Anyone ever visited Marceline, MO?

[mmackeymouse]

D23 is offering a Marceline trip, which with flight prices being pretty great right now, and me being a decently short flight away, it seems like a nice little weekend jaunt. Obviously the rest of this post is just assuming that the event doesn't get cancelled.

Included in the D23 visit is access to Walt Disney Museum and a visit to Walt's boyhood home. Also included are certain meals, a picnic blanket, transportation to and from the hotel, etc.

I am just trying to figure out of this is a trip I can do on my own. Obviously I know that going through D23 would be an unrivaled experience. But, doing it on my own may not only save money, but also adds a bit more flexibility with dates and what not. Does anyone know if access to Walt's Boyhood Home is a D23 exclusive? I am unable to find anything about any sort of admission or anything like that?

 

[My Grandpa]

No .... but it is on my bucket list .... along with Branson. I was on the Walt museum website and they had a couple of "events" coming up BUT OMG the tickets were really expensive! Museum fundraisers. I'm thinking this is a day trip to take it all in ... so the D23 extras really need to be whoppers. Remember ... before it all started with a Mouse, it started with Walt. Have Fun!!!

 

[ZJ5/9D47]

Walt’s boyhood home is a private residence. The property of the farm minus the house is open to the public and that is where the son of the Dreaming Tree is as well as the barn replica. I think that is where Kaye and her daughter live and the family upkeeps the property for visitors. She knew Walt Disney and is the museum director. You can see the house from the main road and there is now a nice parking lot and path to get to the barn replica, son of the Dreaming Tree, and historical tree offspring paths.

A D23 trip is unique and wonderful, but there are time constraints. I spent 2 days there and could have easily done a third. The museum takes an entire day if you want to see and read everything. Then there is the Carnage library, the post office, park with trains, school, swimming pool, and a few other stops in town.

I also went on the 4th of July and watched the parade on Main Street and the amazing fireworks show. There is a large traveling carnival that stays for a week or so since the owners have family in town.

Hannibal is only 90 minutes away and they have their National Tom Sawyer Days just before the 4th which made for a great combo trip for me. There are cave tours of the ones that inspired Mark Twain as well as river boat cruises that go past the islands in the book. There are many small historical museums including his home. The 5k-15k race is one of the best I’ve done and goes past the caves and along the Mississippi River. The whole town comes out to help put it on.

My favorite part of the trip was visiting Walt’s farm at sunrise and eating a picnic breakfast. Quietly soaking up the atmosphere that Walt cherished can only happen on a personal trip. Most people I saw visited the barn replica only for a couple minutes.

The post office will hand cancel any postcards or letters and they were selling Disney stamps when I was there.

In summary, you won’t be disappointed if you go on your own to Marceline.