Thank You To Owen From The When Write Is Wrong Website For Finding The Griswold Residence, The First Motel, Cousin Eddie's House, The Spot Where Clark First Sees The Hot Woman In The Red Car, The Hotel With The Pool, Cousin Norman's House, The Sonic Drive-Inn, The Spot Where Clark Gets Pulled Over And The Freeway Exit Where Clark Falls Asleep
Thank You To Many Other People For Their Discoveries On Some Of Those Other Locations Mainly The Contributors To The 80s Movie Rewind Website
Thank You To Lindsay From The Iamnotastalker.com Website For Telling Me About The Gas Station Location And The Picnic Area Where Clark Dances For The Hot Woman
Thank You To Chuck Snyder For Finding The Diner Location Where A Sleeping Clark Almost Hits The Man Leaving The Diner And For The Scene Where Clark Almost Hits The Dog While He Is Asleep
Thank You To Many Other People For Their Discoveries On Some Of Those Other Locations Mainly The Contributors To The 80s Movie Rewind Website
Thank You To Lindsay From The Iamnotastalker.com Website For Telling Me About The Gas Station Location And The Picnic Area Where Clark Dances For The Hot Woman
Thank You To Chuck Snyder For Finding The Diner Location Where A Sleeping Clark Almost Hits The Man Leaving The Diner And For The Scene Where Clark Almost Hits The Dog While He Is Asleep
- (0:02) The View Of Chicago / Looking Northwest From Olive Park, Chicago
- (0:02) The Car Dealership / Glendale Dodge Chrysler And Jeep; 900 S. Brand Avenue, Glendale (Note: Check Out Those Chicago Mountains In The Second Screen Shot)
- (0:05) The Griswold Residence / 2310 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles
You Can Read More About This Location At Lindsay's Iamnotastalker Blog By Clicking This Link
- (0:09) The Griswolds Driving By A Nice Fountain While Driving Out Of Chicago / Buckingham Fountain; 500 S. Columbus Drive, Chicago (Note: The View Is looking Northwest)
- (0:11) Clark Trying To Fill The Car With Gas For The First Time / Little America Hotel Gas Station; 2515 E. Butler Avenue, Flagstaff Arizona
- (0:13) The Griswolds Driving Into A Bad Part Of St. Louis / Warner Bros; Brownstone Street, Burbank
- (0:14) Clark Asking The Man In The Suit For Directions / Warner Bros; New York Street, Burbank
- (0:14) Clark Asking For Directions As The Men Steal The Hub Caps Off Of The Car / Warner Bros; Hennesy Street, Burbank
- (0:17) A Totally Asleep Clark Exits The Freeway Onto A Surface Street / Exit 1 From The 134 Freeway Going East Crossing Cahuenga Blvd Going Into An Alley Behind The 7-Eleven Located At 10565 Riverside Drive, North Hollywood (Note: The Vendome Liquors Is Located At 10600 Riverside Drive)
- (0:17) Driving Real Close To A Diner / Warner Bros Ranch; Park Boulevard, Burbank (Note: The Fake Diner Is No Longer There And It Use To Be Very Close To Where The Friends Fountain Was Located. (Note: The Ranch Is Closed To The Public And This Building Has Since Been Torn Down)
- (0:17) Clark Still Asleep Driving Between Houses And Almost Hits A Dog / Warner Bros Ranch; Blondie Street, Burbank (Note: The Ranch Is Closed To The Public And This House Along With All Of The Other Structures Have Been Torn Down)
- (0:18) The First Motel Where Clark Slides Into The Parking Spot / Glendale Lodge; 1510 E. Colorado Street, Glendale (Note: The Motel Was Called The Town House Motel In The Movie And It Has Been Torn Down And Rebuilt Since The Movie Was Made)
- (0:22) Dodge City Kansas / Warner Bros; Laramie Street, Burbank (Note: This Whole Section Of Their Backlot Has Been Torn Down)
- (0:25) Clark First Sees The Hot Woman In The Red Car / Colorado 96 And US 50 E. At 41st Lane, Avondale, Colorado (Note: The House Seen In The Screen Shot Is On The South Side Of The Road Between 41st Lane And Chico Road And The Cars Are Traveling East)
- (0:26) Cousin Eddie And Catherine's House In Kansas / 58909 Apple Road, Boone, Colorado
- (0:37) The Picnic Area Where Clark Flirts And Shows Off For The Hot Woman / Shaw Creek Rest Area, 24863 US 160, South Fork Colorado (Note: This Is An Approximate Address As This Is On The North Side Of The Road A Little East Of El Dorado Lane)
- (0:40) The Griswolds Stay In Tents At Kamp Komfort / Riverbend Resort; 33846 US 160, South Fork, Colorado
- (0:44) Clark Being Pulled Over Because Of Dragging The Dog / 1901 County Road 124, Hesperus, Colorado (Note: The Camera Is Always Facing North In This Scene)
- (0:47) At The Drive-In Restaurant / 1605 Main Street, Alamosa, Colorado (Note: This Was An Old Sonic Drive-In And The Shell Of The Building Is All That Remains)
- (0:49) At The Next Hotel After They Lose Some Of Their Luggage / Coronado Hotel; 2130 Lake Avenue, Pueblo, Colorado
- (0:51) The Jump Off Of The End Of The Closed Road / Monument Valley, Utah
