Hidden Mickeys: How to search for them in Walt Disney World Florida with the kids

Disneyland Florida is one of THE best places to go with the kids anywhere in the world, so it can’t be possible to make it EVEN BETTER for them, can it? But it is – all you need to do is add in a little something extra for them, particularly if they kids are a little bit older, and the magic becomes more mysterious, and even more spectacular. Tell them about the Hidden Mickeys in the parks.

What are Hidden Mickeys in Disneyland?

The Hidden Mickey is a subtle, or sometimes not so subtle, silouette of the famous Disney character’s head. The classic shape is the three circles put together to look like our beloved friend’s head. It can be made up from pretty much anything; from flagstones, to spots, and paint spodges, to even plates, and saucers, planets and stars. You name it, if it’s got circles, then it’s fair game to be in a Hidden Mickey.

Originally, the design for EPCOT was meant to be more adult; so the usual characters from Disney were not to be included within the park. The imagineers that designed the park took this as a challenge so hid a few of them from time to time about the park.

From this humble beginning, the Imagineers are now encouraged to include them in the new constructions. As if Disney wasn’t exciting enough, they’ve managed to find an extra dimension for us all.

How to find Hidden Mickeys in Disneyland Florida

Disneyland is already pretty exciting, but the extra buzz from finding that Hidden Mickey is something to be cherished too. We spent two weeks in the park, and loved just looking out for them on our travels – you’d be amazed at some of the places you find them, and then again, some of the places you THINK you have found them.

You can take the “lets just see how we go” approach to Hidden Mickey hunting, if you like, but to be honest, this can be rather impossible. Life moves pretty fast within the Disney Parks as it is, and if you’re looking out all the time for those subtle three circles, you might just miss your turn, or even worse, step under a Disney float accidentally.

The best approach to is be a little more methodical, and even prepare in advance of you can…

For example, we would NEVER have spotted this particular Mickey in one of the Animal Kingdom shops if we hadn’t done a wee bit of research around it first.

Can you see it too?

Five tips for fawless Hidden Mickey hunting

Keep your eyes peeled at all times BUT don’t forget to relax and enjoy the view at the same time,
Always look out for the places where Mickey is easier to conceal:
- Anything that is vaguely circular, from flagstones, to plates and everything else in between,
- On the wall decorations in restaurants, and in the ride queues, particularly if there are some pictures to look at along the way,
- Signs for attractions, and even some of the decorations on the rides,
- Anything with spots, splodges or paint has GOT to be fair Hidden Mickey game,
- BE CAREFUL, the spots and splodges could BE the Hidden Mickey, but they can all so easily combine to MAKE the Hidden Mickey too; just like the picture above with the bees, and their hive in the Mercantile Animal Kingdom shop,
- Watch out for those painted animals, or decorations with patterns, if its wild, and it’s in Disney, no matter where it is, you might just find that it’s got a Hidden Mickey there or there abouts, and
- Look at the details in some of the props alongside your rides too; you would be surprised how sneaky those Imagineers are when it comes to the shapes of locks, and rivets in their construction.
Do your research inside the park before the visit some of the larger rides. It pays to take advantage of the free WiFi throughout the park, and have a little look at some of the amazing online resources for finding those Hidden Mickeys. We used a couple of sites on our visit; the Hidden Mickey Guy who has an amazing catalogue, and Finding Mickey just before we went on a few of the bigger rides, just so we knew what to look out for.
Don’t just stick with the real world, do check out the DIsneyland Florida app – you really will be surprised at what you can find in there too…if you look hard enough, and
If you really want to go all out, invest in one of the books on Amazon. The Hidden Mickeys Field Guide, or perhaps even the Hidden Mickeys of Disneyworld which was available in the Epcot UK pavilion. There is even an app that you can download from iTunes – Hidden Mickeys: Walt Disney World Edition. You will never miss a Hidden Mickey if you’ve got one of these in the arsenal on your holiday!

Hidden Mickey hunting is something that you can get everyone in the family involved in; but just watch out, if you aren’t careful, you’ll start to see hidden Mickeys even when you aren’t inside the parks anymore!

Did you find any Hidden Mickeys on your holiday – show us your pictures, please – we would LOVE to see them all.

Note: This article contains affiliate links. Our holiday to Florida was through American Sky; who gave us a press rate for the trip.

Helen

Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!