Originally Posted By TikiDude Where should discussions about the Walt Disney Family Museum go? Should it be under Other Disney Destinations? So who's been there and who has an annual membership?
Originally Posted By retlawfan Other destinations works, I guess. I've been there, and have a membership. I think the WDFM is a must see for any Disney fan who wants to learn more about the man behind the empire we now know as the Disney Company. Very little is actually about Disneyland(although what is there is fabulous). It is a remarkable journey through his life. The ups and downs all make it into this wonderful presentation of his life story.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt There have been several topics about the museum that were started in the past under Disney History.
Originally Posted By nemopoppins I really like the museum. Of course the subject is a favorite of mine, but I think the museum is very well planned and presented. Even down to the bathrooms, there is quality and aesthetic apperance. I enjoyed their Halloween presentation of "scary" shorts and their Christmas presentation that included animated shorts and Walt's family's Christmas movies. I didn't get a membership because I thought it was too expensive, but I have been there four times now and would have actually saved with a membership.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Been there twice, don't have a membership. I second what retlawfan said. The displays are done in an innovative way, with lots of creative use of sound, multi media and special effects in addition to wonderful objects and artwork on display. They simply did everything right with this museum and I would think that even many non-Disney fans would find it engaging and interesting, too. Even if you know a lot about Walt Disney, I think you'd learn new things here about Walt the man, the Disney Company's history, animation & film production and more.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Even down to the bathrooms, there is quality and aesthetic apperance.<< Exactly. It is just pure class all the way.
Originally Posted By WestWind My family stopped there on the way to DL last month. I am glad we did - it was better than I expected. We were a little rushed as we were traveling through the area and had to get back on the road. I want to go back one day for a longer visit. I also liked the area - the Presidio of San Francisco. It is a good fit for the museum.
Originally Posted By Ursula I still think having three adults crack themselves silly while cranking the "cat's tail" sound effect is priceless.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I went last winter with my parents and we really enjoyed it. I don't think there was much there that was new information to me, but it was great to get to see a lot of artifacts in person. The one that really blew me away, and I wasn't expecting at all, was the globe from the opening of the True-Life Adventures. It's by no means a featured item, but it was really cool to get to see it. It was also really neat to get to see it with my parents, who were prime age for the original Mickey Mouse Club, and always grew up with Disney around. They don't follow things nearly as closely as I do, but they do enjoy Disney stuff. It was great getting to see their reactions as they remembered things that they saw on TV decades ago. I've watched a lot of the Walt Disney Treasures with my mom, and she really enjoyed getting to see that stuff again (she particularly liked the Hardy Boys and Annette). It's a great place with a lot of cool stuff. We did have some trouble getting a cab back at the end of the day (apparently at 4:30, no cabs want to go all the way back there) so we ended up on a Presidio employee shuttle bus, but it was a good experience overall. I'm kind of sad that I don't live in the Bay area, since the film events look like fun, but I'm not sure how many times I would visit the museum itself. It's well done, but there's just not that many things they will be able to add to it.
Originally Posted By Pollyana We also included the museum as part of our summer "tour". It was great! And I really enjoyed the presidio area and the San Francisco waterfront. We need to spend more time in that beautiful area. Coming from Arizona, it is alway nice to smell that sea air...sniff sniff...ahhhh
Originally Posted By TikiDude I have to agree that the Presidio is an excellent location for the museum. It also looks a lot bigger INSIDE than it suggests from the outside. It almost feels like a low-key Disneyland ride from beginning to end.
Originally Posted By retlawfan It's like the TARDIS. Small on the outside and BIG on the inside, and can do amazing things...
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Finally had a chance to see The Walt Disney Family Museum. Had some business in Sacramento, and decided to head over the next day. Went alone (wife and daughter were okay with that)... First of all -- what a fantastic day it was on Sunday. Clear blue sky. About 70 degrees. It doesn't get anymore beautiful. Those of you freezing your butooties off -- sorry. I've never been to the Presidio complex before. It's gigantic. With all the renovation that has been done over the past few years, it is gorgeous. Drove in to the city down Van Ness to Lombard Street, which took me right into the Presidio complex. Well marked. Parking $7 for all day. $20 admission is very reasonable. Staff and volunteers were excellent. Overall, it's very, very, very well done. For me personally, I've done quite a lot of reading and re-reading about Walt Disney and his life, so I did find myself breezing through 'the early years' -- his parents and great grand parents. Yeah, it's cool, but I'm not fascinated by it. In fact, as a kid, it was really Disneyland that captured me and drew me in. Still does, really. The animated and live action movies were always an off-shoot of my love for the park. The same was true at the museum. *SPOILER ALERT* Love that the narration portions are kept short -- maybe 60 seconds at the most. Keeps things active and moving, and the way his life stories were animated, with articulated puppets of his parents and himself. Very funny. Some other highlights -- - The elevator trip from the fist section of the museum to the upper level was VERY clever -- it is dressed like a train car and Walt is narrating his trip out West. - Noticed a copy of his bankruptcy form from 1927 for the Laugh-o-Gram studio that he founded. Some big numbers there in the line items. $2000 here. $500 there. $2000 is roughly $25,000 in today's money. That was some big failure Walt! - The optical printer -- it was on display, with a virtual Dick Van Dyke explaining it. Designed by Ub Iwerks in the late 50s / early 60s, it allowed for special effects shots with matte paintings etc... I know how it works and it's still mind blowing. Exhibit was excellent. Same with the Multi-Plane camera. - My favorite section was from the creation of Disneyland on -- so the giant model of 'Walt's Disneyland' was impressive, along with the various props and also the section about the New York World's Fair. That part of his career -- as he went from movie making to Disneyland, The Fair, and the planning for Walt Disney World and the EPCOT concepts -- are of most interest to me. Loved this section. - the final room -- bright white with all the images of Walt was nicely done. It's a great museum -- and a great place -- although there is something odd about having a Walt Disney Museum in San Francisco -- but that is easily overlooked. Highly recommended.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance Do you think that younger (6-10) year old kids would be bored there?
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Depends really - it is a museum. But, it is very interactive. And -- only a an hour or two visit
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think there's probably enough there that kids that age would be entertained, but they would need to dictate the pace you proceed through. When my family went, it took us about 4 hours to get through everything, and we felt like it was just about the right amount of time for all the information presented; I think the museum suggests that it will take most visitors about 1.5-2 hours With kids, I think you would spend some extra time in certain areas, and breeze through others. I certainly saw enough families with kids when I visited, and none of them seemed like they had a hard time keeping their interest. Overall, I think they would enjoy it, but you may feel like you skipped some stuff along the way
