Saturday Smiles – Page 2 – Things to do in Silicon Valley for families of all abilities

June 12, 2018saturdaysmiles

The Tech Museum of Innovation

The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose is a highly interactive exploration of science, technology, and its effect on human society. There is also an IMAX theater showing various movies and documentaries.

poster says, "The Tech Museum of Innovation. Our mission: Inspiring the innovator in everyone."

In a Nutshell

The Tech is a nonprofit science museum that I’ve visited several times on school field trips and more recently as an adult. In the past, beyond their regular museum displays, they’ve hosted traveling exhibits such as Body Worlds, the Leonardo da Vinci collection, or Star Trek: The Exhibition. Currently, Body Worlds Decoded is set for a 10-year run here and is now included in the regular admission price to the museum.

sign for Body Worlds Decoded at The Tech Museum in San Jose

Body Worlds Decoded is a smaller total collection of bodies than the original Body Worlds traveling exhibit was, but they’ve added more interactive elements using Augmented Reality (AR) tablets (which you borrow for free when you enter the gallery) and other virtual elements.

baseball player inside Body Worlds Decoded at The Tech Museum in San Jose

There are lots of other permanent exhibits to explore inside the main museum as well. These cover topics such as robotics, genetics, medicine, physics, earth science, cyber security, outer space, video games and virtual reality. Each one is explored through interactive, hands-on and/or multimedia displays.

Furby-style robot at The Tech Museum in San Jose

One of my favorite parts was the Tech for Global Good display which shows short documentaries (just a couple minutes long) about the ways in which people and organizations are using technology in creative ways to improve lives by solving medical and social problems around the world.

tech innovation booths at The Tech Museum in San Jose

The adjacent Innovations in Health Care gallery follows a similar theme. Some of the solutions they described were quite high-tech, but others were more about using out-of-the-box thinking to use resources we already have in new and creative ways. I really loved learning about all these amazing innovations!

inside one room at The Tech Museum in San Jose

Location

The Tech is on South Market Street in downtown San Jose next to Plaza de Cesar Chavez.

There are nearby parking lots in the downtown area and limited on-street parking directly in front of The Tech. Several of the closest slots are reserved for disabled parking, but others are open to anyone who’s not afraid of parallel parking on a sometimes-busy street.

Note: If you have a side-access wheelchair lift van, then the blue parking spots on the curb directly in front of the museum will work for you. Your lift ramp will let you directly onto the sidewalk without a problem. (Just watch out for the palm trees.)

on-street parking in front of The Tech Museum in San Jose

If you have a rear-access wheelchair lift, however, be aware that there are no cut curbs between those disabled parking spots closest to the museum. Instead, the blue curb closer to the Montgomery Theater, just after The Tech, backs up to a large driveway that can double as your cut curb. It’s only slightly further from the door and will let you get onto the sidewalk much more safely. This is where we parked, as seen from standing in front of The Tech:

secondary disabled parking near The Tech Museum in San Jose

Of course you can also walk or bike to The Tech, or take public transit from anywhere in the Bay Area. On VTA, you can take Light Rail to the San Antonio station or the Route 68 bus to the 1st & Paseo de San Antonio stop, and then walk across Plaza de Cesar Chavez to the museum. From the Fremont BART station, take the VTA Express Bus 181 to W San Fernando / Almaden and walk about five minutes back up W San Fernando to Market St. If you’re coming from farther away, Caltrain and Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor will take you to the Diridon Station, from which you can walk (about 20 minutes) or take the Route 68 bus three stops up to The Tech. Use 511.org to plan your specific route.

Weather

This is an entirely indoor museum, so it would be enjoyable year-round. (It’s actually a great air-conditioned destination on a hot day if you don’t have AC at home.) If you’re parking in a nearby garage, you may have to walk a couple blocks to the museum, so plan accordingly if it’s raining.

Mars Rover exhibit at The Tech Museum in San Jose

Cost

This is honestly one of the pricier places we’ve visited for Saturday Smiles. As of June 2018, the tickets were $25 for adults and $20 for children, students, and seniors. If you want to see an IMAX movie while you’re there, the standalone IMAX ticket is $12 (or $10 for children, students, and seniors) or the combo museum+IMAX ticket is $31 and $24 respectively. See their website for current pricing.

You may be able to get a $3-4 discount per ticket with your AAA card or using the San Jose Library’s Discover & Go pass. If you have a Bank of America ATM card, you can get one free basic admission on the first full weekend of the month. There are also annual membership options with discounts for teachers.

The Tech has reciprocal agreements with Chabot Space and Science Center, Children’s Creativity Museum, CuriOdyssey, Lindsay Wildlife Experience, and other attractions, so if you have a membership somewhere else, you may get a discount on your Tech admission. See the reciprocal agreement list for details. (Note: Happy Hollow is not on that list, but The Tech might honor a Happy Hollow membership if you have one. It’s worth asking.)

Length of Time

This will take you half to two-thirds of a day, depending on how involved you get with some of the interactive exhibits and whether or not you choose to see an IMAX movie.

NASA dome inside The Tech Museum in San Jose

Wheelchair Access

Their website has information for guests with special needs.

We found the museum’s galleries and restrooms to be easily accessible. You can even check out a manual wheelchair from the Information Desk if needed, of course on a first-come first-served basis and ID is required. The only only areas without wheelchair access are the jetpack simulator and the Birdly flight simulator. Additionally, the earthquake shake platform is technically accessible, but you’ll need to secure your wheelchair’s brakes and be aware that the platform’s jerky movements may be too strong for some guests’ core strength or comfort.

earthquake simulator inside The Tech Museum in San Jose

The IMAX theater has wheelchair seating and adjacent companion seats near the top row. The theater attendants will guide you to the elevator and the proper entrance to reach these seats. Note: the theater’s seats are steeply banked (as in many IMAX theaters) and there is no railing, so the accessible seating area at the top can be a bit daunting at first for anyone who’s afraid of heights. Once you’re seated, it’s fine.

