Any Reviews on Grayline Bus Tours?

[hfehr1s]

We are thinking of doing the LA/Hollywood tour one day during our stay in July. (this will be our first trip to DL and California in general) I was just curious if anyone had any experience with this tour company or even more specifially this tour. It is 10 hours which seems like a lot, but it seems it may cover a lot of the "hot" spots that we are interested in seeing and the price isn't horrible.

Anyone have any experience or have any suggestions for other tours or tour companies? Thanks!!

 

[nzdisneymom]

We are thinking of doing the LA/Hollywood tour one day during our stay in July. (this will be our first trip to DL and California in general) I was just curious if anyone had any experience with this tour company or even more specifially this tour. It is 10 hours which seems like a lot, but it seems it may cover a lot of the "hot" spots that we are interested in seeing and the price isn't horrible.

Anyone have any experience or have any suggestions for other tours or tour companies? Thanks!!

We did Grayline back in 1995 and it was ok then, but definitely a day on a bus. We are going to DL next week and plan to do a Hollywood/LA tour on Saturday, so I've been looking for a way to do it as well. I got the OC Travel Guide from their tourism department and they have a listing of transportation services including sightseeing tours. I just got off the phone and came to post here to ask about the company we are considering - it's American VIP Limo Service and Tours and they are located on Disney Way. If we end up going with them, I'll be sure to post a review. The price for four of us in a town car for a 5-hour tour (customized) is the same as the 10-hours on the bus (not customized).

 

[hfehr1s]

We did Grayline back in 1995 and it was ok then, but definitely a day on a bus. We are going to DL next week and plan to do a Hollywood/LA tour on Saturday, so I've been looking for a way to do it as well. I got the OC Travel Guide from their tourism department and they have a listing of transportation services including sightseeing tours. I just got off the phone and came to post here to ask about the company we are considering - it's American VIP Limo Service and Tours and they are located on Disney Way. If we end up going with them, I'll be sure to post a review. The price for four of us in a town car for a 5-hour tour (customized) is the same as the 10-hours on the bus (not customized).

That would be great if you could post about your experience. There are some things I really want to see, but I agree 10 hours on a bus is a lot of "bus"! Thank you! Have a great time on your trip.

 

[labattblue]

We are thinking of doing the LA/Hollywood tour one day during our stay in July. (this will be our first trip to DL and California in general) I was just curious if anyone had any experience with this tour company or even more specifially this tour. It is 10 hours which seems like a lot, but it seems it may cover a lot of the "hot" spots that we are interested in seeing and the price isn't horrible.

Anyone have any experience or have any suggestions for other tours or tour companies? Thanks!!

I have been considering this tour, but knowing that 2 hours(roughly an hour each way from what I've heard) of the trip are going to be chewed up by the commute from Anaheim to Hollywood along with other factors like how much you can really see from the bus, I am considering either skipping Hollywood after our DLR days are done or using our rental car to drive over to Hollywood ourselves.

 

[pumba526]

We were just at DLR last week and my daughter and cousin took Grayline Bus Tours to Universal Studios. The service was perfect...they picked the kids up at DLH precisely at 8:30 and estimated they would be back between 7:30 and 8:30pm depending on traffic and they were back at 7:45pm. We took the Hollywood tour years ago and it was just okay...a lot of on/off the bus...interesting tour, but very tiring in my opinion.

 

[sharon78]

We did Grayline back in 1995 and it was ok then, but definitely a day on a bus. We are going to DL next week and plan to do a Hollywood/LA tour on Saturday, so I've been looking for a way to do it as well. I got the OC Travel Guide from their tourism department and they have a listing of transportation services including sightseeing tours. I just got off the phone and came to post here to ask about the company we are considering - it's American VIP Limo Service and Tours and they are located on Disney Way. If we end up going with them, I'll be sure to post a review. The price for four of us in a town car for a 5-hour tour (customized) is the same as the 10-hours on the bus (not customized).

Did you go on a Hollywood/LA tour ? If so I'd like to know how you got on. Thanks

 

[Husker Mickey]

We have been on three Greyline tours from the Disneyland area - Universal Studios, Sea World, and LA/Hollywood/beach tour. All were a lot of fun. The bus driver is also your tour guide and all are very knowledgable and most are very witty. We liked each tour, all different.
This bus picks you up at your hotel - ours was on Harbor. Each took the amount of time that was estimated. We were dropped off at our hotel.

 

[LoveDopey]

We did the Gray Lines Hollywood Tour. Yes, it was a long day but we saw alot of stuff we wouldn't have seen on our own. The bus driver is the tour operator and ours was very knowledgeable and witty. He seemed to be able to judge what was the appropriate amount of time for each stop based on the group on our bus. We made so many stops I probably couldn't even name them all know. What I really liked was as were driving he was able to point out things and give us a little bit of info on them. I would have driven right past Hotel California, etc. if we were touring on our own without batting an eyelash.

We had a real mixture of people on our bus -- families with young children to grandparents. Like I said there were many stops and lots of opportunities to pick up something to eat or drink and lots of time for a sit down meal. The one stop at Malibu Beach was too long for everyone but I think it was mainly because it was a windy blustery day, not the best for being on the pier.

 

[LoveDopey]

To add to my post -- we booked through our hotel and were picked up and dropped off in front of our hotel. We sat right at the front of the bus and had perfect views. I think the bus is big enough that no one is going to miss anything.

 

[Delilah Bleu]

I am taking this tour on Wednesday with my dd and her friend (12 and 13 year olds). I can post my experience when we return (8/1)

 

[rossip]

A question for those that have doen the Universal Grayline tour - does it get you to the park at opening and leave at closing ? I've heard varied stories around this and we really want to maximise our day at Universal .

Thanks

 

[Delilah Bleu]

We took the Hollywood tour on 7/29. The bus picked us up from our hotel and took us to the ticketing center. We stood in line, validated our online ticket and then boarded our bus. Our driver, Charles, was very knowledgable and funny too. We went to Olvera Street, Walk of Fame, cruised through Beverly Hills, Sunset Strip, Venice beach, Santa Monica Pier and the sites on the route to each. We left our hotel at 8:30 am and returned at 7:30 pm (we were the first stop on the return trip). My dd and her friend had lots of fun. There favorite was the Walk of Fame and Venice Beach.

 

[sharon78]

So did you stop somewhere as a group & have lunch, or did you have time to go off on your own to find something to eat?

 

[Delilah Bleu]

I forgot to mention in my previous post that we stopped for lunch as a group at the Farmer's Market. We had about 1.5 hours to eat and shop in that area.

 

[Rosie]

We did the LA/Hollywood tour on 20th August and it was very good. It was as other posters to this thread have described - go to the ticket centre and board then LA, Hollywood, Farmers Market, Beverley Hills etc and the coast.
Farmers Market was excellent - a little gem and IMHO much better than eating at a chain like Planet Hollywood/Hard Rock.
One tip is go on a Saturday/Sunday if you can. I always do this when visiting Citiies as it makes sense to go when commuters are going somewhere else and not to work. My other tip for first time visitors is to go to Santa Monica rather than Venice Beach as people on our tour who chose Venice seemed disappointed with it and said there wasn't enough to see.
sharon I'm sending you a pm

 

[yupikgal]

NZ Disney Mom, did you ever do the American VIP tour and if so, how was it?? It sounds more personalized...just curious! Thanks..