Things to do in LA

[foofighter15]

Here's the thing.
My family is going to LA for a cruise in February, for my grandpa's and my birthday. I have the the chance to go 4 days early. This would allow me to go to the Flames Game. The family that will be there will spending a day at Disneyland. That leaves two other days. I wont be 21...until i'm on the cruise, so I can't just go drink on a patio and people watch, and I'll be there with my mom, and some other family. I'm not that big of a touristy person, and have done that in LA anyway.
There is no basketball going on so I can't pencil in a Lakers (or Clippers) game.
And I've checked...no Foo Fighters shows.

Oh my hotel is actually across the street from Disneyland, so I'm actually in Anaheim, not LA.

What should I do if I go early?

Or, should I just cut my loss on the Flames game, and not go. The idea of saving money is a good one.
(but the flight and hotel would be free...so..ya...)

[ricoFlame]

hookers and blow. have fun.

[Aeneas]

May not be the Foofighters but there would be a dozen interesting bands likely playing in a two day span.
Boardwalk at Santa Monica.
Drive up to the hills/mountains to the north or Malibu coastal road.
La Brea Tar pits.
Visit my sister and brother in law.

Okay those are the thigs I did last time down. Maybe the last one would be odd.

[foofighter15]

well i could combine those two posts and visit your sister and hope she has blow...HA! Thing is, I wont have a car. Started looking into shows. Seeing some bands that interest me

[Engine09]

Go see Metal Skool, Tuesdays at the Roxy. Sunset Blvd.

You'll laugh your balls off.

[Cowperson]

Venice Beach . . . . a bit of a hole in the ground but what a hole in the ground with the whacko's and weirdo's. Lotta fun walking around there.

Rodeo Drive . . . . . upper crustville. Don't touch anything. But what an upper-crustville with the . . . . anyway, it's a bit of fun walking around there too.

Universal Studios. If you have an ounce of movie buff in you, take the caravan tour of the lot. Quite interesting.

You'll be near Knotts Berry Farm. I'm not sure how good your guts are to holding together, but the wooden roller coaster there is something else.

Drive to Malibu. Breakfast at Coogies. Head further up the coast. Just past the corner to Sunset Blvd (I think), there's a bar on the coast. Nice place to watch the sun go down. Can't remember the name.

Laguna . . . . that's a "head down the coast" thing, towards San Diego. Some nice walking around there.

Santa Monica has some nice walking as well as the pier.

Other things will come to mind I'm sure. Venice Beach for sure.

Cowperson

[octothorp]

Some of my favorite spots in LA (keep in mind that my wife and I are suckers for weird artifacts, books and collections):
http://www.getty.edu/ - it just doesn't get more civilized than this gorgeous museum overlooking the city. World class collections and it's completely free. Very good free concert series, but you need to get tickets in advance often.
http://www.obsoleteinc.com/ Weirdness. A fantastic store in the Venice area that carries bizarre artifacts ranging from cool industrial and medical equipment to old wooden dolls.
http://www.mjt.org/main2.html - More weirdness. A typical exhibit is a portrait gallery of dogs of the russian space program. We can easily spend a whole afternoon wandering this place.
http://www.thesecretheadquarters.com/ - Amazing little comic book store in the Silver Lake area (which is itself a great area to walk around and explore). Recently ranked as one of the ten best bookstores in the world by The Guardian.

[Trojan97]

I'm pretty sure you'll be down there the same time I was originally looking at heading down. If I recall correctly, when I checked the Honda Center website showed that there's a WWF Monday Night Raw show the night after the Flames game. If you're into wrestling that may be an idea. Even if you're not it could be fun to get some cheap tickets and have a laugh.

[foofighter15]

That actually would be tempting, bit of a throw back to my wrestling fandom days. However, I will be the boat by then. Plus if I remember correctly from when my buddies and I tried to get tickets for when it came to Calgary (so we could sit where we were visible all night and get absolutely hammered) they sell out pretty quick.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

You'll be near Knotts Berry Farm. I'm not sure how good your guts are to holding together, but the wooden roller coaster there is something else.

If you like roller coasters find a way to get to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia (the North edge of the giant mess they call LA). They have several current world record holding roller coasters, and many others that have only recently been beaten out. Golliath, the world's tallest steel coaster until last year, was amazing. One part is so intense I actually lost my color vision briefly. A common complaint is people passing out in that same section and not coming to until the end of the ride.

Their newest coaster, Tatsu, is the worlds highest/fastest flying coaster I believe. If your uncomfortable with heights at all it will scare the crap out of you. When you're getting pulled up you can't see the track or the supports. The only thing between you and the ground far below is your shoulder harness which you'll undoubtedly grasp as hard as you can just incase it decides to let you go.

Otherwise, LA, with no car... have fun

[troutman]

The Peach Pit.

[socalwingfan]

Be aware that Magic Mountain is only open on the weekends in February - as mentioned LA without a car is not good, you will probably have to rely on shuttle service to the attractions around Anaheim.

[foofighter15]

If I do go early, I trust you guys will watch for me at the Kings game and let me know if I made it on TV?