In the Body Worlds Decoded exhibit, part of the experience happens through Augmented Reality (AR) tablets they loan out at the front desk. We were thrilled to see that they offer a special little flexible arm that clamps onto a wheelchair’s armrest or frame and holds the tablet for you if needed. We didn’t need to use it, but it was wonderful that The Tech has thought of this and offered it to us in case it would help.

wheelchair clip for Body Worlds Decoded tablet at The Tech Museum in San Jose

Vision & Hearing

Some of the displays include videos with audio narratives and closed captioning, so these would be accessible to everyone. As with many museums, the explanatory plaques are mostly visually-oriented, as are many of the exhibits (especially Body Worlds Decoded), but there are more tactile/hands-on opportunities than many museums I’ve seen. While a hearing impairment would not prevent you from interacting with the museum galleries, please note that the museum’s background noise may be challenging for someone with hearing aids to filter out. If this applies to anyone in your family, be patient and make sure you have their attention before talking to them.

Sensory Processing

Overall, I’d rate The Tech as a “moderate” to “moderately high” sensory destination. Some parts (especially the “Exploration” zone on the lower level) were much more intense than others due to a combination of visual busyness, background noise, and strange lighting. Other areas (especially the medical innovation areas upstairs) were reasonably calm, open, and well-lit. I found it fairly easy to regulate here by spending less time in the darker, busier areas and more time in the parts I liked. I did wear earplugs the entire time to help lower the volume.

dark area inside The Tech Museum in San Jose

To their credit, The Tech recognizes this need and actually offers sensory-friendly hours! It’s usually been one Sunday morning a month, but always check the calendar for current scheduling. During these hours, the volume on everything is turned down, the lighting is more normal, there are fewer total guests in the museum, and there are even calm-down/quiet rooms available if needed. Sensory-friendly field trips have recently been added as well. Kudos to The Tech for these accommodations!

We got the combo ticket so we could see the IMAX documentary about pandas while we were there. It was a sweet movie (no sad endings, don’t worry) but sensorially speaking, the IMAX experience was quite overwhelming. The giant curved screen is meant to fill most of your peripheral vision to make the experience more immersive, but we found it unpleasantly intrusive and at times disorienting. We had to simply close our eyes in some scenes, especially during the swooping/flying camera angles. I think part of the problem was that the wheelchair-accessible seating is toward one side (it might have been less distorted-looking had we sat closer to the center of that giant curved screen), but mainly we just hadn’t accounted for how different an IMAX experience is from a regular movie. It was also extremely loud. If anyone in your family is sensory-sensitive, think carefully about the IMAX choice before you upgrade your ticket. We’ll both be skipping the IMAX show next time around.

Food

They have a little cafe downstairs next to the gift shop. (This cafe is also open to the public without museum admission.) It’s fairly gourmet, especially by museum cafe standards, and includes some vegetarian-friendly choices (not much for vegans) and a kids’ menu. Their full menu is available online.

In addition, there is a grab-and-go case with sandwiches, juice, etc., and baskets of candy, protein bars, instant oatmeal, and fresh fruit available. Some of these choices are vegan. The coffee bar offers coffee, lattes, etc., and has almond and soy milk alternatives if you ask.

There is indoor and outdoor seating available. It’s also easy to bring your own food to eat at the tables. No food is allowed in the museum galleries.

outside cafe & store at The Tech Museum in San Jose

As you might expect, the IMAX theater also sells popcorn, candy, etc. to enjoy during the movie.

Would we go back?

Yes, especially if there’s a new or special traveling exhibit. Although it’s more expensive than some other attractions in the area, the museum offers a lot of variety and great hands-on learning opportunities for both kids and adults. If science is your thing, The Tech will definitely make you smile!

friendly robot at The Tech Museum in San Jose

May 28, 2018saturdaysmiles

Happy Hollow

Happy Hollow Park & Zoo (HHPZ) is a local gem that has been treasured by San Jose families for generations. My mom grew up going there, as did I, and now my preschool students sparkle when they talk about going to Happy Hollow on the weekend. Thanks to a major renovation completed in 2010, you’ll find the perfect blend of simple nostalgia and engaging modern attractions to appeal to all ages.

entrance from back parking lot, sign says "Welcome to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo"

In a Nutshell

Happy Hollow is a combination of a small but high-quality zoo, interactive animal experiences and zookeeper talks, children’s amusement park rides, a large playground, a puppet theater, and open space. See the map for more details. They’re open almost every day and have special events on certain days.

They’re aimed at children of all ages, but we also enjoy visiting as adults without children in tow. There’s even a free Senior Safari Walkabout one Thursday morning a month for seniors age 50+.

carousel at Happy Hollow in San Jose

The zoo is divided into two parts: the smaller “Zoo on the Hill,” which includes several animals and a petting zoo, and “Zoo in the Hollow,” which houses most of the animals. We’re particularly fond of the capybaras and meerkats, and of course the star attraction, Sophia the Jaguar.

Sophia the jaguar at Happy Hollow in San Jose

The zoo has a total of 150+ animals and is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. We like to refer to them as a “small but mighty” zoo because, while they’re nowhere near the scale of the San Francisco Zoo, many of Happy Hollow’s animals are part of the AZA’s Species Survival Plan, meaning that they’re part of a wide network of captive breeding programs in zoos working together to help save threatened and endangered species.

