Hollywood or Bust! Young, Scrappy and Hungry Teen's Birthday Trip

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The following is a guest post written by my 14-year-old son.

Hi! My name is Joshua and I recently returned from a special birthday trip with my dad. My mom planned it for us using miles.

The Flight

As soon as we got on the plane, I was astounded. We were not expecting our seats to be larger than normal with nice screens and extra space. Turns out my mom was able to get us seats in Premium Economy. Bet! (Note from the Editor: I booked the flight with AA miles on a web special for 7500 miles each + $40ish for the premium economy seats).

The Hotel

My dad and I stayed at the W Hollywood hotel.

The lobby was shiny and spectacular, with large lamps and comfy seats. The stairs were beautiful. The elevators had a carpet with a message that changed throughout the day—either Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or Good Evening.

We arrived at noon and our room was already ready. Our room had two beds. I liked the cushion seat on the window.

The only thing I didn’t like about our room was the window in the bathroom. If you were in our room, you could see the other person in the bathroom, so that was weird.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame was right outside our hotel. I took my photo by Lin Manuel Miranda’s star.

I went to the rooftop pool, and we could see the Hollywood sign from there. The pool water was kinda cold.

a tall tower with a red flag on top of it — Photo credit: Marriott

Warner Bros. Studio Tour

On our first afternoon, my dad and I went to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour.

We had to wait 30 minutes for our tour, so we looked around the gift shop. I got a Hufflepuff hoodie.

The tour took us around the studio lot on a small tram. We got to see sets from Young Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory, Friends, Super Girl and more.

My dad sent a photo to my mom of a bakery from the show You (which I haven’t watched).

We got to have fun in some Harry Potter sets. We also explored a DC Comics room.

My favorite part of the tour was riding a broom and a bat vehicle with different backgrounds.

Hamilton

The main reason we went to Los Angeles in the first place was so I could see the musical Hamilton at the Pantages theatre. It’s my favorite show! I have watched it on Disney+ many, many, many times.

When we got to the theatre, there was a line that looped around the entire building. We had to show our vaccine cards.

The inside of the theatre was beautiful. It had a huge chandelier and nice artwork on the walls. Our seats were in the middle of the lower level.

The play was really good and funny. It was enjoyable to watch Hamilton, a founding father, rap like nobody else can.

Griffith Observatory

After Hamilton, we took a Lyft to Griffith Observatory.

We saw a planetarium show that was really cool. Then, we went outside and looked at the view of LA.

Universal Studios Hollywood

On our last day, we went to Universal Studios Hollywood. We bought the Express Pass because it was crowded. We got to skip the line once per ride.

My favorite ride was the Mummy ride, which was one I didn’t go on this past summer at Universal Orlando. It was the fastest and most thrilling ride. The Water World show was also really cool.

I can’t wait for the Super Nintendo World to open there!

In conclusion, I am very grateful that I got to go on this birthday trip because I know that not everyone in the world gets to travel. The trip was overall a great experience, and I encourage you to visit Hollywood with your teens someday, especially if they like musical theatre and movie sets.