WB Studio tour recently?

SteveMP

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 13, 2017
anyone done this studio tour recently? DW is/was a fan of Friends so thought Central Perk would be fun. But also looks like they may have gotten Wonder Women stuff on display now, the kids like that. Wondering if anyone had tips best time to go, which tour etc?
 
I did this in June 2017. The tour I'd on 2 parts, the first part is the van ride around the back lot sets. Its a lot better than Universal backlot as they park the vans in the different areas and take you on a walking tour though the buildings. The focus a lot on Pretty Little Liars and Gilmore Girls as these were the most recent high profile shows. But the guide's know their history and will focus on older films and shows if you ask or recognise a set.

The second part is the Batman cars exhibition.

The third part is the DC and Harry Potter exhibition. When I was there, it was Suicide Squad, so this is probably where the Wonder Woman exhibit is.

The last part is the Friends and everything Warner Bros area. They have a real Central Perk coffee shop, with branded coffee cups and other merchandise. They also have the Central Perk set with the sofa which is an interactive area.

After the Friends area there was a Pretty Little Liars exhibit, more interactive Harry Potter areas, some Warner Bros down though the years exhibits and at the very end a merchandise shop.

We spent about 4 hours there
 
I did this in June 2017. The tour I'd on 2 parts, the first part is the van ride around the back lot sets. Its a lot better than Universal backlot as they park the vans in the different areas and take you on a walking tour though the buildings. The focus a lot on Pretty Little Liars and Gilmore Girls as these were the most recent high profile shows. But the guide's know their history and will focus on older films and shows if you ask or recognise a set.

The second part is the Batman cars exhibition.

The third part is the DC and Harry Potter exhibition. When I was there, it was Suicide Squad, so this is probably where the Wonder Woman exhibit is.

The last part is the Friends and everything Warner Bros area. They have a real Central Perk coffee shop, with branded coffee cups and other merchandise. They also have the Central Perk set with the sofa which is an interactive area.

After the Friends area there was a Pretty Little Liars exhibit, more interactive Harry Potter areas, some Warner Bros down though the years exhibits and at the very end a merchandise shop.

We spent about 4 hours there

Great, thanks for this! Very helpful. I forgot about Gilmore Girls, wife and daughters love that show(old and new). the kids would have liked suicide squad as well, maybe tehy still have some displays of that
 
How extensive are the DC and Harry Potter exhibits? That's the big draw for my kids. We keep planning to do this and my kids are off school all of December so thinking this is a good time.
 


How extensive are the DC and Harry Potter exhibits? That's the big draw for my kids. We keep planning to do this and my kids are off school all of December so thinking this is a good time.

The DC and Harry Potter are in separate buildings.

This is how the tour is laid out

1. At the main entrance building you watch a 5 minute into show and then get loaded into a van with a tour guide.
2. The tour guide drives the van to the backlot area where you spend about 40 minutes to an hour. There are about 3 stops where the tour guide parks the van and everyone gets off for a walkaround in different areas and buildings
3. Once done on the backlot everyone gets back on the van and the tour guide drives to different buildings on the property.
4. One building is where the DC and Harry Potter exhibitions are. The DC costumes and props are on the ground floor and the Harry Potter exhibition is up the stairs. You get about 30 minutes to walk around this building.
5. Once everyone is done, everyone gets back on the van and the tour guide drives to another building. This is where the Batman cars exhibition is.
Once everyone is done seeing the Bat cars, about 20 minutes, I think, everyone gets back on the van to the last building, which is where the Friends set, Central Perk coffee shop, Pretty Little Liars, Harry Potter Interactive areas and the merchandise shop are.

The Harry Potter Interactive areas are broom flying photo ops and House Photo photo ops.

You cant just go to the Harry Potter exhibits or just to the Batman cars or just to the backlot, you have to do everything. There is also a ton of Harry Potter Merchandise in the shop, but again the shop is only accessible from the tour, its not in the main entrance building.
 
The DC and Harry Potter are in separate buildings.

This is how the tour is laid out

1. At the main entrance building you watch a 5 minute into show and then get loaded into a van with a tour guide.
2. The tour guide drives the van to the backlot area where you spend about 40 minutes to an hour. There are about 3 stops where the tour guide parks the van and everyone gets off for a walkaround in different areas and buildings
3. Once done on the backlot everyone gets back on the van and the tour guide drives to different buildings on the property.
4. One building is where the DC and Harry Potter exhibitions are. The DC costumes and props are on the ground floor and the Harry Potter exhibition is up the stairs. You get about 30 minutes to walk around this building.
5. Once everyone is done, everyone gets back on the van and the tour guide drives to another building. This is where the Batman cars exhibition is.
Once everyone is done seeing the Bat cars, about 20 minutes, I think, everyone gets back on the van to the last building, which is where the Friends set, Central Perk coffee shop, Pretty Little Liars, Harry Potter Interactive areas and the merchandise shop are.

The Harry Potter Interactive areas are broom flying photo ops and House Photo photo ops.

You cant just go to the Harry Potter exhibits or just to the Batman cars or just to the backlot, you have to do everything. There is also a ton of Harry Potter Merchandise in the shop, but again the shop is only accessible from the tour, its not in the main entrance building.

