Commonly Asked Questions
Since the 1940s, Olympic Game Farm in Sequim, WA has been dedicated to the welfare and well-being of animals. As a drive-through wildlife exhibit, we are entirely funded by tourists and are a fun place to experience wildlife at your own pace. We strive to be a source of wildlife education for families and tourists!
Letter from Robert Beebe, President
With over 200 animals on-site, our driving tour leaves our visitors with vivid memories of these amazing creatures; experiences which, at first are hard to imagine, become pleasantly surprising. Friendly llamas and yak eat bread from your hand, clowning bears stand up and wave, and the elk and buffalo peacefully graze in the pastures.
Olympic Game Farm worked exclusively for Walt Disney Studios for 28 years, filming here at the farm and on the Olympic Peninsula, as well as on many different set locations. A few popular titles produced with our past animal actors are “Charlie the Lonesome Cougar,” “The Incredible Journey,” “White Wilderness,” and “Grizzly Adams” television and movie series. In 2012, we had used our black bear “Kitty” and wolf “Brutus” in “Serenity Farms”. In winter of 2013, we used “Kitty” once again in a National Geographic documentary on black bear in the city. Summer of 2014, “Leland” a black tail deer was used in the filming of “Captain Fantastic” as well as Olympic Game Farm used as a filming location for a scene.
After the death of Walt and Roy Disney, Disney Studios began to move away from the nature films that had been so dear to Walt’s heart. In 1972, with the approval of the Disney Studios for using the Disney name, Olympic Game Farm, Inc. was opened to the public. Our founders Lloyd and Catherine Beebe retired from the filming industry and focused solely on caring for their animal actors, concentrating on offering “in need” captive bred animals a new and loving home. Olympic Game Farm will continue to accept in-need wildlife, as space permits and with the proper authority approvals. We cannot accept local animals from the wild without proper permission from Washington State Fish and Wildlife.
Lloyd Beebe passed along his trait, his dedication, and his love for wildlife to his grandsons Robert Beebe and James Beebe, along with their uncle Kenneth Beebe, who have taken over the daily operations of the Olympic Game Farm since 2008.
Thank you for your interest,
Robert L. Beebe
President, OGF
Recognitions
We won the Wildlife Conservation of the Year award in 1996 from the Washington Association of Conservation Districts (WACD). Lloyd and Catherine Beebe and Olympic Game Farm were honored through a Senate Resolution 8612 on January 20, 2011. Lloyd Beebe won Filmdom’s Famous Five’s 1960 from Film Daily.
FAQs
Are pets allowed inside our vehicle while driving?
Yes, pets are allowed as long as they are kept inside an enclosed vehicle and unable to escape your vehicle. All pets must be on a leash when outside the vehicle in permitted areas.
Why was the game farm started?
In the 1950’s to 1972, Olympic Game Farm (then called Disney’s Wild Animal Ranch) was originally designed as a holding facility for the animal actors of Disney Studios. During breaks from filming, the animals were trained, housed, and cared for while waiting for future filming. Disney Studios had asked us to keep the public and cameras out of the Farm.
However, in the summer of 1972 after Roy Disney’s passing, we allowed people in to see what the Farm was all about. This informal opening was also a test to see if we could achieve our long-term goals in caring for the animals without a steady income from Disney Studios—to see if we could make it on our own. After that summer, we let Disney Studios know how well we did. Disney Studios ultimately held a vote from their Board of Directors and decided it was ok to continue to be open to the public and retain any earnings received. That same year, we officially opened to the public as a private wildlife organization and became incorporated in 1973.
IMPORTANT
We do ask for customers to not take it upon themselves to decide what is best to feed our animals. Any food items other than the bread brought to feed will be held at the gate until the tour is over and it will be returned. Violators will be asked to leave.
We ask this, not only because of the U.S.D.A. rule, but also because each animal is carefully monitored and fed daily. Some of the animals are not allowed certain foods due to medical reasons, dental problems, allergies, being strict carnivores, etc.
For the best interest of our animals, it is important only wheat or whole grain bread from the Game Farm is fed to them. Produce or meat could make the animals sick.
The busiest weekends are Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are the busiest days of those two holiday weekends. Saturday and Sunday can see over 500 cars each day with peak times from ranging from 11 a.m. to 4-5 p.m. Traffic congestion throughout the Farm is always a concern during this time and we ask that all visitors be conscious and courteous to other visitors who are also trying to enjoy themselves as they drive around the Farm. Remember, your receipt is good all day until closing so that you can go around multiple times as needed. Also, our animals do get tired towards the afternoon/evening and can/will start to ignore people as the day wears on.
On a typical summer week, Saturday would be the busiest day and slowly tapers to the lowest day of Wednesday, then building back up each day. Beginning from 11 a.m., the peak traffic begins and eventually lessens after 3 p.m. as the animals grow tired and head to their sleeping areas for the evening.
Our employees do work as fast as possible to keep the entry traffic lines moving smoothly and quickly; however, the lines move as fast as our patrons allow us to work. We encourage that our visitors already have family plans/arrangements (such as who is paying and with what form of payment, also to know the ages of children, any discounts, etc.) made prior to entering the Farm.