USS Midway Museum

We visited the museum on a Thursday afternoon. There were a fair amount of people there but even so, the museum is enormous since it's a good chunk of the ship. To get the most out of the museum, you will climb steep stairs, go through narrow and low-ceiling passages and step through typical ship doorways by lifting your feet. Some areas are a bit warm, but they've done a great job adding fans and air conditioning strategically so you don't spend too much time in stale air. There is a self-guided audio tour where you can scan a small area on the signage and get history about a particular room, plane, or area. They have an on-site bookstore filled with old editions of historical books as well. There are a lot of clean restrooms, a cafe and a gift shop. Like with anything in San Diego, everything is overpriced. I paid almost $10 for a water. The instructions on their website say you can't bring any outside food or drink, so I didn't even bring a water. But when I arrived, I saw that others had refillable bottles, and the place had plenty of water stations for you to refill. They should change the guidance. Otherwise, we enjoyed it a lot and spent several hours there, and would recommend!

Largest museum aircraft carrier in the world, the USS Midway, first of its class and the only one not to be scrapped is well worth the visit. The sheer size catches one by surprise. Plan for a few hours to cover the ship from stem to stern. An audio guide is provided with the tickets, the adult entry being $41/-, a tad expensive, but then worth the cost of maintaining this historic museum ship. The hangar deck is a bit sparse of aircraft and ordnance, so it is a bit disappointing as the space could have been better utilized, especially with regards to WWII exhibits, even though the carrier was commissioned just after that war. It has WWII naval aircraft aboard, but with a few notable exceptions. One of the shortcomings was the lack of information about the service history of individual aircraft. This is amply made up for by the lineup of aircraft on the flight deck that includes the iconic Panther, Corsair II, Crusader, Vigilante, Phantom II, Intruder and Tomcat. A few helicopters are spotted on the port side. One can climb into the cockpit of nose sections around the flight deck. The visit on the day had to compete with a dining event that took up the middle of the flight deck, so some aircraft were cordoned off, and there was no notification at the entrance. A couple of aircraft were open to walk through. There are screenings of the ship's catapult in action, with detailed explanations by the volunteer veterans, who are a joy to talk to and quite a source of information. They are wonderful hosts. A reasonably stocked gift shop is on the hangar deck. The ship closes at 1700h.

Category: Attraction. If you want to spend a few hours, or even an entire day, exploring a great piece of American history, this is it (we spent 1 1/2 days — your ticket is good for two days). This aircraft carrier, which was built for service in WWII but not commissioned until just after it ended, was the largest ship in the world at that time and the pride of the Navy until 1992. Home to 4500 sailors, it was a floating City at Sea. The self-guided tour is aided by an audio guide narrated by Veterans who served on this magnificent ship, and by volunteers who are proud and knowledgeable of the ship and happy to talk about its history, design, facilities, and adventures. You will tour virtually every part of the ship and its 18 decks, from the command tower to the flight deck to the mess hall (which served 13,000 meals per day) to the engine room (which generated 212,000 HP). You will see how the sailors lived, ate, slept, and worked. You will see many planes and helicopters permanently residing on the ship. Just inside the entrance is a display dedicated to the Battle of Midway, which changed the course of WWII to favor the Allies, and in honor of which the ship was christened. The display includes a very well done and moving short film about the battle. If you get hungry during your tour, there’s a cafeteria and you can enjoy your food in the sun or shade on one of the aircraft elevators, which is capable of moving two jets from the hanger deck to the flight deck in 15-20 seconds. Don’t miss the fascinating presentations on launching and arresting aircraft, given on the flight deck by former pilots. YouTube’s Chef’s Apprentice

My husband and I went last Sunday. It had been years since we have visited and the museum had new exhibits. We initially intended to only stay for 2 hours and we stayed for a little over 3 hours since we had a limit of 3 hours for parking. This place is massive and had lots of history. Walking this ship gave a lot of insights to what our brave military men/women live every single day. It is great place to visit for the entire family.

We spent two hours walking around and exploring this retired military aircraft carrier on a warm and sunny Saturday in June. This was my first time ever on a military boat and it was quite impressive to see what was built and maintained nearly 80 years ago. Tiny hallways and room for the shipmates. Large open spaces for aircraft storage and repair. The deck is definitely the best spot to spend time with many different aircraft you can look at and some you can go inside. The guy giving the demonstration about landing was a little too excited when talking about bombing people in Vietnam during the war tho. Overall we had a good time here and definitely recommend it at least once during your San Diego trip.

Easily worth an entire day just to visit thus historic aircraft carrier. There is so much to see and they also offer free Audio clips to listen to while walking around. If you love military history this is a must see for sure. We were there for 4.5 hours however we had to cut it short and missed a bunch. Plan for at least this long if you want to see it!

Who doesn’t love exploring a Naval Vessel? So much to see, so much to learn and experience. The volunteer experts make everything so lovely throughout. There are a TON of chances for amazing photo ops during your adventure here, if you’re a lover of all things Americana and History this is a great place to visit. Don’t hesitate, go check it out! So kid and family friendly.

Very cool! Definitely worth it. The museum was rich with history and had many fun things to see. The surrounding area in North Harbor is also great for picnicking and hanging out. A must see for anyone in San Diego. Plenty of parking and near the airport.