Are you planning a trip to Atlanta and looking for fun things to see and do? Do you have a fan of airplanes in your family? Are you planning a flight with your child and would like to show them what they can expect to see on a plane? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, we have all the info you’ll need to plan a trip to the Delta Flight Museum at Atlanta-Hartsfield airport.
What is the Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day?
Our family took advantage of the Smithsonian Magazine Museum day, by using our vouchers for the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta. This event provides free admission to a Smithsonian affiliated museum for the day. You can read all about it here.
Heading towards an airport is an exciting thing in my opinion! The sense of adventure, excitement and the unknown are why I love travel. My son had four plane trips under his belt by the time he was six months old, although he doesn’t remember those first adventures. A trip to the Delta Flight Museum would be a great introduction to the world of flight for children.
About the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta
The museum is located on the outer edge of the Atlanta-Hartsfield airport. When you pull up, you’ll need to stop at a security gate and there you will receive stickers that identify you as visitors to the museum. When you enter the huge hangar, you’ll need to proceed through a security check complete with a metal detector and x-ray machine. From there you’ll proceed to the “ticketing counter”, where admission to the museum is $15 for adults, $10 for children and free for children four and under.
The museum is stroller friendly with plenty of room between exhibits. The only exception is the two opportunities where you board a plane.
Right past security, don’t forget to grab your preflight checklist and scavenger hunt sheets. The museum showcases Delta’s history, including several full-size planes, uniforms from all different destinations throughout the years, and different memorabilia.
Inside the museum, you’ll have the chance to board a retired 767. On board, you’ll be able to see a collection of different items from Delta’s history, while the front of the plane has been left intact. Take a seat and watch the “in-flight” movie of how this plane came to rest in the museum. I feel like this is an excellent opportunity to familiarize young children with what they can expect on an actual flight. Today’s planes might be a little bit more modern, with more leg room, but the subtle differences will probably go unnoticed by children. The seats have tray tables that open, window shades that move and emergency manuals in the pocket in front of you. Even on a day as busy as when we were there, we sat as long as we wanted, and no one was hurrying us along.
After you see everything in the museum hangar, head across the parking lot to visit the 747 Experience. This exhibit is a full size 747 airplane, that you can board. Inside you’ll learn all about these aircraft and have the opportunity to sit in the upper deck and imagine you are jetting off to an exotic locale. In order to view this exhibit, you need to leave plenty of time. They stop allowing people to board 45 minutes prior to the museum closing.
For an additional $425, up to four members of your family can spend an hour in the flight simulator experience that was once used to train Delta pilots.
Visit the Delta Flight Museum
We enjoyed our time at the museum and have a few tips to make your trip go smoothly.
Make sure you check the website for current museum times and any events that may close it to the public.
Food and drink are not allowed in the museum, with the exception of baby bottles.
Make sure you enter this address into your GPS – 1060 Delta Blvd, Atlanta, GA. In Google Maps or your GPS, type in “33.655043, -84.420127” as your destination and you will be led to the Museum’s Security Gate entrance. The address I first entered for the museum, led us to the short-term parking lot, and wasted a lot of our time.
Because you are entering Delta’s corporate office area, regulations require every member of your party 18 and over present an ID at the security gate of the parking lot.
Ticketing information and current museum hours can be found here.
Delta Flight Museum
1060 Delta Boulevard, Building B, Department 914
Atlanta, GA
404.715.7886
We hope your family enjoys the Delta Flight Museum as much as we did. If you go, let us know how your family liked the museum!