NOW OPEN! HAPPY PLACE - The Drive Thru

A cutesy drive-thru experience at a mall parking structure

The boys and I were invited to check out Happy Place - The Drive Thru at the Westfield Century City Mall Parking Structure. We had been sick with a cold the week prior and hadn’t left the house (we tested NEGATIVE for Covid, thank God). Needless to say, we were sick and tired of feeling sick and tired so driving to a Happy Place seemed like the perfect opportunity to get out again.

We entered the parking garage through the entrance on Avenue of the Stars and followed the signs to the third floor. Once there, we were greeted, our tickets scanned and led to enter Happy Place - The Drive Thru.

The experience was fun. For those of us who visited The Happy Place pop-up museum a couple of years ago in Downtown L.A. when we were still able to do things in-person, many of the colorful installations and props looked familiar and driving by them felt a little off— like we wish we could have exited the car for a photo op.

Given that the drive thru stretched for quite a ways, there were areas that looked like, well, parking spaces. Still, we loved driving through musical piano keys, we enjoyed the disco ball dance stop (the kids chose the Baby Shark song out of the ten different song options) and we liked the giant cookie on the wall.

Happy Place - the Drive-Thru is going to be around through the new year (January 3). Tickets start at $50 per vehicle (regardless of the number of people inside) and if you’re interested, you can purchase lemonade for $5 or Happy Place-branded items like t-shirts and knick-knacks on your way out.

Benny gave it an “8 out of 10” LOL. Toby kept saying he wished he could get out of the car to play with the props. I was happy to feel good enough to drive and take the kids to a place that stimulated their senses, gave them something to look at and motivated them to offer their brutally honest feedback (they said the Happy Place unicorns looked grumpy and sad. LOL).

Overall, a nice distraction for folks who live in the L.A. area and want to give their kids a chance to see a giant rubber duck, an over-sized gumball machine or a yellow bubble bathtub. Stay happy.

Ticket information here.

Thanks for reading, friends!

Xo,

-Anabel M.