Do they have butter beer? I've been to the HP tour in Leavesden, was amazing, and they had butter beer in the cafe to top it off. My kids would love that. (Luckily they haven't been to Leavesden so they can't conpare the rest)
 
Do they have butter beer? I've been to the HP tour in Leavesden, was amazing, and they had butter beer in the cafe to top it off. My kids would love that. (Luckily they haven't been to Leavesden so they can't conpare the rest)

No the ButterBeer is sold at Harry Potter Land in Universal Studios. Warner Bros Tour is just props exhibits and the 2 interactive photo ops.
 


No the ButterBeer is sold at Harry Potter Land in Universal Studios. Warner Bros Tour is just props exhibits and the 2 interactive photo ops.

Ok, yeah we've had it there and the kids love it. Thanks for confirming. I was just curious since the WB tour in Leavesden did have it and all the merch as well.
 
We just did this tour a month ago and everything was as people above in this thread have pointed out. I get the idea the Wonder Woman/DC and Harry Potter areas will change out to promote new movies as they come, so it might be Justice League at some point.

The studio store area at the end has a lot of Harry Potter stuff, including wands, and a lot of DC and other WB too.

On a practical note, there is a Starbucks at the beginning after you check in, and a cafe at the final building. Both have pastries and drinks, but not much real food. Your food options in the surrounding area are pretty limited too.

PHXscuba
 
We did the tour end of August and quite enjoyed. badPinkTink described it well. The end is a walkthrough where there is a Friend's section. You can act out a scene in the set. The Harry Potter / Super hero building has different props and movie stuff. Pretty neat. I love the part in the tram seeing sets from past shows.
 
Does anyone know if there is a different between tours on a Sunday versus a tour on a Monday? We could go either day, but are wondering if Sunday would be 'too quiet' since it is the weekend.
 
Does anyone know if there is a different between tours on a Sunday versus a tour on a Monday? We could go either day, but are wondering if Sunday would be 'too quiet' since it is the weekend.

Sundays you would have a better chance of seeing more of the backlot. WB is a working studio and most shows shoot Monday to Friday. They shoot on the backlot so the tours work around the shooting schedule. So you could be unlucky and be there on a Monday when half the backlot is closed.
 
Sundays you would have a better chance of seeing more of the backlot. WB is a working studio and most shows shoot Monday to Friday. They shoot on the backlot so the tours work around the shooting schedule. So you could be unlucky and be there on a Monday when half the backlot is closed.

Good to know! I was at Universal Studios omce and they had some NY film school students there doing stuff so part of the tour was closed but interesting to see what tehy were doing
 
I did this in June 2017. The tour I'd on 2 parts, the first part is the van ride around the back lot sets. Its a lot better than Universal backlot as they park the vans in the different areas and take you on a walking tour though the buildings. The focus a lot on Pretty Little Liars and Gilmore Girls as these were the most recent high profile shows. But the guide's know their history and will focus on older films and shows if you ask or recognise a set.

The second part is the Batman cars exhibition.

The third part is the DC and Harry Potter exhibition. When I was there, it was Suicide Squad, so this is probably where the Wonder Woman exhibit is.

The last part is the Friends and everything Warner Bros area. They have a real Central Perk coffee shop, with branded coffee cups and other merchandise. They also have the Central Perk set with the sofa which is an interactive area.

After the Friends area there was a Pretty Little Liars exhibit, more interactive Harry Potter areas, some Warner Bros down though the years exhibits and at the very end a merchandise shop.

We spent about 4 hours there

Good info. But just wondering where you bought your tickets from? Was looking on their website but also trying to find any discounted ones...Thanks
 
Not recently but we did the tour in fall 2016. It was a highlight of our California trip! They were shooting shows the day we went so the guide had to circumvent some filming (the Showtime show Shameless was filming a Christmas episode and the ABC Family Show The Fosters was shooting on a soundstage). They had just wrapped up filming for an episode of The Big Bang Theory that afternoon so we got to visit that soundstage. Of course, we just saw the sets (Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, Penny's apartment, etc) but they gave us a little talk about how they shoot the show. No photos allowed while in the soundstage. The prop warehouse was cool and we would've been happy to see more of it but it's huge and they only show you a few floors.

We took the very last tour on a Wednesday I think. I tried to time it where we wouldn't end up in too much rush hour traffic but it still took us hours to get from Burbank to Anaheim that evening. LA traffic is no joke. It is just like they talk about on TV. (I hated the traffic). We drove up earlier in the day and had lunch at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank that was very close to the WB lot. There's been quite a few movies filmed there and they used to shoot from there often when Jay Leno was hosting The Tonight Show. It's one of the original Big Boy restaurants still left in the US. Nothing fancy but it was fun.
 
Sounds like it will be worth it. I was able to get free tickets so we definitely will be going. Thanks for that report.
 
I took my daughter in March 2016 for 2 week graduation trip to California from NJ. We did the WB tour and LOVED IT. loved it so much my husband and I are going back for our anniversary in Oct and definitely doing the WB tour so he can experience it :)
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top