- Monday, November 21, 2016 9:49 AM
- DisneyDan
Hello everyone,
Last month we travelled to San Francisco where we visited the Walt Disney Family Museum for the first time. I had been wanting to visit The Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM for easiness sake from hereon in) for the longest time, but as life goes, something always comes up.
The WDFM is located on the Presidio area of San Francisco, near the Golden Gate Bridge. Approaching the museum, there are some good views towards the Golden Gate Bridge; it makes for a very pretty location.
The museum is housed in an unusual building. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but it certainly is not what one expects.
Entering into the main lobby area, you come to the ticketing desk. We purchased our tickets on the day of our visit because d23 actually has an agreement with the WDFM to offer discounts to d23 members, when you buy tickets at the museum itself. It should be noted that the WDFM and the Walt Disney Company are not related in any way, and so it's quite nice that they have some sort of agreement with each other.
Also on the main floor is a cafe and a gift shop. The toilets are located on a lower level. The gift shop had some pretty neat stuff, including items specifically for the museum, and some retro items that hark back to the early days of the Disney company. I took a lot of photos of everything in the store, but there was so much it would be impossible to share it all here, so I have just included a selection below. Inside the store is also one of the famous multiplane cameras, which revolutionised animation.
Once you have purchased your tickets, you proceed behind the ticketing desk to an open space that features cabinets full of Walt Disney's awards, trophies, honours and other neat artifacts. There is even a setup of Walt's apartment from Disneyland. According to the sign, the furniture is original, too, which is really cool.
From here you show your tickets at a doorway that then leads into the main part of the museum. The first room you come to covers a little about Walt's family's lives, and has some remarkable pieces, including his father's violin. It amazes me that they still have these items after so many years. Here you also learn about Walt's war years.
Exiting that room, you find yourself in a transitional space that has an elevator. The elevator has a train theme to it, inside and out. Going up in the elevator you hear Walt explain his journey from the East Coast to the West Coast. The doors of the "train" open, and voila! You are in "Hollywood!" It's really quite amazing, and actually quite moving, how they present that part of the story, especially using Walt's own voice.
From here you make your way through the museum in a very organised, very logical order. The setup and design is really exceptionally thought out and executed. There are many unique and original items throughout the displays, which are incredible to see in person. There are lots of original pieces of artwork, sketches and merchandise from the early years. In the photos below, just some of the things you will see includes; Walt's skis; Walt's original Carrollwood Railway; one of the original benches from Griffith Park; the globe from the True Life Adventures series; original concept pieces for Disneyland; the program from the premier of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; a view of the multiplane camera from the top; and Walt's spectacles and camera. There is much, much more, too, and I couldn't possibly include photos of it all, unfortunately.
At one point, there is a pretty good view out of a window towards the Golden Gate Bridge.
Towards the end of the experience, you come to really what is one of the highlights - the model of Disneyland. This model was designed specifically for the museum - just for the staircase space that it sits in! The model depicts Walt's own vision of Disneyland up until he died. So, therefore it does include things that he had a hand in, even if he never saw their completion. It's a breathtaking display, with so many fun details. I took so many photos of it, and still feel I couldn't really capture it all accurately.
For me personally, besides the model of Disneyland, one of the most fascinating pieces in the entire museum was a book. In fact, it wasn't even written by Walt, but by a man named Herman Schultheis. Mr Schultheis was a technician in the camera effects department, who worked on films such as Pinocchio and Fantasia, amongst others. During his time at the studios, Mr Schultheis kept this notebook, which is a ridiculously meticulous diary of life at the studios. This man, a technician in the 1930s, had the foresight to take photos and keep a vivd log of daily happenings at the studios, and to preserve the memories in a way that can only be described really as revolutionary. Today we use social media to document our lives, and in a way, this is what this book is - it's the social media account of a man who wanted to capture the spirit and memories of the studios' daily life. It's nothing short of mindblowingly genius. Since the book is so precious, you can only actually see two pages, but being the ever smart setup here at the WDFM, they had an interactive screen where you could "turn the pages" of the book, and discover much of its contents.
Of course, sadly Walt died at the relatively young age of 65, and that doesn't go un-noted. The final room in the main exhibit is an open white space, with a few artifacts and images on the walls that pay a final tribute to Walt, in a respectful way. Without being depressing, it ends this wondrous journey you just went through in the rest of the museum, and brings home the poignancy of his passing, and the effect of his legacy on the world.
During our visit, the WDFM was hosting a special exhibit on Pinocchio. This was an extra ticketed exhibit, that was actually housed in a separate building behind the main museum. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos in there, but I do have some of the entrance and lobby area.
If you are in San Francisco, I highly recommend the WDFM. It is a beautiful tribute to Walt Disney. It is informative, educational, and not at all boring like so many museums can be! You should set aside at least three hours for your visit.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan.