EYE CANDY: Balloons!

We bring you photos of those good old iconic Mickey Mouse balloons.

I don't know the history of the Mickey-shaped balloons. I do know I loved picking one out as a little kid every time we went to Disneyland.

Spiffy old balloon vendor costumes...

This next photo is wonderful. It was sent to us by a fan of the blog, Jeffrey Lipack, as part of our Photo Hunt. Look at the grass hill!

These next two were sent in by Daniel Zuccarelli (@PerpetualGeek, PGMShow.net). I love Main Street morning shots like this. If you look closely you'll see a few kids have already gotten their balloon for the day.

Speaking of kids.... This kid is selling the balloons. Lucky guy. Look behind the balloons on the left. The artwork on the bag is fun. It features a very early Mickey and Minnie with that old Walt Disney World logo we all love. Click here for a clearer image.

On a date with a sailor. Great balloon and a fantastic pennant. Pennants were one of my favorite souvenirs after growing out of balloons. Where are all my pennants now?? Sadly I have no clue.

Lone balloons.

Characters with balloons.

Chip and Dale in Rescue Rangers garb.

Chip and Dale in the nude.

Roger Rabbit.

The "new school" version of the Mickey balloon. I actually love these balloons-in-balloons. It's a rare thing to take a classic product and improve on it without ruining any of its original qualities.

Related posts:

EYE CANDY: National Geographic Aug '63 [Part 1]
EYE CANDY: Not Having Fun at Disneyland
Vintage Disneyland Home Movies- Meeting Walt Disney Himself
Disneyland 1955 Model Close-ups
Magic Kingdom Map Found in a Main Street Wall
THEN AND NOW: Disneyland [Part 1]
THEN AND NOW: MK Fantasyland [Part 1]
EYE CANDY: Behind the Scenes Muppeteering

Photo Hunt!

 

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.

YEAR IN REVIEW– 2011

Let's look back at some popular posts of 2011.

Walt Disney's Carolwood Pacific and Other Backyard Railroads
We did lots of investigating in order to map out Walt Disney's very own backyard railroad and compare it to the current property.

EPCOT Center Construction Photos: Future World
We dug up some fantastic old construction photos. Many had never posted online before.

National Geographic Aug '63
This two part post was very popular. Filled with amazing Disneyland photos from the early 60s.

 

Ride Concept Competition
Our first-ever competition was a huge success. We asked for your ideas for new rides and received so many great ones. You can check out the winners here.

ABANDONED DISNEY: Haunted Mansion Hitchhiking Ghosts
An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at one of the greatest attraction special effects of all time.

Not Having Fun at Disneyland
Old Disneyland photos of kids not having fun at Disneyland. Fun for a laugh!

ABANDONED DISNEY: River Country [Part 4]
Our most popular post of all time is still our first River Country post. Subsequent River Country posts are also very popular. Take a look at Disney's only abandoned park.

Bin Laden Mansion Minutes From Walt Disney World
The day Osama bin Laden was captured and killed we discovered that his brother had a mansion minutes north of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. The home is now abandoned.

Walt Disney Studio Post Production Behind-the-Scenes
We found this fantastic video about Walt's studio. Lots of great footage.

Lake Buena Vista: The Other Prototype City with a Peoplemover
A Peoplemover and a Monorail at Downtown Disney?? It was supposed to happen.

EPCOT Center Graphics
Enjoy Mitch's custom graphics inspired by and featuring some of that wonderful Future World architecture.

Frito Kid Mysteries Continue
The very obscure and mysterious Frito Kid once lived at Disneyland. We pin-point his exact locations.

THEN AND NOW: Disneyland [Part 1]
Our "THEN AND NOW" series is one of our most popular. We've posted many comparisons from Walt Disney World in the past. This year we've added Disneyland.

Create Your Own Background Music
Quite possibly the most fun you'll ever have clicking around one of our posts. Easily create music with a click of a mouse. You might need this when scoring your own attraction.

Thanks for a great year. We are thrilled to welcome many new visitors. Keep coming back and feel free to join us on Twitter for daily tweets.

Here's a look at last year's Year in Review.