Visiting The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco (2024)
Want to know all about visiting the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco? We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know!
Whether you’re a Disney theme park or movie lover or not, The Walt Disney Family Museum is a must-visit attraction in San Francisco!
This museum covers Walt’s early childhood, his animation years, his theme park ventures, his personal life, the end of his life, and his ongoing legacy.
There are lots of interactive exhibits, so it’s a great spot for people of all ages.
You can see our full experience at the museum in this video on our YouTube Channel!
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Visiting The Walt Disney Family Museum In San Francisco
The museum is located toward the back end of The Presidio.
We took the Big Bus tour that drops off just outside the Presidio and walked the rest of the way.
The reason we took this route is because we were able to bundle the cost of the Big Bus hop-on hop-off tour with the admission price to this museum, as well as a ton of other attractions we visited in San Francisco with the GoCity Pass.
I highly recommend looking into this option if you plan to visit at least one other attraction while you’re in San Francisco.
Click Here To Book Your San Francisco GoCity Pass Today!
You can also drive here and find nearby parking or take a rideshare to be dropped off.
The Presidio area is free, so you can access this area at any time.
It’s just the museum where you pay admission.
Walt Disney Family Museum Exhibits
The gallery as you enter the museum shows a lot of the awards Walt Disney achieved over his life time.
Then it leads into the exhibits that follow a chronological time line of his life.
At the end there is a small gift shop with some Disney merchandise.
It’s not quite like what you’d see at the Emporium in the parks, it’s more so books, movies, shirts, post cards, etc.
Walt Disney’s Legacy Exhibit
There are a couple standout areas of the entrance gallery.
If you don’t know anything about the history of Walt Disney or the company, here’s a little background about the 2 photos below.
The picture below is an Academy Award with 7 “little Oscars” attached.
This was an Honorary Award given to Walt Disney after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
It was given to him by Shirley Temple back in 1939.
There are over 20 Oscars on display at the museum.
Fun fact, Walt Disney won 32 Academy Awards (Oscars) and holds the record for most individual awards won!
When I was an intern at Disneyland I went on a tour of the Walt Disney Studios and got a photo holding one of his Oscars!
The photo below may look familiar if you’ve ever been to Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
Inside the fire station just inside the park entrance, Walt Disney had a small apartment that him and his family would stay in from time to time.
The lamp in the window would always be lit when Walt was there, so everyone would know.
Now, the lamp is lit all the time to show that Walt will always be there.
When I was an intern at Disneyland I also got to go on a tour of Walt’s Apartment!
Walt Disney’s Animation Years
This museum exhibits start with Walt’s early life and childhood, then goes on to his pursuit of animation.
His animation journey starts with his Alice Comedies, pictured below.
In those cartoons he mixed live action with animation, which was a big deal at the time.
From there we see the growth of his animation business, the creation and success of Mickey Mouse, and Disney’s contribution to war-time propaganda.
The movie poster below is a cartoon from that era called Der Fuehrer’s Face and the premise is that Donald Duck wakes up in Nazi Germany, experiences how awful it is, wakes up and realizes it was just a dream, and then is glad that he is in America.
It has a VERY catchy song, so I highly recommend looking it up on YouTube!
The View of Golden Gate Bridge
As the exhibits move away from his early and middle aged life to his later theme park years, there is a bridge overlooking the Bay where you get an amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
This view alone must make this piece of land worth millions of dollars.
Walt Disney’s Theme Park Years
My favorite part of the museum is the theme parks!
It’s a massive room with a model of Disneyland, lots of old pieces from the parks like an original Autopia car, an animatronic bird from The Tiki Room, and tons of other stuff.
This area also covers Walt’s original idea for EPCOT, which was intended to be an “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow”.
He never got to see his idea through, but a loose version of his idea was built after his death.
This photo below tells the story of how Disneyland came about.
It’s a pretty famous story, but if you hadn’t heard it before, here it is.
Walt Disney used to take his daughters out for daddy-daughter days and they loved to ride the carousel in the park.
While they were on the carousel, Walt would sit on this bench.
One day he thought, “if only there were a place where the parents and the kids can enjoy something together”.
At the time, amusement parks existed, but they had a reputation of being dirty, so his wife, was not a fan of this idea.
But Walt insisted his park would be clean and family friendly.
That’s how Disneyland was born and that is how the Disney theme parks continue to operate to this day.
The End of Walt Disney’s Life
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.
Walt Disney was only in his 60s when he died and it shocked the entire world.
This area of the museum is a tribute to the world’s mourning of his loss, showing how much of an impact he made for virtually every person on the planet.
I’ve always heard growing up that Mickey Mouse is the most recognizable character in the world, kind of like how McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are the most recognized brands.
Just think about when major celebrities pass away today.
It is all over social media, every news network is covering it, within a day or two there’s tribute specials, etc.
Even back in 1966, Walt Disney’s death had this much attention.
There was so much left unfinished and his brother and other business partners carried out some of these projects to the best of their abilities – which is how we got Disney World!
The Walt Disney Family Museum Gift Shop
After exploring all of the exhibits, definitely check out the gift shop.
I personally feel like they had the best collection of interesting Disney history books that covered all areas of the business and Walt’s life.
Limited Time Exhibits At The Walt Disney Family Museum
In addition to the regular museum exhibit, there is usually a special exhibit that you can pay an extra fee for.
When I visited back in 2016 I remember visiting the exhibition Wish Upon A Star: The Art Of Pinocchio.
