"Every day that we have been closed, we have been waiting for this moment," said Terry Karges, executive director of the museum.
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Even though The Petersen stayed busy with online digital displays over the past few months, getting the green light to reopen physically is welcome news to the museum, and its many fans who kept asking...
"When are you gonna reopen, when can I come back, when can I come back. The fact that we're able to open for Father's Day is a great opportunity for us. We're sold out actually for this weekend," said Karges.
And, there's an added incentive for people to come this first week back. The prototype for the Tesla Cybertruck will be on display in the lobby through June 26.
Disneyland unions seek delay in park reopening
Disneyland unions seek delay in park reopening
"It's the first time that the truck will be shown in public," noted the museum's Terry Karges, executive director of the museum.
On opening day, visitors seemed happy to be able to come in and see everything up close.
"We passed by the other day and the kids were really excited when they saw all the trucks outside. So I looked it up and saw that it was reopening, so jumped on it," said Lisa Schmayevich of Mar Vista. She and her husband, along with the two boys, were taking lots of pictures as they made their way through the galleries.
"Coming in person always beats looking from a computer screen at different things, as nice as those can be," said Luke Sherman. He is an American who now lives in Germany, and came on opening day with his father.
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If you want to come visit the museum you'll have to wear a mask or other face covering. You'll have to buy your tickets online in advance, and the hours are restricted: Wednesday through Sunday, for now. And the museum has other safety guidelines in place.
For example, this bastion of cars and roadways now has "one-way streets" inside, if you will. All aisles are marked with directional arrows, and the occasional "dead-end" denoted by stanchions. It's all to keep people safely apart. And to further that, they're restricting daily admission to about half of normal levels.
Cleaning crews are also working continually, and hand sanitizer stations are in abundance. Also, docents are stationed throughout to keep foot traffic moving as well as answer questions. Other than that, it's the same museum it was before the closure.
And while you might have to wear a mask when you're here, you can certainly wear a smile underneath it as well.