Okay. So, after going to Disney so many times, I now find that I spend most of my time on the rides (and in queue lines) searching for hidden mickeys. It has become an obsession. So much so that I think I actually have more fun with the search than I do with the ride itself. I’ll get off a ride with my family all excited because, “I found a hidden mickey!”
For example, last trip, we rode Spaceship Earth twice. The first time just to ride it. But during the ride I found 2 hidden mickeys. So, I told the family where I saw them and we went on it again later to point them out. (The second time was unfortunate, though, because the ride broke down for about 30 minutes. They turned on the lights and were threatening to escort us off the ride. But eventually they got it running again.
The book can be fun to have to consult during your trip - especially a Kindle/iBooks version you can have on your phone. I think my all-time favorite is the Garden Grill one which features an old school Mickey hiding in the grass mural to the left as you enter. It can be very tough to pick out, but it’s cool when you do…
I have the Hidden Mickey’s app on my phone and love ticking off the ones that I find. It only gives you hints if you ask for them, but they do give you locations to look in.
Like the Disney version of geocaching!
Of course, my “favorite” hidden mickey is the one that no longer exists: Hollywood Studios. The entire park was a giant hidden mickey, originally. Too many changes since then and it no longer resembles even a mutant Mickey. But it was cool, originally.
The first time I ever heard about hidden Mickeys was on the Great Movie Ride. The ride stopped for some reason, and we were stuck in the Wizard of Oz room for about 45 minutes. The tour guide took that opportunity to give us trivia information, including the fact that the Wizard of Oz room contained the smallest believed hidden Mickey in all of WDW. When looking at one of the giant flowers, the balls on the ends of three of the stamens lined up enough to make a Mickey. From that point forward, I’ve been enjoying the hunt. We found three in Splash Mountain the last trip, for example.
