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Special VIP Tours
Kiss a beluga, see cool movie props, and learn about Walt’s secret hideaway on exclusive and behind the scenes tours at California’s theme parks and attractions. Here’s a roundup of actvities worth doing at top destinations, but make sure you reserve in advance.
fklv (Obsolete Hipster)/Flickr
SeaWorld San Diego: Special Interactions
SeaWorld San Diego: Special Interactions
Enjoy spending time with beluga whales, dolphins, & penguins
Wiggle into a wetsuit and step into the Wild Arctic exhibit to touch and interact with snowy white beluga whales (they feel a bit like cold, wet hot dogs). Also get backstage peeks of polar bears and walruses, and see how trainers work with these incredible and big cold weather creatures.
The Beluga Interaction is one of several special experiences you can have with SeaWorld’s animals and trainers. Other special interactions include a chance to hang out with the park’s resident bottlenose dolphins, and learn simple hand signals from their human trainers. Penguins get star treatment and you can enjoy it during a special encounter with these unusual birds. Tour the penguin’s state of the art facility, learn how they adapt to living the frigid Antarctic lifestyle, and meet a penguin face to face, or face to beak.
Rex Boggs/Flickr
California Academy of Sciences: Nightlife
California Academy of Sciences: Nightlife
Weekly after-hours party heats up the park
Stilettos, craft cocktails- and an albino alligator. San Francisco tends to push everything to the limit, but this Thursday night event has its own unique twist. The city’s premier science museum presents themed Nightlife events, ultra-popular with the city’s young and hip. Each week, the Academy’s savvy staff figure out new ways to shed light on cool topics, such as the secrets of animal migration, or how creatures see in the inky dark of night. Exhibits give you a rare chance to chat with academy scientists or see animals up close. Live music keeps things thumping, and designer drinks that are matched to the theme are served at different locations. As for that alligator, his name is Claude, a natural albino morph who lives in the Academy’s swamp exhibit.
Courtesy of Universal Studios Hollywood
VIP Experience at Universal Studios Hollywood
VIP Experience at Universal Studios Hollywood
Go behind-the-scenes on exclusive tours
Feel like a film star yourself when you book the VIP Experience at Universal Studios Hollywood. First there’s the valet parking—not bad. Then there’s the private entrance leading you to an exclusive lounge, where you can relax with snacks and refreshments, in your own A-lister’s inner sanctum. Next, you meet your expert guide for the day, who will go out of his or her way to find out what kind of insider tips and film facts you’d like to know more about as you tour the back lot and soundstages. They’re also very helpful when the urge to take a group photo in front of your favourite film set strikes.
Unlike the standard back-lot tour, this tour lets you get out of your group’s private car and walk around. You’ll be able to wander about and get up-close looks at sets, learn about lighting and camera angles, and see where current TV shows and films are being shot. Pose for a selfie on the steps of Norman Bates’ house from Psycho, or wander through the Bravermans’ living room from the long-running TV series Parenthood. A popular stop is the massive prop warehouse, which houses an impressive collection of film paraphernalia, from vintage bowling bags to full suits of armour. The tour includes a gourmet lunch prepared by the studio’s executive chef and served in a private dining room, as well as queue-jump privileges for all rides throughout the day, prime seats secured by your guide for all shows, and meet-and-greets with featured performers.
Celebrate summer or kick off the holidays at Hearst Castle
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Hearst Castle
The Tahoe Guy/Flickr
Monterey Bay Aquarium: Tours & Adventures
Monterey Bay Aquarium: Tours & Adventures
Sail, swim, or sleep over at this fantastic facility
This incredible facility on the edge of Monterey Bay is as creative coming up with special programmes as it is at showcasing marine creatures in extraordinary new ways. Some of the aquarium’s favourite creatures, California sea otters, get the spotlight on a special experience with otter experts. Learn how these endangered animals are cared for at the aquarium, and about the aquarium’s ongoing research to protect otters in the wild.
On customised experiences for two, you can create your own romantic rendezvous, perhaps champagne and dinner, with an underwater glow. There are also special family sleepovers, behind the scenes tours to learn more about sharks or jelly fish, and a chance for kids to become underwater explorers by donning specially designed gear and swimming in the protected Great Tide Pool fronting the aquarium.
Lucas Himovitz
Special Tours at Disneyland
Special Tours at Disneyland
Get a behind-the-scenes look at Disneyland Resort
Disneyland Resort is undeniably magical—and that’s part of its charm. But understanding how the magic is made can be entertaining too. You can get sneak peeks and hear some amusing anecdotes on the resort’s cool tours.
Perfect for first timers, or for veteran Disneyland-ers who want to bone up on cool trivia, the Welcome to Disneyland Tour provides a thorough introduction to both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park—plus there are plenty of anecdotes to make you feel in the know.
In Disneyland Park, the Walk In Walt’s Disneyland Footsteps tour offers an intimate perspective and opportunity to experience attractions significant to Walt’s past, in addition to those that connect with Walt’s very personal vision. Personal VIP tours are also available, and the specialised Star Wars at Disneyland tour offers a Jedi’s-view perspective of the resort’s many attractions related to the saga. The subject-specific Cultivating the Magic tour sheds light on Disneyland’s extensive gardens.
Ted/ Flickr
San Diego Zoo Safari Park: Roar ‘n’ Snore
San Diego Zoo Safari Park: Roar ‘n’ Snore
Sleep on the wild side
This might be as close as you can come to an African safari, without the 12 hour flight. Comfortable, fully outfitted tents let you spend the night on the edge of this park’s expansive African Plains exhibit. Watch giraffes, rhinos, antelope, gazelles, and other fascinating animals interact, much as they would in the wild, then watch them bed down for the night. They get the hard ground, you get a comfortable bed, plus dinner and a hot breakfast. Add to the splurge with special night vision goggles, available only during these special events.
Insider's Tip: You can also pick the sleepover that best fit your style, one for all ages, or one for adults only.
Tai Power Seeff
Alcatraz: Special Evening Tours
Alcatraz: Special Evening Tours
Visit the spooky island at sunset
Always eerie Alcatraz, a former federal prison perched on an island in San Francisco Bay, is even more chilling on guided evening tours. Follow your guide to hear about some of the prison’s most notorious inmates, people like Al 'Scarface' Capone, George 'Machine Gun' Kelly, and Robert 'Birdman' Stroud. Step inside a real cell, and imagine the loneliness of staring at the nearby city, sparkling in the night. But the tour is not all gloom and doom, it is also a great chance to get amazing sunset shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the city skyline lighting up as the sun goes down. Bundle up, the island can be really chilly, especially when fog rolls in. Space is limited and advance reservations are required.
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