Going to the WD Family Museum in San Fran!

[CDolacki2003]

So I am heading to San Fran in September for a work conference. I am planning on going to the Walt Disney Family museum. For those that have been there been there do you recommend getting tickets ahead of time? Do you have to pay to get into the Golden Gate park to attend the museum?
I am really excited, San Fran is on my bucket list and the WD Museum is the icing on the cake

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

There's no need to get tickets ahead of time. If you have AAA or another discount, you have to buy them in person anyway.

The museum isn't at Golden Gate Park, it's actually at The Presidio. No admission there.

Have a great time...and make sure you give yourself several hours at the Museum.

 

[oc_tony]

As Tom said, give yourself plenty of time (we did 4 hours + shopping in the museum store). There's even a little cafe in the museum if you stay long enough to need food or drink. We loved our visit there a couple of years ago.

 

[Disney Enabler]

September is one of the best months to come to San Francisco. The Museum is a great place to visit. My husband is there at least once a month for various events. If you have any specific questions please feel free to PM me. We also grew up in the City so we might be able to answer other questions for you.

Enjoy your trip and don't work to hard.

Carol
It's a great day to be alive!!!

 

[wdwscout]

We visited last spring (May 2010) and easily spent the whole day there!

It was a terrific day. DH and I are the kind of museum visitors who take the time to read all the little plaques and see as much as possible. there is so much in the way of interactive displays as well- and those take time too.
We took a break midway and had a very enjoyable lunch in the cafe.
Then we headed back up to where we left off.

We were meeting my cousin for dinner, so we had to leave. We could have easily spent another hour or more in there. We never even made it to the basement where the theater is. They even had a special Mary Blair art exhibit down there that month which we were excited to see- and we ran out of time.
But we did take the time to do a little shopping in their shop.

We arrived at opening and could have closed the day out as well.
I hope to get back there sometime soon.

Enjoy your visit.

 

[emilymad]

I will be in San Francisco is September as well and plan on going to the Walt Disney Family Museum. I am so excited! DH not so much...

How much is the AAA discount? We will probably be there on a Saturday so maybe it is worth it to buy tickets in advance?

 

[DSNY4ever]

Just FYI, like the others said it's not technically in Golden Gate Park, but if you do go to Golden Gate Park it is free to enter and drive around or walk. Just a giant beautiful park with lots of bike/walking paths. Some of the stuff you'll see inside costs money such as the Japanese Tea Garden, the De Young museum, the Academy of Sciences (awesome by the way). The botanical gardens are pretty and the conservatory building and the windmill etc.

Have fun, SF is such a beautiful city.

 

[Disney Enabler]

http://www.ocregister.com/news/disney-308389-miller-walt.html

Here is a link of an article of an interview of Diane Disney Miller about the Museum.

I hope it gives you some insight that gets you excited about your visit.

Carol
It's a great day to be alive!!!

 

[dmwang9]

I'm writing this from my office, which is about 200 yards from the Disney Family Museum. In other words, I work on the Presidio, and I'm playing hooky from my To Do List right now.

As for touring the museum, I like doing it in two passes. The first time, walk through all the galleries (there at 10 of them) at a slow pace, drinking it all in but not letting yourself get sucked into any one particular item or exhibit. If you see something really cool, mark it on your map so that you know where it is. Depending on your definition of "slow pace", this should take 1 - 2 hours. Then give yourself a break -- eat in the museum cafe or in one of the other walking-distance places on the Presidio, or scout out the gift shop. Then once you're rested, go back into the museum and focus on the things that you marked on your first time through.

The reason why I like doing museums in multiple passesis that if I only do one pass, I often spend too much time in the earlier parts and wind up too tired by the end, and then I wind up skipping some cool stuff in the latter half. Maybe this is just me -- YMMV.

Enjoy your trip, and if you get a chance, please don't hesitate to post a trip report with your thoughts!

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

The don't use "entry times" anymore.

When the museum first opened, your ticket was for a certain day and time. Interest has leveled out, so they dont have to do that anymore.

 

[PinkBudgie]

We just went for the first time this past Monday! All this time I've been meaning to get down there but never made it until now. It was a full day of SF for us.

My two DSs18 and my dad have their birthday on the same day. To celebrate "the birthday boys" wanted to take a Segway Tour through GG park. They meet behind the opera shell. They give you about a 30 min lesson on how to ride, then went off for a 2 hour ride. At the end they got a pin and certificate. They had a great time.

