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Orange Bird Photo Hunt

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ADMINISTRATORS
Wednesday
Feb012012

Imaaaaaagination

Let’s take a look at Figment and long-lost Dreamfinder at their original EPCOT Center home.

We’ve recreated the track layout of the original Journey Into Imagination and compared it to the layout of the current attraction. You’ll notice it was originally much longer. And wait... Is the current load are on top of what used to be that grand turn-table show scene?? Hmm. For an overview of the Journey Into Imagination ride visit our friends at LOST EPCOT.


Photos

The following photos were submitted to us as part of our recent Photo Hunt (unless stated otherwise).

The beautiful, shiny, (and clean) glass pyramids. Notice the wonderful plant life. It’s as if it’s spilling into the pavilion from The Land next door. This photo is from Ryan R.

Shapes! EPCOT Center Future World was a wonderland of interesting shapes. The upward flowing waterfall is so imaginative. The next two photos are from Brett of WDW Fan Boys.

Nice matching socks, guys.

Dreamfinder and Figment

They were such a big hit together. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall in the meetings where they decided to get rid of them. 

Karate Kid, is that you? Look at those shirts. A Future World t-shirt? Fantastic.

Figment topiary.

These next two photos were from a different photo hunt. In preparation for a certain Epcot celebration Cast Members submitted old photos. These are from Gregory. Has there ever been such a unique meet-and-greet? Didn’t the duo seem so lifelike?

Leap Frog Fountains

As a kid I was MESMERIZED by these. I couldn’t believe water could act in such a way. I believe this was second thing I told my friends in California after returning from my first EPCOT Center trip. The very first thing was "we got to ride the ride inside the big ball from the commercials".

The next four photos are from Shaun Ortolano.

I love the lamp posts in the next photo. And the coloring in the photo is super pretty. This is from David of Futureprobe.

Dreamcatcher

As a kid I never knew there were five of these vehicles. In fact there were five identical Dreamcatcher scenes altogether. Each set of ride vehicles attached itself to a large turn table with one fifth of the table and one of the five show scenes visible. This way riders could view the 2+ minute scene without backing up ride vehicles behind them. It was a brilliant thing.

While working at Epcot I would occasionally find my way to the backside of the old turn table. It was clear the thing was welded in place once it was no longer used (starting in 1998). It was pointed out to me that the table slowly “screwed itself into the ground over the years”. I wish I had photos. I imagine the whole mechanism would have to be completely thrown out if they ever wanted to resurrect this scene again.

Thank you Katherine A. for this great close-up shot of the Dreamcatcher.

And Shaun Ortolano for this one.

You can read my little story of how I obtained a piece of the Dreamcatcher blimp here.

Shaun also sent in this beauty. The use of white set work and colored lights in the original attraction was so fresh and fanciful.

Merchandise

Here Figment appears in a gift shop display in the great CentoriumAnyone else miss the Centorium?? As a kid that was the ultimate in theme park gift shops in my opinion. And figment had a great presence there. Photos from Shaun.

 

Related posts:

Surviving Pieces of Journey Into Imagination
EPCOT Construction from the Air
EPCOT Center Construction Photos: Future World
Disneyland Meets EPCOT Center
Walt's Wife Talks About EPCOT Center
HORIZONS the way you wish you knew it.
THEN AND NOW: Epcot Future World [Part 1]
Daredevil Circus Spectacular



Monday
Jan232012

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


Friday
Jan132012

Photo Hunt Update

We bring you a few photos submitted to our ImagineeringDisney.com Photo Hunt. Additionally we answer a few questions.

Any of these spark curiosity? Is there something you'd like to know more about? Let us know.

 

UPDATE:


We've had a GREAT turnout so far. A big thanks to all who have submitted. Many of you have "hunted" for and found some fantastic old photos. We've yet to see a single bad or uninteresting photo submitted. Every one has been wonderful. Many of the photos at first glance appear quite “normal”. But looking twice brings forth details that rarely if ever show up online.


How many photos were submitted??

Hundreds. Many more than we expected.


Where were most the photos taken?

We’ve been somewhat surprised to see that the majority of the photos submitted (maybe 85%) were taken at Walt Disney World. This is a surprise because for some reason it seems that old Disneyland photos (perhaps because of it's older age) surface more often. Either way, we are thrilled with all the photos from Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT Center, Disney-MGM Studios, and various resorts. Any Animal Kingdom photos floating around out there? Specifically of things that no longer exist? Or even some California Adventure Superstar Limo pics? Or old shots of the overseas parks?


Would it be ok to send videos?

YES. We would LOVE old video footage of the parks. We prefer links to videos you’ve already uploaded online. You can upload to Vimeo or YouTube or any other video hosting site and send us the link. Most of these sites are free and offer privacy if you don’t want strangers finding your footage.


Will the “Hunt” continue?

Yes. Keep the photos and videos coming. There will be not end date to the Photo Hunt. We look forward to using these little gems in our post for a very long time.

 

For more info about the Photo Hunt, click here