Sunday, November 02, 2003
Hidden Mickeys
One of my favorite things to do while wandering about Walt Disney World is to search for Hidden Mickeys. Hidden Mickey’s are Disney Imagineer’s way of leaving their mark on their creations. A Hidden Mickey is a likeness of Mickey Mouse concealed somewhere within in the design of a Disney attraction. Most often, a Hidden Mickey takes on the silhouetted shape of Mickey’s head and ears (one large circle with two smaller circled on top in the appropriate place).
Here are a few pages that have pictures of Hidden Mickeys:
While I was at Disney last month, I met the author of a new book available on the topic. Steve Barrett, author of the recently-published “Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide to Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets” just happened to be standing next to me while we were waiting to meet Deb Wills, the force behind the All Ears Net -- Walt Disney World Information Guide, and we struck up a conversation. His book offers six different scavenger hunts for tracking down Hidden Mickeys – what fun! The scavenger hunts come complete with clues, hints, and points to be scored. Steve actually moved to Florida from another state to be closer to Walt Disney World, and says that there isn’t a week that goes by that he isn’t somewhere on property.
In my experience, lots of Hidden Mickeys can be found just by staying alert while waiting in lines for the attractions, so this can be a fun way to make the waiting time pass by more quickly. I have found that I can sometimes get a bit obsessed and start seeing Hidden Mickey’s everywhere (there's one in my cappuccino right now!). But I am not the only obssessive Mickey hunter. Disney Magazine features a monthly photo sent in by readers that depicts a “Serendipitous Mickey” – in other words, a Mickey that sorta shows up outta nowhere. For example, you take a picture of somebody and when you get the print back there happens to be a couple of road signs or part of a poster behind the person’s head that makes their head form the familiar Mickey silhouette. Or you take a picture of a flower and when you look closely at it, there is a perfect Mickey there that you hadn’t seen before.
Here are a few sites that explore the topic of Hidden Mickeys:
Happy hunting!
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Here are a few pages that have pictures of Hidden Mickeys:
- MouseTyme: Hidden Mickey's
- All Ears Net: Hidden Mickeys at the Animal Kingdom Conservation Station
- Andy Kelleman's Hidden Mickeys
- Netcot: Hidden Mickey at MGM Studio
While I was at Disney last month, I met the author of a new book available on the topic. Steve Barrett, author of the recently-published “Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide to Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets” just happened to be standing next to me while we were waiting to meet Deb Wills, the force behind the All Ears Net -- Walt Disney World Information Guide, and we struck up a conversation. His book offers six different scavenger hunts for tracking down Hidden Mickeys – what fun! The scavenger hunts come complete with clues, hints, and points to be scored. Steve actually moved to Florida from another state to be closer to Walt Disney World, and says that there isn’t a week that goes by that he isn’t somewhere on property.
In my experience, lots of Hidden Mickeys can be found just by staying alert while waiting in lines for the attractions, so this can be a fun way to make the waiting time pass by more quickly. I have found that I can sometimes get a bit obsessed and start seeing Hidden Mickey’s everywhere (there's one in my cappuccino right now!). But I am not the only obssessive Mickey hunter. Disney Magazine features a monthly photo sent in by readers that depicts a “Serendipitous Mickey” – in other words, a Mickey that sorta shows up outta nowhere. For example, you take a picture of somebody and when you get the print back there happens to be a couple of road signs or part of a poster behind the person’s head that makes their head form the familiar Mickey silhouette. Or you take a picture of a flower and when you look closely at it, there is a perfect Mickey there that you hadn’t seen before.
Here are a few sites that explore the topic of Hidden Mickeys:
- Spacecoast Hidden Mickeys Home Page
- All Ears Net -- Walt Disney World Information Guide: Hidden Mickeys
- The DIS: Hidden Mickeys
- Netcot’s: Hidden Mickeys
Happy hunting!
e-mail this writer
