Hollywood Bowl Shuttle

We live in South San Clemente, and so Lakewood is the closest Park & Ride location that services the Hollywood Bowl. We decided to take the chance and try it; July 15^th 2015 & we had our hot little tickets in our hands to see the legendary John Fogerty. I was worried about heavy traffic; it being a Wednesday. I drove us to the Lakewood destination to catch the 660 line to the Bowl; it took an hour and 19 minutes in heavy stop & go traffic — that 405 fwy is a mess! As I drove into the parking lot, we could see 3 of the white buses pulling out for the BOWL! OH NO! We were EARLY but they were EARLIER! It’s closest to the FOREVER 21 Store. I locked up my car, and we made a bee-​line for the bus — we barely made the 4^th busload. Those drivers don’t mess — they put the pedal to the medal and haul ass to the Bowl, as fast as traffic will allow. This hellion of a driver was fast & whenever she wanted to make a lane change, God help those poor motorists who may have not gotten out of her way fast enough! I could hear lots of honking in response to her many lane changes, but this lady was one cool cucumber under pressure & she managed to get us up to the main gate by 7:00pm! We had one hour to find food — we were starving! (It took a total of 3 hours to get to the Bowl!) But this Park & Ride Service is the best bang for your buck. It eliminates most of the stress of battling heavy LA traffic and no parking fuss at the Bowl. After the Fogerty concert ended, we were in a state of bliss and euphoria (GREAT MUSIC/​GREAT TIME) but we were keen to get back into our 660 bus line to Lakewood. Those drivers have 0 patience for dawdlers and slow pokes — no time for a quick pee break — NO! We were careful to find our bus, & got into our seats; the bus loaded fully inside of 5 seconds, (no joke here) and a new driver slammed the bus door shut and we mama-jamma’ed onto the freeway! Those old buses are bouncy and maybe they are a bucket of bolts stapled and duct taped together, but they’re fast, the drivers know what they’re doing and they HAUL ASS HOME! It is the best money you can spend when you need to get to the Hollywood Bowl! I loved it the experience, and I had an opportunity to talk to some other riders on the bus who were also having a good time and were being friendly. I met some new people and that would not have happened if I drove my own car all the way to the Bowl. I had a totally enjoyable experience, thanks in large part to this Park & Ride bus service! TRY IT SOMETIME! It will set your mind at ease and you will feel peaceful.
X O

This was a great service overall, but finding where to get on the shuttle was super confusing. The website said to go across from the Hometown Buffet, but really you need to go behind it closer to Costco. Other than that confusion the shuttle was super convenient and cheap… way better than trying to deal with stacked parking!

So far, so good. Easy peasy would recommend any day. Couldn’t have been more easier to get to the Hollywood Bowl and back. All those suckers sitting in the stacked lots hahaha. 5 stars all the way!

Okay, so this is a good idea, do not get me wrong. Not having to deal with parking at a concert is pretty ideal. However, the hollywood bowl or whoever is in charge of these buses needs to put a huge disclaimer that if you do not prepurchase a ticket You are not guarenteed a seat. That is what i was informed by the attendant when i arrived. I did not know about this service until the morning of the concert i was attending and i thought it was perfect, looked it up and told me the price and where to go. Sat in line for 30 minutes with absolutely no acknowledgemwnt from anyone, watched as all the prepaids were loaded on first. When i finally asked they said that if any seats were left available after all the prepaids were loaded than i moght be able to go. Eff that… went back and drove to the bowl. Got parking instantly and no hassle leaving, even left before the buses. Will not recommend to anyone unless they decide to prepurchase.

This was so convenient especially coming from south Orange County! Across from the Home Town Buffet you’ll find white, unmarked buses with friendly Hollywood Bowl employees in green shirts. You pay for the round trip fair ($ 10) on the bus. Let the driver deal with the stressful LA traffic. The best part is not waiting in traffic when you leave and getting on the freeway before everyone else! We will definitely do it again.

Off to Hollywood Bowl. Great way to get there on Friday night. Don’t have to worry about traffic, parking and walking a few miles.

I will not do this again. Could have driven faster, for less, and been a lot more comfortable. After paying for parking at the Hollywood Bowl & gas we would have at least been even.
Narrow seats, little leg room — it feels like an inner city transit bus.

