Orlando Auto Museum at Dezerland Park

Date of Visit: December 13, 2023

Trying to find things to do in Orlando that wasn't theme parks or mini golf and interested Mik, we found the Orlando Auto Museum. Mik still wasn't sure if he wanted to go, but after Dad and I accidentally ended up at Dezerland to play mini golf in the same complex (an old mall mostly now occupied by the auto museum) and saw a QR code for 25% off the auto museum, we were able to convince him to go later in our trip.

The museum starts with rooms by the decades ('20s, '30s, and '40s).

The '40s room was actually boats. Mik really liked the models and this room is a good example of how many of the rooms had things on display on the walls that were relevant to the room's theme.

One of the most unique cars on display was the longest limo.

There were several rooms of cars from different countries. This rooms did not really interest us mainly because there was very little signage telling you anything about them.

Mik enjoyed the Bat Cave room with the Batman vehicles.

Our favorite area was probably the Cars of the Stars as it contained vehicles from various movies. My favorite was Inspector Gadget.

Mik liked the Spider-man one.

But his favorite was probably the Indiana Jones display.

The other room Mik really enjoyed was the Military Pavilion, especially since he had worn his camo that day.

The Bond Museum was also impressive with vehicles organized chronologically by movie. There was also an area with a lot of different memorabilia related to Bond.

Overall the Orlando Auto Museum was an enjoyable experience and easy to roll through. There were definitely a lot of different vehicles to look at and we easily spent several hours going through it. However, I really did not like that there was very little signage to tell you anything about the vehicles. It felt like there was just as much signage by the few vehicles they have on display in the areas outside the museum, which Dad and I walked around after mini golfing there a few days before, as there is in the museum where there is a lot more on display.

Destination Info:
Orlando Auto Museum

5250 International Drive

Orlando Florida 32819

Petersen Auto Museum

Date of Visit: November 6, 2019

For our Panama Canal Cruise, it ended up being fewer flights as well as cheaper to fly direct into LA, rent a car, and stay a night between LA and San Diego than fly into San Diego and spend two nights there. It also allowed us to have time to do something in LA the day we arrived. Originally, we considered doing one of the presidential libraries, but when I stumbled upon the Petersen Auto Museum that became Mik's pick for the trip.

We started our tour on the top floor and worked our way back down. On the top floor Mik enjoyed taking a photo of Dad and in the 1910 Ford Model T Speedster.

Mik's favorite car was the Speed Racer prototype.

He also enjoyed seeing the other movie and TV cars such as this police cruiser from Robocop.

Mik's favorite exhibit was "Winning Numbers: The First, the Fastest, the Famous."

We also found the "Legends of Los Angeles: Southern California Race Cars and Their Builders" an interesting exhibit.

Most of the exhibits were spacious with plenty of room to navigate around. The only exhibit that we ran into problems with was in the "Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy" exhibit. Although he could see everything, some of the items in that exhibit were put rather close together and Mik couldn't roll through all the pathways to view them from the best angles.

Destination Info:
Petersen Auto Museum
6060 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036

The Zentrum BMW Visitors Center

Date of Visit: July 14, 2017

As we were almost to where we had decided to stop for the night on the way to Atlanta, I pointed out the BMW Visitor Center sign as we went past the exit. Mik actually expressed interest in visiting and at first we were going to do it on the way home, but it is only open on weekdays. Thus, we decided we could backtrack to it and move visiting the Martin Luther King, Jr. NHS to Saturday.

There isn’t a whole lot to see at the BMW Zentrum, but we still found it a worthwhile detour, especially since it is free. Mik really enjoyed seeing the old BMWs, but he also liked checking out the current models.

Destination Info:
BMW Zentrum
1400 SC-101
Greer, SC 29651

Lane Motor Museum

Date of Visit: October 5, 2015

We had been meaning to go the Lane Motor Museum for a few years now, but every time we drove through Nashville to/from Huntsville it seemed to be a Tuesday or Wednesday and it was closed. We almost missed it again because I had completely forgot about it until Mom picked up a pamphlet on it.