Capuchin monkeys at Happy Hollow in San Jose

We usually spend most of our time in the zoo, but we still walk around the park area just to enjoy the ambiance. It’s simultaneously peaceful and lively, filled with happy children and families enjoying their day together. There are some rides aimed at younger children, some for school-age children and adults, and some for the whole family. Our favorite ride is always Danny the Dragon, a gentle train ride through storybook dioramas. (Danny is also the mascot of HHPZ.)

Danny the Dragon ride at Happy Hollow in San Jose

In addition to the rides, the park area has a large redwood-themed playground, a walk-through maze, several smaller play areas, and a puppet theater with multiple shows on most days.

Redwood Lookout playground at Happy Hollow in San Jose

Between the park and the zoo, you’ll find a large open field where families often eat, relax, or let the kids run off steam. Special events are often held on the outdoor stage in this area too.

Before you go, check the Plan Your Visit page to see today’s hours and check which attractions may be closed for maintenance.

red tropical flower at Happy Hollow in San Jose

Location

Happy Hollow is located at 1300 Senter Road in San Jose. It’s part of the city’s Kelley Park, where you’ll also find History San Jose, the Japanese Friendship Gardens, the Leininger Community Center, and plenty of open space with picnic areas.

Their website has good driving directions from various freeways as well as how to take public transit to the park. There are also bicycle racks available near the entrance if you prefer.

Parking

If you drive to Happy Hollow, there are two main parking lots. One is off Senter Road and the other is on the opposite side of the park, off Story Road at Remillard. Either parking lot involves a little bit of a walk to the front gates. Scroll down to the map on the Plan Your Visit page for details.

In either lot, general parking is $10 per vehicle or $80 for an annual parking pass that works at all City of San Jose Regional Parks. The parking attendant booths are usually not staffed, so pay for parking at the automated kiosk in the parking lot and then put the printed receipt/pass on your dashboard before going into the park. (The machines take credit/debit cards or cash if you have exact change only.)

Important: If you have a disabled parking placard or plates on your vehicle, the price and procedure are different from general parking and different from what it was a few years ago. As of May 2018, this was the procedure if you don’t have a Discount Card from the city yet:

Park in a disabled spot if possible. If those are full, make a note of where you parked.
Bring your proof of disabled parking paper from the DMV. (This is the little paper that came with your placard or plates.) Also make sure you know your car’s make, model, year, color, and license plate number.
Do not buy a parking pass at the kiosk. Instead, go directly to the Happy Hollow ticket booth.
In addition to your admission tickets, tell the person in the booth that you need to pay for disabled parking. They’ll ask to see your DMV paper and ask for the identifying information about your car.
You’ll pay the $2 parking fee (discounted from the general $10 rate) in addition to your admission tickets.
Just go into the park! They write down your car’s information so they know you paid. That way you don’t have to walk all the way back to the car to put anything on your dashboard.

If you have the disabled parking placard or plates and plan to park at Happy Hollow or any other San Jose parks more than a couple times a year, it’s worth your while to jump through the paperwork hoops to get the Discount Card. This basically lets you prove that you’re eligible once for the year instead of every time you go. They’ll mail you a card which you then swipe at the kiosk and pay the discounted rate right there at the kiosk the same way everyone else pays their $10. Here’s the application for the Discount Card. Alternatively, you can also choose to get the discounted annual parking pass ($30 vs generally $80) if you plan to visit San Jose Regional Parks a lot.

Weather

As an outdoor place, Happy Hollow experiences the same weather as the surrounding neighborhood. There is a fair amount of shade in some parts, but you’ll still feel the heat, wind, or rain like you would at any other park. I definitely recommend sunscreen regardless of when you go.

Capybara at Happy Hollow in San Jose

Cost

As of our most recent visit (2019), the tickets were $14.25 for ages 2-59. Infants and toddlers under 2 years old are free, and there are discounts for seniors 60+ or for groups of 14 or more people. Your AAA card may give you a discount. See their website for current pricing.

We usually choose the annual membership. This makes it worth our while to drop in for a short visit when we have time and want a “happiness recharge,” or to spend the whole morning wandering the zoo if we choose. The membership also supports HHPZ, of course, so we consider it a good investment even if we don’t go as often as we’d like. You can purchase a membership in person when you arrive or by mail ahead of time. If you’d like to upgrade a daily admission to a membership, you can do that while you’re there the same day and they’ll credit your daily admission price toward the membership purchase.

Happy Hollow has reciprocal agreements with CuriOdyssey, the San Francisco Zoo, and other local attractions, so if you have a membership somewhere else, you may get a discount on your Happy Hollow admission. See the zoo & aquarium reciprocal agreement list for details.

Note: HHPZ is no longer part of the nationwide reciprocal agreement list for science centers, but if you ask at the local science centers (Chabot, Children’s Creativity Museum, Lawrence Hall of Science, The Tech, and Lindsay Wildlife Museum), they may honor your HHPZ membership for a 50% discount on admission. Ask the individual museums about their policies.

Meerkat at Happy Hollow in San Jose

Length of Time

This will take you a couple hours to half a day or more, depending on how many rides your family wants to ride or how much time you spend at the playgrounds. We usually finish in about 2 hours and then browse the gift shop before going home, but you could easily spend much longer if you choose to. It’s a very flexible place with plenty to do.

Tortoise at Happy Hollow in San Jose

Wheelchair Access

Their website has information for guests with disabilities. Since the 2010 renovation, every part of Happy Hollow meets or exceeds ADA standards for accessibility. We’ve certainly found this to be true – the zoo and park are easily navigable by wheelchair, as are the restrooms, cafe, and gift shop. The ground is fairly level or gently sloping and the paths are nicely paved.

