A trip to Walt's Happy Place - Marceline, Missouri September 2012

[benji2012]

This was so interesting! Thanks for sharing!

 

[SleepyMom]

That's awesome SleepyMom! I hope it works out and you and DD have lots of fun

We are visiting San Francisco this July. We haven't made up our minds on whether or not we'll visit the Walt Disney Family museum. We have a limited amount of time and there is so much to see and do in the Bay Area. How did you like the family museum?

Thanks for the tip about the sharpie, I will remember that!

Before going to the museum in SF, someone who worked at our hotel told me she loved going there and could spend days and not see everything. That made me a little worried since I only had 1 day for the museum. Right after I got there (FYI they are closed on Tuesdays) I was told they now allow non-flash photography, I was so happy and very glad I had brought my camera along.

I was done touring the museum in just a couple of hours, but I admit I did not read every single thing. I would say for a regular Disney parks fan it is probably not worth it. It is more for fans of Walt himself and the history of the parks. I enjoyed it very much, but one visit is probably enough for me... although, if I were in the area again and had someone who loves Disney (like DD maybe) I would go again.

 

[MarbleBob]

Thanks for the tip about the sharpie, I will remember that!

Before going to the museum in SF, someone who worked at our hotel told me she loved going there and could spend days and not see everything. That made me a little worried since I only had 1 day for the museum. Right after I got there (FYI they are closed on Tuesdays) I was told they now allow non-flash photography, I was so happy and very glad I had brought my camera along.

I was done touring the museum in just a couple of hours, but I admit I did not read every single thing. I would say for a regular Disney parks fan it is probably not worth it. It is more for fans of Walt himself and the history of the parks. I enjoyed it very much, but one visit is probably enough for me... although, if I were in the area again and had someone who loves Disney (like DD maybe) I would go again.

Cool. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the museum. If it was just DW and me, it would be an absolute 100% no brainer for us to see it!! My concern is that the kids 13,10,6 would get bored fairly quickly and we'd wouldn't have enough time make it worthwhile (since the price of admission isn't trivial). Especially, as we'll be spending 4 or 5 days in Disneyland a few days later

 

[gardengirl2790]

Thank you for sharing this trip report with all of us! It is so great that the town and residents keep Walt's memory alive, and are willing to share that with visitors - especially his tree and barn.

We were able to go to the Disney Family Museum last summer, and would love to visit Marceline someday. We just live a little bit out of the way, in Oregon .

 

[Redheadmom]

We also were there in May. Went during the week. The lady that gave us the tour at the museum was very friendly. Her husband was in some of the pictures at the museum and Walt and Roy stayed in there house years ago. Her daughter now lives in Walt's childhood home and runs the museum. She had such personal stories of Walt and was willing to share them with us. Being huge Disney fans, it was wonderful to talk with someone that knew him personally. Wonderful place to visit.

 

[MarbleBob]

We also were there in May. Went during the week. The lady that gave us the tour at the museum was very friendly. Her husband was in some of the pictures at the museum and Walt and Roy stayed in there house years ago. Her daughter now lives in Walt's childhood home and runs the museum. She had such personal stories of Walt and was willing to share them with us. Being huge Disney fans, it was wonderful to talk with someone that knew him personally. Wonderful place to visit.

That's awesome Redheadmom. They weren't giving tours the day that we visited the museum. It sounds like a tour would have made it even more interesting!!!

 

[Narnia_girl]

This is awesome! Thanks for writing it up. I just did a map search and I live only 2 hours away.

 

[medicjch]

Nice report. I did a really quick stop in Marceline last year but the Museum wasn't open yet. I'm only a couple of hours away so I really should try to get up there again, and your report reminded me that I need to make the time. On a side note......You gotta have a slice (or 3 or 4) of Shakespeare's when you travel through Columbia..........I'm pretty sure it is a rule!

 

[MarbleBob]

On a side note......You gotta have a slice (or 3 or 4) of Shakespeare's when you travel through Columbia..........I'm pretty sure it is a rule!

No doubt! Shakespeare's Pizza is worthy of a couple hour road trip all by itself

 

[LeahZ]

Thanks for the great write-up! We're planning to take a day trip there in a couple weeks as a fun surprise for the kids. We live in Carthage IL (3 hrs N of STL), so we're only about 2 1/2 hours from Marceline. We've wanted to go for a long time, but have never taken the time to do it. Our oldest son has spent the summer reading Walt biographies, so it looks like this is the summer to do it!

 

[MarbleBob]

Thanks for the great write-up! We're planning to take a day trip there in a couple weeks as a fun surprise for the kids. We live in Carthage IL (3 hrs N of STL), so we're only about 2 1/2 hours from Marceline. We've wanted to go for a long time, but have never taken the time to do it. Our oldest son has spent the summer reading Walt biographies, so it looks like this is the summer to do it!

Awesome! Marceline was a lot of fun and I'm sure your oldest will enjoy it. We are going to visit the Walt Disney Family museum in SF in a couple weeks, and then, as luck would have it, we'll be passing by Griffith Park on our way to Disneyland on a Sunday when Walt's Barn is open to the public. It'll be fun to compare notes between museums and barns