Pantages Theater in Los Angeles

[Disney Fool]

Okay, guys, I need your help. I'm from east coast, a WDW die-hard; last year I went to DL for the first time and fell in love with that place. I'm going back in March for a week. I'm surprising my family with tickets to see "Wicked" at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, on the Thursday night of our trip. We're staying at Sheraton Anaheim (the one that looks like a castle) for the week. Do any of you have any suggestions on how to get to the theater?
Should we go to LA in the morning and do a tour and just stay for the show?
Should we arrange to go later in the day in a hired car? I hadn't planned on renting a car for our time at Disneyland as we were staying so close to the park. We're arriving on Sun. and going home on Friday night.
Any suggestions or recommendations would be helpful.

 

[dletz]

We usually just drive down there from anaheim. However I do know that there is a metrolink station across the street if you want to go that route. I'm not sure how the routes work to get you there but you could look it up. Down the street from the pantages is the El Capitan theater owned by Disney where they show disney movies. If a new movie is coming out it will be showing that. At other times of the year they show other movies and special features. We once went and saw a Mary Poppins sing along, they had all the words to all the songs on the screen.

Next door to El Capitan is the Disney soda fountain and store. It's pretty small. There aren't many tables, and they don't have much in the way of food (peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches and hot dogs if I remember correctly) but lots of different ice cream desserts. Check their website for the menu.

Across the street from El Capitan is a shopping area with resturants and food places and the Kodak theater where they do the Academy awards. At some times they have tours of the theater. Down the street from this is the Mann's Chinese Theater. So on the one street a lone there is a bunch to do. It's a long walk from El Capitan to Pantages, but the other stuff I listed is all right next to each other. If driving you might want to drive and park where the Kodak theater is then, move the car down towards pantages.

We'll be at the Pantages in 2 weeks to see Lion King. My parents bought tickets for the whole family for our birthdays. My daughter gets her ticket on Sunday, I can't wait to see her face. My parents bought her a lion chair and they are going to attach a fake paper ticket to it.

Donna

 

[Califgirl]

I would rent a car for just that day. It will give you the option of driving around Hollywood and enjoying a non-park day. Not sure how you could get back if you were to take a tour and then stay for the show. It's pretty far to try to take a cab.

 

[ter-moo]

I agree with Califgirl. The transit system in L.A. is a nightmare, and won't be of much help to you. Rent a car for the day (it's your cheapest option by far) and spend some time that day exploring Beverly Hills, the Sunset Strip and Hollywood.

Have a blast!!!

 

[staley7580]

We went to Hollywood for a day with my sister, who lives in San Bernardino, it took us 2 hours to get there from Anaheim, and my sister 3 hours from her house. I think cab fair would be ridiculous for that amount of travel time!

 

[minnietoo]

We went to Hollywood for a day with my sister, who lives in San Bernardino, it took us 2 hours to get there from Anaheim, and my sister 3 hours from her house. I think cab fair would be ridiculous for that amount of travel time!

Depends on traffic - evening traffic is bad - so the recommendations to spend the day there are good. Go mid morning ( in your rented car) - then plan for a nice dinner - then go to the theater. THere's a nice resturant (HOllywood and Vine) right near the Pantages.

 

[NotSoLittleMermaid]

We went to Hollywood for a day with my sister, who lives in San Bernardino, it took us 2 hours to get there from Anaheim, and my sister 3 hours from her house.

In July, it took us well over an hour to drive from the DL area to the El Capitan to see POC. Then in Oct. it took us over 2 hours to drive up there to see NBC in 3D! (We'd allowed over 1.5 hrs and still missed the movie) The route that looked the most direct on the map was a nightmare--there was construction and bumper-to-bumper traffic.

If you drive, I suggest you check with someone local, or local AAA for the best route. That's what I'm going to do next time.

 

[Disney Fool]

Thanks for all your imput. Still trying to decide.

 

[disney-super-mom]

If you need to rent a car for just the day, there's a car rental company in the Best Western Park Place Inn, which is located directly across Harbor Blvd. from the main entrance of Disneyland.

 

[DevilDuckie]

We LOVED Wicked. Better than the book, I thought. Certainly the book was, ummm... not family friendly. (The scene in the Philosophy Club- oh, squick!) I'd try to see some of the surrounding area- I'm not sure how close the La Brea tar pits are, but they're a good family activity.

 

[fidoprincess]

We just went to the Lion King at the Pantages on the Friday after Thanksgiving! It was so so good and the kids especially loved it.

What we did because we know that the traffic is a nightmare (took us 2.5 hours from DL but the "usual" time is 90 minutes!) is went up before and spent the night at the Renaissance Hotel right at Hollywood and Highland.

The day of the show, we went to the matinee at 2 so we had the morning to look at the Chinese Theater and the walk of fame. The Pantages is about 6-8 LONG blocks from the complex with the hotel and the Kodak and all the shops and restaurants so we took a cab to the theater. It was $8 and well worth it, nice and easy and dropped us off right in front of the theater. When the show was over, there were plenty of cabs to catch back to the hotel. I did notice that directly across from the theater on the opposite corner was a giant parking lot as well if you have a rental car. I would either go up the night before or early in the day of the show. If you do go up the night before, I really loved the hotel ($$ but use promo code AOL to get a much better rate booking online at their website.)

In any case, they let you into the theater about an hour early but just the lobby which is beautiful but packed! You will have time to buy snacks and you can take these in to the show too (just like the movies-lol) The only drink you can take in though is the bottled water just so you know! They let you go to seats about 20 minutes before the show IIRC.

By the way, I was wondering about "dressing" and we saw everything from jeans and tshirts to decked out sparkles and suits so don't stress over that part-lol.

If you are planning on buying trinkets, do it BEFORE the show because intermission is short and crowded and after the line is really long. The intermission was so short that the woman's line for the restroom had only made it 1/2 way-GO BEFORE-lol! Have a great time and enjoy the show.

 

[Disney Fool]

Thanks so much.

 

[Albort]

i kinda forgot about this but i would call Pantages Theater...

Cuz when my parents went to Hollywood Bowl for some show, they have buses from different cities to take you for like $6 each way. My parents loved them cuz its cheap and it gets you there ontime...

 

[Disney Fool]

we went up before and spent the night at the Renaissance Hotel right at Hollywood and Highland.

use promo code AOL to get a much better rate booking online at their website.)

Is this AOL code available to anyone or do you need anything special at check-in? (Incidentally, I do have AOL)

 

[fidoprincess]

Disney Fool,
As far as I know, anyone can use the AOL promo code! It really knocks quite a bit off the price too. I just checked and it is still valid but depending on your dates, coorporate rate might be cheaper too and anyone can use that as well, you don't have to be on a business trip.

For example, I just put in Jan 6 just to see and "leisure" rate is $289 but AOL is $189-a BIG difference and then it is just a minimal amount to upgrade to club level and although we did not do it, if you are there during the week, it is supposedly well worth it. The one other thing I found is that if you are AAA, you can book through their website and "prepay" at a better rate too but not as good as the AOL rate and then you have a $15 or $25 cancellation penatly fee too. Using the AAA rate online at the Renaissance website does not alway get you a better rate-same day as above AAA is $299!

I hope this helps but I would not worry about using the AOL code since you ARE aol-lol! I know others who used it and were not asked anything at check-in. We loved the hotel for under $200 a night but NOT at $300 a night-lol. Also, the rooms are not all the same, some are bigger. When we checked in the bellman took us to our room and said it was too little and called the desk and got us a better room-much bigger and a better view of the Hollywood sign too so ask if you don't like you room!

 

[Disney Fool]

thanks!