Stop The Presses: Vintage Disneyland For Sale!

Interupting my regularly scheduled post, I wanted to post photos and details about an amazing Profiles in History auction that starts today at 11 am PST (as in Pacific Standard Time). If you're a vintage Disneyland enthusiast AND you're flush with money, then this is the auction for you! Let's get the gavel going with the first item (btw: what I have here does not begin to showcase all the items for sale):

Vintage Disneyland “main street penny arcade” Shooting Gallery game. (c. 1959) Vintage Chicago Coin Company “Long Range Bulls Eye Gallery”. Originally used in the Penny Arcade at Disneyland in California before being moved to the Magic Kingdom’s “Main Street Penny Arcade” at Walt Disney World, Florida in the 1970’s. The arcade was closed in 1995. Purchased directly from the Walt Disney Company in 1996 with Disney plaque. Featuring custom wood case built by Disney. Custom interior: mechanics and digital workings rebuilt in the late 1970s - 1980s by Disney Imagineers. In working order. One of only 3 known Disney shooting gallery machines in existence and the only working example. Measures approx. 69 x 24 x 51 in. Estimated Price: $4,000 - $6,000





Vintage Disneyland “main street penny arcade” Fortune Teller game. (c. 1944) Vintage “Selector Scope Fortune Teller” by Monarch Coin Machine Company. Originally used in the Penny Arcade at Disneyland in California before being moved to the Magic Kingdom’s “Main Street Penny Arcade” at Walt Disney World, Florida in the 1970s. The arcade was closed in 1995. Purchased directly from the Walt Disney Company in 1996 with Disney plaque. Featuring original wood case and mechanics. Original Walt Disney World amusement license stickers and other exterior and interior labels still applied. The vintage machine was recently, professionally serviced and is in working condition. One of only 2 known rescued examples. Measures approx. 82 x 25 x 16 in. Estimated Price: $4,000 - $6,000



Vintage Disneyland “Haunted Mansion” stretch painting. Originally conceived in 1951 by Disney artist Harper Goff, then finally completed after 7 years construction in 1969, The Haunted Mansion was not only one of the most complicated attractions ever created by Disneyland Imagineers, it instantly became one of the crowd’s favorites. “New Orleans Square” had already run out of buildable space at the time of the “Haunted Mansion’s” construction, so in order to move riders underground and off the actual Disneyland Park property a unique sort of elevator was constructed (2 of them, to keep traffic moving). Upon entry, what first appears to be a Victorian room suddenly begins stretching as wallpaper and portraits on the walls elongate and the room descends. The initial view of this painting is just a portrait of a matron holding a rose. The frame stretches revealing the matron sitting on the tombstone of her late husband, his marble bust with an axe in its head. Accomplished in acrylic on 42 x 121 in. heavy canvas with cutout slot holes in top and bottom mounting strips. Due to the nature of its use in the Haunted Mansion, these paintings (totaling 4 different scenarios) would need to be replaced from time to time. This is an original attraction-used painting, which was ultimately replaced with a print. According to an employee that worked on the ride, hand-painted canvases like this were only used until 1972. He recalls changing out the last hand-painted versions during a renovation after the 1972 earthquake. So this painting would have been in use between 1969 and 1972. This relic from one of Disneyland’s most treasured attractions remains in very good, attraction-used condition. Estimated Price: $25,000 - $35,000





Want to build your own Sleeping Beauty Castle? This auction is for you!

(2) Disneyland castle construction blueprints. (Walt Disney Productions, 1953) This set of (2) 42 x 30 in. blueprints are some of the original documents used during construction of Disneyland’s “Sleeping Beauty’s Castle” in February of 1955 - five months before the park’s opening day. WED Enterprises in Glendale, CA delivered these to the construction site in Anaheim, CA and were “Received at Disneyland” dated February 14 & 21, 1955. The prints were acquired at the 2nd Annual Disneyana Convention in the early 1980s as part of a small package of castle blueprints of only a handful known to exist. With some minor edge wear and tears. In construction-used, good condition. Estimated Price: $400 - $600



Original hand-silk screened cameo poster for the Disneyland “Pirates Of The Caribbean” attraction. This rare, studio-printed, 18.25 x 29 in. cameo poster for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction at “New Orleans Square” at Disneyland was the version that would have hung at the entrance to the ride. There were very few of these, exclusive in-park posters printed. The red and black ink on off-white heavy poster paper features caricatures of pirates and the text: Pirates of the Caribbean / Sail With The Tide / A thrilling adventure cruise through dark mysterious caverns where “Dead Men Tell No Tales” / See fun loving Pirates sack and burn a Caribbean seaport”. The poster exhibits negligible foxing. In overall, very good condition. Estimated Price: $3,000 - $5,000



Original hand-silk screened color poster for Disneyland’s “Alice in Wonderland” attraction. The colors remain exceptionally bright and vivid. Measures 36 in. x 54 in. In fine condition. Estimated Price: $400 - $600



Vintage lamp post sign for Disneyland “America The Beautiful” attraction. Original 1950s hand-silk screened color lamppost sign for the Disneyland “America The Beautiful” attraction featuring a badge shaped image of the capitol dome against a gold background and stylized pink trees in the foreground. The colors remain exceptionally bright and vivid. Measures 21 x 27 in. With one hairline scratch in the upper third of the badge. Otherwise, in very good condition. Estimated Price: $300 - $500



Vintage Disneyland lamp post sign for “Grand Canyon Diorama”. Original 1950s hand-silk screened color lamppost sign for the Disneyland “Grand Canyon Diorama” attraction. The colors remain exceptionally bright and vivid. Measures 21 x 27 in. In very good condition. Estimated Price: $300 - $500





This one is my personal favorite. What a great coffee-table-topper this would be!

