door from "Friends".

In addition to sets and memorabilia, the tour took visitors inside the areas where sets are created and painted and showed how special effects including snow and blood are preformed. Throughout all of these areas the guide remained informative and interesting.

The highlight of the tour for me was entering the set of Central Perk from "Friends". All of the original furniture and lighting from the sound stage were placed into an area where visitors could view, take pictures, and pose. Everything from the menu board to the coffee grinds in the cups was exactly the way it was in the final episode. Our guide did inform us, however that the set will likely be moved to the Smithsonian, so it may not remain on site.

Overall I found the tour interesting and informative. I'm a bit of a TV and movie buff, so I enjoyed seeing all of the items. Much of the tour is outside, however, and it was rainy and chilly the day I participated in it. I wouldn't miss it because of the rain, but I would definitely try to plan it for a sunny day if at all possible. If you have to brave the cold and rain, there's always the promise of hot chocolate in the lobby at the end.

From journal A Day in LA

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