Field Trips

NEW! Audio-Animatronics® and Robotics

Cost
$10 students | $12 teachers
Date
Available by reservation
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Location
Learning Center
Ages
Grades 6‑12

In this workshop, students will learn the history of Audio-Animatronics® technology during the early 1960s. This hands-on activity will challenge students to collaboratively work in teams to navigate a Sphero SPRK robot through trial and error, using math-based calculations and computer block programming.

On-site School Experiences

Our new On-site Workshop offerings are activity-based, and available in either a one- or two-hour class. The two-hour session is more comprehensive and allows students more time to work on their projects.

Guided School Experiences combine a gallery tour and one of our hands-on workshops, allowing students to be creative while exploring Walt Disney’s life and work in meaningful ways. School Experiences appeal to a variety of learning styles and align with the Common Core State Standards.

Reservations

Registration for the 2022–2023 academic year is now open. Book a School Experience with us by contacting Natalie Chan, School and Outreach Coordinator, at nchan@wdfmuseum.org. We will schedule your experience, and send the invoice at a later date. Please book your experience with us at least two weeks in advance.

Admission Waivers

Scholarships are available for Title I schools. Please indicate your Title I status on your registration form.

Other Programs

  • Before the use of cels, paper cut-out figures were a common form of animation. Join us as we create paper creations with simple shapes and designs using construction paper and glue, then animate our creations to make our own silent stop-motion short films.
    Available by reservation
    On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
  • Field Trips
    Animators often start their journey with a piece of paper, a pencil, and their own imagination. We will explore the traditional practices and principles of hand-drawn animation. With a few simple techniques, students will bring their drawings to life in the same way that animators in the 1930s did.
    Available by reservation
    On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
  • Field Trips Virtual
    Walt Disney knew that at the heart of every animated film is a well-told story. Join us on this School Experience as we investigate the basics of narrative structure, establishing interesting and dynamic plots, and creating internal and external challenges that can impact a character’s journey. Students will then develop their own short story.
    Available by reservation
    Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
    On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
  • Field Trips
    Discover how Walt Disney encouraged his staff to experiment with special effects technology to make animation more compelling and realistic, and how the resulting advancements inspired the industry as a whole. Students will experiment with a miniature multiplane set up—focusing on design elements that will explore how depth is created in animation—then animate their own characters and props to create a silent stop-motion short film.
    Available by reservation
    On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
  • Benefitting from embedded digital media content, this walk-through the museum brings Walt’s inspirational message to life. Classes learn about his early failures, the art of animation, storytelling principles, and the technological innovations that made classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) possible.
    Available by reservation
    Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
  • Field Trips Virtual
    The Ink and Paint Department was an invaluable part of the animation process, especially with the addition of color to animated films. In this School Experience, students will learn about the relationship between colors, and how color theory utilizes both art and science in color mixing to achieve a particular visual effect.
    Available by reservation
    Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
    On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm