WARNER BROS.
From my experience visiting the 3 studios, Warner gets the prize of the best one. You can choose between Group Tours, VIP Tours, and Deluxe Tours. The VIP Tour lasts 2 hours and it's known for being the best basic tour in the LA studios. You are gonna see the museum where they keep the original vehicles of famous movies such as The Dark Knight and Harry Potter, and also the original costumes of other famous movies & TV shows like 300: Rise of an Empire and Friends. Speaking about Friends, they kept the original set where they filmed the series (the Central Perk). The reason why they are known as the best basic tour is that in those 2 hours the guides talk about the secrets and the system they use to make the movies. And if you're looking for a deeper look at the studio, the Deluxe tour lasts 7 hours and they take you to a lot of different places. You get to know the workers, have launch in the restaurant wher they also go, and in my opinion, the most important thing: getting to know better the tour guide. That way, will learn more about the history of the studios, the real secrets behind the scenes, and even get to forbidden places.
Prices:
VIP Tour: US$54
Deluxe Tour: US$250
For more information, check here:
3400 W. Riverside Drive
Burbank, CA
http://www.paramountstudiotour.com
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
You may choose between 2 options: the Normal Tour (2 hours long) and the VIP Tour who lasts almost 5 hours, who also includes launch. If you just wanna see Hollywood from the outside, I would recommend the Normal tour. Like in the Warner options, on the VIP Paramount Tours they take you to some places you wouldn't go without the VIP, such us some real-times shootings (I saw when they shot a scene of True Blood), you can talk with the people working there, and you can also have a deeper experience. You're gonna get to know the tour guides in a different way, and that often makes you get the possibility of going to places that sometimes are even forbidden to the tourists. It's been said that the Warner VIP tour is better, but from what I know (I've made the Deluxe Tour in Warner but I've chatted with people who made the VIP Tour there), they are quite similar and both worth the money.
Prices:
Normal Tour: US$53
VIP Tour: US$178
For more information, check here:
5555 Melrose Ave., Melorse Gate Visitor Entrance
Hollywood, CAhttp://www.paramountstudiotour.com
SONY PICTURES
Though it is not like the other studios, it's still worth a look if you're interested in the industry. It is also cheaper than the others. If you wanna have a far more complete experience and just gotta choose one of them, I wouldn't recommend it. The tour is quite basic (close to 90% of the information posted on this website comes from Warner and Paramount). They only have one kind of ticket to purchase. It lasts 2 hours and it starts in the Sony Pictures Plaza, where they often shoots sci-fi scenes because of its look. They then take you to the studios, where you're just going to see the Oscars won by MGM and Sony, the main street who change all the time according to the productions being filmed at the moment, the basic stuff of their system (foley room, sound recording room, among others), and the classic ending with paid ice-cream and souvernir shops.
Prices:
Normal Tour: US$38
For more information, check here:
310-244-TOUR (8687)
Culver City, LA
vipstudiotour.warnerbros.com/category/about-the-tours
