1. You don’t need a reservation anymore—but it’s still helpful.
When the museum first opened, a timed ticket was a must (fueled at least in part by the popularity of the Hayao Miyazaki retrospective at the time). Now that it’s a few years old, timed tickets are no longer required but they’re still helpful to have—especially on busy weekends if you want to make sure you have a specific time slot secured.
Regardless, a ticket runs $25 for adults (and admission is free for those 17 and under). Special exhibitions are included in the cost, too.
You don’t need a ticket at all if you just want to pop into the gift shop or explore the lobby’s free Spielberg Family Gallery—but that small space of TVs playing some classic film clips isn’t really worth the trip alone.