| Rating |
Date Attended [v] |
Reviewer |
Gender |
Age |
Where From? |
Group Type? |
|
Very Informative
|
| Sat, Sep 13, 08 1:00 PM |
DelBianco |
Male |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| My girlfriend and i both loved the tour. It was recomended by a friend that has been on it twice, she being from Chicago also. My suggestions for improvement would be I think it would be great if the van could pull through a couple of the cemetaries and maybe see a few celebrity graves. Maybe that's not legal? It just seems it would be interesting to see what I've seen on Find A Grave in person. I really liked having the book of photos and the recorded as well as live narration. The next time I'm in the area, I will deffinitly be back Thank you. Marc
P.S. When we pulled back up to the meeting place on McCadden after the 1:00 tour on Sept. 12, there was a person laying on the street not moving. In fact, she looked dead. Does anyone know what happend? I was just curious. |
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|
Awesome!
|
| Thu, Sep 11, 08 1:00 PM |
Jeffrion |
Male |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Other |
| This was my second time in two years. Last year I brought my daughter and this year it was my Dad. Scott showed some different sites from my trip last year AND he went a little extra by taking us on a short Helter Skelter tour. My Dad really enjoyed the tour and was impressed by Scott's knowledge and history of Hollywood. I'm looking forward to my next trip to LA so I can take somebody else on the tour! Well worth it! |
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|
Excellent tour!
|
| Wed, Sep 10, 08 1:00 PM |
tfd183 |
Male |
40-49 |
International Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| This tour was excellent, and well recommended for anyone that wants an interesting tour of Hollywood/Beverly Hills.
The Driver was very knowledgable and very enthusiastic about the tour. He was a very nice person and able to accommodate any request we had.
Well worth the cost! |
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|
Highly Recommend
|
| Wed, Sep 10, 08 1:00 PM |
doverho |
Male |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| I highly recommend this tour to others! |
|
|
Very thorough and entertaining.
|
| Sun, Sep 7, 08 1:00 PM |
x96hankins |
Male |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Individual |
| I have no experience with vacation tours like this, but I've always expected them to be kitschy and lame; therefore, the Dearly Departed Tour greatly exceeded my expectations. The bus is very intimate, and the drivers are warm and enthusiastic, so the tour feels much more like you're getting shown around town by friends than by some generic tourist company. It was obvious the driver cared very much about the subject matter, and his genuine enthusiasm translated into an experience that was both entertaining and academic. The tour, itself, lasts far longer than I expected and I feel like I got a wonderful value for my money. My original plan during my trip to LA was to plot out points on my handheld GPS unit and do a self-paced driving tour. But I'm so thankful i chose the Dearly Departed tour instead -- I got to see nearly everything I wanted to see, without having to deal with traffic and with more insight than I'd have been able to research last-minute.
Here are a few opportunities for improvement and suggestions if you're planning to enjoy the tour for yourself:
- Although the bus is very comfortable, it can sometimes be difficult to view sights on the opposite side of where you're sitting. This is largely due to the geography of the hills. Sitting along the aisle may give you more flexibility to see everything. If you are tour-shopping, I noticed that some tour companies have "convertible" vehicles, which are basically like flatbed trucks with seats. But although that experience may have given their clients access to a handful of more sites, those poor people looked terribly uncomfortable: sweating and sunburns = not fun.
- The tour is definitely very accommodating to individual customers, so don't be shy if you don't have a group. If you *can* get a friend or two, the tour will be much more entertaining for you. The rest of the bus was full of what seemed like a single family (mom, dad, many kids). And although nobody was complaining, I got the impression the kids would have rather been elsewhere. So our bus was very quiet and subdued. The driver tried his best to crack them and get people talking, but they were very introverted. So it kinda felt like being at a college lecture. I would have enjoyed more discussion, but it felt kinda... weird. Nothing the driver could've done, though.
- The tour certainly provides a lot of information about LA deaths and mysteries, but that's actually somewhat of a minority of the material. This tour is a very thorough jaunt through LA and you'll see far more than just the nefarious. I would recommend this tour to anybody, regardless of whether they'd be "into" the more sinister parts of Hollywood history. A lot of the tour deals with older history.
- The only dearly departed sight I expected to see, but didn't was the intersection where The Notorious BIG was gunned down. Wilshire and Fairfax, I think. We may have driven through that intersection, but I don't remember having it identified. |
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|
unique look at local history
|
| Sun, Sep 7, 08 1:00 PM |
Mikeb63 |
Male |
40-49 |
Local |
Family With Children |
| This tour is hard to book and is almost always sold out. I got fortunate and was able to get on board. The tour was fantastic and "Richard" the guide was very knowledgeable. I would recommend this tour to anyone who likes the seedy and sorid side of history. LA is filled with these tales of woe. It was a fun day and would do it again. |
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The high point of our "vacation"
|
| Wed, Sep 3, 08 1:00 PM |
tommoran |
Male |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| You should understand that I have a severe attention deficient disorder and would rather stick a needle my eye than go on a tour bus. But I have been married for 28 years to the same woman and she has put up with me (and my mental problems), so it is only right that I make some compromises. From beginning to end, I would spellbound by Scott. He is an incredible source of information. He is a very interesting and dynamic individual. It was a small group in his van (six of us... it might have been eight). Each story and each stop was fascinating. Some of the images in his booklets (not meant for children) left me speechless. I was miserable the entire vacation except for the 3 hours and 20 minutes we spent in Scott's van. I understand he is planning a "Hollywood Movie Tour" .... if my wife drags me on another "vacation" I hope to get it included. |
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|
Lots of fun for a fellow death hag
|
| Sun, Aug 31, 08 1:00 PM |
charisseaz |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Group of Friends |
| Richard was very knowledgeable and fun. I asked him if he could take us by a couple other places I knew were close by and he did. I would recommend the tour to others. |
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|
Fun, Informative and eerie!
|
| Sat, Aug 30, 08 1:00 PM |
deppimpact7 |
Unspecified |
Unspecified |
Unspecified |
Unspecified |
| I absolutely recommend this tour for anyone who loves old Hollywood, new Hollywood and macabre information! We toured through the best haunts in Beverley Hills and Hollywood under the expert guidance of our tour guide.
My kids and I came away with a great time and an admiration for our guide who knew his movie history down to a tee.
I can't recommend this tour enough! Enjoy! |
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Exploring the dark side of Hollywood
|
| Sat, Aug 30, 08 1:00 PM |
showcat |
Female |
40-49 |
Combination |
Group of Friends |
| I came from Chicago and was looking for an actual ghost tour this was a bit different, more of a combination of death, murder, overdoses, strange stories of celebritys arrests, where some movies were filmed, and other fun facts. I thought it was interesting and fun, but would have liked the bus to stop briefly at each location so that people could take photos off the bus. The only off the bus stop was a restroom break at the infamous George Micheal arrest site. We got lucky and got to see one celebrity as Woody Allen and his wife or girlfriend ? Who is his (former adopted daughter) passed by our bus, this happened purely by chance, but added to our enjoyment! However I would not reccomend this tour for young children, some of the murder details of the Manson murders and photos of Black Dalia would be very distrubing. |
