Walt Disney Family Museum
The Lilly Belle locomotive sits in a glass case, a perfectly scaled steam engine that Walt Disney built with his own hands to run on backyard tracks at his Los Angeles home. This intimate artifact captures something that the blockbuster theme parks and animated classics never quite reveal: Disney was a tinkerer at heart, an inventor who found as much joy in machining metal as in drawing mice. His daughter Diane spent over a decade creating this museum not to celebrate the corporate giant, but to illuminate the restless creative mind of her father.
A Daughter's Mission
Diane Disney Miller founded the museum after years of watching her father's legacy reduced to corporate branding and cynical caricature. She wanted the world to see Walt as she knew him: the farm boy from Missouri who taught himself animation, the risk-taker who bet everything on Snow White when Hollywood called it folly, the technological pioneer who embraced sound, color, and eventually audio-animatronics when others resisted change. The Walt Disney Family Foundation established this 501(c)(3) nonprofit entirely independent of The Walt Disney Company, though the two entities cooperate on loans from the Walt Disney Archives, Animation Research Library, and Imagineering collections.
Old Army Post, New Purpose
The museum occupies three retrofitted historic buildings on the Presidio's Main Post, a former military installation now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The principal building at 104 Montgomery Street faces the Parade Ground, its galleries unfolding Walt's story through interactive displays, listening stations, and immersive environments. The museum opened October 1, 2009, transforming these century-old structures into spaces where visitors can hear Disney's own voice explaining his creative philosophy. The Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall at 122 Riley Avenue hosts rotating major exhibitions, extending the conversation beyond the permanent galleries.
More Than a Collection
Critics expected a hagiography but found something more intellectually honest. Randy Malamud of the Chronicle of Higher Education described it as a collection that 'energizes the fascinatingly charged scholarly debate that the Disney phenomenon has provoked, shaking the worn, staid, sometimes cynical images we have of Disney and his empire.' Edward Rothstein of The New York Times noted that the museum does exactly what Disney thought a ride should do: it tells a story. The ten permanent galleries move chronologically through Disney's life, from Midwestern childhood to Hollywood struggles to unprecedented success, letting visitors draw their own conclusions about the complicated dreamer behind the magic.
Backyard Railroad to Empire
The Carolwood Pacific Railroad pieces form one of the museum's most revealing exhibits. Disney designed and built this ridable miniature railway in his backyard, a personal passion project that eventually inspired the trains circling Disneyland. The Lilly Belle locomotive, named for his wife, demonstrates Disney's obsessive attention to mechanical detail, his willingness to master new skills, and his fundamental belief that technology could transport people to other worlds. From backyard tracks to Magic Kingdom monorails, the museum traces how one man's hobbies became an industry's innovations.
From the Air
Located at 37.801N, 122.458W in San Francisco's Presidio district. Best approached from the north with views of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Presidio's tree-covered grounds are visible along the southern approach to the Golden Gate. Nearby airports include San Francisco International (KSFO) and Oakland International (KOAK). Clear days offer stunning views of the bay and the historic military buildings below.