This is only best way to get to a concert at the bowl. All you have to do is buy your tickets on ticketmaster, park at the location, wait in line, and voila… you’re at the Bowl! They staff a few teenagers to collect tickets to board the bus, making it organized and uniform. Why would you be stupid enough to do stacked and overpriced 20 dollar parking at the bowl? Just take the shuttle…
Note: Don’t buy your tickets at the lot. You’re probably not going to make it one the bus since they give priority to ticketed passengers whenever a bus arrives; and then you’ll end up being late for your concert.

Highly recommend to alleviate the stress of driving to the Hollywood Bowl in traffic and finding parking. This was our first time trying a Park n Ride and it was easy and a huge bargain. Stacked parking at the Bowl is $ 25 (and a huge hassle) and this was $ 15 for the two of us! We bought prepaid online tickets (ticketmaster) and picked the first available bus at 5:10. We got there just before 5 pm and there was a short line. They don’t seem to care which bus you are reserved for — the couple behind us has 5:30 tickets. The rep said they had 10 buses. They were a tad slow at loading the buses but we were heading out by 5:20 so that was great. Not sure how long the «cash /​no reservations» line took. Still took AN HOUR to get there in traffic (and it was over an hour from our house to Lakewood in traffic). We got to the Bowl just before 6:30 (for a 7:30 show). But the bus drops you off at the front and that is perfect! Took our cooler picnic in, found a secluded picnic section (level three) and relaxed before the show. Made a quick exit as the last song was playing and took the stairs down and across to find tons of buses waiting to head back out. I think we were on the first bus back to Lakewood and sat in the last row. Our only mistake — the fumes in the last row of the bus were very bad. Driver drove full speed ahead and we were back to our car in 30 minutes. Definitely makes the Hollywood Bowl less stressful and is cheaper than parking will cost if you do drive yourself. Hint: I put the Hometown Buffet address in the gps to find the park n ride meeting spot.

Took this to the Billy Joel concert. This was by far the BEST mode of transportation. $ 7.75 gets you to and from the Hollywood Bowl effortlessly. They were very organized and had plenty of room for all. There was absolutely NO stress involved whatsoever. It’s very obvious where the busses are waiting at Lakewood Mall, right near Forever 21. They let you off at the venue and tell you exactly where they’ll be. The parking situation was so horrific but WE were the first ones out of the lot! It was an absolute pleasure and worth every penny!!! You must do it! And eat the pulled pork from Smokey Jo’s! That was also fabulous!

I took the Lakewood Park and Ride to the Korean Times Music Festival last weekend. This experience is slightly different than the other reviews posted here!
Firstly, I didn’t see a sign indicating where the stop was but I followed the very helpful map that was posted here and buses were already lined up. The buses made the stop very easy to spot! Despite what the Hollywood Bowl and KoreaTimes website said, this year, you could not buy these shuttle tickets in advance. I’m not sure if this is something they’re keeping for future Korea Times Music Festivals, so definitely give KoreaTimes (not Hollywood Bowl, they won’t know since it’s a lease event!) a call and ask! Both websites listed only two departure times: 3:30pm and 4pm. I arrived at 3:40pm and there were two buses there. There was no line, they were just waiting for the seats to be filled (they don’t make anyone stand). So, I don’t believe they only had two departure times, rather a continuous loop for a certain amount of time. If I recall, the trip took about 40 minutes, which included some traffic.
When we arrived, one of the workers got on the bus and gave us information for our return trip. She mentioned that we had 25 minutes after the end of the festival to get back to the bus. I ended up leaving the festival a little early, during the closing song and arrived to find about three buses already there. Once again, they took off once the seats were all taken. The best thing about taking the Park and Ride shuttle is surpassing all the traffic of cars in the Hollywood Bowl area.
If I return to the Hollywood Bowl, I would definitely take the Park and Ride again!

This was my first time riding the shuttle to Hollywood Bowl. Heck, it was my first time going to the Hollywood Bowl, period. I read online how difficult it is to find parking there, so this was a recommended alternative transportation method. I’m so glad I did this because it was so convenient and time saving.
It was pretty easy to find this place. They are located at the Forever 21 parking lot. They have enough buses to shuttle all the passengers, no fear of being left behind. If you pre-​purchase your tickets on
, you get to board first. Cash paying customers have to wait a little longer. I missed the deadline to purchase ahead so I had to pay cash in person. I didn’t wait that much longer than the rest.
The buses are clearly marked on the return ride home. They are pretty well organized. I will definitely use this service again to return to the Hollywood Bowl.

