Walt Disney Museum Makes its Debut

The Presidio just keeps getting better and better. Yesterday, what is destined to become a star attraction opened: the Walt Disney Family Museum.
Diane Disney Miller and Walter E.D. Miller, daughter and grandson of the creator of Mickey Mouse, Disneyland and dozens of beloved movies, cartoons and TV shows, designed a place where they and the public can celebrate the life, the work and, most of all, the inventiveness of Walt Disney, the man -- not the big corporation he founded.
It's located in one of those handsome red-brick barracks buildings that line the Presidio's old parade ground. Inside, there's no doubt where the $110 million that the Walt Disney Family Foundation spent went: everything in the building was renovated with high quality materials, and the result is stunning, including one gallery with floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
The museum is expected to draw 450,000 visitors a year, 80% of them 45- to 65-year olds, said Richard Benefield, museum director. It's a "walk down memory lane" for baby boomers who grew up with Disney.
The museum does not disappoint. Those who love Disney will spend hours here and even those with just mild enthusiasm for his creations will enjoy it. Anyone interested in animation and movie-making will visit again and again.
For one, it's a terrific history lesson in Americana. The ten galleries trace Disney's life from his childhood in the Midwest, the move to California, the struggles in building his business and, most of all, the creativeness in designing his enchanting characters, the first animated movies and, finally, Disneyland.
There are scores of interactive exhibits, display cases of fascinating memorabilia and large video screens playing snippets of movies and interviews with the main himself. Even some of the controversies are addressed: you can listen to Disney's testimony before the House Un-American Committee where he stated that he thought the studio strike that shut down his studio for several weeks was the work of Communists.
One of the final galleries contains a model of Disneyland as Disney envisioned it (left). There's also a large gift shop with merchandise unique to this museum (which is operated separately from Walt Disney Co.), a small cafe and a theater that shows Disney movies three times a day (separate admission charge).
Tickets are $20, with discounts for seniors, students and children. They are sold online at www.waltdisney.org using a timed-entry system allowing 60 visitors to enter every 50 minutes. Local residents may enjoy museum membership that allows unlimited visits per year.

A Museum Named Railway

I stumbled onto the San Francisco Railway Museum the other day for the first time. It's only a half a block from the bustling Ferry Building but, possibly because it's tucked away in a little alley, it doesn't seem to get even a fraction of the visitors as that major city landmark.
The small museum, open just two years, is dedicated to San Francisco's surprising and fascinating long history with streetcars -- not to be confused with cable cars; that's another museum -- and occupies a space at the rear of the hip Hotel Vitale.
Its entrance is on block-long Don Chee Way, an alley off of Steuart near Mission Street. Appropriately, the historic streetcars of MUNI's F-Line rumble right outside its door.
This is the place to visit for background on all those charming old streetcars that make their way up and down Market Street and to Fisherman's Wharf.
It turns out that San Francisco has one of the most diverse collections of those vehicles in all the world -- some 90 in total, half in service at any given time. I've always been partial to the creaky orange ones from Milan (above).
The museum's exhibits include old photos of bygone places that San Franciscans love to reminisce about: Playland, Seals Stadium, Sutro Baths, Fleishhaker Pool, among them. And, if you've ever wanted to know the difference between a streetcar and a cable car, it's all described in delightful detail (hint: among the differences, cable cars do not have overhead wires and streetcars do).
I also enjoyed the one-of-a-kind merchandise, especially the postcards, notecards and posters of the streetcars that depict them in neighborhoods with landmarks such as the Castro Theatre, the Chinatown Gate and Grace Cathedral in the background. This is a terrific place to buy souvenirs -- and proceeds go to a good cause.
The museum, open Tuesdays through Sundays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is run by a nonprofit organization called the Market Street Railway, which promotes education and expansion of historic streetcars in San Francisco.