National Portrait Gallery

Date of Visit: March 21, 2011


The National Portrait Gallery is in the same building as the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, but that does not make it a small museum, but rather it is two big museums together in one huge building.  Even though it is just paintings to look at, it is a pretty daunting museum.  We mainly went here to get lunch from the cafe and eat it in the nice covered Pavillion area, but we also explored a few parts of the museum.

The accessible entrance to this museum is on the north side of the building.  There are long ramps on the side of the steps to get up to the entrance.  There are automatic doors to enter the building.  The same set is for going in and out, as they are designed to swing both ways, so that depending on what side you press the button they swing away from you.

The main area we went through was the Presidential Portrait Gallery.  Mik liked the spaciousness of the gallery and tried to roll around it away from me because he wanted to see other parts.  He did not like the carpet of the gallery that made rolling around harder, especially since he is never encounters carpets in his normal routines.  I noticed it was a little tougher to push him on the carpet than the rest of the museum, but it is not that bad.

The museum is in the Old Patent building and one of the most interesting exhibits is this little exhibit off the coat room that is easy to miss.  It has some information on the building's history including it hosting one of Lincoln's Inaugural balls.



The mezzanine exhibits on the third floor include a sports Champions exhibit.  I thought Mik would love this area being a sports fan, but he ended up hating it because the elevator to go up to it was barely larger than the wheelchair, moved slowly, and made some noise.  You have to be able to go in forward and then roll backwards out.  There was barely room for me to ride with Mik.  I cannot remember if the button was automatic like most Metro ones are or if you had to press it to go once inside, but I sure hope not as you cannot turn around and would have to hit it as you enter and hopefully the doors do not close if you roll in and forget to hit button.  Really could be a freaky experience as if it did get stuck you cannot reach the buttons.  The exhibit is quite small, so it is not like you miss much not going up there.  The other side of the mezzanine uses a big elevator, so not the same problems.

Photos by Kjersti
Text by Kjersti with Mik's wheelchair accessibility input

Destination Info:
National Portrait Gallery
Between G St and F St and 7th and 8th St
Washington, DC

National Crime and Punishment Museum

Date of Visit: March 21, 2011


The National Crime and Punishment Museum is one of the expensive paid admission DC museums that normally I would not even think of going to with so many free museums to explore instead in D.C.  We got a Groupon deal, though, so it did not cost much.  After seeing this museum, it is not bad, although perhaps not quite worth the high admission price, as it still is not that big.


Accessibility wise the museum is pretty good.  You do end up doing some odd backtracking and such to get back to the elevator to go between floors sometimes, but they give you a paper explaining how to navigate through the museum if you need the elevator between levels.  We got one automatically because they noticed the wheelchair, but we ended up having to help a person figure out how to get out of the museum because they could not do stairs.  If it is not obvious you cannot do stairs, just ask for the elevator guide through the museum when you purchase your tickets.


Mik really enjoyed the National Crime and Punishment Museum.  The CSI Experience in the basement is kind of cool, although a lot of the stuff did not seem to work, was not well explained, or it was at a level that did not work for Mik.  In the booking area it was cool that you could get your fingerprint scanned and a card printed out with it as a souvenir of your visit.  Mik had a little trouble with this as the scanner is stationary and you have to roll up sideways.  Would have been better if it was on a table that had room for the chair to roll under.

Photos by Kjersti
Text by Kjersti with Mik's wheelchair accessibility input

Destination Info:
National Crime and Punishment Museum
575 7th St
Washington, DC 20004

Madame Tussaud's Washington D.C.

Date of Visit: March 21, 2011

In my opinion Madame Tussaud's Washington D.C. is not worth the full price, but I have enjoyed going for reduced price twice.  The first time was for like $5 when I went the day it opened and I lived in D.C. area.  This time I got the tickets for $6 each from a Groupon deal.

Getting into Madame Tussaud's is odd with a wheelchair, but the staff was friendly.  Note that the entrance to the main entrance/ticketing does not have an automatic door.  After you get your tickets, you go back out the main entrance and then around the corner up to the second set of doors, which are actually the museum entrance.  Staff let us in here, so the door was not a problem at this point.  Then you take an elevator down to get to the museum and later back up to get out the way you came in.



Madame Tussaud's D.C. is a lot of fun, especially if you are into the President's, as it has a wax figure for each U.S. President as the main attraction.  It is cool that you can go up to them and take pictures with them.  For the most part it is very accessible, too, although a few of the wax figures were hard or impossible for Mik to roll right up to, such as George Washington in the boat crossing the Delaware.  Mik still enjoyed it all, though.

Mik liked reading the facts about each President, although I did not like that they sometimes had certain props or settings for the Presidents and then did not explain the situation.  For example, FDR is shown doing the fireside chats, but no explanation.  Not that I really expect that much history info from this type of museum, though.



The little interactive aspects were also fun.  Mik got shackled up like a slave in the Civil War area.  I made him do it to see if he could reach them in his wheelchair, but  he found it interesting after he started doing it.  Unfortunately, in the same area he was foiled in wanting to take a picture next to Abraham Lincoln because there is a chair next to Lincoln for you to take a picture as if in the box with him at Ford's Theater, so did not really work out right in a wheelchair.