Due to safety concerns, the height/age/size requirements for the rides are enforced regardless of abilities. Guests will need to transfer out of their wheelchair or scooter in order to ride most of the rides. (The carousel and Danny the Dragon are wheelchair accessible and even accommodate service animals.) The ride attendants are not allowed to help with the transfer, but they are very kind about giving you time to do it and making sure the chair is safe until you get back.

If your family’s special needs prevent you from waiting in line, visit Guest Services at the front gate to ask for the “exit entry” wrist band. This will let your family enter through the exit instead of waiting in the standard line. We haven’t done this because we are able to wait, but it’s a marvelous service they offer to families who need it. You can call Guest and Member Services at (408) 794-6400 for more details.

Capybara at Happy Hollow in San Jose

Vision & Hearing

Unfortunately there is no braille on the zoo plaques and the animals are mostly quiet (no lions or elephants here), so a guest with limited vision would need someone to describe what’s there. With guidance, they could easily interact with the petting zoo, listen to the zookeepers’ talks and special presentations, and play on the playgrounds. The lively narration and sound effects would make the puppet shows accessible. The feelings of the rides and the cheerful surrounding sounds would also be thoroughly enjoyable.

A guest with a hearing impairment would be able to interact easily with all parts of the zoo, rides, and playgrounds. The puppet shows, however, are not closed captioned and I have never seen a sign language interpreter there. Many of the shows are classic stories (The Three Little Pigs, etc.), so if you’re already familiar with the plot, it may still be easy to follow along and enjoy the colorful puppets even if you can’t fully hear the narration.

Bird at Happy Hollow in San Jose

Sensory Processing

The zoo is calm and open, with lots of shade and natural colors. There’s no background music. The Zoo in the Hollow (the larger part with more animals) doesn’t smell like much of anything. The Zoo on the Hill has a petting zoo and usually smells exactly the way you’d expect it to.

There’s a bit more hustle-and-bustle with more people in the park area around the rides and playground, but it’s still always been comfortably open. The paths are wide here and there are plenty of benches to take a break if needed. The only time we ever felt somewhat crowded was on a holiday weekend when the Kristy Yamaguchi Reading Adventures special event had drawn many extra people to HHPZ.

Everything is colorful enough to be interesting, but never in-your-face bright, and always balanced with lots of large trees and grass areas. Sensorially speaking, it’s among the most relaxing family parks I’ve visited.

Meerkat at Happy Hollow in San Jose

Food

You can bring your own food or buy food there. They have a cafe called the Picnic Basket fairly close to the entrance. The menu includes chicken strips, burgers, fries, pizza, and hot pretzels. There are also some grab-and-go selections that usually include salads, sandwiches, hummus-and-veggie cups, yogurt, Smuckers Uncrustables, juice boxes, and milk. There’s indoor or outdoor seating available with flexible tables that you can move to accommodate your party size. It’s easy to fit a wheelchair at the tables. If you choose to bring your own food, you can bring “homemade individual brown bag lunches” but no coolers or commercially prepared food. If you want to bring a more elaborate meal, such as party platters or coolers for a larger group, you can use the picnic areas located outside of Happy Hollow in the grassy areas of Kelley Park.

There are larger picnic areas inside Happy Hollow which can be reserved for two-hour windows as part of a birthday party package. These parties are usually catered by Happy Hollow, or you can cater your own for an additional fee. If you want to bring your own homemade or store-bought party food for a group event, it’s best to just use the picnic tables located in Kelley Park outside of Happy Hollow.

Would we go back?

We’ve been coming here for two generations and absolutely plan to keep coming, usually multiple times a year. We love the cheerful, family-friendly atmosphere, the sweet animals in the zoo, and of course the nostalgia. It’s a very special place for us. If you haven’t been here, or at least not since 2010, I highly recommend it. You’ll absolutely leave with a smile!

The Crooked House at Happy Hollow in San Jose

March 31, 2018saturdaysmiles

The Walt Disney Family Museum

Located in the Presidio in San Francisco, The Walt Disney Family Museum is a thoughtfully crafted journey through Walt’s life, career, family, and creative impact on the world. It is Disney, but don’t expect any rides or costumed characters here – this is a cultural/historical museum, not a park. It’s run by the Disney family rather than by the corporation.

The Walt Disney Family Museum entrance

That said, it is still Disney, so the storytelling is excellent. Walt has become this larger-than-life figure over the past century, but he was also a real human being who had a family and lived through two world wars and took major business risks that sometimes changed the world but sometimes fell totally flat. There were also a number of key people around him whose expertise made his dreams possible. This museum does an excellent job of showing the struggles as well as the triumphs while weaving a cohesive story of his life and legacy. I found hearing parts of the story in Walt’s own voice was especially powerful.

The Walt Disney Family Museum display screen — “He just wanted to do wonderful things. He wanted to make people feel good and make them feel happy and take them away from the trials and tribulations of everyday living. That’s what he did. That as his purpose in life.” -Dick Sherman, describing Walt Disney

I also particularly enjoyed the perspective the museum offered. For example, we take for granted that movies and sound effects can always be edited or fine-tuned after the fact, but in the early era of Disney movies, the sound effects and orchestra recordings and everything had to be recorded simultaneously because “dubbing” had not been invented yet. Likewise, the simple idea of animating the candle and having that glow reflected in the Blue Fairy’s face in Pinocchio counted as “special effects” back then because no one had figured out how to animate that level of realism before. Imagine that! As an artist and a millennial, I found that kind of reality-check utterly fascinating. So much has happened in less than a century!

