Sorry-but that is an urban myth.The "spider"was never built to be a controll tower.Always was meant to be an entertainment/restaurant building.
But you do get a good view of planes landing/taking off.

IMHO, I think you've got the best suggestion here. Four hours really isn't that much time. Getting in and out of the airport will cut that time in half. If you're not familiar with LA and its environs, I'd hang out at the airport. Grab some food at the spider.

Venice
 

If you're going to bear the awful afternoon traffic in LA stuck in a taxi, I'd suggest Venice. It's a few minutes further up the road from Del Ray, but the relaxed and funky vibe of the area is worth the jaunt. I'd leave from Venice no later than 45 min before you want to be back however just as a precaution.

I couldn't agree more - here's the site for Encounter (the proper name for the restaurant & bar), with menus:


http://www.encounterlax.com


And check out the "genesis" link for some history of the Theme Building (the proper name of the 'Spider') :)

Let's do the math:
45 minutes to get out of the terminal, get a cab and drive to a MB or V.
45 minutes to get a cab (they are not plentiful like NYC) and get back.
30 minutes to get through the airport queue and reach the gate.

That gives you two hours max. If you like the thrills of chancing it, I’d say go for it. However, it is a substantial risk with a flight to Asia.

Please post your results as it will be interesting either way.

Well, it is doable.

Catch a cab and tell him you want to go to El Segundo beach (yep, there really is one- less than 10mins once in the cab) at the corner of Vista del Mar and Grand Avenue. Figure out how long you want to stay at the beach. It's a 15min walk up from the beach (up Grand Avenue) into downtown El Segundo. There are some nice restaurants and there are a lot of burger joints (Fantastic Cafe, Burger's Etc.) and mexican restaurants (El Tarasco and 2-3 others).

Figure out where/when you want to be picked up and call Checker Cab- 410-2929. 10mins back to the airport.

Reread the OP post. Thursdays from 4-7pm, is El Segundo's Farmer's Market on Main St.

LAX Sucks After 10pm
 

So while all y'all talk about 40+ minutes to get out of the terminal, I was on the sidewalk all of 5 minutes after leaving the plane. Unfortunately, the flight was two hours late, cutting my layover to two hours, so no beach run.

I did follow up on The Encounter idea and those that say I should go there haven't ben in a while, or only go in the afternoon. Like every bar I tried in LAX, it was closed after 10pm!!

How can any airport of repute, especially one so self-absorbed as LAX, not serve alcohol 24x7? Or hey, at least till 2am like any other self-respecting establishment? How dare they force passengers to fly sober! That's inhumane treatment covered in the Geneva Convention.

I can only agree with the WiFi hotspot I found next to my EVA airlines departure gate: LAX sucks after 10pm.

Should have taken my advice :D

LAX sucks in general. I can say this as it is my main airport. There are so many better airports.

You original post didn't mention a time other than "thursday evening and sunday afternoon" ... not sure that 10pm falls into those times. LAX is frustrating around midnight as the airport is very busy ... lots of flights then ... but everything is closed. Which is why some airlines provide very nice lounge facilities (e.g. AA in T4). In a couple of years TBIT will be much better, after a long-delayed rebuild which is finally approved and under-way.

A few days ago, we had a 3 hours to kill at LAX on our way home to Kauai, and drove to Manhattan beach. Had not been there in years. The beach (sand and water) are grossly dirty and unappealing. The oil tanks just north are not attractive, and the smell of the whole mix (including the sewage treated nearby) was well, forget it. I'd prefer Venice/MDR next time, or just stay at the airport. I want to try the Encounter restaurant too.

Or mine.

Are you sure you're talking Manhattan Beach???

I live here & they're out cleaning the beach every day/grooming the sand, and in general take very good of their 'assets'. I had a friend move to Seal Beach & she mentioned she preferred MB because they take better care of the sand, etc.

I live at the north end of MB & I can honestly say in 14 years of living here I've never smelled sewage from the treatment plant at the beach. You do 'occasionally' get a whiff of it driving past the treatment plant (which is in front of El Segundo btw), but not in MB.

There's not much MB can do about the 1-2 tankers/day that are loading/unloading from the Chevron refinery in El Segundo, so I certainly wouldn't put that as a fault of MB.

And downtown MB has tons of fun shops, bars, restaurants, more so than some of the other suggestions on this thread.

To the OP - I've been to dif airports after 10pm & I can't say that they're all hopping w/ bars open all night long ;) Not sure what time the Daily Grill in TBIT closes though, as TBIT does have flights all night long.

Hmm, need to go check out cbslaid's suggestions; forgot to click on the link.

Cheers.

9 hours to fill in at LAX - any ideas?
 

I fly into LAX at 2.30pm and fly out at 11.45pm. Can anyone give me any ideas of what we could do to fill in time? My son hasnt been to LA before, so I thought it would be good to take him down to Hollywood. Ca anyone tell me the best way to get there? or any other ideas???

Pmorrison

If the weather is good, you can take the local bus to either Venice Beach or Santa Monica. Both are just a few minutes away. Santa Monica has a walk at the top of the cliff overlooking the Pacific, the Santa Monica Pier just below, and the 3 rd Street Promenade three streets back. You could also take a bus to Hollywood and walk Hollywood Boulevard. The information booth at the airport should be able to help with the bus information.