Discovering the Man Behind the Mouse at The Walt Disney Family Museum ~ #Waltagram

I received the following information as a blogger via Walt Disney Publications. While I attended an expense paid trip by Disney to the press events for The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, and Miles From Tomorrowland, all opinions are 100% my own.I still remember the first time my parents took me to Walt Disney World when I was just four years old. Who knew what an impact Walt Disney would end up having on my life! He is often credited with the quote “If you can dream it, you can do it.” I’ve lived by that motto most of my life, and in return it has helped me achieve successes I’ve never thought possible. When I found out hat we were visiting the Walt Disney Family Museum at The Presidio in San Francisco, I was beyond excited! I couldn’t wait to get an even closer glimpse into the life of the man behind not only everyone’s favorite mouse… but the Disney empire.

The Walt Disney Family Museum sits on the Presidio, which was a former military base. The property has the most amazing views of the East Bay! To get there, we actually drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. Event better, once we arrived, we had an amazing view of the bridge.That wasn’t the only iconic San Francisco site we saw from the Walt Disney Family Museum. We also had an amazing view of the world-renown prison… Alcatraz!

In the lobby of the museum, you can view many of Disney’s awards, and recognition. My favorite is his SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS Oscar! Disney was given a special Oscar which included seven mini-Oscars to represent the seven Dwarfs from his award winning animated film. Exploring the beginning of the exhibits, you are immediately taken back in time to Disney’s early days. It was amazing to see his early drawings and even a Ford Model T, which is the type of ambulance he drove during World War I. You can also view some of his work he created with his colleague Ub Iwerks.As Disney ventured to Hollywood, we saw exhibits on the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio (which he established with brother Roy), as well as his early renderings of Oswald and the famous Mickey Mouse!My favorite parts in the museum were dedicated to his classic films we all knew and loved. Now only did we see artwork and treasures centered around his films, we also got a glimpse into the creation. It was amazing to see how his films transformed and evolved over the 30 plus years during his time. One of the current exhibits at the museum is Tomorrowland: Walt’s Vision for Today. This exhibit “showcases Disney as a tech innovator, science fiction storyteller, and futurologist by spotlighting the vision for Disneyland’s groundbreaking Tomorrowland.” At a point in his career, Disney began to have an envision for a theme park to feature his famous characters. The idea of Disneyland was born! At the museum, one of my favorite highlights was to see an amazing model of Disneyland. I immediately spotted famous attractions such as the Main Street Railroad Station Gate and Space Mountain!Toward the end of the museum exhibits, there is a very emotional display of artwork, and newspaper.magazine covers from when Disney passed away. It was a somber reminder that Disney didn’t just impact the USA, but the world as a whole with his characters and vision.Hopefully next time you find yourself in San Francisco, you visit the amazing Walt Disney Family Museum for yourself! The other current exhibit Disney and Dali: Architects of the Imagination, goes on till January 3, 2016.

Want to see more of my adventures in San Francisco? Take a look at my Twitter (@AshBG) and Instagram (@ashb4211). Make sure you follow the hashtags #GoodDinoEvent, #InsideOutBloggers, #MilesEvent, and #Waltagram.