- (0:57) Clark Stumbling Back To Civilization And Finding His Family At A Mechanic Garage / Hampton Inn Of Monument Valley; U.S. 160, Kayenta, Azizona (Note: This Obviously Means The Small Garage Has Been Torn Down And The Hampton Inn Was Built In Its Place. This Is Located A Little West Of Where U.S. 163 Intersects U.S. 160 On The North Side Of The Road. The Round Tanks Seen In The Second Screen Shot Are Still There Today Across The Street To The South)
- (1:00) The Hotel Exterior Where Clark Tries To Cash A Check / El Tovar Hotel; Grand Canyon Village, Grand Canyon National Park South Rim, Grand Canyon Village, Arizona (Note: The View Is Right Behind The Lodge)
- (1:04) Cousin Normie's House Where They Drop Off Aunt Edna / 3025 W. Wilson Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona
- (1:11) The Motel Where Clark Swims With The Hot Woman From The Red Car / Hotel Saddleback; 12500 Firestone Blvd, Norwalk
- (1:18) Arriving At The Walley World Parking Lot And Getting The Bad News From The Moose / Santa Anita Park; 285 W. Huntington Drive, Arcadia
You Can Read More About This Location At Lindsay's Iamnotastalker Blog By Clicking This Link
- (1:21) Walley World Amusement Park / Six Flags Magic Mountain; 26101 Magic Mountain Parkway, Valencia
- (1:22) Clark Going To A Gas Station / 1401 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica (Note: There Is No Longer A Gas Station There)
- (1:22) The Sporting Goods Store Where Clark Got The Gun / 111 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica (Note: This Is No Longer A Sporting Goods Store And The Building Has Changed A Little Since The Movie Was Made)
Read an interview all about the movie with Dana Barron at http://retroladyland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/on-vacation-with-dana-barron-interview.html
ReplyDeleteThe drive-in restaurant is the Sonic Drive-In located in Alamosa, Colorado. I know the lady that used to be the supervisor there.
ReplyDeleteHello, thanks for the info. Could you give me some more clues as I am still having trouble figuring this location out.
DeleteIf you look at the parking lot for that address on google maps, you can see a white building with the diagonal spaces next to it but the awning is gone.
DeleteClark Stumbling Back To Civilization And Finding His Family At A Mechanic Garage is at Kayenta, Az in front of what is now the Hampton Inn.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your help. You were spot on with the location. My site is now updated. Thanks again.
DeleteThe residence where they drop aunt Edna off in the rain was a home in Flagstaff, Az. I went to NAU with a fellow classmate that said they filmed it at his home where he grew up in northwest Flagstaff.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the help. My friend found the house today.
DeleteClark Being Pulled Over Because Of Dragging The Dog :
ReplyDeleteThis is somewhere in the vicinity of 1599 County Road 124 near Hesperus Colorado. This road leads into the La Plata Mountains which are north of the filming location. It's hard to pin down a spot because the photo you have of the cop as viewed from the back of the family truckster is facing north (car travelling south) and when the cop approaches the car, the car is facing north in a different location (farther south on the road) so that the mountains are always in the background.
Outstanding job!
ReplyDeleteI can take pictures of the Coronado Hotel, Cousin Eddie's house and the house in the background when the chick in the red car passes the family.
ReplyDeleteJust FYI, there is a newer Sonic Restaurant not to far on the same road.
ReplyDeleteThe Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park has been included in the absolute most noted motion pictures in Hollywood. Revolt Without a Cause, a 1955 film featuring James Dean, put this region on the guide. The observatory was additionally utilized. 'National Lampoon's Vacation'' star
ReplyDeleteFYI, they pass Buckingham Fountain in Chicago, just south (a block - Lake Shore Drive and Jackson) from the east end of Route 66. Santa Monica Boulevard and Ocean Avenue (where he buys the gun) is the west end of Route 66.
ReplyDeleteYou should see the sporting goods store location (where Clark gets the BB gun)at 4am . There are people with REAL guns around there, that love drugs !The Portofino Plaza is where the gas station used to be ! Unless you can afford $200 for a plate of seafood,don't attempt to eat at the only 2 restaurants in the plaza !
ReplyDeleteThe link for the story at Wally World no longer works... From the sounds of this page (which I love BTW) the parking lot was a horse racing track, and the park was magic mountain in California.
ReplyDeleteGreat Sand Dunes National Park near Pueblo CO should be shown just after Monument Valley. The dunes were where they shot Chevy collapsing in the heat and landing next to the skeleton.
ReplyDeleteWord has it the motel pool scene was actually filmed at Durango Downtown Inn (800 Camino del Rio). Not sure if that can be confirmed or not, but allegedly the pool was filled in some years ago.
ReplyDelete