The National WWII Museum

Unless you're only in New Orleans to party on Bourbon Street, this stop simply MUST be on your itinerary. We're not even particularly interested in history, but everyone we talked to steered us towards this museum. We thought that we'd spend the morning there, then move onto something more to our liking. OMGwe were BLOWN away! We were there by opening and stayed until closing. We still saw only a fraction of the exhibits. It turned out to be the favorite thing we did on our trip. We enjoyed the 4D IMAX movie, too (be sure to book ahead because they sell out). It nicely tied everything together. I hear that the Tang experience was well worth it, too, but by the time I inquired about it at 11:00, they were sold out for the day. We also heard (too late) about an early morning museum tour that was excellent. In any event, show up at opening in order to be ahead of the wave - this place gets majorly crowded. Word is out that it's a must-do while in town. Heck, this museum is so good that it might even be worth a trip to New Orleans just to experience it!

We opted for a one day ticket and were able to see a good chunk of the museum. We visited in March 2020 during the Coronavirus scare so all the interactive touch screens had been turned off, but there was still plenty to see. We thought the museum was a nice blend of historical artifacts, stuff to read, and videos to watch. The 4D movie narrated by Tom Hanks is well worth the money. You can easily spend a full day here. The sit down restaurant inside was pretty good!

We spent between 4 and five hours exploring the exhibits and presentation as well as taking in the 4-D performance (really loved it, totally worth extra time and $). Honestly, we could have been there for a day at least, however, it is a personal interest. The aged school children were blasting through the place and if you take your family and you have kids under high school they'll lose interest and you won't want to spend more than 3 or 4 hours.

Even though we are Canadian, we enjoyed learning a bit more about the war. The movie (narrated by several famous people including Tom Hanks) was VERY well done. We only had two hours to tour the museum so the $35 price was a little expensive for us. It is a place you can easily spend several hours (or even a full day) in. Much to see and learn about.

You only need to see some of the exhibits and watch the multi- media presentation Beyond All Boundaries to become completely involved in the experiences this huge museum offers. Even if you have a good grasp of World War II history, you will find a LOT more to learn. There is a restaurant called The American Sector serving good enough food that you can expect a wait to be seated. Then, you find that the food and service are excellent. Realism prevails throughout the several buildings. There are still exhibits and active video ones. Plan to spend 1-2 days if you want to see it all. It is one of the most outstanding museum presentations I have ever seen. It is a must see!!

My professional historian friend summed it up that museum up for me as a "theme park." Indeed it is very interactive and what it may lack in some senses for hardcore historians in research and fact, it makes up by presentation and interactivity.
It has greatly expanded since I was last there in 2011 and one needs at least one full day to see everything sufficiently. Be sure to see the movie that Tom Hanks narrates "Beyond All Boundaries" with its 4D presentation (yes, keep thinking theme park!). And make sure to keep interacting using the electronic "dogtag" they give you before you start your journey on the 1940s style train that took many ordinary American civilians and made them "Citizen Soldiers."

This museum was really great and well worth it. You should put aside a good portion of your day to see everything. We are not huge museum goers but were there around 5-6 hours. We had visited Normandy, the American Cemetary and Omaha and Utah beaches a year ago and seeing the d-day section was really great. There were also some special sections that were nice about the capture of a nazi war criminal and another section where artists made things out of glass pieces that a priest found around Europe. These 2 were special exhibits that rotate. Everything is spread out nicely in different buildings and people are always around to help. Make sure to spend the extra money to see the 48 minute 4D movie narrated by Tom Hanks (Beyond All Boundaries). It was excellent and really explained the whole process of WW2 and how the USA got involved. I'd say this is more of a museum for adults and not so much for young kids as they would not be interested. There's a lot of interactive stuff too. A great museum well worth visiting while in NOLA. Get there early when they open to make the most of your visit before it gets too crowded.

Wow, what a great and fun and educational museum. Their film with Tom Hanks was well worth the cost, very stunning and moving. The entire museum was very interactive and filled with great videos of the war in both theaters. We spent an entire day and was so well worth it for the overall quality. Highly recommend this museum.

The exhibits, videos and movies were very well done and informative. You learn about what was happening in the different countries leading up to the war and then the events that happened in the European side of the war (on one floor of the building) and the events on the Pacific side of the war (on another floor). There are lot of personal stories on display and many artifacts including airplanes, weapons, clothes and personal effects. Only spent one day there but can probably spend many days there looking at the exhibits more closely. Would highly recommend visiting this museum

We really enjoyed the museum once we got to it. It is a good walk from the French Quarter, but you can do the hop on hop off bus or take a cab to get there instead. The place is under construction, so it was a bit roughed up. Exhibits were very immersive and you could spend a whole day here if you listen to all of the audios and videos. You do get a very significant discount if you decide to come back for a second day within 7 days of buying your ticket. The planes in the large building where you can walk on catwalks to get up close to them were great, unless you have vertigo (there is actually a sign posted saying people with vertigo should not go on the walkways on the 3rd or 4th floors. Friendly and helpful staff. Overall, a really nice museum. I do not know what they are building right now, but I would like to see what it is once it is done.