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We Are Happy Place Los Angeles is the newest pop up experience that offers visitors the chance to take several photos with 13 unique backdrops. As Instagram continues to have a hold on millennials these pop up experiences will continue to be popular. For now the Happy Place museum is schedule to be open now through January 7th. The Museum of Ice Cream extended its run twice so there is the chance that Happy Place will be open longer than planned. I took one of my best friends to Happy Place on opening night. In this post I’ll be sharing helpful information so that you can get the most out of your visit.
Happy Place Address: 1242 PALMETTO ST LOS ANGELES, CA 90013
Hours of Operation: Wednesday-Monday 10am-9:30pm
Happy Place Parking: Street parking is limited near Happy Place. I recommend arriving early so that you have time to find free parking before paying $10 to park close by. It is recommended that you arrive 20 minutes before your timed entry. I would recommend using that 20 minutes to find parking.
Tickets: The tickets can be purchased through the Happy Place website. You need to purchase your tickets in advance. Tickets are not sold onsite at Happy Place. Children under 4 do not need a ticket. When you purchase your tickets you will need to select a date and time frame. For example, my tickets were good for 6:30pm-7pm on Monday, November 20th.
The tickets and FAQ section of the website give you the impression that you can only stay in Happy Place for thirty minutes. While it is true that you cannot return to a room once you leave it you can stay for a long time. My friend and I were at Happy Place Los Angeles for two hours.
You can find discounted tickets to Happy Place via Goldstar here.
What To Bring With You: My friend Bruno brought his Instax mini camera which is a great idea. The main reason I didn’t bring mine is that I didn’t want to have to leave the camera in my car while I was at work. You will most likely be taking lots of pictures and videos. The last thing you want is for your phone battery to die. Consider bringing a portable phone charger with you. There is hand sanitizer located throughout the experience but I still recommend bringing your own.
Check-In: When you arrive the ticket purchaser will need to show the tickets (no need to print them) with a photo id. Once your group has checked in you can join the line to go inside. You are let inside in group of 10 or less at a time. The one and only restroom at Happy Place is only accessible from the outside entrance. Once you go inside you will not be able to use the restroom.
Don’t Worry Be Happy Hallway: When you enter Happy Place you will watch a short video explaining how the experience works. You are free to start exploring once the video ends. My friend and I were the last to leave this area so we could get a picture of the Don’t Worry Be Happy hallway while it was empty.
The first room of the exhibit has yellow and white striped walls as you can see in the photo above. The high heels are made out of M&M’s. You cannot get inside the shoe even though it would make for a cute photo. When you go inside the room stop by the counter for a small container of happy M&M’s.
The next room was my least favorite so I took less than two pictures. However, my friend really enjoyed the room so I took several photos of him. The palm trees reminded me of Veggie Tales. We spent a bit of time in this room mainly because this is where the line to enter the next room was.
This room is my favorite! I love the kisses on the wall, the lips couch, and the fact that XO has a heart inside the O was the icing on the cake. My only complaint with this room is that the O has a mirror so you can see the people waiting in line but of course that isn’t the end of the world. My friend and I took photos for each other before asking an employee to take a few pictures of us together. This room is rare because the workers make sure that only your group goes at one time. In other rooms you won’t be as lucky.
One of the things that I did before my visit was check out the pictures from their VIP night. Since I went on the first day the experience was open to the public I didn’t have too many pictures that I could look at on instagram to get some inspiration before my visit. However, I did see a boomerang that someone took where they were clapping in front of the wall in the photo below. I thought that was such a cute idea so I had to copy it.
The next room is a birthday celebration room. When you enter you’re given a delicious cake pop! The walls are filled with colorful wrapping paper. In the center of the room is a birthday cake that you can walk on. There is a wall that says celebrate every day but it is going to be rare for you to get a picture with that wall without having people in the background.
Balloons are in the corner of the birthday room. Considering how cute the wrapping paper walls are I found it odd that the balloons don’t have a cute background behind them.
The next room is one of the rooms that I was most excited about. This flower room is very cool. The flowers are on an elevated platform. There are six holes in the platform with ladders so that you can climb up to take pictures. We spent the most amount of time in this room. My friend and I each climbed up different ladders so that we could take pictures of each other.
The next room looks like a teenage girls bedroom. Due to my Instagram research prior to my visit, I knew that the idea is that you are hanging from the ceiling in your picture. The furniture is on the ceiling so once you take your picture you can rotate the picture so that you look like you’re upside down. My friend didn’t stand on the platform like I did. He put his hands on it and took several pictures where he’s throwing his legs up in the air. When we flipped his pictures it looked like he was falling from the ceiling. I loved how his pictures turned out. So have fun with your poses in this room!
The following room has four small installations set up. First is the lightbox room.
Next is the hearts room which I only saw two people take pictures with.
The bathtub had the second longest line of the experiences. If you have an elderly person in your group think twice about having them get in the tub. I had a very difficult time getting out.
Next to the bath tub is three walls with mirrors. I didn’t take any pictures of that, though you can see the mirrors in the video I recorded. Having been to the infinity room exhibit at The Broad I didn’t need more mirror pictures.
When I first saw pictures and videos of the rainbow room I thought that people were jumping into a cauldron of styrofoam. Nope! People are jumping into a cauldron of plastic. I really want to encourage you to think twice about doing this experience. Four days later and I still have a swollen ankle and more bruises than I can count. The plastic is very painful! I cannot imagine that they will keep the plastic for too long because it is not user-friendly.
They recommend that you jump feet first. Well, I did jump feet first but I jumped with my legs to the side. Due to the fact that I’m short, I couldn’t reach the bottom of the cauldron so I had an extremely difficult time trying to get out.
This is the first of two experiences where there is a camera to capture a gif for you. When you get to the top of the stairs at the rainbow you are supposed to hit a yellow button and jump after it counts down from three. Well, I jumped when it got to 1 and when an employee showed me my gif she told me I jumped too early. My friend got flustered and fell in right after he hit the yellow button and yet somehow his gif turned out perfect so I’m not really sure how the timer works. An employee will show you your gif and let you email it to yourself.
The final two experiences are all about confetti. In the first of the two rooms there are two boxes on the ground with confetti. You can lay down in one of the boxes. When you’re ready you hit a yellow button and a camera on the ceiling captures a gif of you making confetti angels. Once again there is an employee who will show you the gif and let you email it to yourself.
The final room of the exhibit has what looks like an inflatable snow globe that you can step inside. There is confetti inside there which swirls around once you are locked inside. Be sure to kick up the confetti or pick up an armful and drop it. The more you help move the confetti the more the confetti will fly around the globe.
When you exit the globe you are in the last part of the experience. You can check purchase lemonade and snacks. Stop by the popsicle truck for a free popsicle. There is a fake flower wall where you can take a picture and send it to yourself. There was a short line for this but people were taking a long, long time. Since we had been in Happy Place for two hours we decided we were ready to go. Outside you can find the Happy Place food truck where you can buy a rainbow grilled cheese. The exit for Happy Place is not near the entrance. I recommend saving your parking spot on your phone so that you are not lost when you exit.
Would I recommend Happy Place Los Angeles?
Yes! Even though I wish the experience was cheaper I did feel like I got what I paid for. Now, even though I recommend this place I understand that not everyone would enjoy it. The target audience is people who love taking pictures and having their picture taken. This is a place where you can come to forget about your troubles and just have fun!
Are you interested in checking out some other fun things to do in this part of Los Angeles? Clifton’s Cafeteria and The Last Bookstore are awesome places to explore.
Ok I am10 I am a girl I have always wanted to go there but I live in Fort Worth tx but for my birthday I might go