Is The Studio Tour Plus Warner Bros Studio Tour Worth It?

If you like Friends, Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars, The Big Bang Theory and Harry Potter, the Warner Bros Studio Tour is a must. Those shows were filmed on the lot. Or heck, if none of those shows appeal to you but you're curious on how tv series and movies are made, it's a win. 

But which tour should you pick?

There's the regular Studio Tour where you get 1 hour of guided time, plus 2 hours of unguided. That's the cheapest at $73 an adult, $63 a child. 

Or there's the Studio Tour Plus where you get 2 hours of guided time, plus the 2 hours of unguided. Plus lunch at the Central Perk cafe, and if you're a fan of Friends, can be a benefit. 

Before the tour even starts you get complimentary pastries & drinks. 

We opted for this tour. 

I had purchased the tickets online to ensure we had the date and time we wanted so I just had to check in after we arrived. 

You're given these special cards on lanyards with the name of your tour on them. As you can see, the free meal coupon voucher is at the bottom:

Then you can explore the Warner Bros room until the tour begins. It is recommended you arrive 30 minutes before the tour starts. 

The room is pretty neat, with pics from their popular shows:

The floor is a photo/model of the entire lot:

There's photo ops around as well:

Friends is celebrating 30 years (yikes, I feel old) so there were fun displays set up. Any Friend fan knows about this dog:

We were led back into the room where we were given the free pastries and drinks. There was also chips, pretzels, and nuts:

The drinks weren't just cheap waters either and there's no limit on anything:

Here's what I picked:

I think we were in there for maybe 20 minutes. So eat fast. Then we were led into a deluxe screening room to learn about what we'd be seeing on the tour & what all the WB Studios does:

And then it's off to the trams:

Did we see a lot on the tour? Yes. We love Gilmore Girls, and seeing Stars Hollow was a dream. It's not really Stars Hollow though, it's technical name is Midwest Street. So many other shows and movies have shot there such as The Music Man, The Muppets, and Hart of Dixie. 

But check out the gazebo that is featured in Gilmore Girls. It's a popular spot so there's usually a line, but everyone will get a turn to pose on the iconic prop:

However. I wish we had more time in that area. I will do another post where I share what all we saw on the tour but it wasn't enough. I didn't know why some tour groups got to go into houses while others did not. 

We also got to go into a prop house, which was neat, but you also quickly walk through and I couldn't really tell what props went with what show. I imagine some of the props in there might have been in Kim's Antiques from Gilmore Girls, but I'm not totally sure. It was neat to see items from the movie Casablanca. 

Included in the tour was a stop off at Central Perk for lunch. You get a free entree, one side, and drink. No price limit. 

I think the food alone is enough to make the tour worth it, because after we all ordered everything, it was well over $100. 

I got the toasted sandwich and it was tasty:

Plus Rachel's trifle, which wasn't made the way Joey enjoyed:

After that you do a self-guided tour, which I'll write more about in a future post.

Do I think paying extra for the Studio Tour Plus is worth it?

Yes, if you planned on eating at Central Perk because the money you'll spend to eat basically is the extra cost you'll pay for the longest tour. If you're a Friends fan, it is a fabulous spot to stop in. But if you didn't care, the regular tour is fine. 

Mind you, it does say you get extra time for the Studio Tour Plus, and I haven't been on the regular tour yet, so I'm not sure the difference of what all you see.

The Studio Tour Plus also seemed to have a smaller group, so you aren't packed in the tram like sardines. So if you prefer personal space, that's the way to go.

There's even a Deluxe Tour where you get a fine dining experience and even more time, but that was too pricey for us. 

Reminder of the other perks for the Studio Tour Plus?

• free pastries & drinks at the beginning 
• deluxe screening room 
• more tour time

My vote is to pay a bit extra for the Studio Tour Plus! You can book here. 

Stay tuned for a future post where I share what all we saw!

And yes, the house above is Lorelai's house from Gilmore Girls and that's a spot where some tours walked inside and ours did not. Our guide kept moving and I was like, "ACK, Ma'am, this is LORELAI'S HOUSE!"