So I am 10 days out from the family trip that I was thinking about when I started this thread almost a year ago.
Some of the things that made the final "for sure" to do list are:
LA Live
Disney Concert Hall
Hollywood Sign
Griffith Observatory
Universal Studios
Hollywood Blvd
Beverly Hills
Mulholland Drive
Sight Seeing Tour
Star's Homes
Hollywood Bowl
Movie Premiere - Spiderman
Getty Center
Korean Friendship Bell - Lunch
Tide Pools
Disneyland
Venice Beach Canals
Randy's Donuts
Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica Beach/Shopping
Drive PCH to Malibu
Palisades Park, Santa Monica
Movie Shoot Locations
TV Show Taping
Being a techy and organized (albeit maybe "overkillish") guy, I put these, and some others that didn't make this list, into an excel spreadsheet with an estimated amount of time needed at each location, how much it would cost (minus food), the general area so that some things could be grouped together, and any special notes about it.
We were going to do the Rainbow Harbor Boat Tour to see the whales, but the family didn't want to drop $160+ tax, travel, food to have teh *possibility* to see whales.
The tar pits didn't make the list either. Too educational for my wife and oldest.
Chinatown or Little Tokyo were on my list, but they axed them too. And yet they are fine to drop some dough to drive around on a "star's home" tour. I told them that they won't see anything but gates and hedges, and I can't in good concience pay for that, so I told them that we would do a different tour and then I will drive them past some of the star's homes. I managed to get what is supposed to be a "real" and current list of where a couple dozen stars actually own homes, so we will do that ourselves.
Lots to do in the 8.5 days that we are there, but we'll get through it.