It was also fun to flip the portraits to answer questions about what President was being described, however, Mik could not reach the top row.  This was actually quite funny because the top row had one about what handicapped President was the White House remodeled for and a person in a wheelchair would not be able to flip it open to read more.  I guess they just assume you should know if you are in a wheelchair.



Mik's absolute favorite part was pushing the button in the war area that asked could you push the button to start a World War.  It was hard for him to reach it and I did not think he would get it without my help stretching his arm out, but he was determined and after about five minutes he got it.



The war area also included a sandbag area that I made Mik go into and wear the helmet.  He did not like that part, but the wheelchair did fit in there.  Mainly, he did not like the heavy helmet.

Neither of us cared for the celebrity area, especially since we did not have a clue who most of them were and several did not seem to even have signs to tell you if you were clueless like us.

Photos by Kjersti and Mik
Text by Kjersti with Mik's wheelchair accessibility input

Destination Info:
Madame Tussaud's Washington D.C.
1001 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20004

Verizon Center: New Jersey Nets @ Washington Wizards

Date of Visit: March 20, 2011

The Wizards game at the Verizon Center was my first NBA game.  I still do not much care for NBA, as it college basketball is way better with actual defense and offense.  Mik liked the game, but it was not that great with the teams being pretty sloppy.



Mik did not mind the handicap seats, but they were not as amazing as the ones he had sat in just a week before at the Suns game.  They definitely are not bad, but they fail the cup holder requirement that Mik has held as a number one priority for handicap sections since we were doing All the Ballparks in 2009.  I cannot remember if the regular seats in section in front of or behind us had cup holders, though.

Photos by Kjersti
Text by Kjersti with Mik's wheelchair accessibility input

Destination Info:
Washington Wizards
Verizon Center
601 F St
Washington, DC 20004

D23 Day at Walt Disney Studios and Archives

Date of Visit: April 30, 2011

This afternoon we enjoy a 2.5 hour tour at the Walt Disney Studios.  I have been wanting to tour the studios for years.  I even was saving Disney Movie Reward points for the private tour for 4.  Last year as a charter D23 Member I never got any of the tickets or the dates just would not work.  This year the tickets cost money, so the demand was slightly less and I was able to snatch ones for me and a guest.

Mik and I loved the tour.  It was interesting to learn see where so many of the Disney movies were filmed and animated.  The whole tour was so good it is too hard to choose a favorite part.

For about half the buildings we went in we had to go in a different way with the wheelchair than the rest of the group, but the tour guides were great and mostly waited for us to catch up before talking about the specific area.  We did miss some information, but at least we saw everything and it was mostly seemed we missed Q&A done to stall for time.



One of the coolest parts was Stage 2, which is where Mary Poppins was filmed.  It was also used for building some of the early Disneyland rides like the Mark Twain and Jungle Cruise.  Of course, it does not look like much all empty right now, but just being there and imagining all that has gone on in there was pretty cool.

Another one of my favorite parts of the tour was the Archives.  It is just a small room, but has several different themed display cases.  It had the wardrobe used in the Narnia movie.  The whole wall of bookcases full of Disney books was interesting to read the spines of.  I loved seeing the snowglobe from Mary Poppins.  They also had a few special items out just for the D23 Day including an Oscar, which we even got to hold and take pictures with.  We also got to see the 1st Disneyland ticket and Press Preview tickets.



The Disney Legends Plaza with the building with the Dwarves behind it was also fun to see.  We found our favorite Disney Legend, Julie Andrews, handprints.  We also found the hand prints of the Disney Legend we actually met at the D23 2nd Anniversary Party, Bob Gurr.



At the event Mik got himself a D23 membership, which included a free bonus pin.  It is the 1st Anniversary Party pin, which I have 2 of from going to it with Dad, but it is an extra bonus than if he bought it online.  Now he will also have access to all the special D23 member specific access at the D23 Expo in August. We both each also got a cool orange Walt Disney Productions replica patch as the free collectible for this D23 event.

Photos by Kjersti and Mik
Text by Kjersti with Mik's input

Destination Info:
Walt Disney Studios
500 S. Buena Vista St
Burbank, CA 91521

National Mall and Memorial Parks: World War II Memorial

Date of Visit: March 19, 2011

The World War II Memorial was the final memorial we visited as part of our day exploring the National Mall. By the time we got to it Mik was tired of sightseeing. Plus, we have been to it many times before and it just is not among his favorites. He did let me take one picture of him at it, but we pretty much just quickly rolled around it and headed to the Metro.

The World War II Memorial is one of my favorites, as I like the pillars with the states and US territories. The path around the pillars is ramped, but it can easily get crowded. We walked around the outside at one point to try to avoid the crowd inside the memorial, but the path is much smaller and is not really worth it. Sometimes, though, this is the better way to get pictures with specific pillars without other people getting in the way.

Photo by Kjersti
Text by Kjersti with Mik's wheelchair accessibility input

Destination Info:
World War II Memorial
East Side of Reflecting Pool, West of Washington Monument
Washington, DC

Summer 2011: Disney, National Parks, and of course some Baseball!!!

