Photo Hunt!
Admin 
Dig through your basement, search through Grandma's attic, it's time for the ImagineeringDisney.com Photo Hunt.
We are looking for old Disneyland and Walt Disney World photos.
Remember your mother making you and your siblings stand still for those obnoxious pictures? Or that uncle with the new camera slowing you down when you wanted to run to Adventure Thru Inner Space? Today the old photos they took are little treasures. We just need to dig them up and share them with the world.
What kinds of park photos?
Anything old. Like 1980s and earlier. Or even more recent things that don't exist anymore. Horizons photos perhaps. Or people in the lobby of Disneyland's Country Bear Jamboree. Or photos without people in them. Maybe a photo of a cast member selling balloons or people eating in an old restaurant. Or hotel. Anything that is not seen today! Or photos of things seen today that might look a little different. Your photos are faded and scratched? Not a problem. We love those kinds. Feel like they are not interesting enough? "Uninteresting" photos sometimes tell the best stories or include some rare thing in the background.
What will we do with them?
So many great things. We always need old photos when writing new posts and doing research. We would love to post some of these photos just for the fun of showing them to the world. There are so many mysteries that need to be solved and your photos might be the key. Of course we won't sell them or use them for any kind of monetary gain.
Want to share a story that goes with your photos??
Absolutely. That would thrill us.
How to send them?
Email them to imagineering.disney@gmail.com. Large numbers of photos might require multiple emails. That's ok. Have only one photo? That's perfectly fine too. Include a little info about the photos. Include dates if you know them. If you know nothing about the photos, send 'em anyway. If you wish to receive credit for the photos, include the name, alias, and/or link you'd like us to include in the photo credits. Other special instructions are welcome as well. We are flexible.
What else?
Pay? We can't pay for the photos but we can help you share them with fans like yourself. We guarentee these photos will further this fun and wholesome Disney history research.
This week I dug through countless boxes and albums looking for early shots of the parks. I had that little fantasy running through my head that Grandpa might have taken a photo of the Frito Kid or the Progress City Model when it was above Carousel of Progress or the Orange Bird animatronic. No luck. But the photos I did find were super fun to discover.
Here's one from the early 80s (above). My father was taking the photo. I remember this trip and that Fantasyland was finally open again. During the previous trip it was closed because they were building "New Fantasyland". My brother and I are wearing matching striped socks and short shorts. At least the whole family wasn't matching. In a later Walt Disney World trip I remember we all wore matching shirts. When we left the hotel (some cheap place on 192) my dad slipped back in the room and came out with a different color shirt and made sure my mother didn't notice. On the Monorail she figured it out and we kids thought it was hilarious.
Begin the hunt today!
See the Photo Hunt UPDATE.
Disneyland, Walt Disney World
Reader Comments (12)
Hey, I love the vintage posters you feature. Where'd you get them? or if you made them, can you make a post about how to make them?
Thanks Steven. I make them in Adobe Illustrator. And that's good idea. We might have to post a how-to.
Awesome! I'll start emailing!
Would you be interested in videos? We just digitized a bunch of old family film reels from when my parents were kids. As a result, I've now got probably about 10 minutes of footage from the late 60's-early 70's.
I remember seeing an old photo of my mom in Disneyland. Will send it to you as soon I see it. I hope you will feature it. LOL
Videos would be GREAT. You can upload them to Vimeo or YouTube or whatever and send us a link. Or send us a link to the video file if you want.
I know who those two little boys in that picture are!!! You are so cute. :)
Some of the best pictures I've ever seen of me at work. I'd like to use some in my upcoming book about my years as Dreamfinder. How do I contact the owners? Ron Schneider (dreemfinder@yahoo.com)
I definitely would love to see a tutorial on how you do the vintage posters and banners. They look fantastic!
Are 2001 photos considered too new?
I visited the WDW in November 2001, when the Sorcerer's hat was just opened 2-3 weeks ago. I remember being dissapointed that the kiosks were for informational purposes, and not video game arcades (
I was six; don't blame me!) I'm not sure if I have any close up pictures of the kiosks, but I'll check...I'll also check if there were any "100 years of magic" specials my family captured.
I'm in! I think we can find some slides at my Granddaddy's house! My dad talks about his trips to Dland in the 60's and I bet they made some photos while they were there! Imma look!