UPDATE: it now costs $15/hour to park here. The man who built this place said there would NEVER be…read morea charge to park here! Still as beautiful as ever inside & out. One of my favorite places in Hollywood. Guess you could say I'm star-struck I love the Hollywood sign & always will, along with the moon & stars. Go see the Swinging Pendulum inside the Observatory. It's amazing!

There's a lot of great (and not so) to this observatory that everyone seems to visit:…read more Great - Beautiful view and pictures all around. It's extremely photogenic FREE to go inside and look around this awesome Science/Space Museum and presentations. Not so great - Parking and traffic. Get here early and based on how much you want to pay, and how long you want to wait, you can park for free on the bottom and take a tram to the top. OR. Park on the way up - ranges from $15-20 per hour. There are some upgrades if you want the whole experience, including the planetarium (thank "LaLaLand" for that). Check out the website before you purchase because you may or may not enjoy the subject included in the price ($10-12 per person)

Visiting Mt. Wilson Observatory is a great opportunity to learn about astronomical history, as well…read moreas the history of scientific endeavors in the Los Angeles area. Einstein was here, after all! The location itself is stunning, offering great views of the L.A. area. And the observatories, preserved by the valiant efforts of firefighters after too many wildfires to count, are something to see. We, unfortunately, sprung for the allegedly 2-hour tour at $20/person. The funds support the observatory, so no problem there. However, our docent was extremely long-winded and had no sense of time management whatsover, even on one of the hottest days of the year. After we were almost 3 hours into a supposedly 2 hour tour, we decided to leave early due to exhaustion and boredom. (We were starting to feel like we were on a cruise to Gilligan's Island......)To be honest, there was not much that we saw or learned on the tour that couldn't be seen just walking around and looking up information online. So, my recommendation is: donate money to the Observatory by all means but skip the docent tour unless astronomy is your biggest passion in life. Also, remember you'll need an Adventure Pass to park in the Observatory parking lot near the trailheads. Definitely worth a visit!

This is a must visit for all Angelenos and tourists and anyone interested in matters earthly and…read moreuniversal. We did the 2+ hour docent tour, worth every penny. Everyone here is a volunteer (docents, scientists, and all) so they rely on donations and purchases of merch and all the really special events they plan. You need to get a $5 daily pass to park in the lot since it's a national forest. Easy to get at the Cosmic Cafe upon arrival. Sign up online for their newsletter so you can be in the know of some very cool happenings at the observatory.

We had a great time exploring the area and found the observatory educational and fascinating. The…read moremuseum is cool too, lots of information. Gift shop closed before we got there, but items were available for purchase online as well. Great family outing, there is a nice picnic area as well.

I called the gift shop and told the date we were bringing our grandsons to the observatory. I knew…read morePalomar had no tours on weekdays but I did not see one staff member in the hour we were there. The gift shop was closed so we could not buy souvenirs of anything to drink. The observatory was cool but we had to look through glass into a dark room again not a staff member anywhere. I'm sure the weekend is a better time to visit but we went the only day available to us. There was no cost but for our experience maybe a fair price.

They have a "folded lens " telescope. Basically, a huge telescope that takes up way less space…read more It's a little difficult to find, the gps failed us on that one. But when we called, they knew exactly how to guide us. We had to find the entrance behind a high school football field if I recall. Great tour, the kids had a blast. Wonderful gift shop as well. They treated us wonderfully.

Great little observatory run by passionate and educated locals! Events are paused for COVID but you…read morecan take a free guided tour of the telescope on Saturdays and visit the gift shop.

I seem to end up here maybe once or twice a year for a show, when I can't see it closer to home…read more I'm usually at the location in North Park. ADA seating is entered by the ramp on the left side. It's metal barstools, so not the most comfortable. But you're close to the bar, so that's a plus. And there's not really a bad vantage point in the place, unless you're behind someone really tall I guess. ADA parking is right up front. But it may take a while before you're able to leave, because of all of the people streaming behind you. So I guess you leave early, or wait it out. A police officer was nice enough to help me leave, once it was safe enough.

