Yesterday, I ended with the part of the museum where the Walt Disney Studios had opened in Burbank. There are lots of displays representing films that were made during this time which I am not including in this blog post. However, if you wish to see more pictures, feel free to visit my flickr page by clicking here. I have over 300 photos that were taken while I was in the museum. However, I know that, even with those selected over the two blog posts, it could get overwhelming. So, onward we go…

One thing that I appreciated about this museum is that it didn’t gloss over controversial topics. As a matter of fact, until I came across this area, I didn’t even know this happened.

This area was extremely interesting. They had a video playing of the news reports that talked about the strike at Disney. There were pictures of the people on strike that were kind of humorous. Also, along the same wall, you will find Walt Disney’s testimony over someone being accused of being a Communist. This all tied into the strike and the way the unions operated. It was all fascinating.

The above panel describes one of the hard times at the Walt Disney Studios…World War II. In order to keep the company afloat, Walt agreed to have animations done in support of our troops. This is very much apart of the history of both Walt Disney and the Walt Disney Company. However, it’s extremely rare for you to see any of these animated cartoons because it doesn’t fit well with where the company is currently. Back then, it probably wasn’t very controversial. I noticed that one of the cartoons even won an Oscar. Here are a few from this era in the Walt Disney Company’s history…

The WWII era animations are kind of tucked away in a corner. So, you might not really notice them. Instead, you might be drawn into this awesome room…

This room reminds me a little of the Art of Animation Building in Disney California Adventure. I could have spent an hour in this room and not be bored. The animations are constantly moving and they have a comfy couch in the middle of the room. I do have more pictures from around this awesome room. However, I think the video and one picture will give you an idea of what being in this room is like.

From there, you venture out to a room that has a lot of personal stuff on Walt and where the upstairs restrooms are. I thought it was awesome that they included Walt’s bowling bag in this display…

Also, you can find out what Walt’s food favorites are…

The family photos are always really cool. I also liked that there were home videos of Walt with the animators in his pool goofing around. However, I just had to post a pic of Walt and Lilly.

From there, you walk down a ramp with this amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge…

At the bottom of the ramp, you arrive here…

It’s the Griffith Park bench that Walt came up with the idea for a place that would become Disneyland. As you can see, my wife and I took turns sitting on the bench for inspiration. Next up is what I like to call the Disneyland Room…

As you wind your way down to the floor level, you get the history of so many things related to Disneyland.

Here is the model of the castle…

You can even see what a ticket to Opening Day at Disneyland looked like…

Love this quote…

All of this is leading to the full-scale model of the Imagineers Disneyland.

The model is a sight to behold. It includes rides that were there on opening day as well as other attractions that the Imagineers conceived while Walt was alive. As one of the docents pointed out to me, Space Mountain looks very different from what we know today. The version in this model is what the Imagineers originally came up with.

I also really liked how Pirates of the Caribbean is represented…

Also on display is one of the original Autopia cars.

This car, on the front (not pictured), has a license place that reads “Chris.” This car was for Walt’s grandson named Chris. He would get to drive this on the Studio Lot. The idea for Autopia was to give kids the opportunity to learn how to drive. However, it became quite clear early on that kids only wanted to use the cars as a battering ram and a change in the design of Autopia was needed.

Towards the end of our tour includes Walt’s plans for expanding the theme park business to Florida…

Above are the plans for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (otherwise known as EPCOT).

Of course, this idea wasn’t for a theme park, but for a living, breathing city where people actually lived.

Moving on, I thought this was pretty cool. Walt and Lillian clowning around.

Up next, was the saddest room in the whole museum. On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney passed away. This room has many of the tributes that were offered up. I’m not going to lie. It was very moving.

I chose the above picture to represent the room because it’s the most cheerful tribute. It’s good to see that not all the tributes were so sad. Since this is a museum that honors Walt, they didn’t let his death be the last part of the museum. The last room is a perfect way to end the trip down Walt Disney’s life and legacy. The room has a video screen tribute to Walt’s life. This was my favorite of the pictures I got in this room.

With that, it was time for my wife and I leave this incredible museum. Due to time constraints, there were parts of the museum I had to gloss over in order to finish by the time my wife and I left. We arrived at around 10:30am and left shortly after 4pm. They do have a small cafe and a gift shop. The desserts at the cafe are really good. However, the meals were serviceable at best. The price of the food is something that struck me. For a place with Disney in the title, I expected everything to cost much more than it did. So, the food is at least reasonably priced. The gift shop had a lot of cool stuff. I was able to control myself and went away with only a shirt.

 If you’re ever up in San Francisco, I highly recommend taking a visit.