Museum of 3D Illusions SF

My family and I were invited to the Museum of 3D Illusions located at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. So we decided to make a day out of it! I grew up in SF and I love taking my kids back to visit.

Our first stop was food!! I wanted to try something new, and the kids were asking for pizza and pasta so we decided to try a cute little restaurant called Delarosa, located right by Yerba Buena Park and the Metreon.

Their Margaritas were delicious, fresh, and exactly what Donnie and I needed! I had the tagliolini frutti di mare, clams, mussels & shrimp with marinara sauce. The kids shared their cheese pizza and pasta with marinara, and Donnie had their chicken parmigiana. Everything was great. Donnie even ordered two cheese pizzas to go (smh lol). Our server was super sweet, and I would say that it’s pretty kid friendly. We sat outside where they had some space heaters so I was pretty comfortable and enjoyed the view.

Next we headed to the Wharf! So if you’re familiar with the Fisherman’s wharf area, the museum is located on the block with the huge CVS on the corner.  There’s a section of relatively new storefronts and restaurants and the Museum is right there on Jefferson St right off of the Embarcadero. When we arrived we were greeted by two young women at the front desk. They were very accommodating about our giant double stroller, and we were able to leave it by the front desk. I do have to note, we did go on a Tuesday night around 6pm. I imagine the museum is much busier on the weekends so I don’t know if we would have been able to leave our stroller at the front considering the limited space.

General admission is $25 per adult, 6-12 year olds $12, and kids 5 and under are FREE. They do offer VIP tickets where a personal photographer will capture all your photos for you. In fact they let me borrow one of their camera lenses because I only had my 50mm with me which isn’t wide enough to capture the entire scenes in the museum. So I thought that was really nice!

In the museum there are different sections of really detailed murals all designed to create a 3D effect when photographed with people at the proper angle. There was only one group ahead of us so we pretty much had the museum to ourselves. Soooooo keep in mind, if you decide to come on a weekend or a busy day, you will have to wait in line at each section to take pictures. It wasn’t until we were already half way through before there was a group behind us.

Ok so, trying to take staged photos with 2 year old twins, a 5 year old, and a dad...not easy! Actually almost impossible. I think I gave up by the third photo opt, and then I was like ok little Don, it’s all you lol. So would I recommend taking my almost three year old twins again...? No! I mean, you might have patient and cooperative toddlers. I don’t LOL  But it’s up to you!

Here are some of the shots we got. And I actually just ended up using my iPhone for these.

My oldest son was really into all the different sections while my twins were obsessed with the perspective room. It’s a room on a slant so depending on where you’re standing, you can appear bigger or smaller in relation to the set up in the room. There was also a live video screen so you could see where you’re positioned. The twins couldn’t get enough of this room to the point where they kept running back just to go play it it! I also don’t know how it would have worked with all three kids if the museum was busy at the time because they were running all around the place.

Overall everyone had a good time (except for maybe dad because he had to direct all the photo shoots LOL!). I would say this museum is more suited for older kids, 5 and up. Or it would be something fun to do on date night, or group date with friends. I recommend going during off peak times so you have time to stage the perfect shot! Thanks again Museum of 3D Illusions for having us. You can check out all my stories from our on IG by clicking on the link below!

*Our visit was hosted by the Museum of 3D Illusions. All opinions are my own despite compensation.

**All my original photography unless otherwise stated.