When I saw my 3 1/2-year-old son at the end of the day today, I noticed that he had a sticker on his shirt from the Walt Disney Family Museum. I said to him, "Wow! You went to the Disney Family Museum? That sounds like so much fun. Was it great?"
His response: "No, it wasn't."
"Why?"
"It was REALLY SCARY." He didn't elaborate and ran off to play with some toys in another room.
I related the story to my wife. "What happened?" I asked.
Turns out that my wife had wanted to check out the museum for a long time, and they went to the Presidio in San Francisco to check it out.
The entrance fee was $20 per person (kids my son's age were free). The only thing our son really enjoyed was the gift shop. They had some great stuff (though a fair amount of breakable stuff, too). And they have a cafe with treats, etc. (though the cookies were pretty pricey at $3.50 a pop).
The museum really just doesn't seem appropriate for kids until perhaps ages 10 or 11 (depending on the child). Perhaps not even until middle school. And even then it will only really appeal to older kids interested in art.
There's no denying that some of Disney's content is just pretty dark. Death. Death. More death and darkness. Even some of the original models of Mickey Mouse have very creepy expressions.
And one screen looked like a fun cartoon, but switched to images of naked nymphs interspaced with images of Walt Disney.
Our son was pretty darn freaked. Bottom line: the guy at the front desk should NOT have said "some kids like it." These folks should be warning families with youngsters not to bring in the youngsters.
What is appropriate here? Check out the list of upcoming events for the museum. A few upcoming events look appropriate, even for younger kids. For example, they have a "Sunday Story Time" on the first Sunday of every month from 3-3:45pm, for children ages 5 to 8.
They definitely have a lot of really interesting exhibits and events for adults. This would be a REALLY interesting place to visit WITHOUT kids. Every month they have something going on for people interested in art. It would also be a great place to go have some coffee and draw or write.
This month, for example, the museum is hosting a "Disney Discoveries" class on December 10th and December 18th, from 1:00PM -3:30PM in the Learning Center Art Studio (A). The class involves making personalized snow globes (filled with holiday cheer)! My wife loved the snow globes in the gift shop and she wishes she could attend this class.
Overall, this museum is really more for adult artists, inspiring artists, those interested in creativity, or those interested in the Disney empire, than the average person or family. The only child friendly item on the newsletter offerings for December was the storytime once a month and the "Noon Year Eve Celebration" beginning at 10:00AM on Saturday, December 31, 2011.
The write up for the "Noon Year Eve Celebration" says:
"Countdown to Midday - who wants to stay up all night when you can celebrate at noon? Join us for our very first Noon Year's Eve Celebration. We will have indoor & outdoor activities including a beach ball bounce. There is a special showing of 'The Love Bug' in the Theater and you can visit Herbie & friends in front of the Museum. Enter to win a special screening in our theater for you and your 50 closest friends! Make your day complete by pre-ordering a 'picnic' lunch served in our Special Exhibition hall at 12:30 pm."
That actually sounds pretty brilliant to us.
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