In a Nutshell

The museum showcases various artifacts, photos, video clips, audio clips, drawings, and other elements of Walt Disney’s life and career. It’s set up as a series of interactive galleries in chronological order, from his early interest in art to his journey to Hollywood to the founding and growth of his company. It talks about the movies he made, the technologies he pioneered, the challenges his company faced along the way, the inspiration and process behind Disneyland’s creation, and more. Even hardcore Disney addicts will find new details and stories here. Although you’re free to explore the galleries in any order, they’re designed to be seen in chronological order and I definitely recommend it.

Quote on the wall at The Walt Disney Family Museum, says, "Somebody was paying me $50 a month to draw pictures!"

We saw all ages here, from infants to grandparents. The younger visitors seemed engaged by the wide variety of visuals and interactive displays, while the older children/teens and adults were engaged by the storytelling in the museum plaques and displays. There is a LOT of information to absorb along the way, so if you’re someone who likes to read all the plaques and milk all the detail you can out of a museum, your younger (elementary school-age) children will likely lose interest before you do.

The Walt Disney Family Museum photo wall shows cells of animation — Individual frames in the animation of Steamboat Willie

In addition to the main galleries about Walt’s life, there is often a special exhibit going as well. This may be focused on a particularly famous Disney animator, a landmark Disney movie with an anniversary coming up, or another topic of interest. During our visit, it was about Glen Keane, the Disney animator/artist who drew Beast, Tarzan, Ariel, Pocahontas, and others. Check the museum’s website for current exhibitions.

Special exhibit hall entrance at The Walt Disney Family Museum

Location

The Walt Disney Family Museum is located in the Presidio in San Francisco, very close to the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s about an hour north of San Jose.

The address is 104 Montgomery Street. As the museum’s website notes, “there are two Montgomery Streets in San Francisco—the museum is located in the Presidio of San Francisco, not in the Financial District. If you are using a GPS, please remember to enter the zip code 94129 when planning your route.”

zoomed-in Google map showing The Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio

There’s metered parallel parking available in front of the museum and throughout the Presidio. (This is where we parked. These slots are free with a disabled parking placard and are closer than the parking lot.) There’s also a main parking lot available nearby. See the museum website’s transportation page for details.

The transportation page also tells you about the public transit options (including the free PresidiGo shuttle and the regular MUNI or Golden Gate Transit busses) and where to lock your bike if you choose to ride to the museum instead of driving. This is San Francisco, after all!

Weather

This is a fully indoor museum, so weather isn’t really a factor here. It will be enjoyable year-round.

The Golden Gate Bridge as seen from The Walt Disney Family Museum — View of the Golden Gate Bridge from the museum

Cost

Although it’s not a Disney theme park, this museum still has that premium Disney experience in the ticket prices. When we visited (2018), tickets were $25 each for adults and slightly discounted for children, students, and seniors. Children 5 and under are free with adult admission. Some special film screenings or other events cost extra. See their website for current pricing and membership options. (The museum is part of the Time Travelers and NARM and ROAM reciprocal membership programs with other historical societies and museums throughout the country.)

In the past, we’ve found coupons for the museum on those little tourist brochures you pick up at local hotels or airports. It’s also included in the San Francisco Go Card if you’re planning to spend several days seeing multiple locations in the city. If you only want tickets to this one museum, you can sometimes find $1-3 discounts for buying tickets online ahead of time through various sources, but please make sure you’re using a reputable website before purchasing.

If you’re active or retired military, you and your family can get in for free with valid ID year-round and can bring guests for free over the summer.

Tiki Room display at The Walt Disney Family Museum

Unless you have a disabled placard/license plate, you’ll also need to pay for hourly parking.

Length of Time

I’m told the average visit here is about 2 hours, but you could easily spend all day. It depends on your level of interest and how quickly your brain gets saturated by either the richly detailed information or the high level of sensory input. If you have children with you, a couple hours is probably the limit. If you’re coming only with interested teens or adults, you could easily spend at least half a day or more.

The Walt Disney Family Museum display of the furniture in Walt's fire station apartment in Disneyland — Original furniture from Walt’s apartment above the fire station on Main Street in Disneyland. (What’s in the apartment now is a replica.)

Wheelchair Access

The building fits the Presidio’s historical look on the outside, but is fully modern and accessible on the inside. There’s a ramp to the left of the main entrance and an elevator between floors. The galleries are laid out in an open enough way that there were no issues navigating.

The only minor wheelchair accessibility challenge came in reading some of the displays. Some of the artifacts are arranged in tall glass display cases with tiny number labels next to each item, and then the numbers correspond to the explanation plaque down at hip height. While it was easy to read the plaques, it was not always easy to make out the numbers on the tiny labels next to the artifacts. This wasn’t an issue everywhere and didn’t interfere much with the overall experience, but was an annoyance in places.

Hearing & Vision

This is a very interactive multimedia museum. (See below for sensory notes.) Nearly everything can be read on plaques and/or accessed through the on-demand closed captioning system available through the ticket desk when you arrive. (We didn’t make use of this, but it’s a great service.) Therefore someone with significant hearing loss would still be able to enjoy most of the museum without issue.

Guests with partial hearing loss who use hearing aids may find the museum’s constant background noise from overlapping movie clips and audio recordings playing everywhere, as well as other visitors’ voices, makes it harder to focus on what you’re trying to hear. If you’re visiting the museum with someone who uses hearing aids, realize that the background noise may make it harder than usual for them to hear you, so make sure you’re close and/or have their attention before speaking.

Like many museums, the displays are mainly visually oriented, but I think a guest with a visual impairment could still enjoy a visit here. Many of the galleries incorporate movie clips and audio recordings that are on continuous loop through TV sets or speakers. Other displays include telephone handsets that you pick up to listen to an interview segment or other recording. In many places, the lighting feels low and the font feels small, so some visitors have trouble reading the plaques comfortably, but again it’s more of an annoyance than an actual hindrance to enjoying the museum.