Went to see Zac Brown Band at the Hollywood Bowl. First time ever going to the Bowl and driving up there (to park off-​site) wasn’t an option. I heard the shuttles were «disorganized», «chaotic» and «ghetto» so my expectations were low.
It was difficult to find the pick-​up area, but the 100s of other people standing around was a good indicator. The lot is located near Costco and the movie theater, there is plenty of parking.
If you don’t pre-​buy your tickets (I heard they are $ 7, not $ 5) you have to wait in a stand-​by line until all the pre-​sale people are on the buses and it’s $ 10pp, exact change, paid to the driver. People were stealth-​drinking in line and it was a good time.
While the website says shuttles leave at specific times it was more of a line of buses, which were filled up (every seat was full) and sent on their way. The loading system was pretty organized and employees would call out for specific party sizes to fill the seats.
The buses aren’t fancy but you can eat and drink (alcohol) on them (or at least no one said anything). We arrived at the Bowl in plenty of time and leaving was a breeze. Get in line, get on the bus, get gone.
Highly recommend the shuttle.

I attended «System Of A Down» concert taking the park and ride.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take a bus but since I already purchased the ticket decided to ride.
Location of Park and Ride was bit confusing, but there were other concert goers who were wondering around until found group of Hollywood Bowl employees waiting at one area.
Location is parking area between Souplantation and Costco. You will know once buses start to arrive to pickup riders.
Ride was comfortable, I was taking to fellow concert goers. Also, there wasn’t much traffic on the way to the show.
Best part was after the concert I just came down and follow the bus riders to the bus waiting area.
Most people who brought their car was not able to leave since they were all double, triple, quadruple parked. But Park and Rider buses pretty much left right away. Traffic police blocked cars so that buses can leave right away.
I can’t not suggest enough that if anyone ever go to Hollywood Bowl, please do take Park and Ride. It is only way!

I recently went to watch Elgar at the Hollywood Bowl, and being a Tuesday I didn’t want to dare to drive to Hollywood.
I arrived at 5:20 for a 5:40 shuttle with a ticket bought via ticketmaster. If you don’t have a ticket, you have to wait for everyone else to board.
The bus is actually next to Buffalo Wild Wings next to target. If you are going west on candlewood, make a left on graywood.
The buses are comfortable. There are different buses so I think they vary in quality.
We arrived at 7pm at the bowl (an hour and 20 ride!), but that was okay because I didn’t need to sit through traffic.
After the show, I headed back towards the buses, and made an immediate right in the tunnel to go up to the buses. We only waited 10 minutes, then our bus took off.
After coming back home, I didn’t find myself as tired as I usually am. Even though getting back home is a tad longer (driving yourself back home obviously is faster), not sitting through an hour and a half of traffic is worth it any day.

Went to the concert for Pitbull & Kesha and taking the shuttle was the best suggestion one of our friends mentioned.
It was so easy go to Lakewood park and ride, no need to worry about driving and parking hassle. Once the concert is done get to the shuttle and off you go. I will certainly use it again.

The Hollywood Bowl Park & Ride is pretty awesome in that you don’t have to fight traffic to and from the Hollywood Bowl. You can go drink, enjoy the show, and still have time to get sober enough to drive yourself home from the Lakewood Mall. Park & Ride is located by the 24 hour fitness in front of the Pacific Theaters lot. You’ll see the Hometown Buffet on the corner of Candlewood and Graywood which is where you turn in.
When I arrived, the buses were already there. They give priority to those who purchase their tickets online at least 2 weeks in advance ($ 5 + fees) which is slightly cheaper if you had the sense to have the tickets mailed to you rather than paying extra $$ to print them out. I hate convenience fees but if you’re in a bind, you’re still better off than paying in cash ($ 10) at the lot. Since priority is given to those with tickets, they fill up the first bus with ticket holders and let them leave first. I don’t know how long they wait until the next bus leaves but if I had gotten there early and had to wait, I’d be pretty angry.
Luckily, I bought my ticket online. I was on the first bus to the venue and the first bus back. You have 25 minutes following the end of the concert to make your way back to the correct shuttle. This isn’t difficult if you exit quickly. I made my way down the road and found my bus. It was easy. Overall the Park & Ride is an awesome alternative to paying $ 22 to stack park your car at the Hollywood Bowl. Eff that.