Disney Imagineering “Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye” prototype ride model. (Disney, 1990s) With its patented ride system, 0.5-mile queue area and 50,000-square-foot show area, the “Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple Of The Forbidden Eye” was a groundbreaking ride for the Disneyland parks. 400 Imagineers worked on the project led by Tony Baxter and his key team including Imagineer John Stone. Estimated Price: $15,000 - $20,000



Stone hand-built this incredibly detailed, one-of-a-kind, 28 x 46 x 10 in. miniature model so that the Imagineering crew could time the ride and coordinate movements and actions. An animatic, virtual “walk-through” of the ride was filmed using this model. The impressive model is expertly constructed of wood, resin, and foam core elements and realistically hand-painted to appear as the interior of an ancient and cavernous stone temple.



All the most memorable infrastructure and features of the attraction are present, from the precarious rope bridge to the gigantic rolling boulder from the iconic movie franchise the attraction is drawn from. There are moving parts as well as modular sections of the model that can be removed. Stone later took the model home and painted and finished it for display and that is how it has survived. Subsequently, Stone added elements and markers to the model, making it an actual, functioning board game. Cards and game pieces are included. Imagineering models of Disney rides rarely if ever show up for public sale. A considerably rare piece of Disneyland attraction history. In very fine condition. Special shipping arrangements will apply.





I cannot believe this one is still around. Yet another gem!

Vintage Bell Divers with treasure chest from Disneyland original “Submarine Voyage”. Disneyland’s “Submarine Voyage” opened in “Tomorrowland” on June 14, 1959 delighting visitors and making Walt Disney the skipper of one of the largest fleets of submarines in the world. Guests would enter a sub and be theatrically transported to the very depths of the ocean where they would encounter animatronic sea creatures as well as fantasy characters like sea serpents and mermaids. The attraction was closed in 1998 and reopened in 2007 as the: “Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage”. Estimated Price: $8,000 - $12,000



This animatronic 37 x 40 x 18 in. Bell Diver prop was an underwater feature of the original Submarine Voyage in “The Graveyard of Lost Ships” sequence of the ride. Consisting of two deep-sea divers in bell diving helmets on a stone base, struggling with a treasure chest. This piece was acquired as a surprise lot in the Disneyland 50th Anniversary auction held July 15th, 2005. The base is made of fiberglass, painted like ancient sand stone with hieroglyphic characters carved into it. The divers are composed of heavy vinyl skins painted in yellow and green over mechanical armatures with hands attached to a weathered fiberglass treasure chest by steel axles. A central stainless steel rod extending from the base supports the treasure chest. Designed so when the figures are operated, their back-and-forth motion gives a seesaw action to the treasure chest suspended between them. The mechanism can still be manipulated manually to achieve the intended movement. The flexible skins show signs of water wear and age, although they remain fairly supple. The piece still has the smell of chlorinated water about it. Overall, in attraction-used, vintage good condition. Accompanied by a Disney certificate of verification. Special shipping arrangements will apply.



Vintage apple from “Snow White’s Scary Adventure” attraction at Disneyland. Prop poison apple (c. 1968) from the Disneyland attraction “Snow White’s Scary Adventure”. Apples like these were among the most frequently stolen items in the Magic Kingdom from opening day in 1955 until 1983 when Imagineers finally replaced the practical prop with a hologram. Up until then, there was always a basket of these kept close by to replace those snatched, sometimes as often as twice a day! The hollow plastic apple is painted with florescent UV red paint to react to the black light setting of the ride and has retained the wire on its stem that bound it to the witch’s outstretched hand. The apple shows signs of age and wear, but remains intact. A treasured piece of Disneyland (and artificial fruit) history. Estimated Price: $1,000 - $1,500



I am guessing this one was the inspiration for the hairy-legged pirate; it doesn't mention whether or not Marc Davis is the artist.

Original watercolor concept from “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction. Rare watercolor concept drawing for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction at Disneyland. Accomplished in pen and ink and watercolor on illustration paper. Estimated Price: $4,000 - $6,000





Original vintage artwork for The Blue Bayou Restaurant in Disneyland. Hand-painted artwork for The Blue Bayou Restaurant at “New Orleans Square” in Disneyland (c. 1970s). This is the atmospheric, fine dining restaurant that shares space with the popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction. Accomplished in copper and green gouache on 9.5 x 12 in. navy-blue textured artists’ board. Tape remnants on the verso. In fine condition. Estimated Price: $400 - $600



Interest in bidding live or by telephone? Don't delay...time is short!

See more vintage & current Disneyland photos on my Disneyland web pages.