Although we didn’t use it because we don’t have smartphones, there is also an “Enhanced Content” experience available through the STQRY app. This offers additional audio, video, and photo content as you walk through the museum. This is good for all guests but could be especially useful to visitors who need closer access to visual or auditory content.

Sensory Processing

To be honest, the intensity of the sensory experience in this museum caught me entirely off guard and nearly spoiled the whole experience for me. After we took a break about 45 minutes into the visit and I adjusted my expectations, the rest of the day was much more enjoyable. If you’re a sensory-sensitive type, or if your children are, be prepared. This museum throws every modern interactive multimedia museum technology at you all at once and it can be overwhelming for some of us. (For others, that’s a huge selling feature and is what helps visitors stay engaged. To each their own.)

Specifically, some of the galleries have oddly low ambient/overhead lighting while multiple screens run videos on continuous loop. At any given point, I could hear overlapping audio from at least 2-4 speakers, which made focus a challenge even with my earplugs in. This is a picture of the first gallery:

The Walt Disney Family Museum first gallery

The layout is such that the galleries flow in chronological order but there’s no linear order to the displays within a given gallery. This makes it easy to casually wander the space and explore at your own pace, which I appreciate, but it also added to my feeling of there being simply too much to see and do at every turn.

The Walt Disney Family Museum animation gallery

Personally, the sensory combination of video, voices, music, unusual lighting, visually busy displays, and nonlinear flow was intense and unsettling. After taking a break and putting in my earplugs, I was able to handle it enough to avoid sensory panic and focus on enjoying the content instead, but I was still wiped by the end of the day. (I’m an adult. Two of my godchildren (ages 5 and 9) have significant sensory processing challenges, and I honestly don’t think I’d bring them here. I think they’d be overloaded.)

The Walt Disney Family Museum Disneyland gallery

This video that I found on YouTube shows some of what I’m talking about, although the intensity is lower in the video than in real life because the camera zooms in on displays one at a time. As I said, for most people, this rapid and varied input is not a problem or can even be a feature, but for some of us, it’s almost a show-stopper. I would have liked to have known what to expect going in, so I want to help you feel prepared. If you bring your earplugs and go in with your internal “shields” up, the museum can be a very positive experience.

Food

There is a little cafe and adjacent seating area within the museum building. They have a nice array of soups, salads, sandwiches, baked treats, coffee and tea. The prices were surprisingly reasonable, especially by San Francisco and/or Disney standards, and the quality was very good. (No greasy theme park pizza here.) Their menu notes the vegetarian and gluten-free options. There was even a vegan-friendly quinoa salad that was quite good! The half-plate size was plenty for one person. You can also bring your own food to enjoy at the tables. (We did this and I saw plenty of other families doing the same thing. The museum is only picky about not eating/drinking within the galleries, which is understandable.)

The Walt Disney Family Museum cafe vegan quinoa salad — Vegan Quinoa Salad

The Walt Disney Family Museum cafe menu

In nice weather, you could enjoy a picnic on the grass outside the museum. There are also several restaurants outside of the museum in other parts of the Presidio. Of course, if you go a bit further outside the Presidio gates, the whole city of San Francisco is at your culinary disposal!

Would we go back?

Perhaps. The sensory overwhelm was strong enough that I would not want a membership here, to be honest, but I can see why some of my friends and family who’ve visited in the past were so impressed. The quality of the displays and the level of thought that went into this museum really are Disney-worthy. It’s an impressive place. After all, where else can you sit on the bench where Walt Disney himself sat when he first thought of creating Disneyland?

The Walt Disney Family Museum park bench where Walt got the idea for Disneyland

We’re both lifelong Disney buffs so we deeply enjoyed the stories we learned in the museum. There’s so much detail there, I’m sure we didn’t get it all on the first pass. I thought the museum did a fantastic job of tying everything together, so even the stories that I already knew as trivia or standalone stories were put into context as we walked through the timeline of the galleries. In that way, the day was very satisfying, and I know there would be more to absorb in a future visit.

Whether you’re a lifelong Disney buff, an artist or aspiring movie pro, or just someone who enjoys a good rags-to-riches story, The Walt Disney Family Museum has a lot to offer that will make you smile!

The Walt Disney Family Museum Disneyland model — Model of Disneyland

February 18, 2018saturdaysmiles

The Museum of American Heritage

The Museum of American Heritage is a delightful little gem near downtown Palo Alto. It’s a beautiful historic home that’s been converted to a museum inside and a peaceful garden outside. There’s also a classroom space out back where they host special events. The volunteer docents were cheerful, kind, and knowledgeable, but didn’t hover as we explored the museum at our own pace. It’s one of those places that’s been around for a while, but even as a local, we somehow never knew about it. Now that we do, we will definitely be back!

What do they have there?

The museum is dedicated to showcasing innovations that shaped America from approximately 1750 to 1950. It reminds me somewhat of History San Jose, but on a more intimate scale. Here, each room of the house has a different focus. The kitchen is like a time capsule of early 1900s American home life. (Did you know built-in kitchen cabinets are a recent invention?) Other rooms showcase classic woodworking tools, a home office/study with a very cool old typewriter, and an old general store that reminds me of The Waltons. As a designer, it was especially cool to see the old packages on the shelves and notice which brands/logos have evolved and which have remained nearly unchanged for a half-century or more.

While most of the museum is about looking, some parts are hands-on. Some of the woodworking tools are mounted on the wall so you can turn the cranks and see how they work. Next to the general store room is a room filled with Erector Sets and other building toys meant to be operated. There is also a kids’ hands-on play room near the study with a train table, children’s books, and a typewriter that’s meant to be used. Have your kids ever had a chance to see a manual typewriter?

