Thanks for the feedback. Kids are 14, 12, and 6, so old enough (at least the big ones) to understand the tour. There is no Harry Potter world there (yet) unfortunately - that they would definitely love.

Thanks to whoever posted the link to discount tickets. Good tip! We don't belong to Costco, so that won't work.

Thanks again.

Studio tour is pretty good, if the kids are old enough to understand it. It's not sight and sounds, but mroe a guide talking and showing you some stuff as you drive around in the tram.

First off, you'd have a much better time at Disneyland compared to USH since they've never been to a large park. If you do pick USH just go to a local Costco and buy discount tickets there, best deal around. No Disneyland tickets at Costco though.

if you don't think your kids would care for the rides, but still want to do a studio tour, there are a lot of other options. My parents did Sony a couple years ago, I see tickets are $40 per person. It's the old MGM studio, so there's a lot of history there.

How old are they? I would save Universal for older kids. My youngest won't ride on any scary/big coaster type rides.

Check out online discounts -
http://arestravel.com/722_attraction-tickets_a10.html

We went on our first trip to Universal FL last month and I thought Harry Potter was worth it. Don't think they have HP in the CA one though. I'm a huge HP fan.

It is all relative. It would cost you $500 to go to Disney for a day. If you think Disney is worth $500, Universal is probably worth $500.

We'll be in LA in two weeks. Is it worth $500 to go to Universal Studios? My kids haven't been to big amusement parks before, but they didn't like lots of the rides at the Montgomery Country fair. However, the prospect of the studio tour appeals to them. Is it still worth the big expense? Will it be insanely crowded the Tuesday before Xmas?