Hollywood Walk Of Fame Named 'World's Worst Attraction'
HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA) -- When visitors and tourists come to Los Angeles, no doubt they make it a point to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The glitz, the glamor ... the notorious rep?
A new survey calls the iconic Walk the "Worst Tourist Attraction in the World."
KCAL9's Hermela Aregawi went to the Walk of Fame to find out why it's become, well, infamous.
She found people from the world over who said, yes, the walk gets crowded sometimes but the people she spoke to mostly gave it high marks.
"I think it's super fun and awesome. It reminds you of all the great movies you saw," says Jamie Figi, visiting from out of state.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame attracts an estimated 10 million people every year, according to the site's Chamber of Commerce.
But have the stars lost their shine? The new survey -- in TripAdvisor -- seems to suggest the answer is yes.
The site was given the dubious distinction of "Worst Tourist Attraction in the World" just before Machu Picchu in Peru and Ocean Park, a marine mammal park in Hong Kong.
The Walk had its defenders.
"No, I actually think it's a good attraction. We come quite often," said Maria Armenta, who, ironically is hosting family from Peru.
She asks her relative if she likes it. "She loves it," Armenta says, "she's been taking pictures of every star."
According to the survey and TripAdvisor, the Walk's detractors describe the 15-block Walk of Fame, and its cast of characters and superheroes that come with it, as "completely underwhelming," "so disappointing" and "unsafe."
Other comments included "overcrowded," "like it's a tourist trap," and simply "meh."
A video of Mr. Incredible, Catwoman and Chewbacca in a brawl went viral and helped etch the sometimes-rowdy nature of the boulevard in people's minds.
"Everybody out here trapping, trying to get some money. You got the CD guys throwing CDs in people's face. That's probably part of the thing that's aggravating to people," says Khassa Selassie.
"I can see where local people are super annoyed by it," says Figi.
So the survey said one thing, but the people Aregawi spoke to said another.
"I'm a big Hollywood fan and this is really interesting for me, to see the stars, To see the Chinese Theatre. It's really amazing," said Fermi Anonuevo, visiting from the Philippines.