Out back, there’s a print shop with several beautiful older printing presses which are demonstrated about once a week when the volunteer is there to run them. There’s also a garage with a beautifully restored Model T Ford from 1915! The gardens outside have been restored to be historically accurate and include a 1942 “Victory Garden,” medicinal herbs, water-wise Mediterranean plants and gorgeous redwood trees. It would be worth going back in blooming season (rather than February) to see more of the gardens.

In addition to the permanent exhibits, a large front room houses rotating exhibits about American innovation. When we went, it was a fascinating display of Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and George Westinghouse’s work on electricity and their mutual rivalry along the way. This exhibit is gone now, but you can check out their website for the next topic. There’s always something new coming!

Beyond the museum itself, there’s a classroom space out back that hosts special events for children and adults, both on weekends and for field trips during the week. When we were there, they were having a big Lego building fest. Examples of other offerings include crystal radio building classes, science enrichment workshops, and public lectures. (Note: While the museum is free, some of these events are not.) Check out their events page for upcoming special events, annual events, and past examples.

Ages

Overall, this museum is not targeted at young children. I’d say 4th graders through adults would get the most out of this trip.

Location

The Museum of American Heritage is in Palo Alto at 351 Homer Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94301, just a couple blocks over from the main downtown space on University Avenue. (Here’s the map.) It’s about 20-30 minutes north of San Jose.

It’s directly across the street from Heritage Park and the not-yet-open Palo Alto History Museum.

It’s mostly on-street parking unless you’re there for a special event, in which case there are some spaces available behind the house. The on-street parking is free (but of course watch out for permits or time restrictions, since this is a neighborhood) but has no disabled slots. It would have been impossible to use the wheelchair lift in the place we ended up parking on the street. If you need disabled parking, the museum’s website says to call ahead (1-650-321-1004) to arrange for a spot in the back lot.

If you’re nearby, it would be easy to walk or bike here. If you need public transit, it looks like about a 12-minute walk from the CalTrain station or very close to a Route 35 bus stop. Keep in mind that the museum is usually only open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11 to 4, so time your trip accordingly.

Weather

The museum is indoors, so it would be fun any day. Of course if you’re looking at the gardens, it would help to pick a non-rainy day, probably in spring or early summer to see the most blooms. (I’m the furthest thing from a plant expert, so call the museum to ask what’s blooming if you’re specifically interested in the gardens.)

Cost

There’s no admission fee for the museum (as of 2018), but a $5 donation per visitor is appreciated. School field trips or group tours have a small fee ($3-5) per person. You can also join as a member, which provides a large part of the museum’s funding and gets you special access to their events and newsletter.

Length of Time

Visiting the museum will take you about 1-3 hours, depending on how much detail you read in each exhibit and how long you want to spend in the gardens.

Wheelchair Access

The museum is entirely wheelchair accessible! This was a major surprise for a century-old home. I give big kudos to the museum operators for making this happen so naturally. There are clear signs about where to enter. (The wheelchair entrance is through the kitchen door from the side porch, which has a ramp, rather than from the front door, which has big stairs.) Inside the house, the whole museum is on the main floor and all the displays are wide enough for a wheelchair to navigate without issue. The print shop, garage, classroom, and gardens are also accessible. How delightful!

Vision & Hearing

Not surprisingly for a historical museum, many things are don’t-look-touch and some are protected under plexiglass. Even the hands-on parts are mostly about turning a crank or lever or switch and seeing what happens. For this reason, I think this museum experience would be rather limited for someone with a vision impairment. The lectures and workshops might be quite engaging, however.

For all the same reasons, it’s easy for someone with a hearing impairment to enjoy the museum. We found it to be pleasantly quiet (think of it as the exact opposite of something like The Tech) so there wasn’t even much background noise to filter out. I don’t know how this would work for the lectures or workshops; you’d have to contact the museum to find out.

Sensory Processing

This is a very calm museum, as you might expect from a century-old home. Its displays are visually interesting without being busy. It’s neat without being sterile. What stood out the most to me was actually the sensory simplicity of the displays. Whereas most museums these days seem to be trying to one-up each other on the flashy interactive big-screen displays, the information here is all done with nice little posters and plaques. Not only does this help with costs (since it’s a donation-based, volunteer-run museum), but I actually found it much easier to read the information that way. I really enjoyed getting to read the information at my own pace without bright flickering screens distracting at every turn!

Food

There is no gift shop or snack shack here, and no food or drink allowed inside the galleries (true of most museums), so plan to have lunch beforehand. The park across the street would be a great picnic spot in nice weather, or there are several restaurants nearby.

Would we go back?

You bet! We chose to visit this time because it was the last weekend of the Thomas Edison display, but we look forward to going back for future exhibits and maybe some of the special events. It will also be interesting to see the gardens at a different time of year. If you have a couple hours to spend on something interesting, the Museum of American Heritage will make you smile!

January 7, 2018saturdaysmiles

CuriOdyssey

CuriOdyssey at Coyote Point is a sweet little combination zoo and science museum. It’s a nonprofit that’s part of the Coyote Point Recreation Area. We particularly enjoyed the peaceful vibe in the zoo and the joy of the children in the science museum.

In a Nutshell

Their zoo is small but diverse, including bobcats, eagles, skunks, otters, and other critters, most of whom came to them as rescue animals and cannot be re-released into the wild for various reasons. Because it is smaller than other zoos, you can get very close to the animals and talk freely with the docents and keepers. Although it doesn’t take as long or have as many animals as some of the Bay Area’s larger zoos, I found it to be just as satisfying of a visit because of this more personal feeling. It’s cozy.