Beware of towing! Paid $10 for parking and was in the wrong lot and car was towed…read more It would have been cheaper to Uber than pay $450 to the tow company in a crappy area of Santa Ana. The tow company demanded cash so had to go to an ATM in Santa Ana after midnight! Be very careful where you park. There is not enough parking for this venue.

This review is regarding The Alchemist & DJ Premier World Tour. First time at this venue. FIVE…read morethings I look for and hope for at my age (44) when going to see live shows: 1) Seat view. Here, VIP balcony or Lower Balcony is the only way to go. 2) Sound. Here, especially on the balcony, bass and clarity for a hip hop show of this caliber was on point. 3) Cleanliness and Space. Restrooms were very clean, well tended to and sufficient with enough stalls so no lines stealing from your time to enjoy the show. Whole venue has simple, real class to it. 4) In & Out with ease. Security smooth, plenty of exit options, including an elevator with an attendant. I don't like feeling crowded or like I'm gettin' caught in a cow herd. The Hollywood Bowl is the only venue I'd compromise this preference for simply because it's the only venue worth that sacrifice. 5) Parking. Lots of parking but get there early enough and check for other events the same day as your show. We made the mistake of not coming early enough to account for the Laker game that day. I had a great time, especially for it being my first time there.

I came here twice for two concerts, the most recent one being Machine Girl's tour with Bonnie…read moreBaxter/Kill Alters and Lightning Bolt (this is a late review). I enjoyed this show WAY more than the previous show with Dayseeker, but this is mainly because I am more familiar with the artist, so this would be the second time that I got to see Matt and their crew perform twice. The venue itself is really nice and modernized, and is located in an entertainment hub, so you will see a good amount of bars and other entertainment venues nearby. I do know that it is not a ground-floor venue, so you have to climb stairs or take an escalator/elevator. I personally do not buy concessions here due to me being cheap, but they offer free water at the bars, which I personally like, as most venues force you to purchase bottled water or use a drinking fountain. The cheap tickets are all part of the upstairs seated area, while the lower floor area costs more. From what I know, there aren't really any assigned seats, so it's first come first serve, but you will have people standing up during the main act, of course, because concertgoers will be concertgoers. The seats are very comfortable, bathrooms are accessible, and people who need ADA seating get their own separate section. The location, given that it's in DTLA, is so accessible by public transit that I can't even name all of the buses that run nearby off the top of my head. You can also take the 2 nearby trains, the A and the E, and get off at Pico station the same way you would for a Lakers, Sparks, or Kings game, Crypto.com Arena concert, or LA Convention Center event. I am somewhat familiar with the DTLA area, and I recommend concertgoers, if they feel comfortable doing so, to explore cheaper eating options away from the area if they plan to save money-- I do this all the time. I know that there is a Denny's, Wendy's, and Fatburger down the street. You have Chick Fil-A, Chipotle, 7-Eleven, and Jollibee along 7th Street by the BLOC area. You can also ride the train or bus to go further out-- there is a Dave's Hot Chicken by Little Tokyo Japanese Plaza that I love going to all the time. Dutch Bros by USC just opened up, by the California ScienCenter.

Nice, intimate venue. Really cool place to see a small concert. Looking forward to another visit.read more

