Who hasn’t heard of Walt Disney? Who doesn’t love his masterpieces? Who doesn’t have at least one childhood memory connected to his cartoons and his soundtracks? If you are in California, you should visit Disneyland in Anaheim, the first Disney theme park… but that’s not all! If you want to know a little bit more about this man’s history, his failures, his successes and really understand the creative and visionary genius he was, then you must go to the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, an interactive museum where drawings, prototypes, machinery, films intertwine with writings, memories, and the imagination.
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Why is the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco?
Diane, the daughter of Walter Elias Disney, and her husband Ron Miller moved to San Francisco in the eighties and together they came up with the idea of building the museum. Diane wanted to pay tribute to her father, but because a book didn’t seem enough, she created the Walt Disney Foundation with her family in 1995. In 2001, she rented a warehouse in the former San Francisco Presidio to create a small gallery. She soon realized that she needed a much larger space, so she transformed some buildings on Montgomery Street – also within the Presidio, which has since become part of the protected parks and city areas – into a museum with a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The museum opened to the public on October 1, 2013.
Walt Disney Family Museum Exhibitions
The museum has 10 galleries with permanent exhibits and numerous temporary exhibits. The lower floor of the main building, the Theater Gallery and the Lower Lobby Gallery, for example, host special rotating exhibits that are generally included in the admission ticket. The Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall, on the other hand, hosts exhibitions that stay longer, and usually there is an extra fee charged in order to visit them.
The museum’s 10 galleries tell the life of Walt Disney in chronological order. Let’s take a closer look:
- Gallery 1: Early Beginnings 1901-1923 illustrates the first decades of the artist’s life, his high school drawings, the launch of his first animation studio when he was only 20 years old, and his bankruptcy after only 18 months. Finally, the gallery also recounts the launch of the “Laugh-O-Grams” series of short films.
- Gallery 2: The Move to Hollywood 1923-1928 shows the creation of Alice in Wonderland, Walt and his brother’s move to Hollywood, Walt’s wedding, and the birth of Mickey Mouse, the little mouse that would make Walt’s fortune.
- Gallery 3: Exploring New Horizons 1928-1940 recounts the artist’s visionary experiments and his first revolutionary animated projects.
- Gallery 4: The Transition into Features 1936-1938 is a must-see museum section for fans of Snow White.
- Gallery 5: New Success and Greater Ambitions 1939-1940 is a collection dedicated to Bambi, Fantasia and the wonderful Pinocchio.
- Gallery 6: Patriotic Contributions 1941-1945 illustrates the creation of Dumbo, some details about Saludos Amigos, as well as the difficult years during World War II after Pearl Harbor.
- Gallery 7: Postwar Rebuilding 1946-1950 witnesses the artistic rebirth after the war and the launch of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.
- Gallery 8: Walt & The Natural World 1948-1960 shows Walt Disney’s relationship with nature in the documentary series True Life Adventures. Here you will also find the famous Griffith Park bench where Disney sat and, as he watched his children play, he began to imagine a playground for adults and children. This is how the idea of Disneyland was born.
- Gallery 9: Disneyland & Beyond 1950-1965 shows how Disneyland becomes reality in an “experimental prototype of tomorrow’s society”.
- Gallery 10: Remembering Walt Disney 1966 finally celebrates the important contributions of this creative genius and his legacy to future generations.
Location and Directions
The Walt Disney Family Museum is located at 104 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. The building is inside the Presidio, a large park that is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (once a military area) due to its historical and naturalistic value. When looking for the street, you need to pay attention because in San Francisco there are two Montgomery Streets, one that crosses the San Francisco Presidio and one in the Financial District. I suggest you enter the zip code 94129 on your GPS so you are sure you are going to the right place.
Getting there by car
As we specified in our article on how to get around in San Francisco, driving is not the best way to get around the city. However, if you have decided to use a car anyway, keep in mind that the museum is located at 104 Montgomery St and there are several paid parking lots around the museum.
On the museum website, they recommend parking at the Main Post Parking Lot, the Taylor Road Parking Lot, or on Montgomery St. The cost of parking ranges between $2 – $2.50 per hour up to a maximum of $10 – $11. On Montgomery Street, you can leave your car for a maximum of 3 hours. After 6:00 pm parking is free.
Finally, we will soon publish a guide on how to rent a car in San Francisco.
Getting there by bus
Here is some information about taking public transportation to get to the museum:
- Use the PresidiGo Shuttle linking Downtown with the Presidio: The Presidio Transit Center is where you need to get off. The museum is just a few minutes walk away. The service is free and is active from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm and after 7:30 pm. At other times of day, a MUNI Passport is required (we talked about it here).
- Or you can use the Golden Gate Transit. The buses to take to go to the museum are 4, 10, 24, 54, 70, 72, 76, 101, and 101x. You need to get off at the corner of Richardson Avenue and Francisco Street and from here you will walk for about 15 minutes to reach the museum.
Walt Disney Family Museum Tickets and Hours
The museum is included in some San Francisco passes. Check out our guide!
Where to Stay in the Area
As I already mentioned, the museum is located within the Presidio, so the closest neighborhoods are Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, and the Marina District. If you want to have a more complete overview of all the recommended neighborhoods where to find accommodations in the city, I suggest you click on the link below to read our in-depth guide.