Let’s Make a Deal Tickets Guarantee a Fun Day in L.A.

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As your kids get older, you’ll notice that you suddenly have lots of FREE TIME! The question is what to do with all of this free time? Well, I have a friend whose superpower is figuring out how to have fun. One day she told me Let’s Make a Deal tickets guarantee a fun day in L.A. She asked me, “Are you in?”  I was in!

Fun Stuff to Do in L.A.

We don’t live far from Los Angeles, but we don’t live closely either. This brings up a good point. When you are carting kids here, there, and everywhere, driving more than thirty miles for fun is simply a nonstarter. Once Carpool Queen is no longer your title, you feel free to venture forth a bit more. You certainly have more time for it. If you are looking for fun stuff to do in Los Angeles, California natives and tourists enjoy getting tickets to television tapings.

Not all shows have a live audience. Generally, television sitcoms, game shows, talk shows, and late-night shows are most likely to offer tickets. Obviously, they must be filming in Los Angeles. Also, tickets are on specific days at specific times-there is very little flexibility here. Don’t be late! My Favorite Son once made me late to a taping of Mom and we were unable to get in, even though we had a ticket. They are serious about that “be here by this time” direction-it’s not a suggestion.

Once you peruse the offerings this season and download your tv tickets, you are ready to travel to the greater Los Angeles area for the taping. You will find that game show entry tickets are distributed by a different provider. The benefit of getting Let’s Make a Deal tickets is that there is the added perk of possibly appearing on the show as a contestant and coming home with a prize.

Costumes for Let’s Make a Deal

To make your visit the best it can be, some preparations are recommended. First, you might be wondering, “Where is Let’s Make a Deal filmed at?” In Van Nuys, California. In a decidedly unexciting, industrial area. It’s akin to going into the factory to watch how the sausage is made. By the way, Van Nuys is about 10 miles away from Hollywood.

If you’ve watched the show, you know that the audience members are all wearing costumes. During our visit, I think I saw four people out of a couple hundred who were NOT in costume. You want to wear one or you might feel out of place. The goal is to get on the show as a contestant and having an eye-catching costume is a key to this process.

Costumes for Let’s Make a Deal are a big part of the experience.You can check out the best costumes this year for ideas.Try to come up with an idea that will spark a conversation. I’ll tell you why next. My favorite costume when we were there was a lady with a white t-shirt with painted on blood stains. She had mini-cereal boxes hot glued to the shirt with “Cereal Killer” painted on her shirt. I thought it was funny! Not sure what that says about me.

How to be a Contestant on Let’s Make a Deal

After you have your Let’s Make a Deal tickets, you want to get a costume for yourself. So why is coming up with a creative costume so important?  Because you want to know how to be a contestant on Let’s Make a Deal and this is a big part of getting selected. The selection process begins the minute you check-in at the door. If ever there was a time to be Miss Mary Sunshine and Chatty Cathy, this is it!

Let’s Make a Deal contestants preselected for the show seem to be nonexistent. I witnessed the entire process and did NOT see this. You actually have a shot at being picked! How to get picked on Let’s Make a Deal is largely dependent on your ability to get noticed. While you are winding your way through the very long line, they have their eyes on you. The producers are looking for who takes the time to talk to the other participants. The particularly animated and charismatic people tended to be the ones picked later.

About ¾ of the way through the line, you are put in groups of 10-15 people and given an impromptu interview by a very dynamic producer. You will only be asked to answer 1-2 short questions, but the idea here is to make yourself sound interesting. Some people’s costumes were conversation starters and that seemed to help “break the ice” during the interview with the producer.

The questions were super simple:  What do you do?  Where are you from?  Have you seen the show?  Are you a fan?  Make sure that you know that Wayne Brady hosts the show-some people made some blunders with their answers because it was obvious that they had never watched the show. The producer was clearly intrigued by some people and not others, although he was polite to all. He really liked it if the person had a compelling story or a special reason for coming that day. Think about your “talk track” before you arrive.

The hot topic amongst the people in line was how to get picked as a contestant. At the end of the show, we all agreed that who had the best costume did not seem to be the determining factor. Those with a charming and dynamic personality who demonstrated a lot of enthusiasm seemed to hold the winning ticket. Keep in mind that just to get through this part of the line was a good two to three-hour process. As the day went on it became clear that staying that energetic all day required some serious energy. I was really wishing I had a good night of sleep the night before.

What Happens on Let’s Make a Deal

So, you might be wondering what happens on Let’s Make a Deal and I am going to tell you, but first you must know that getting through the interviewer is just the first step in the process. Blessedly, as they guide you from the entry area to the holding area (for the show), there is a snack bar with drinks, sandwiches, smoothies, and snacks. Bathrooms are available, but they are port-a-potties.