While the boys did that, my mom and I went over to the Academy of Science which is right there too. We only had from 9:30 to noon but felt we were able to cover most of it. We had a good time. Loved the aquarium and the rainforest. I was disappointed that they had no live insects though. Before they moved to that building they used to have an amazing, huge ant hill. Oh well. I did buy a cute stuffed cockatoo I named Snowball.

After that we drove to the WDFM and ate lunch there. Several of us had the tortilla soup and it was really good.

We spent about 3 hours in the musuem. The rest of my group enjoys Disney and Musuems but are not complete Disney nuts like me. So, while I couldn't examine each and everything, I felt like I got a good go through. I did spend a long time at the miniature DL though.

And we saw Diane Disney Miller there. She was talking to some men for a long time and often mentioned "Dad". I wondered if that was her, but I haven't paid too much attention to what she looks like so I wan't completely sure. Later in the gift shop I found a magazine article about her and yep, it was her! I had tried to listen in on their conversation, but couldn't catch much.

The "no cameras allowed" rule just about killed me. I wanted to take so many pictures! The gift shop I was a little rushed in and I could have spent longer. But I got two E-Ticket magazines and WDFM pin.

We stopped at In and Out in Petaluma for dinner. All and all a good day.

Oh, FYI, entering the Presidio is free but you have to pay to park there. (Not a surprise for SF) At GG Park, we arrived early and got a free 4 hour spot along the road. There is a parking garage there too but it is very expensive.

 

[dmwang9]

The don't use "entry times" anymore.

When the museum first opened, your ticket was for a certain day and time. Interest has leveled out, so they dont have to do that anymore.

Yikes, thanks for pointing that out. I just removed that part of my posting. (And that goes to show how long it's been since I've been there. :-S)

 

[CDolacki2003]

Thanks everyone for the replys and information. I cannot wait to go. San Fran has always been on my bucket list and the WD museum is like the cherry on top of a Gheradelli icecream sundae.
Again thanks so much.

 

[Miss SD]

I will be in San Francisco is September as well and plan on going to the Walt Disney Family Museum. I am so excited! DH not so much...

How much is the AAA discount? We will probably be there on a Saturday so maybe it is worth it to buy tickets in advance?

The AAA discount is $5, I think. I volunteer at the museum and don't think you'd need to buy tickets in advance, especially if you get there early.

 

[emilymad]

The AAA discount is $5, I think. I volunteer at the museum and don't think you'd need to buy tickets in advance, especially if you get there early.

We probably won't be getting there until 12:30 or so. Will it be crowded then?

 

[Miss SD]

We probably won't be getting there until 12:30 or so. Will it be crowded then?

I don't think it will be especially crowded at 12:30 p.m. It depends on what's happening at the museum. If you're going Sept. 17, for instance, it might feel busy because Walt Disney's grandchildren will be speaking about their memories of Walt later that day. (Program is sold out.) The people attending the program might visit the museum beforehand. (I know my family usually does.) Still, if you're coming Sept. 17, I wouldn't let that discourage you.

If the museum is busy, you usually only really feel it in the first two galleries. Once you move upstairs, the floor plan opens up a little and people go at their own pace. There's a lot of reading involved; some visitors read every little thing, others don't.

 

[emilymad]

Thanks! We are coming on Sept 10th so hopefully we will be ok. We will be going to the museum either way!

 

[heatherwillmom]

I would love to go to the Disney family museum! We have never been to Disneyland although we go to WDW frequently. I plan on sometime taking a trip to California to go to Disneyland & California Adventure. I thought we could take some time & make it to the museum as well. It would be nice if there was a train between the two

 

[CDolacki2003]

Thanks! We are coming on Sept 10th so hopefully we will be ok. We will be going to the museum either way!

We will be there then too. Are you planning on attending the Chinatown Moon Festival or the Gheridelli Chocolate Festival? Both are going on then.

 

[emilymad]

We will be there then too. Are you planning on attending the Chinatown Moon Festival or the Gheridelli Chocolate Festival? Both are going on then.

I had no idea that either one of these was going on. Thanks for letting me know! We are flying out the next morning for Hawaii so I am not sure we will have time. I am going to look them up though. Gheridelli sounds right up my alley!