[vanisleflamesfan]

I would second the suggestion to go to the Getty. People like to joke about how there are not many 'cultural' opportunities in SoCal, but the Getty is as good as any art museum in the world.

[foofighter15]

I do want to go to the turtle racing place that was on Rob and Big the other day. Anyone know where it is?

[Sainters7]

L.A.'s got tons of stuff for you to do even as a minor. As mentioned already, Santa Monica's got some really neat stuff to do and look at around the pier. It's probably too cold right now to go boogey boarding(which is a blast), but I bet the Santa Monica Pier would be open, where a few rides are(roller coaster, and the famous ferris wheel there. Absolutely great view of the ocean when you're on it). Also you can see all the famous sites around there from movies, like that outdoor gym right on the beach where all the bodybuilders work out(I think that's Venice Beach. Its all attached though, you just keep walking and it goes from beach to beach to beach), and theres a skate park which always has some awesome skateboarders doin their thing and attracting a big tourist crowd. There's a big path going around all the beaches so you could rent a bike or even some rollerblades and check out all the beaches in a way that wouldnt take you all day.

Hollywood's also alot of fun. Walking along the Walk of Fame - or whatever that sidewalk's called with all the stars on it - is interesting. And the Hollywood wax museum was pretty hilarious too, if you've never been. Some of the wax figures look really good, almost creepily good, and others looks just awful, which is good for a chuckle. I think its like $7 or $8 to get in. There's also a huge outlet mall just off walk of fame. I can't remember the name but Im sure you could find it pretty easily from there, its maybe a 5 min walk going uphill from the walk of fame. Lots of brand name stuff at cheaper prices, and some cool restaurants in there to chill at, and have one of their micro-brewed b...er...soda pops

Also in Hollywood is the Hollywood Hills. If you are able to go in there(I know it may be tricky since it sounds like you wont have any wheels), you can go up to the famous Griffith Observatory, which overlooks the whole city, and its in the same area as the "HOLLYWOOD" sign, you can totally see it. Its a trail around there so you can walk all over, plus get some nice views of downtown L.A.(if you can see it through all the smog, seriously). And again, if you do have wheels once your parents get there, cruising in that area is fun, as its where all the movie stars live. You can't get too far in - there's security - but you can still see alot of the movie star homes(I'm not talking about that tour bus strip. I mean when youre actually deep in the hills, in their residential area).

Something else which we did that was alot of fun was took in a TV taping. Me and my buddy went to a taping of That 70's Show, it was pretty cool(Fez is a total pimp btw, I swear Donna wants to nail him, she was giggling over him between every take. And Jackie's even hotter up close). Its free to get in, though you may have to wait in line for a couple hours to make sure youll get a spot, as the lines fill up pretty quickly. But you cant just walk in off the street, you have to get it arranged a few days in advance, along with a copy of your driver's license, so they can check your record and make sure you're not some crazed lunatic who's gonna attack one of the cast members or something. My buddy did it for us, I dont know how but Im sure you can find out pretty easily. I dont know if that was just for That 70's Show or if they all do that, but it seemed pretty straightforward and simple.

One last thing Ill mention is to go to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. For the most part, stuff is WAY too expensive to buy, but its a cool little area to walk around in and poke your head around shops. Its mostly tourists anyways, so its not like youll stand out or anything. Then afterwards you can cruise around the Beverly Hills and check out all the crazy houses on the main drag leading into the city, some of them are absolutely unbelieveable. And pretty original looking too, some people have put some very interesting, expensive add-ons to their house(probably knowing they're living on a drag where tons of tourists cruise by to check out the houses)

LA's a really cool place to hang out in, even if you're not of age. Since you're out in Anaheim, I dont know how practical it is to get to all these places I mentioned, but I thought I'd at least give you some suggestions about stuff that we did when we were there(we stayed in Hollywood and Santa Monica though, I'm not sure how far out Anaheim is but Im sure its a ways, LA's huge). If I were you I'd definitely go early, it'll give you a chance to kinda see the city at your own pace and see all the things you wanna see, before the fam gets there and its compromise city(gotta love those fam trips ). I'll stop here because this is getting pretty long, but if I remember anything else thatd be fun for you to do, Ill post it.

[Draug]

I second Six Flags Magic Mountain. It is the best amusement park that I have ever been to - better than Disney World (or land) or any of the 5 parks around it.

Dimension X is a roller coaster that is worth the price of admission alone. Awesome.

If you do go to any parks in California, be sure to buy your admission online first. There are substantial savings to be had that way.

If you are there from Feb 7-10, check out the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona. It is the top level of Drag Racing in the world. The top fuel funny cars and dragsters are quite something to see, especially if you have any passing interest in any motorsports. Even if not, they are cool to see at least once.

[troutman]

I would love to go on a tour of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pso/pt.cfm

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by troutman

I would love to go on a tour of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pso/pt.cfm

Sister lives on the hill next to it. Could walk there easy, except when it's over 100 F.

[Slava]

Don't miss the Japanese Gardens and Galt Museum!