Mik loves the car museums and this one certainly did not disappoint. He particularly enjoyed that it was different in that it had a lot of European cars. He found the microcars interesting and enjoyed that they were in a variety of colors, although the signs for many of these were behind them and I couldn't roll him up to read them (not an issue throughout most of the rest of the museum).

The 1966 Subaru 360 Van was another vehicle that caught his attention.

We also found it interesting that there are some photos showing how the building used to be a bakery and gave some history on the building.

One of the most interesting vehicles on display is the 1959 LARC-XL. This is U.S. military amphibious craft. Mik wasn't able to see it because you have to go up some steps to look out the window, but there was a video showing it being driven through Nashville to the museum that he enjoyed.

 Of course, Mik's favorite part ended up being the miniatures. In particular, he enjoyed the miniature dioramas that were on display that included junkyards and a hot rod shop.

The Lane Motor Museum is now one of Mik's favorite car museums he's been to. Mik also mentioned that the museum was a great deal because this was only $9 a person compared to the $17 to $25 a person for the other museums we visited in Nashville this trip.

Destination Info:
Lane Motor Museum
702 Murfreesboro Pike
Nashville, TN, 37210

Swope's Cars of Yesteryear Museum

Date of Visit: April 24, 2014

Mik loves car museums, so when I spotted a sign for one in Kentucky on the way to Chicago he was disappointed I had not woken him up to ask if he wanted to stop.  To be fair, he had already said no to my several other suggestions (Country Music Hall of Fame, Railroad museums and Bass Pro Shop) including getting in trouble for waking him up to ask.  We had already planned to hit the Lane Auto Museum in Nashville on the way home, since it was not open on the day we were driving to Chicago, hence why we did not stop on the way, but we first ended up making sure we found the one in Kentucky.

The Swopes Cars of Yesteryear Museum features cars from the 1910s to 1970s.  Mik enjoyed rolling through the showroom layout.  It is mostly just the cars, but each has a good story about it and/or the model on the sign by it.  There is also some other things on display on behind the cars, but it is too tight for a wheelchair to be able to roll between the cars to get back to most of it.  Not that Mik cared, though, as he mostly liked just looking at the cars.

With all the road work related traffic on I-65 we did not make it to the Nashville one, but we were glad we found this one to check out and Nashville is an easy day trip from Huntsville, so hopefully we will get around to going there sometime soon.

Destination Info:
Swope's Cars of Yesteryear Museum
1100 North Dixie Ave
Elizabethtown, KY 42701

San Diego Automotive Museum

Date of Visit: February 25, 2011

I did not realize Mik really enjoyed the San Diego Automotive Museum when we went back in 2009 during our All the Ballparks road trip, but apparently he did.  He has been asking to go every time we have been to San Diego the past six months.  Finally, on our Rodeo Weekend trip we got around to going along with other San Diego museums, as we could go half price with the Museum Month deal.

Mik enjoyed it, but not as much as the first time.  The cars were partially different than before, which was kind of a good thing because it was some new things to see.  However, Mik's favorite from last time, a Lambourgini, was one of the cars no longer there. He also had fun playing with the drawing mode on his new camera.

Accessibility wise it is pretty good.  Mik loved that not only did it have buttons for opening the entrance/exit, but they easily worked.  The entrance and exit to the exhibit area is turnstile like, but they are accessible metal gates that can easily be pushed forward as you roll through.

It is pretty much just a giant warehouse room with cars.  The cars are all spaced with plenty of room in between along with them being roped off.  The motorcycle area seemed a little tight, but we really only seemed that way because someone was photographing them with a tripod when we were there.

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

Destination Info:
San Diego Automotive Museum
2080 Pan American Plaza
San Diego, CA 92101