Then, a few years later on a visit in December 2021, they had the exhibition The Walt Disney Studios and World War II.
The most recent exhibition we visited highlighted the making of The Jungle Book.
In 2023, there was an exhibition highlighting student art and the museum’s educational initiatives.
Currently there is an exhibit of Disney Cats and Dogs and 100th Anniversary Pop-Up Objects.
How Much Does It Cost To Go To The Walt Disney Family Museum?
General admission for adults 18-64 years old is $25.
For seniors, ages 65+, admission is $20.
Admission is also $20 for students with valid student IDs.
For children ages 6-17, admission is $15.
Additionally, children ages 5 and younger and military are all free.
With the military, admission is free for active, retired, and veteran military personnel, and their spouses and dependents with valid IDs.
Additionally, The Blue Star Museum program provides free admission to active duty military with a valid ID and up to 5 family members from Armed Forces Day through Labor Day each year.
When I worked for Disney, admission was free for cast members with a valid ID.
I’m not sure if that has changed at all, but you’ll be able to find it on The Hub.
Members also enjoy free admission and can bring one guest for free.
The price of additional guests depends on your level of membership.
Admission prices to add on special exhibitions will vary, so you’ll have to check their website before you go.
How To Bundle Your Admission With Other San Francisco Attractions
I mentioned this at the top of this post, but you can also use the GoCity San Francisco Pass to bundle your general admission here with all kinds of other attractions around San Francisco.
This generally saves you about 40%-50% off admission and tour prices.
We did this on a week long trip to San Francisco and it allowed us to do so many more things than we thought we’d get to do, all for one price.
You can choose to purchase the pass for a certain numbers of days or you can choose to purchase a pass that includes a set number of attractions.
It just depends on what makes most sense for you, but the link below will have all the details for you to browse around.
Click Here To Book Your GoCity San Francisco Pass Today!
How Long Does It Take To Go Through The Walt Disney Family Museum?
I have visited twice and I would plan for about 2 hours to see the museum.
This is averaged based off of my first visit with my grandparents and my second visit when it was just my husband and I.
If you like to read everything, watch every video in full, and play with every interactive exhibit, then you’re looking at more of a 3-4+ hour visit.
If you’re adding on a special exhibition, plan to add another 30-60 minutes.
You’ll also want to factor in the time it takes to get to this part of The Presidio because it’s way in the back, plus the time to get back out to head to your next destination.
Why Is The Walt Disney Family Museum In San Francisco?
The Walt Disney Family Museum has been in this current location since November 2012, which was formally an Army Barracks building and began as the Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall.
In March 2014, it was dedicated and renamed in honor of Diane Disney Miller who is Walt Disney’s daughter who had passed away in 2013.
Since Diane and her husband lived in the San Francisco, that’s how the location of this museum came about.
Diane had co-founded this museum with her son, so it was just a convenient location for them.
Where to Stay in San Francisco
If you’re from outside the Bay Area and can’t just make a day trip to the area, we recommend staying at Club Quarters San Francisco.
You can see our full review of our week-long stay.
Check out our tour of the standard King Room in this video on our YouTube Channel!
Click Here To Book Your Stay At Club Quarters San Francisco Today!
More Fun Things To Do In And Around San Francisco
San Francisco has dozens of iconic attractions that can keep you busy for days and there are some world class destinations within an hours drive.
Here are some of our favorite things to do in and around San Francisco.
✔ The Famous Alcatraz Island Night Tour
There are a ton of boat tours that will take you close to Alcatraz, but the best tour is the iconic night time tour.
The sun will set as you’re heading out there and it’ll be pitch black by the time you’re roaming around this infamous prison.
✔ Muir Woods National Monument Easy Half Day Hiking Itinerary
Muir Woods National Monument is just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge.
It has a short walking loop for those that aren’t as into hiking, but it also has many branches from this main loop to extend your hike a little longer.
✔ The Complete San Francisco Food and Drink Guide
San Francisco has the best seafood, Chinese food, Italian food, and more.
We tried dozens of places so you don’t have to!
These are the best places to go for food around San Francisco.
✔ The Best San Francisco Attractions To Visit
I know I listed a few places above, but if you want a comprehensive list of all the best places to visit in San Francisco, then you’ll want to check out this post.
We vacationed here for over a week during this stay at Club Quarters San Francisco and got to see and do a ton of things!
✔ Napa Valley Wine Tasting Day Trip
Taking a day trip up to Napa can be so fun.
There are a lot of really cool wineries up here that transport you to an entirely different place like European castles!
✔ Napa v Sonoma: Which Is Better To Visit?
It all comes down to personal preferences with budget, tastes, interests, and more.
✔ The Best Things To Do In Calistoga
Calistoga is a small town in Northern California’s wine country and it doesn’t quite get the same attention as Napa and Sonoma, but it’s still just as good of a place to visit.
Their historic downtown is a great area for dining and wine tasting.
✔ California’s Great America Theme Park
There’s a theme park down in Santa Clara that’s less than an hour from San Francisco that is part of the Cedar Fair company (think theme parks like Knott’s Berry Farm and King’s Island and Cedar Point).
This place is so fun and has some historic as well as newer, high tech attractions.
Conclusion: Visiting The Walt Disney Family Museum In San Francisco
Visiting the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco is such a cool experience for avid Disney fans whether you’re more into the movies, the theme parks, or just curious about the man behind the magic.
It’s in a beautiful location and is an absolute must in San Francisco!
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