My Day at the Walt Disney Family Museum

Introduction

I am very lucky to have a job that requires me to travel to destinations all around the world. I have not been able to keep up with blogging as much as I would like but this summer I have been to the Netherlands and San Francisco. Before the year is over, I will also be traveling to London, Tokyo, and Las Vegas. On my recent trip to San Francisco, I made it a point to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum. I went straight from the airport to the museum, I didn't even go check into my hotel first!

As I drove my little VW rental car through the streets of San Francisco, I got very excited when I began to see signs for the museum!!



I found the museum pretty easily using the MapQuest free iPhone app (I have to give a shout out here because I travel so much and I would NOT be able to drive in strange cities without it!!). The museum is located in San Francisco's beautiful Presidio. It is very close to the bay and there is a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of that view because photography is not allowed inside the museum. However, it is allowed outside and in the lobby!



I squealed with delight walking up to the museum - even though it was only 55 degrees! Brrr!



I asked some nice ladies to take a picture of me, this one's a keeper!



A close up of the signage...



I walked up to the counter and purchased my ticket for the very reasonable price of $20. Since I visit San Francisco a lot (my company's headquarters is there), I am considering becoming a member! Membership to the Walt Disney Family Museum is tax deductible and I love my tax deductions! If only my WDW Annual Pass were tax deductible...

The Lobby

I love this cardboard cutout of Walt and Lillian!



I had to get a self photo...



I started snapping all the photos I could since I couldn't take anymore once I entered the museum. Please enjoy these photos of the entire lobby!
















Hand drawings of Walt Disney's daughters




I thought this was cool, it's written Sword in the Stone style!

Uncle Walt's Disneyland Apartment

I saved the two best for last. First, please enjoy the original furniture from Walt's apartment on Main Street USA in Disneyland!!

Walt's Special Oscar

The best part of the lobby was definitely the Oscar case. The best part of the Oscar case was seeing Walt's Special Oscar that he received for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This is the same Oscar that was presented to Walt by a very young Shirley Temple.




In case you don't remember the presentation of this award, here is a short clip!

I still cannot believe I was standing right in front of this very special Oscar. I definitely stood there staring at it for a few minutes drinking all of it in. I thought about Walt's achievement and how different animation would be today without Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This was just the beginning, folks! I had 3 floors in the museum to reflect on Walt and his achievements!

Into the Museum

Here's what the map looks like...3 floors of Disney Family history! Yes, please!



So as you know, after I entered the museum I could not take any pictures. Bummer. I will try my best to explain what I saw and how I felt.

The Lower Level

I arrived around 11AM and the museum closed around 6PM. I stayed there all day :) You actually enter on the 1st floor. There is a lower level but I did not get to go there due to time constraints. Yeah, that's right 7 hours in this place is not enough! The lower level includes a theater where they screen different movies. On that particular day, they were screening Fantasia. They also show special movies on the weekends that follow a theme. The theme for August 2012 was Movies Starring the Golden Gate Bridge.

The lower level also includes 2 studios where they hold programs and lectures. They have an open studio during the first weekend of every month where you can experiment with your artistic abilities. For more information, visit http://www.waltdisney.org/education-programs.

The First Floor

The first rooms that you enter are all about Walt's childhood. There are family photos on the walls and videos playing for those who are too lazy to read the plaques in front of the exhibits :)  I really spent a lot of time in here reading about every piece of history. I have read a lot of books on Walt Disney but this felt way more in depth than anything else I had ever read. There were more stories about his family, not just him. I really liked reading and seeing where Walt Disney came from. He was from a very simple family and it amazes me the empire that he built coming from nothing. His story inspires me everyday! Whenever I feel down about where I am in life, I always think that I can do anything I want as long as I put my mind to it.

The Second Floor

After the first few rooms, you take an elevator up to the second floor (you end up going back down to the first floor later). The second floor is all about Walt's career. It begins with the early days where he struggled to make ends meet and even went through a bankruptcy. I love his quote about having a good hard failure when you're young. I think the real failure in life is not trying in the first place. As long as you learn from failure, it wasn't really a failure was it? I like to think of it as "life experience" instead.

I really enjoyed walking through all of Walt's achievements in animation. There was an entire room on the birth of Mickey Mouse. I'm not sure if you can tell but I LOVE MICKEY MOUSE! I totally teared up in this room surrounded by Mickey's. I loved hearing a recording from Lillian about the name change from Mortimer to Mickey.

The next few rooms went through all of the early successes - Silly Symphonies, Snow White, Bambi, Pinocchio, Fantasia, etc. When I heard When You Wish Upon a Star I had to excuse myself and go to the ladies room to gather my composure. That song always makes me cry but it had a special significance in the museum.

After that there were exhibits on the movies that Walt made. I thought this focused heavily on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the True Life Adventures. Then you walk down a nice long hallway to prepare for the final room which is, of course, spectacular. I was so bummed I couldn't take a picture in the hallway though because the outer wall is all glass and provides a truly spectacular view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge! I really wish I had a photo of the view, it really was one of the most spectacular things I have seen in my  life.

The Spiral Room

Next there was something I like to call the "spiral room". It began on the 2nd floor but you wind your way down a path and finish on the 1st floor. In the middle of the spiral is a huge giant model of Disneyland. You know the model of Tokyo DisneySea in Walt Disney: One Man's Dream at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World? It's about 3x the size of that. Yeah, HUGE! I teared up big time in this room.

As you walk down the spiral, you read and hear about the events that led Walt to the creation of Disneyland. Being a Walt Disney World history buff, I really didn't know that much about Disneyland. I probably learned the most in this room. I have never been to Disneyland but I am in San Francisco pretty often. I should just hop a plane to LAX while I'm there! Hmm...planning...

At the bottom of the spiral room, you see Walt's final projects including Walt Disney World and especially EPCOT. I watched the clip of him with the Sherman Brothers 4-5 times because in November I am going to MEET RICHARD SHERMAN! Yes, friends my husband and I are so lucky that we get to go on the WDW Radio Cruise 2.0. We are so excited, neither of us have been on a cruise before!

Anyway, I digress. I spent a lot of time in the spiral room, it was definitely my favorite. It was full of great inspiration for me to take back to my job!

The Final Room

Here it is, folks. The final room. As I entered the room, I knew it was all about his death from what I had read from other blogs. I got out my tissues immediately. There was a radio recording announcing his death and other than that it was silent. There were newspaper clippings, company memos, letters, etc. from people mourning the sudden loss of Walt Disney. What gets me every time is the hand drawing of all the characters crying. I can't stand to see (or think about apparently) Mickey Mouse crying.

After the walk-o-tears, you finish in what I like to call the "comfort room". It consisted of happy memories from Walt's life playing on screens all around you. There's a pretty nice bench to sit on in there too. I sat and reflected a bit before I left for good.

Wrap Up

I was very happy with my first visit to the Walt Disney Family Museum! Even though I was there for 7 hours, I felt very rushed and definitely did not get to see everything. In true Disney fashion, after you exit the final room, you are dumped into a gift shop! My friends were not surprised that I bought a tote bag. I love tote bags, purses, handbags, you name it!



For more information about the Walt Disney Family Museum, visit http://www.waltdisney.org.

Have a magical day!