 |
American Airlines Flights from Orlando (MCO) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on American Airlines, which operates a daily non-stop flight from Orlando (MCO) to Los Angeles (LAX) regularly scheduled to depart at 1:40pm and arrive at 4:00pm. Usually a Boeing 757 is flown for this route, with in-seat power sources available. Generally, a movie is offered on this route, as well as audio programming. The average travel time from Orlando, FL to Los Angeles, CA is 5 hours and 20 minutes.
During your Los Angeles vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Mission San Fernando
In the late 18th century, Franciscan missionaries established 21 missions up the California coast, from San Diego to Sonoma. Each uniquely beautiful mission was built 1 day's trek from the next, along a path known as El Camino Real ("the Royal Road"), remnants of which still exist. The missions' construction marked the beginning of European settlement of California and the displacement of the Native American population. The two L.A.-area missions are located in the valleys that took their names: the San Fernando Valley and the San Gabriel Valley. A third mission, San Juan Capistrano, is located in Orange County (see chapter 11).Established in 1797, Mission San Fernando once controlled more than 1 1/2 million acres, employed 1,500 Native Americans, and boasted more than 22,000 head of cattle and extensive orchards. The fragile adobe mission complex was destroyed several times but was always faithfully rebuilt with low buildings surrounding grassy courtyards. The aging church was replaced in the 1940s and again in the 1970s after an earthquake. The Convento, a 250-foot-long colonnaded structure dating from 1810, is the compound's oldest remaining building. Some of the mission's rooms, including the old library and the private salon of the first bishop of California, have been restored to their late-18th-century appearance. A half-dozen padres and many hundreds of Shoshone Indians are buried in the adjacent cemetery.
The "Hollywood" Sign
These famous 50-foot-high white sheet-metal letters have come to symbolize the movie industry and the city itself. The sign was erected on Mount Lee in 1923 for $21,000 as an advertisement for a real-estate development. The full text originally read HOLLYWOODLAND and was lined with thousands of 20-watt bulbs around the letters (changed periodically by a caretaker who lived in a small house behind the sign). The sign gained dubious notoriety when actress Peg Entwistle leapt to her death from the "H" in 1932. The LAND section was damaged by a landslide, and the entire sign fell into major disrepair until the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce spearheaded a campaign to repair it (Hugh Hefner, Alice Cooper, Gene Autry, and Andy Williams were all major contributors). Officially completed in 1978, the 450-foot-long installation is now protected by a fence and motion detectors. The best view is from down below, at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Bronson Avenue. Tip: It may look like it on a map, but Beachwood Drive does not lead to the sign. If you want to reach the sign on foot, it requires a rather arduous 5-mile round-trip hike on the Brush Canyon Trail in Griffith Park -- the trail head is at the end of Canyon Drive. For more information call the Griffith Park headquarters at tel. 323/913-4688.
Warner Brothers Studios
Warner Brothers offers the most comprehensive -- and the least theme park-like -- of the studio tours. The tour takes visitors on a 2 1/4-hour informational drive-and-walk jaunt around the studio's faux streets. After a brief introductory film, you'll pile into glorified golf carts and cruise past parking spaces marked "Clint Eastwood," "Michael Douglas," and "Sharon Stone," and then walk through active film and television sets such as ER, The Drew Cary Show, and West Wing. Whether it's an orchestra scoring a film or a TV show being taped or edited, you'll get a glimpse of how it's done (nothing is staged for the tour). Stops include the wardrobe department or the mills where sets are made. Whenever possible, you can also visit working sets to watch actors filming actual productions. Reservations are required; children under 8 are not admitted. Bring valid photo ID.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Los Angeles area, including:
The Standard
If Andy Warhol had gone into the hotel business (which he no doubt would have, if he had arrived on the scene a few decades later), the Standard would've been the end result. Designed to appeal to the under-35 "it" crowd, Andre Balazs's swank West Hollywood neomotel is sometimes absurd, sometimes brilliant, and always provocative (not to mention crowded!). It's a scene worthy of its Sunset Strip location: Shag carpeting on the lobby ceiling, blue Astroturf around the swimming pool, a DJ spinning ambient sounds while a performance artist showing more skin than talent poses in a display case behind the check-in desk -- this place is definitely left of center.The good news is that the Standard is more than just an attitude. Look past the retro clutter and often-raucous party scene, and you'll find a level of service more often associated with hotels costing twice as much. Constructed from the bones of a vintage 1962 motel, it boasts comfortably sized rooms outfitted with cobalt blue indoor-outdoor carpeting, silver beanbag chairs, safety-orange tiles in the bathrooms, and Warhol's poppy-print curtains, plus private balconies, and minibars whose contents include goodies like sake, condoms, and animal crackers. On the downside, the cheapest rooms face noisy Sunset Boulevard, and the relentless scene can get tiring if you're not into it. The Standard's trendy new full-service NestSpa offers so-L.A.-style treatments such as Touch Thyself, Jet Lag Therapy, and Hangover Helper.Note: A 12-story Downtown Standard, 550 S. Flower St. (tel. 213/892-8080), opened in mid-2002, brings a similar dose of retro-future style and cool attitude to Downtown. The Cheap Rooms -- yes, that's what they call them -- run about $100 on weekends. It's worth visiting just to check out the rooftop bar with its vibrating waterbed pleasure pods, movies projected onto neighboring buildings, and hot waitresses.
Beverly Hilton
If you're a fan of awards shows, you'll probably recognize this hotel, at the crossroads of Wilshire and Santa Monica in the heart of Beverly Hills, as the annual home to the star-studded Golden Globe Awards. This boxlike eight-story hotel has been attracting movie city business travelers, movie stars, U.S. presidents, royalty, and tourists alike since 1955. The guest rooms are similar but not all alike -- only about half have balconies, and some are decidedly larger than others. During the summer, the ground-level poolside rooms are a good choice, thanks to French doors that open directly onto the sun deck. For city views, request one of the tower rooms. Among the Beverly Hilton's best advantages are its food and cocktail outlets: It's hard to beat a pupu platter and a rum-spiked Navy Grog at the supergroovy Polynesian-style Trader Vic's, often favored by celebs looking for a quiet hangout; you can also dine poolside at Griff's on nice days. The lavish buffets offered for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are a good deal for big eaters. All in all, a pleasant, well-located, and relatively affordable slice of Hollywood glamour.
Sheraton Gateway Hotel Los Angeles Airport
This 15-story hotel is so close to the Los Angeles Airport that it literally overlooks the runway. Rooms have a California look, with comfortable furnishings and triple-pane windows that block out even the loudest takeoffs.Facilities: 2 restaurants; sushi bar; 2 cocktail lounges; heated outdoor pool; exercise room; whirlpool; concierge; car-rental desk; free airport shuttle; business center; 24-hr. room service; laundry service; dry-cleaning service; executive-level rooms.
|
|
|
