I’m a huge Disney fan, but I know that I’m not the biggest fan out there. Sometimes someone else’s fandom totally shocks me but I’m always impressed by what they collect or know. I also love hearing about how some people own pieces of Disney parks that they won at an auction. I’ve heard of the auctions before, but for some reason I never really looked into them that much.
But when the auction that was happening this year was announced, somehow I couldn’t avoid hearing about it! And when I saw that there was an exhibit of many of the items for sale that was free to go to, I knew I had to go. I was just going to go to check out all the things since I knew everything would be out of my price range. I asked around to my Disney friends to see if anyone wanted to go with me, and my friend Justin was able to meet me at the exhibit this week so we could check it out together.
This auction is a collection of memorabilia that is owned by one man who has collected these items over the past 25 years. It’s incredible to see the things that he had and when Justin and I walked in we were instantly overwhelmed and beyond excited. So we tried to look that things in order as you walk around the room because we didn’t want to miss anything.
While there were a few things that are estimated to go for about $100 that I might watch the auction for, the things that got me the most excited were the crazy things that will probably go for more than what my car cost. If I had the room and money, I would be wanting to get a lot of things. But for now, I just had to admire them all and be jealous of who got to buy them.
I have no clue what I would do with this neon “D” from the Disneyland Hotel, but seriously it would be amazing to own it! I’ve heard of celebrities buying other Disneyland letters and putting them in their yards, so I’m guessing that’s what will happen with this one too.
Or this serpent from the old submarine ride. The new submarine ride does have a small tribute to the serpents from the old ride, but for some reason in my head the serpents were not nearly as giant as this was! I was shocked to see how long it was and could only imagine the fun ways to put this in someone’s house or yard.
They have one of the Jose animatronics from the Tiki Room that still works and has the soundtrack with it so you can make it work just like it does when it’s in the show! I didn’t think it worked when we saw it and Justin asked one of the employees there if it did. I thought it was a joke but she was able to start it and it moved just like it was in the park! They also had other animatronics from the Tiki Room up for auction.
I’ve been looking at miniature replicas of the stretching room portraits from the Haunted Mansion for a while and I have a feeling I’ll buy them eventually. But those are cheap (and tiny) compared to these actual ones from the ride! It was just so fun to get to look at them up close and not while I was rushing to get onto the ride.
One of the things that made me laugh so hard was seeing the different Disney trash cans that were up for auction. I noticed them first and then the signs that were on them saying they were not to be used for trash. I wish these weren’t going to go for so much, but I have a feeling that a lot of people would love to own a Disney trash can!
And there were ride vehicles up for auction too! I have no clue what I would do with any of them, but I would love to have one! There were so many more ride vehicles for sale than I got pictures of, like a Doom Buggy and Space Mountain car. But I think the People Mover car was one of my favorites. There are so few left out there so I’m sure this will be one of the most expensive items.
And because the auction company knew that this exhibit would draw a ton of fans who weren’t necessarily looking to purchase something, they catered to the fans by having a few fun photo spots. I know we missed some, but I loved getting to be in the ride car for Mr. Toad and in the old Skyway car.
We ended up doing about 2 laps around the room because we wanted to make sure there was nothing we missed and we wanted to take some more photos. And of course, there was a gift shop. They had some fun things related to the auction like shirts, but there were also other memorabilia for sale that were just for sale at a set price and not going to be up for auction. Some of the things were more reasonably priced and I debated about getting an animation cell that I would have loved to have, but I knew that I didn’t need it so I walked away.
I did end up buying the auction catalog that has all the items that will be up for auction so I could enjoy that. It would be incredible to own some of this Disney history, but to have a book with photos and descriptions of the items is still pretty awesome too. Many things for sale were posters or blueprints for rides so it’s fun to have that information to look at over and over.
If I had unlimited money and the space to put things, I know I’d be getting at least a few of the items up in the auction. I do have it as a goal in my head that one day I’ll be able to buy something in one of the future auctions. But for now, I have to just be happy that I was able to experience the exhibit and see all the amazing Disney history that someone has collected. And that was still pretty incredible to see.
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