I saw my cousins Henri and Bill play in their band Starcrawler here a couple of weeks ago. I…read morebrought along with me the inimitable Dave Benitez. My sister and brother-in-law were there, as was my cousin Buddy, father of Henri and Bill. OK, enough name-dropping. I'll talk about the venue itself--I really will--but I have to focus on parking, because it's an utter joke. We knew we would be late because of when we left, but we did arrive at the parking lot in time to see at least part of the opening act--or we would have, if the place's parking lot hadn't been tiny. The attendant told us to make a left and right and then turn right on the first street and look for parking there. If there wasn't any, we were to proceed to the following street, in front of the Jack in the Box, and if there was no parking there, we could probably (!) park in the Jack in the Box parking lot without getting a ticket (!!). I followed his directions to a tee, and there were no spaces on either street in indicated, and I wasn't about to get my car towed two days before I had to drive it back to San Francisco. This part of Santa Ana is all commercial and industrial businesses in strip malls with parking lots, but for some reason, there's no street parking. I would understand a no-overnight-parking restriction to prevent people from living in their vehicles, but what purpose does the current restriction serve? None, other than to frustrate would-be spenders of sales tax in Santa Ana--stupid policy. Anyway, we spent the next twenty minutes driving up and down similarly long blocks, hoping for some legal parking. Then my brother-in-law saved the day by calling us and telling us to go to the Jack in the Box parking lot and look for the guy in the safety vest. We did so, and after we paid him $20, he directed us to one of those empty business parking lots. And we still had to walk like a half-mile to the venue. The Constellation Room is part of the Observatory, which was also hosting another band in a separate room at the same time. That explains the lack of parking, but why exactly is a venue booking more bands than it has parking for? Why don't they proactively reach out to their neighbor businesses and pay them (or have us pay them) to use their empty parking lots? It makes no sense. The Observatory looks pretty cool, but we only walked through it into the Constellation Room, which also looks very neat with the lights on. When we arrived, Buddy was right next to the door, and my sister was talking to Henri's girlfriend, who was manning the merch table in the back. I walked toward my sister and proceeded to fall flat on my stomach (I broke my fall with my hands, so I didn't hit my head). There's a single large step to get up onto the platform where the table is set up, but I couldn't see it even with the lights on, and there's no handrail. I didn't care at the time besides being embarrassed, but the following week, I had a some excruciatingly painful case of sciatica that lasted almost five days, and I'm still taking steroids for it. I don't know whether that fall caused the sciatica to flare up, but it couldn't have helped, and it's the only weird jarring-type of thing that I experienced a few days beforehand. The show itself was amazing. The sound quality is really good. I'm sure it helped that I was standing against the back wall. I think they allowed in more people than the official capacity, but I didn't have to worry about crowd churn where I was standing. It's always worth it to see and support my cousins, but this venue needs some serious nuts-and-bolts work. Parking is zero stars. Get more; don't encourage people to park illegally. Maybe spend less time on the glow tape and other nice details on the venue's interior signs and ripoff-price-drink menus and add some glow tape to the edge of that single stair. For the majority of the concert, the room was a sold four-and-a-half stars.

Came here on 11/25/2023 to find out that they are closed...it seems like they are currently kept…read moreclosed and they are not doing public tours for now according to their website

"Daddy. It looks like a ghost. Or Eva from the movie Wall-E."…read more I love those goofy kids!!

It's always a treat coming here with friends and family to enjoy a show. There are so many to…read morechoose from throughout the year. We chose Beauty and the Beast this time around. We purchased orchestras seats for six people. The seats were great and our view was good. Staff are always nice and helpful. Venue is clean and magical looking, especially at night. Parking at the structure was $15. You can pay with card or cash. The show was amazing!!! You can't go wrong with whatever you choose to see!

The theater itself is gorgeous and spacious. The seats have plenty of room and are comfortable…read more Beauty and the Beast was a gorgeous production. I am docking points for my negative experience here. First of all, I was in orchestra row B and I asked where I would need to enter (go up the ramp or enter on ground level). I was directed to go up the ramp, which had 3x the line as the ground level, only to eventually find that ground level was closer and had a much shorter line. I had a handheld camera smaller than the size of my iPhone. The security attendant didn't know whether that was permitted. He asked someone else, who also seemed unsure/hesitated/stuttered at first, then he insisted that it was prohibited. I would understand if it's truly prohibited, but my issues with this: 1. It seemed like he was just making up rules 2. Their website says no PROFESSIONAL recording devices, but personal device recording is okay in the lobby (obviously wouldn't do it during the show) 3. I had to go all the way back to my car to put it in there. I read another review that the workers/attendants are rude; for me, this includes security.