Their science museum has very engaging hands-on exploration displays on various topics. Some are permanent and others rotate through over time. Check their website for a list of current exhibits. The target audience for this part appeared to be approximately ages 5-12, but I still had fun exploring them as an adult and many younger children were highly engaged as well.

Location

Coyote Point is in San Mateo off Highway 101. It’s about 30-40 minutes north of San Jose.

There’s a parking lot just outside the entrance to CuriOdyssey. If that’s full, there’s overflow parking in the lot near the marina. It’s a bit of a walk from that lot back up the hill to CuriOdyssey, but there is a wheelchair-accessible route you can use.

We parked in the overflow lot because the sign said the main lot was full, but when we got there, we found that there were two disabled slots open even though the rest of the lot was full. If you need disabled parking, the main lot would be worth a try even if the sign says it’s full.

Their website has specific directions for driving, biking, walking, or taking public transit. You can technically take CalTrain or SamTRANS, but it’s not a direct route at all and involves a pretty long walk from the station to the park.

Weather

I think almost any weather would work here. The zoo is about 2/3 outdoors and 1/3 indoors but is all heavily shaded and sheltered by big trees and enclosures, so it was comfortable even on a cold January day and would be fine on all but the hottest summer days. Just be sure to dress accordingly. I would imagine it could be less fun in the rain, but they do field trips year-round and just ask students to dress for the weather rain or shine, so maybe it would work. The science museum is entirely indoors so it would be comfortable anytime.

Cost

When we visited (2018), the tickets were $15.95 for adults and less for children, students, and seniors. If your family is part of the Museums for All Program, admission is just $1 per person. See their website for current pricing. There are also annual membership options.

Note: There was also a $6 per car admission/parking charge to get into the Coyote Point Recreation Area. (It’s a county park.) This is waived for CuriOdyssey members.

CuriOdyssey has reciprocal agreements with Happy Hollow, the San Francisco Zoo, and other local attractions, so if you have a membership somewhere else, you may get a discount on your CuriOdyssey admission. See the reciprocal agreement list for details.

Length of Time

This will take you a few hours to half a day. We finished the zoo and gift shop in about 2 hours and then walked through the science museum for a little while. (The exhibits looked fun, but as an adult, I couldn’t bring myself to push the happy 8-year-olds out of the way to get a turn, so I mostly observed.) If you have school-age children, you could easily spend another couple hours in the science museum part.

Wheelchair Access

Their website has information for guests with disabilities.

We found the zoo to be easily accessible. The science museum got a little crowded in places, but all of the walkways were wide enough to navigate without issue. Even the gift shop was uncluttered enough to roll through, which isn’t always the case in places like this.

Note: The accessible restroom is outside in the zoo area. The bathroom in the main museum building is wide enough for a stroller or wheelchair to wait in line but has no accessible stalls, so it would only work if you can walk a short distance and don’t mind leaving the chair outside the stall. To their credit, one of the museum docents saw us heading toward the main bathroom and very kindly gave us the heads-up about this. We used the accessible restroom instead and noticed that while it was physically roomy enough and had the typical grab bars and such, the door to the restroom was very heavy and the handle/lock was up very high. It would be difficult to access from a wheelchair without a companion.

Vision & Hearing

The animals at this zoo are mostly quiet (no roaring lions here) and every exhibit has an informational plaque describing the animal’s backstory and natural habits. The science museum was similarly oriented around flat visual plaques and hands-on experiences. Someone with a hearing impairment could participate almost fully in both parts of the park. I think someone with limited vision would probably find the zoo fairly pointless and would have a mixed experience in the science museum. Many of the science exhibits were highly tactile and a few revolved around sound or music, but a lot of the displays involving physics or cause-and-effect mechanisms were inside of plexiglass boxes, so these would be difficult to enjoy without at least near-field vision.

Sensory Processing

The zoo was calm and open, with lots of shade and natural colors. There’s no background music. It also doesn’t smell like a zoo (it doesn’t smell like anything I could detect), mainly because there are no elephants and no petting zoo, only smaller animals in well-maintained enclosures. The only semi-crowded point was when everyone wanted to see the scheduled feedings; otherwise there were people around but we had plenty of space to move freely and didn’t feel crowded, even on a busy day.

I did notice that the whole recreation area seems to be directly under the flight path to SFO, so there were frequently airplanes flying somewhat low overhead. For some children, that’s a bonus feature, but for others, the unexpected extra noise could be a factor. It wasn’t obnoxious enough to be a deal-breaker by any stretch, but if I were traveling with a very sound-sensitive or easily-startled child, I would want to tell them ahead of time to expect the airplane noises outside.

The science museum was much busier than the zoo. The museum is entirely indoors so the excitement of all the children is more concentrated there. It was somewhat loud and could be overloading for some children with sensory issues. For sensory-seeking children, however, the variety of interactive displays could be exactly perfect.

Their website also has a social story to help your child know what to expect before their visit. Kudos, CuriOdyssey!

Food

You can bring your own food or buy food there. They have a little cafe with mostly hot dogs, chips, and fruit available during limited lunch hours on the weekends. The gift shop also carries a pretty impressive variety of packaged snacks and drinks, including many healthy options, some of which were vegan-friendly or allergy-friendly. (You could phone ahead to see what they have in stock that day.) When we went, the classroom space (presumably used by field trip groups during the week) was open and several families were enjoying their homemade lunches at the tables. We did the same. There are also picnic tables outside in the shade in the zoo area. If you want to eat before or after your visit, keep in mind that you are also in a county park, so there there are larger tables and even BBQ grills in the picnic areas closer to the nearby playground.

Would we go back?

Absolutely! This is my third visit to CuriOdyssey and will certainly not be my last. I love the gentle vibe and kind cheerful people we always encounter there. If you’re looking for a new spot to visit, it’s sure to make you smile!