Once you are in the holding area, there is an opportunity to rent a costume, if you do not have one. I did not notice too many people taking advantage of this. Next, there is a photographer that will take pictures of you and your pals as a memento. She was a surprisingly good photographer! I’m sure this feature is there to have one more avenue for gauging how photogenic a potential contestant might be. I’m telling you-they’ve got this down! There is a charge for the photo, if you want a copy. I think I paid $20.

Once our photos were taken, my friend and I sat and waited for what seemed to be another two hours before the bus arrived. Oh-I almost forgot! We had to relinquish our cell phones. This part was funny! Some people struggled with this. I thought it was outstanding! We were forced to go Old School and actually converse with other humans. I made all kinds of new friends last Saturday. Do remember that people were being their Very Most Loveable and Energetic Self to try and win points so the producers would pick them. That helped.

What is this bus I speak of?  Well, where you check in and where the show is taped are not one and the same. The bus transports you to the taping site, but no worries-it’s only a seven-minute drive away. Once you arrive at the studio, they whisk you away and start taping right away! No, they don’t. There’s another line involved. Thankfully, with another snack bar and more…………port-a-potties! Amen! They know their audience.

It’s Show Time

We arrived for our taping at about 11:30 a.m. and around 4:00 p.m. we finally entered the studio for the taping. It looks a lot bigger on television. Once we got in there, things moved quickly. We got some last-minute instructions on the game and taping procedures and then the lights started flashing. Lights! Camera! Action!

We were told multiple times to remain excited and perky because the producers were watching us. They admitted that they already knew who they were going to select, although none of us knew. Then they admitted that they’d been known to change their mind. The reason?  The producer or Wayne Brady looked over at the next contestant during a commercial break and that person looked bored or “lacked a pulse.” That killed it for that contestant and they quickly picked someone else.

With this extra bit of encouragement, all of the potential contestants were bringin’ it! I mean full on jumping up andd own and screaming “pick me, pick me” was heard by all. We all dug deep and found our inner six-year-old. Grown men and women were shamelessly putting it all out there. It was a spectacle, but truly fun! I don’t mind admitting that I embraced the moment and jumped up and down with the rest of them.

The pace of the show was lightening fast and before we knew it, the seven or so contestants were chosen and completed their segment. During every commercial break, we were reminded to keep up the energy level. Keep in mind that it was a long day-we’d already been there for about five hours. From start to finish, the show was taped in 1-1.5 hours and then we were transported by bus back to the parking lot. I have to say that throughout the day the entire Let’s Make a Deal staff were positive, uplifting, fun, and accommodating. They could not have been better. It was obvious that they sought to make sure that everyone was treated as a valued and worthy guest.

Winning Prizes on Let’s Make a Deal

Contestants winning prizes on Let’s Make a Deal is what we came to see.  So do you want to know if we won? I’m sure you do, but I can’t tell you that. It turns out that all participants are sworn to secrecy until the taping. You can’t really tell if you were selected as a contestant or not, whether you won or not, nor what you won or not. We were there in late August and our show won’t even air until the following June. I promise to come back and update this in June 2020 to let you know if the Let’s Make a Deal tickets resulted in any prizes.

But, I did learn some things about winning prizes while I was there. In several segments, Wayne Brady, the host, offered cash to the contestant if they would forgo the game. The idea is that you don’t know what’s behind the curtain and it could be so much better than the $1,000 Wayne is offering you. Usually, the contestant would say no to the money and Wayne would sweeten the deal with more money. In almost every instance, I think the contestant should have taken the cash.

Once the player decides to play, there are usually three curtains or options to pick from. Be careful though, one of those curtains can be hiding a zonk. So, you might be wondering what does a zonk represent on Let’s Make a Deal?  A zonk means you get nothin’. Zip. Zero. Zilch.Avoid the zonk.

The prizes were all outstanding. A couple of the winners shared the process of how you go about getting the prize. If you win, you congregate with all the other winners in a conference room for a pow wow with the Let’s Make a Deal legal team. I hear there is lots of paperwork.

 No, they will not let you take cash in lieu of the prize (unless your prize WAS cash). You do have to pay taxes on your winnings. If you win a car that can be a sizeable amount. The other option is to forfeit your prize altogether, but why would someone want to do that?  Possibly because they cannot come up with the tax payment.

 The prize is also not delivered until after the air date of the episode. In our case, that would be ten months from now. The paperwork process appeared to be another 1.5-hour process. One of the winners told me that all in all she was there from about 11:30 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. To sum it up, prepare for a long day.

So -win or lose- did the Let’s Make a Deal tickets guarantee a fun day in L.A?  Absolutely! This was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Whether you are a Southern California native or a tourist that plans on being in the Los Angeles area sometime soon, put this idea on your bucket list. You won’t regret it!

P.S. A little bird told me that Wayne Brady smells REALLY good. There is nothing like a man that can rock his cologne. Mmm hmmm…….

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