Need to get film developed? (Plus - happy surprise!)

We found 20+ rolls of undeveloped film at Andy's dad's house. We had NO idea what was on them, but I knew I had to find out.

I started googling where to get film developed since you can no longer just walk into any store and get it done. (Side note: have you ever been to the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playground at Disneyworld? There's a giant roll of 35mm film and a few years ago I overheard a mom trying to explain what it was to her 4 year old. Kids are going to be increasingly confused by all our old technology!)

Anyhoo, I found a ton of places that will develop for $10 a roll - pretty steep when you have SO many to work through.

Then I found mpix.com - they offer lots of photo services but the one I'm most interested in, of course, is film development. Here's how it works:

You request mailers from them and an envelope of 3 mail-able bags show up at your house. You put one roll of film (or even a disposable camera) in each mailer and mail it back - postage is free both ways! Within 24 hours of receiving your film, they email you and let you know your photos have been scanned. You then pay 19 cents per photo to "unlock" your photos and see them.

At that point, you can browse through the gallery and order prints or you can do what we're going to do - wait til they're all scanned and order a DVD of photos.

So, I mailed my film on Friday and got an email Monday night that said my photos were ready. There were only 23 and I was disappointed that out of 3 rolls, only that many photos turned out. They were from the 90s when Andy's brother was a college cheerleader. Lots of photos of him being a boss and holding girls up!

I had been hoping for childhood photos, though, so I was a little disappointed. (No offense to Michael, I was impressed by his cheerleading photos! I just really wanted to see baby Michael and baby Andy!)

Then yesterday, I received another email- more photos were ready! WOO! I was so pleasantly surprised that more had turned out.

I was even MORE pleasantly surprised when I saw the photos were from a 1980s childhood trip to Disneyworld. This is like GOLD.

 Andy holds on tight to Michael!

Andy meets Winnie the Pooh!

I was giddy all day. Vintage Disney is the best - and people you LOVE at Disney in the 80s? The absolute best.

I'm super pleased and ordered many more mailers so I can get these rolls of film developed even faster. I also was able to bring home his old Minolta SLR camera - I haven't shot on film in forever but I'd love to play around again - I took a few photography classes in high school and college and loved it. 

So, one note - since the film is majorly expired - the development is off and the photos were tinted purple. My incredible friend Emily helped us out and restored these photos for us in Photoshop. She's the best and they make me super happy!

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