Universal CityWalk Hollywood

I believe this was a change from our last visit, but even with Rideshare we ended up at the CityWalk entrance both coming and going. We still waited to be picked up in the parking garage, but it was on the other side of CityWalk.  

Maybe it was us, but it feels like they are funneling you there. 

Don't get me wrong; we didn't hate the CityWalk.

In fact, it was convenient starting there because we were able to preview it and get lunch, with more options than there were in the park.

One of the first things we saw was a Voodoo Donuts, which surprised us. I guess they really are expanding.

There were ways in which it reminded us of Las Vegas or maybe parts of Hollywood: dining and shopping and ultimately a tourist trap.

There are still things that you can appreciate and decor that is fun.

The best example of that was IT'SUGAR.

That is not about price nor selection, though I think that was okay.

It was the decor. 

Here were the candy characters we had just seen at Funko Pop. 

Also -- probably because of Wicked -- giant Jelly Belly figures of characters from The Wizard of Oz.

We had seen some jellybean sculptures (though there were more portraits) at the Jelly Belly Factory, but these were much bigger.

I don't know how often they change them out, so if it will be characters from a different movie now, but we were still pretty impressed.

It's not something that we would make a special trip to visit, but since we were already there, it was pretty cool.

COVID: You can see a lot outdoors, but of course if you are going to shop at all, then you are indoors and should wear a mask. Also, it can get pretty crowded, even outside.

Accessibility: This seemed pretty navigable, but we did not go into all of the stores. 

I don't think you could pay me to do that. 

https://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/web/en/us/things-to-do/lands/citywalk

Hollywood Boulevard

Along with the Funko Pop store, we also wanted to visit Amoeba Music.

Since it was nearby, we thought we should also look at Grauman's Chinese Theater and look at parts of the Walk of Fame. After all, we were going to be right there.

A lot of it ended up being kind of disappointing and sad. That was not completely unexpected.

We had recently read My Mama, Cass, which had covered some of the aspects of the nomination process and the costs. 

We had known it was publicity-driven anyway, but seeing how it could feel very important to someone and then the obstacles that exist, and also that completely terrible people have them... 

What I was not expecting was how seeing so many of them would make me feel sad.

That is not just because of deaths, but also sometimes knowing ways in which their lives were hard and fame might have made it worse.

 We did not have a firm plan for our exploration. 

You can look up where certain stars are. As our visit to Amoeba Music was largely due to John Taylor's affection for it, that might have been a reason to look up Duran Duran's star, but we didn't.

We just took things as they came, but it was still amusing to find things like Ed O'Neill's star between two of his TV wives.

Because it goes back to an older tradition, we had thought the foot and hand prints at Grauman's might be more meaningful, but I was surprised at what a mess they were.

Yes, familiar names stuck out, but they are all jumbled together, not at all orderly or easy to find. 

Is that because of attempts to shoehorn in newer ones for additional publicity? Probably.

There are cracks, and the original entrance does not appear to be used, with entrance to the theater happening via the adjacent Ovation Mall. We saw a lot of tour groups.

The mall was conveniently located, and the staff at Johnny Rocket was great. I went to Yelp to give great reviews to them.

Since a great restaurant staff is probably not reason enough to venture to Hollywood Boulevard, this may sound like me saying to not visit; we're not sad or mad that we went.

It didn't take very long to get our fill, but there were laughs and there was interest.

In addition, we have seen complaints of how dirty and dangerous a tourist trap it is. That's not completely fair either.

There were vendors, including some with an opportunity to put your own name on a star for a photo, but no one was overly pushy and there was no sense of danger.

Hollywood is proud of its heritage and that shows.

Also, these are things you can see for free, putting in as much or as little effort as you desire. 

Those are not bad reasons to go.

As for Amoeba Music, it reminded me of looking around the old music store in Eugene in the '90s, except Amoeba is bigger and the staff wasn't as friendly.

It is also a bit like Powell's City of Books (and Amoeba does have a book section), except that Powell's is bigger and the Powell's staff is also friendlier than the Amoeba staff. 

Maybe that's an Oregon/California thing.

COVID: Most of this can be seen outside, but I did mask inside Amoeba. For what we visited in Ovation, it was mainly open-air, but we did not shop a lot. 

Accessibility: This was mostly great, single story on flat surfaces.

Ovation has a second story where most of the food is, but there was an elevator as well as steps and an escalator.

Amoeba had some areas that would be inaccessible, including the book section. They do have their own parking, which may help for some accessibility needs. 

 

 

1090695 - 1090751

Amoeba 1090894 - 1090897 

https://www.amoeba.com/

https://www.tclchinesetheatres.com/ 

https://walkoffame.com/ 

https://www.ovationhollywood.com/dine/johnny-rockets