PHOTOS: Inside the Walt Disney Archives Exhibit at Bowers Museum

Inside the Walt Disney Archives exhibit at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana celebrates 50 years of the Disney Archives with over 400 items. In this post we’ll walk you through the exhibit and take a look at some of the items.

Dumbo greets visitors as they enter the exhibition hall.

In the first room you’ll find a re-creation of the windows on the outside of the actual Disney Archives in Burbank.

This isn’t Walt Disney’s actual desk, but it is a recreation that was used in the movie, Saving Mr. Banks.

Many Disney theme park artifacts are on display, including these hitchhiking ghosts and tombstones that were retired from Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom.

Opening day tickets from each Disneyland-style park.

Here’s an animatronic Abraham Lincoln head from the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Not creepy at all!

R3X from Star Tours, before his current gig as a DJ in Oga’s Cantina.

Costumes from the theme parks and various Disney movies, including TRON Legacy, Dick Tracy, The Rocketeer, and many more are on display.

Besides Disney theme park artifacts, there’s many props and memorabilia from Disney and Fox films. Here’s the shrinking machine from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Wilson from Cast Away. I can’t believe this movie is already 20 years old.

The actual storybook from the beginning of Cinderella. How cool is that?

The Inside the Walt Disney Archives exhibit wraps up with a re-creation of Legends Plaza from the Walt Disney Studios lot. Replicas of the famous Disney Legend handprints are on display, which was clearly planned in a pre-COVID-19 world. A large sign has been placed asking people to please not put their hands in the handprints.

The Bowers Museum is open 10 am to 4 pm, every day except for Mondays. Inside the Walt Disney Archives is currently scheduled to run through June 20, 2021. The cost is $23 for weekdays, and $25 on weekends, and tickets can be purchased in advance on their website.  Bowers Museum is located around 6 miles away from Disneyland, so if you’ve got a craving to see theme park items on display, be sure to check it out.