Hey guys,

I'm going to be on vacation from June 11th to June 19th. Our boys don't know it yet, but, we're taking them to California to do Disneyland, Universal Studios, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood Walk of Fame etc... Were also going to carlsbad and Legoland.

The thought occurred to me, HEY! We're going to be right in the heart of Movieland during the big premeire of BATMAN BEGINS! Does anybody have any info on WHERE and WHEN all the excitement will be taking place?

Also, does anyone have any other suggestions of places that might interest a comic book fan/movie buff/model builder while I'm in the area??????

I've never been there, and my wife hasn't been there in years... I'd love some input.

- GJS

P.S. Any suggestions of neat places to eat? Old fashioned Diner? Soda Shop? Suggest the Cool and Nifty as well as the inexpensive but good.

Not sure where Ground Zero will be for opening day BatFans -- probably the Chinese or the Arclight/ Cinerama Dome.

The best comicbook stores in the area are Golden Apple on Melrose and (my personal fave) Meltdown on Sunset -- the later being just a block away from the Sunset Grill (remember the old Don Henley song?), which still serves up a pretty good burger.

Hard to go wrong on Santa Monica Blvd. :thumbsup:

The batcave? In Griffith park below the planetarium. Take Bronson street [road? drive?] to the end and park close by. It's actually a tunnel.

There's an old diner downtown just north of the olde town L.A. Can't remember the name. supposedly they invented the hot dip beef sandwich.

In terms of crazed fans in homemade batsuits, the biggest opening day "scene" for "Batman Begins" will be the one at Graumann's Chinese Theater. I haven't checked showtimes yet, but the first screening will most likely be at midnight on Thurs 6/14. Tickets for opening weekend shows sell out pretty fast, so I would suggest getting advance tix on-line if you can.

Meltdown on Sunset Blvd. is definitely the best comicbook shop in LA (David Goyer and Matt Groening practically live there). (http://www.meltcomics.com/)

Hobbyshop-wise, the best -- and unfortunately one of the last -- shops in the Los Angeles area is KitKraft. It's located near the intersection of Ventura & Laurel Canyon in Studio City (about 5 min. from Universal Studios).

Other suggestions for things to do while you're in town...

Farmers Market/ The Grove (3rd & Fairfax) and the LaBrea Tarpits. There's lots of good food and people-watching at the Market, and the adjoining Grove has great shopping and a terrific theater. The tarpits are a just 2 minutes away near the intersection of Wilshire @ Fairfax.

Venice Beach/ 3rd Street Promenade/ The Santa Monica Pier. Besides Disneyland, this is the ultimate SoCal sightseeing experience (be sure to check out PuzzleZoo toys on the Promenade for cool sci-fi doo-dads).

For eats, besides the stalls at the Farmers Market, I would recommend...

Musso & Franks Grill on the Walk of Fame (one of the oldest restaurants in LA, and a Hollywood institution).

Pinks Hotdogs on LaBrea @ Beverly (great dogs).

The ApplePan on Pico near Overland (great burgers).

Nat & Al's deli in Beverly Hills (great star-watching).

Barney's Beanery on Santa Monica Blvd. @ LaCienega (all of the above, plus pool tables).

Hamma Sushi in Venice (great sushi at reasonable prices).

Loterria in the Farmers Market (best authentic Mexican food in the city, IMO).

Encounters Bar & Restaurant atop the Theme Building at LAX (fantastic panoramic view of the airport in a retro-Space Age setting -- the latter courtesy of the folks at Disney Imagineering).

And finally, because it's the best little Hollywood museum that nobody knows about, I recommend checking out the Max Factor building on Highland, just south of Hollywood Blvd. Besides a lot of old props, models and costumes it's got a faithful recreation of Roddy McDowell's Powder Room.

You haven't lived until you've seen Roddy McDowell's Powder Room.

There's an old diner downtown just north of the olde town L.A. Can't remember the name. supposedly they invented the hot dip beef sandwich.

That would be Phillipe's. It's a short walk from Union Station (aka the police precinct in "Blade Runner") and very close to both Chinatown and the new Disney Concert Hall.

If you do make it downtown, be sure to check out the Bradbury Building (aka J.F. Sebastion's apartment building in "Blade Runner").

Great suggestions and info! I'm taking notes. Thanx to all - especially to Carson for taking the time to detail - your input is invaluable.

Are there any 'problem areas' I might encounter in my travels? I'm talking about high crime areas that I might accidentally venture into unknowingly while trying to get from point A to point B? I'd like for my family to be able to avoid any unpleasantness if possible.

- GJS

Stay out of South Central after dark and you'll be fine.

What Carson Said....Stay out of south central fer sure!! But please Give FATBURGER a try...Best burger anywhere INMHO And Onion Rings........Thats one of the things I missed most aboout LA....But finaly they opened a FAtBURGER here in Clearwater Fl(which reminds me a lot of LA) and now IM happier......

Dude, when you go to Carlsbad Caverns, get there the night before so you can spend the night in a nearby hotel. You'll want to get up early in the morning to get there, as the tours start filling up pretty quickly. Also, if you get there before nightfall, you can usually see the bat's come out at dusk w/o having to actually take the tour. Pretty kewel!

Out of curiousity, what are gasoline prices like in the LA area? Like say, for regular unleaded gas?

- GJS

I paid $2.65 a gallon this AM.

The Star Trek Rock :) (the slanted rock in Arena and a million other movies)

That's what I went to see, it's an hour outside of LA give or take, but it's way cool

Vazquez Rocks are about 7 miles from my house. Heres a pictur-- ZOINKS! -- isn't that Scoob and Shag on their recent Mystery Machine Tour of the west coast?!?

Batman,

Okay, here's the scoop. My family came to LA in coverd wagons so we're kind of locals. In my personal opinion if you want to see a lot of oddballs go to Venice and the Santa Monica Pier. Not much good surf there either.

But if you're want to truly experience the California beach scene than there's no better spot to go than the infamous "Surf City" - Huntington Beach. Home of the US Open of Surfing, X-games, OP Surfing Championships, etc. I hang out there much of the summer, so if you're interested on heading down there when you're in town contact me on the backside and we'll hit the waves.

Given you're handle you might also want to check out the Bruce Wayne mansion in Pasadena.

Casa Bianca in Eagle Rock is one of LA's best kept secrets for Italian dining. But get there early - looong lines. The Pantry in dowtown LA is great for breakfast. Historic Olvera Street serves up some mean Taquitos. And of course ya gotta have an In n Out burger while you're here.

Here's another shot of Vazquez with two of my boys.

Actually just a lame excuse to try out the Image Shack you guys have been talking about for web hosting.


http://img143.echo.cx/img143/9496/27ta.jpg

So why's the picture so small?!?

By the way, if you really want to see a great working studio up close and personal, my suggestion is to take the Warner Brothers VIP tour. The groups are very small (8 to 10), they take you around in a golf cart, you stop and get out, walk around and are even allowed inside buildings. You're encouraged to touch things and check things out. It's worth the price of admission. Every tour is different because of filming that day. You'll probably even park right in front of the same building that Adam West and Burt Ward did when they pulled up in their Batmobile and ran up the steps into the Police HQ and Commissioner Gordon's office.

You'll need to make reservations ahead of time and if you have AAA, you'll even get a discount. Call: (818) 846-1403 or (818) 954-1744 and check this URL out for more information. It's a bit outdated (and the price is off by about $4, but you'll get the idea). http://www.seeing-stars.com/StudioTours/WarnerBrosTour.shtml