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A No Stress Drive, Chandler Music Center Show and Dine Experience 

With a Ride That is More Fun 
Than Disneyland

(and Costs a Great Deal Less)

Many denizens of the Conejo bristle when the subject discussed is traveling East to or through “The Dreaded Valley” on the equally dreaded “101”.  There certainly is justification for that bristling since travel East at any time weekdays after 4 P.M. is now a major exercise in futility. If you want to attend an 8:00 P.M event at The Dorothy Chandler Music Center, you now have to leave here around 5:30. It’s 4:30 if you choose to eat at a convenient but overpriced Music Center restaurant or one of those high priced and average downtown eateries that will shuttle you to the event. Otherwise, you take the risk of being stuck on the 101 at 7:50 with $120 worth of tickets in a purse. My wife is always responsible for remembering the tickets. 
However, if you have a bit of adventure in your soul and it does require an adventuresome spirit, help has arrived. There are also amazing and major money saving and stress reducing ramifications. We sought out that adventure recently after we spent an hour and a half just getting to Studio City from the Conejo to visit a friend. Concern set in because we had tickets for “Flower Drum Song” the next night. We envisioned 2 ½  hours on the 101 to be safe.  Here is what we did at 5:15 the next day.

First we decided to try a picnic at The Music Center in spite of suspect weather. This gave us more of a  time cushion. We picked up 2 Sushi dinners to go at Kaminari on the way to the 101. Sushi for two was $28 instead of $128 at Aqua downtown.  It then took us 30 minutes in somewhat heavy traffic to reach The Warner Center MTA Rapid Bus Depot behind The Promenade on Owensmouth.  We parked our car in that adjacent shopping center and boarded the Rapid Bus to take us directly to The Universal City Red Line Subway. The fare was $1.65 for my wife and 55 cents for me. I am a senior. That fare ($4.20 round trip for both of us) included transfers to that Red Line Subway. It is a good idea to have exact change.

The electronically equipped Rapid Bus travels along Ventura Blvd from Warner Center to Universal City making only 9 stops. It rarely has to stop for red lights because the electronic equipment holds the light green as the bus approaches. This portion of the trip took 48 minutes to get to the subway at Universal City.  Within 5 minutes we were on that Redline Subway to downtown Los Angeles. 23 minutes later we were at the Civic Center Mall one block from the Music Center.(and also a block from MOCA via another exit)  You immediately cross the street at the mid street cross walk and walk through the attractive mall to the tunnel entrance to the Music Center. It takes about 5 minutes.

If you do the math you don’t save time, In fact the entire trip might take 15 minutes longer than driving all the way under perfect conditions.. But there was no stress of 35 miles of stop and go freeway driving. We didn’t have to pay $7 parking or tip a shuttle driver. We didn’t waste another 20 minutes slowly driving through the bowels of the underground parking structure inhaling fumes and then staggering to the surface. In the fresh air we walked right to the Fountain Plaza Level. Then there was an even more pleasant surprise.

The beautiful Jacques Lipschitz Fountain Plaza has been enlivened by a casual dining arrangement with tables and umbrellas. By  7:15 we were seated at one of the overhead heated tables and leisurely eating our wonderful, fresh and authentic sushi. Then we picked up double espressos and one small slice of lemon cheesecake ($9 total) from the adjacent self-service facility.  Full wait service dining is also available ranging from a hamburger (10.95) to poached salmon (16.95). I’ll take the sushi any day.
We sat in the pleasant open air, gazed at the fountain, and people watched until 7:55. At that time, stress free, we leisurely strolled the 30 feet to the Mark Taper.

At the end of the musical, we walked back to the subway station in 5 minutes instead of trudging down 5 levels to the car and then sitting in an underground traffic jam. We immediately boarded the train back to the Universal City Bus. At that hour the rapid bus is not needed and no longer runs so we took the slightly slower #150 Ventura Blvd bus back to Warner Center. and drove home in about 15 minutes.

We had a wonderful fun travel and dining experience and were out of pocket less than $40. If you figure the actual round trip automobile driving cost to the Music Center, the $100 bucks for a stressful and generally mediocre downtown meal plus the cost of parking, we saved more than the cost of the tickets to Flower Drum.

 

The full bus and train trip does take more time especially on the way home but it is a guaranteed stress free time. Surprisingly it seems like less time because you don’t have to do the driving and you are having an interesting adventure. 

 
Of course, if since high school, it has been beneath you to ride a bus, you can still drive “The Dreaded Valley” to Universal City, park the car there and still have the Disneyland fun of the subway, while  avoiding what I consider the very “Dreaded” Music Center Parking experience.

Or, if public transportation at any level is not your cup of tea, you can merely avail yourself of the simplicity of casual dining at the fountain which will give you somewhat of a cushion that will release some of the time stress.  You can pick and choose any combination of the options just described. After all

 “You are the master of your fate. You are the captain of your soul.”  Or  “It is not the destination that counts. It is the journey”

If doing all this at night or concerns about getting there on time disturbs you, then do it some afternoon just for lunch or combined with a matinee. If you have children, they will love it and they will also be able to see the heart of Los Angeles at its best.