Disappointed at $20 admission fee

[BC_DisneyGeek]

I spent a good three hours there walking through the storyline of Walt's life.

$20 for three hours of entertainment? Seems reasonable to me.

I haven't been, but I did see Jeff Kurtti give a one-hour talk on the making of the museum last weekend, and based on his presentation I have no doubt it will be worth the price of admission.

[Second Star]

$20 for three hours of entertainment? Seems reasonable to me.

I haven't been, but I did see Jeff Kurtzi give a one-hour talk on the making of the museum last weekend, and based on his presentation I have no doubt it will be worth the price of admission.

Just for the record it's Jeff Kurtti. and he had a lot of input in the development of the Museum. I've seem him speak there, he is a really nice guy.

[Broadway Guru]

My one and only gripe about the place has nothing to do with the cost of admission — I'd have paid more than $20 for my three hours there. My gripe has to do with the beginnings of Disneyland. The Disney Family Museum states that Walt was inspired to build Disneyland out of his love for miniatures and the Griffith Park Carousel. Yet there was so much more to it than that. What about Walt's relationships with Bud Hurbut and Walter Knott? Disney and his designers studied and visited Knott's Berry Farm for years before Disneyland broke ground. Where's the Walter Knott / Walt Disney connection in the museum? Sad to say, the family ignored it completely.

I think that came later. I've always understood that it was Griffith Park and the miniatures that gave Walt the idea originally. Visiting Knott's and befriending "the other Walter" were part of the R&D phase.

[BC_DisneyGeek]

Just for the record it's Jeff Kurtti. and he had a lot of input in the development of the Museum. I've seem him speak there, he is a really nice guy.

Oops, should have looked that up, thanks.

And I agree, he's super nice and very engaging.

[Second Star]

I think that came later. I've always understood that it was Griffith Park and the miniatures that gave Walt the idea originally. Visiting Knott's and befriending "the other Walter" were part of the R&D phase.

You can also add Tivoli Gardens in Europe to the list of inspirations for Disneyland. And with Disneyland still an active WDC asset, I'd imagine that more of the documentation and history of the park are in the Disney Archive, than in the Family archives, so I'm not really surprised there isn't more in the Museum.

[lynxwiler]

I think that came later. I've always understood that it was Griffith Park and the miniatures that gave Walt the idea originally. Visiting Knott's and befriending "the other Walter" were part of the R&D phase.

Disney and his crew certainly visited Knott's Berry Farm repeatedly during Disneyland's R&D phase, it's true. Yet Disney and Knott were friends for many years before that phase. The two Walts bonded over their appreciation for Americana, history and trains when Knott purchased the narrow-gauge Denver & Rio Grande Western locomotives and rolling stock in 1951. Disney visited the Berry Farm on numerous occasions in those formative Disneyland years.