By: Katie Taylor, a Marvelous Mouse Travels agent
What do the movies La-La Land, The Greatest Showman, The Minority Report, The Perfect Storm, Batman Forever, The Goonies, Annie, and Casablanca have in common?? Also, what do the tv shows Friends, Two and a Half Men, ER, The Voice, Big Bang Theory and Abbott Elementary have in common? All of these amazing movies and tv shows were filmed/are being filmed at the Warner Brothers Studios in Hollywood!! I had the chance to visit these studios in the summer of 2024 and participated in the Studio Tour!! Here are all of the amazing things you can experience during this tour!!
When you first arrive at the Warner Brothers Studio Tour, you will see props from the sets Friends. You can see Pat the Dog and various costumes worn by Phoebe, Monica and the rest of the cast. A couple of photo ops are also available here for guests to have some fun before entering. Once you get through this, you will enter a room that has various pictures and props from movies and tv. We saw Phoebe’s guitar from friends and many other amazing props. After that, you will enter a large movie theatre to watch a short film on the history of Warner Brothers Studios.
After the film, you will be paired up with your tour guide that will take you on an hour tour of the Front Lot of the studios. You will see where the movies and tv shows have all of the post production work. So many things are added to tv and movies after the filming has taken place!! We also saw where Warner Brothers has created a “hospital” set for a new tv show to debut later this year!! After you see the production offices and learn a little of the history of where the founders of the studios got their start, you proceed to the Back Lot where the tv and movie magic happens.
The Back Lot is where the sound stages and cityscapes are housed. We saw the alley where ER had the emergency room filmed, the fountain of the Friends intro, the alley where Tobey McGuire and Kirsten Dunst had their famous kiss in the Spiderman movie, the Hard Knock Life song from the original Annie Movie and so many other filming locations. So much history was told during this part of the tour that I need to do the tour again!! The next part of the tour was actually getting to walk on the sets of scenes filmed at Warner Brothers. It was amazing to see how many of the buildings have no ceiling or back walls. Production crews have to bring in so many extra things when filming!!
After the Back Lot Tour, they will take you to Stage 48, Script to Screen. This is where the sets of Friends and Big Bang Theory are located. You can sit on the Orange Couch at Central Perk and on Sheldon's couch!! This is also where you can see how creators use forced perspective to film movies like the Hobbit!! This is also where you can actually drive the Batmobile and ride a Quidditch broom through the use of a green screen!! You can even get a video and still pics of the rides!! So much fun!!!
After all of that, you can visit the re-creation of some of the sets used in the Harry Potter movies. This interactive experience includes making a potion in the Potions classroom, learning how to fight using spells, trying to catch your Hogwarts acceptance letter and being sorted into your House at Hogwarts!! Guess what house I was sorted into?? If you guessed Hufflepuff, you would be CORRECT!!
The last part of this tour is visiting both of the shops they have available!! The first one is Central Perk where you can get anything and everything Friends!!! They even have each character’s favorite drink at Central Perk!! We got sandwiches in honor of Joey!! They were delicious!! The second store is the WB Store and they have so many movies and tv shows represented here. The Goonies, Harry Potter, Gilmore Girls, The White Lotus and so many more!!We walked away with hats and a love for all things Warner Bros!!
If you are planning a vacation to California, I would HIGHLY recommend the Warner Brothers Studio Tour for anyone who is a movie buff or loves tv shows!! It is such a great way to experience the “behind the scenes” of how movies and tv are made. Plus, seeing all of the memorabilia of the movies from the past was so exciting and brought back so many great memories. Please reach out to Katie, an agent with Marvelous Mouse Travels to learn more or contact Marvelous Mouse Travels.