The ride to the Bowl was awesome, I was able to sit back, drink, chat
and laugh at all the cars in traffic coming into the Bowl.
BUT OUR RIDE BACK… a whole other story.
Our shuttle was the first to leave, I think our driver was in a rush to get home to something, maybe he had a booty call?
To the driver of the shuttle bus you literally had my life flash before my eyes, and the others sitting around me! first off there are no seat belts and here I am crouching low grabbing for dear life to my seat as we are SPEEDING id roughly say over 75mph on the freeway in the carpool lane. Shit is shaking and swaying, people’s eyeballs were getting larger, one gentleman yelled «Hey dude slow it down up there!» It felt like a scene out of the movie «Speed» and Keanu Reeves was going to pop up from the back of the shuttle bus. Look 75mph in my car, no problem but a huge shuttle bus, NOT GOOD. Thought we were going to tip over, shit!
Anyways, that was my near death experience
/​drama.
Never again!!!
RANDOM FACT:
12 different buses were used in the filming of the movie Speed

Now this is the way to get to the bowl if you’re from OC/​Long Beach area! This shuttle picks you up at the Lakewood mall. Now if you’re unfamiliar with this mall (like I was the first time I used this service), follow Unilocal’s lead… the shuttle picks you up at Candlewood and Graywood, across the parking lot from the movie theater. The mall is big, so arrive early so that you can leave yourself time to find the parking lot.
The area where the shuttle picks up from is located in an area of the mall parking that is very dead, so parking is super wide open and easy. When you pull up you will see people waiting in line, and usually a bus will be parked in the area. This is how you’ll know you’re in the correct area.
My only gripe with this service is that they are usually running behind. The tickets said to arrive at the bus stop by 5:30, and bus didn’t take off till after 6:15. Because of this, when we got to the show, we didn’t have time to relax outside the venue — which is one of my favorite things about the Hollywood bowl… the picnics!
When the bus drops you off, they tell you which line you’re on, and they tell you have 30 mins to get back to the bus, and they mean it! Don’t dilly-​dally because they aren’t waitin for ya! Cross the street in the underground tunnel, head over to the bus pick up, and try to find you’re correct bus despite all of the madness. Now that’s a trip if you’ve been drinking during the show!
You can purchase your tickets on Ticketmaster/​Livenation when you buy your concert tickets. There is a little hyperlink on the right hand side that reads something like, «looking for shuttle tickets?» It’s tiny and can be easily missed. Or, you can buy your tickets at the shuttle stop.
Despite that they need to get their act together and leave on time, so this service is definitely a hidden gem and REALLY beats dealing with the stacked parking/​Hollywood traffic. I would recommend this service to anyone going to a concert at the Bowl.

The Hollywood Bowl Park & Ride Shuttle…
No need to worry about traffic!
No need to worry about parking!
No need to get frustrated after the event, while waiting for the solid block of cars parked around your car to move so you can start the drive home!
Buy tickets for the Park & Ride bus when purchasing tickets for your Hollywood Bowl event and they’re ONLY $ 5 per person, round trip! Such a deal and WELL WORTH IT! The shuttles run for EVERY show at the Bowl, during the season.
First come, first loaded on the bus, but no need to rush or crowd, there are always plenty of busses lined up and waiting. Also, MAKE SURE you bring your picnic lunch /​dinner and a bottle of wine (or 2) to enjoy after you arrive at the Bowl.
TO THE BOWL: You’ll find the busses lined up in the parking lot BEHIND the Home Town Buffet. They leave every 20 minutes starting about 5:30 pm. You have a relaxed, carefree ride up and once there, they drop you off right at the entry gates!
FROM THE BOWL: Walk down the hill, thru the tunnel and up the first set of stairs, then get on the 660 line bus and VOILA, you are on the freeway in 5 MINUTES! No parking lot crush, no traffic, no frustration, just away you go!
Each time I’ve gone to the Bowl on the bus, there are different bus companies and different busses. The only negative (minor): One time after loading on to a (older) bus, they had a problem with a door not closing completely and the safety interlock wouldn’t allow the transmission to shift out of neutral. After futzing with it for 10 –15 minutes, they had us exit that bus, then put us on another and away we went.
I’ve taken this Park & Ride bus to the Hollywood Bowl many times and only encountered this one issue. So don’t worry, it’s a great way, the best way to go!