Now Open: The Simpsons Ride

The Simpsons Ride is now open at Universal Studios Hollywood. The new mega attraction, based on the critically acclaimed TV series and movie, is showing a side of Springfield previously unexplored. Guests enter "Krustyland" (a fantasy theme park created by the show's cantankerous Krusty the Clown) and are rocketed along with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson on "Krusty's Thrilltacular Roller Coaster," where they rip roar at faster than lightning speeds on a hysterical, almost unimaginable adventure. The Simpsons Ride is an unprecedented collaboration between Universal Parks & Resorts and The Simpsons creators, Executive Producer Matt Groening and Executive Producer James L. Brooks. The ride features the show's classic humor with 29 popular Springfield residents all voiced by the original talent. While Springfield is located near a Nuclear Power Plant, the ride takes energy conservation seriously and has been constructed to be eco-friendly.
www.discoverlosangeles.com
www.thesimpsonsride.com
www.universalstudioshollywood.com

Starline Tours Expands Hop On, Hop Off Tour

Starline Tours has seen so much success with its Hollywood "Hop On, Hop Off" sightseeing bus that it will be expanding services to include two additional routes. The popular double-decker bus will take passengers through Downtown LA and the Beach Cities beginning summer 2008. The additional routes will connect with the original Hollywood "Hop On, Hop Off" loop, allowing visitors a unique option of getting from Downtown to the coast and hopping on and off at any of the selected stops along the way. Major stops for the Beach Cities will include Venice Beach and Santa Monica, while stops for Downtown LA will include the L.A. LIVE entertainment district, Broadway Boulevard's historic theatres and the famed Bradbury Building.
www.starlinetours.com

Hotel Renovation Round-up

With more than 92,000 guest rooms and suites, Los Angeles is the fourth largest lodging market in the United States. Many of LA's properties are brand new and many are looking like new as they complete or embark on renovations. The Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza recently redecorated its presidential and three junior suites. Renovation of the meeting space, public areas and all 453 guestrooms and suites is currently underway. The Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills recently completed a top-to-bottom renovation of its grand ballroom and most of its 25,000 square feet of meeting space. Renovations to the 474 guestrooms were completed in April. This month, the 637-room Renaissance Hollywood Hotel opened the 5,700-square-foot Spa Luce, featuring personalized treatments, celebrity-inspired pampering, top-of-the-line beauty and health products, and six distinct treatment rooms. In June, Sportsmen's Lodge Hotel will complete renovations to its lobby, public areas, meeting space and 191 guestrooms and suites. The Wilshire Grand Los Angeles will begin renovating its 900 guestrooms and suites in August 2008. A new lobby and lounge are scheduled for early 2009. The Hyatt West Hollywood is undergoing a $35 million renovation of the entire property. It will be closed August through November. The Hotel Bel-Air will open The Spa at Hotel Bel-Air in the winter. The stand-alone facility will include 10 spa suites, three residential spa suites, an organic juice bar/café, a state-of-the-art fitness center and a Zen Studio.
www.omnilosangeles.com
www.warnercentermarriott.com
www.renaisssancehollywood.com
www.slhotel.com
www.wilshiregrand.com
www.westhollywood.hyatt.com
www.hotelbelair.com

"9 to 5: The Musical" World Premiere

The much-loved 1980 hit movie makes its musical world premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles on Sept. 3. Based on the film, "9 to 5: The Musical" will feature a brand-new score by seven-time Grammy Award®-winner Dolly Parton that includes the blockbuster title song and direction by two-time Tony Award®-winner Joe Mantello (directing his first new musical since Wicked). Emmy Award®-winner and Tony Award®-nominee Allison Janney stars as Violet Newstead, the super-efficient office manager who joins her fellow co-workers -- frazzled divorcée Judy Bernly (Stephanie J. Block) and sexy secretary Doralee Rhodes (Megan Hilty in the role originated by Dolly Parton in the film) -- to turn the tables on their "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical, bigot" of a boss, Franklin Hart Jr. (Tony Award®-nominee Marc Kudisch). The musical is set to run through Oct. 19, 2008.
www.centertheatregroup.org

Huntington Art Gallery Re-Opens

After a $20 million renovation, the Huntington Art Gallery (located on the grounds of the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens) is set to open on May 28. The refurbished mansion, which originally opened to the public in 1928 as the first public art gallery in Southern California, will offer visitors an enhanced experience with one of the nation's finest collections of European art, as well as a more accurate sense of the lifestyle of one of the most prominent millionaires of the early 20th century. In addition to a thorough updated infrastructure, the Gallery will include 5,300 additional square feet of public space, new interpretive components and new gallery presentations of approximately 1,200 objects of European art from the 15th to the early 20th centuries. The renovation also will bring to light original architectural details that previously had been obscured. In February, the Huntington opened the all-new Chinese Garden. It was the first of nine gardens (four seasonal and five special collection gardens) that will make up the largest classical Chinese garden outside mainland China and one of the largest of the Huntington's 14 specialized gardens.
www.huntington.org

24 Hours in the Valley

As home to the world's major movie studios, the Valley is where the celebrities live, work and play. Click the link below for a 24-hour behind-the-scenes itinerary of how visitors can get in on the star-studded action at the Valley's sizzling attractions, restaurants and nightspots. Read More....