Today after finally officially committing to the D23 Expo in August I am declaring our Summer 2011 travel plans finalized.  It is not quite All the Ballparks 2009, but it shaped up to be a lot of fun stuff and best of all Mik got his wish of being involved, so it is all things we together agreed on doing.

The themes of Summer 2011 travel plans turned out to be mostly Disney and National Parks, but I could not resist throwing in some baseball stuff.  Sadly, yet again the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame could not get worked in.  However, we did at least work in Rickwood Field, which is one of the things we did not work into the baseball road trip.  Of course, best of all is that we are going to a game at Target Field and we will once again be able to say we have seen a game at every current MLB ballpark.

Disney Theme

• Premier Pass: I have been wanting one of these, but it never made sense until this summer shaped up to be very Disney.  Mik and I are both getting one, so we will have access to all Disney parks in California and Florida for a year after we get it early June 2011.
• June - Disneyland: The D23 2nd Anniversary in March was supposed to be our Disneyland fix for 2011, but Mik loves Star Tours and we both love Disneyland, so we just could not resist going to Disneyland for the first weekend the new Star Tours ride is going to be open.  Plus, we want to check out the new Little Mermaid ride in California Adventure that also opens that weekend.  To make the trip even sweeter, Dad is coming along, so he can transfer Mik and we can go on more rides.  Thanks to Mom generously not only paying for most of our adventures, she also let us use some of her Hyatt points to stay at a nice hotel.  Plus, with the Premier Pass we get free parking, so no need to stay too near the parks.
• July - Alaska Disney Cruise:  This is the one part of the summer Mom actually gets to enjoy with us.  Alaska is the only state we have not been to, so it is exciting we will have been to all 50 states after the cruise.  The cooler part, though, is we are going to our 50th state for Mom's 50th birthday, which she will celebrate during the cruise.
• July - Disney World: The end of July Mik and I are going to spend 4 days (possibly an extra half day as well since we will have Premier passes and might get there early on check in day or leave late on check out day).  Dad is taking us/staying with us, but he is going to Orlando for a Math Teacher's conference, so it will just be Mik and I exploring the parks.  We are not much into Disney World because Disneyland has much of what we like at Disney World, but we do like Epcot and Mik plans to eat his way through the countries.
• August - D23 Expo: I wanted to do this back in 2009 and could not and Mik has wanted to do this ever since the D23 2nd Anniversary event.  Mik is even going to buy the lower D23 membership at this weekend's D23 Studio Tour event (comes with a few extra pin at event!), so we will both have access to the special D23 only parts of the expo.  Of course, we will also hit Disneyland as part of this trip and get some more use out of our Premier Passes.  We are doing this all on our own.  This will be our first trip all by ourselves.  I have flown with him alone and of course just by myself, but this will be a first entire trip of just the two of us.  Good prep for Summer 2012 and our Disney Cruise from New York to Canada that we currently have booked as just the two of us, although it might include some vacation time with Mom in New York before or after.

National Parks

• June  - Mesa Verde National Park, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Homestead National Monument, Pipestone National Monument, Effigy Mounds National Monument: These are the things we are going to visit on the way from Tucson to Chicago via Minneapolis at the end of June.  Mostly going to stay at KOAs like we did in 2009, but going to try out the Mesa Verde National Park campground, too.  Originally was only going to be Mesa Verde, but I had to add some extras because the June 29 Twins game only had single tickets left and thus we ended up with two extra days to get to Minneapolis to go to July 1 game instead.
• July - Klondike Gold Rush National Park, Skagway, Alaska: We visited the Seattle part of this National Park back in 2009, so it will be fun to finally see the other part of the park.
• July - Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park and Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site: Again, things that I did not originally plan, but we needed to waste some time between Detroit and getting to Disney World and what better way to do it than visit National Parks for free (with Access Pass for some) and fill up our National Parks Passports some more.  Also, doing KOAs this part of the trip, although we have learned from 2009 tent camping in Florida and reserved a Kabin for the one Florida night.

Baseball

• July 1 - Target Field: Seeing a game in the new Twins ballpark.  Also, enjoying Mom's Hyatt points and staying on the Regency Club floor (actually cost surprisingly few points).  We get free breakfast, free appetizers in the evening, and best of all we can walk to the ballpark and we do not have to worry about parking at the game.
• Rickwood Field: This is the oldest ballpark.  Just going to do a quick photo stop like we did at the one where the longest ballgame ever was played.
• National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame: Not definitely on the plan, but it is in Chicago and we will be in the Chicago area for at least 7 days in July, so probably will do.

Other

• U.S. Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs: We have been to the one in Chula Vista, CA and Mik did not like that, so he was hesitant about me adding this to the itinerary.  However, he liked the idea of probably being able to get a London 2012 Olympic pin and was reassured it would not be total empty and boring because they actually have guided tours.
• Abilities Expo, Chicago: Mik is really excited about the Abilities Expo and seeing cool adaptive gadgets and the demonstrations.  I also think it will be a fun experience.