Sep 29, 2014

Hidden Mickeys, An Introduction | Mickey Monday

Welcome back to the Mickey Monday linkup: the linkup centering around a love for Disney, sharing that love and connecting with others. My hope is the linkup will help become a great place to turn to for Disney content each week and help all the bloggers participating out by helping readers find that great mouse-eared content. I'm co-hosting with Katie from Adventures by Katie, so of course check her out. Each week we'll both have the linkup widget, so you'll be able to get to all the great bloggers. This week I'm stepping away from runDisney, and into the world of an Imagineer. This week I'll be talking about...

Hidden Mickeys

Hidden Mickeys

One of my favorite things in the park are the hidden Mickeys. I love the search, the discovery and the pictures. Before I go to far down that rabbit hole, let's start at the beginning for the uninitiated.

What are Hidden Mickeys?

Hidden Mickeys are little pieces left behind by Disney Imagineers. Temporary Aside: Imagineers are the creative geniuses behind Walt Disney parks and projects. It's a term that comes from the combination of imagination and engineering, hence Walt Disney Imagineering. Back to the Mickeys. How the hidden Mickeys started is not officially known. One "unofficial history" is they were slipped by imagineers into EPCOT during construction because characters were to be Magic Kingdom only but the Imagineers disagreed, so they started slipping them into EPCOT.

No matter how they began, Imagineers hide Mickeys throughout so much that they create. They may be done during design, construction or the final touches. Some are intricate tiny details, others are easier finds meant to stand out. The most often take the general form of the Mickey silhouette, the tri-circle Mickey. It can be hidden almost, signs, fences, paintings, drains, rocks. That's the fun of it.

tri-circle mickey
The tri-circle Mickey. Learn it, live it, find it.

How do you find them?

My favorite part about Hidden Mickeys are finding them. You know what you are looking for, the three circles, so you just need to look for it in unconventional ways. Sometimes you just need to be observant, other times you just look where you think there may be one and look very closely. I'll give you some examples of what you're looking for here, and share some of my favorites in future #MickeyMondays

We'll start with an easy one. This one can be found in EPCOT in the World Showcase. Find your way to the Morocco pavillion and look at the shop along the World Showcase Lagoon. If the doors are open you'll see these 3 metal plates together. See how they make the classic Mickey? Good.

Would you call them plates? Dishes? Metal frisbees?

Want some bonus points? Go the the United Kingdom pavilion. Find the Hidden Mickey in one of the shop signs. Name the shop and get +1 beginner Hidden Mickey points.

Since we're already in EPCOT, let's take a ride on Living with the Land. An under appreciate ride, missing its catchy tune, but I digress. During the course of your ride, you'll come across a section with tubes containing various fish usually. In the last set you'll find these baskets. They move around but can always be found in that area.

Living with the Land Hidden Mickey
Seriously, go find the song. It will stick in your brain.

From here, let's take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom and head up to Fantasyland. From here, grab your 3D glasses and take a seat for Mickey's PhilharMagic®. If you look to the side, you find this french horn. However, this french horn has some non-standard tubing that may look familar.

PhilharMagic Hidden Mickey
I wonder how that would change the tuning? #bandgeek

Lastly, let's that the Resort Monorail to my favorite resort: Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. Here is the lobby you'll find one of my favorite Hidden Mickeys. Its not hard to find, just walk in and look down, but can be easy to miss if you don't take some time to appreciate your surroundings. You're on vacation, slow down a little. I've even come across a pin of it before through pin trading, but that's another Mickey Monday post. Hopefully, all the redesigns to the lobby will leave this little piece untouched.

Poly Lobby Hidden Mickey
Take some time on vacation to just look around.

Think they're all easy? Let's move on to advanced training. We'll hope a boat over to Disney's Wilderness Lodge. Can you find the Hidden Mickey in Fire Rock Geyser?

Fire Rock Geyser
Wait, you're saying there is one there?!

Having a little trouble finding it? It's not easy. Heck, I only found it because I was told there was one there, which makes you determined to find it. Here is a zoomed in picture of what you're looking for. I was actually told about a Hidden Mickey tour you can get from a "park ranger" if you're in the right spot first thing in the morning and ask nicely.

Fire Rock Geyser Hidden Mickey
Oh, there you are, Mickey.

What if I want some "help"?

If you're looking to admire the Hidden Mickeys without the challenge of the hunt, there are guides to help you out. There's nothing wrong with appreciating them. It can also be nice for the youngin's as it will give directions on how to find them, so they can "discover" the Hidden Mickeys for themselves. There are various titles out there, which I haven't read so I wouldn't feel good giving a recommendation. I'd say turn to Amazon. If you can recommend one, feel free to share in the comments.

Onto the Linkup

Here are the guidelines:

The post just needs to be about anything Disney related. There have been posts on runDisney, on the parks and even on the Moms Panel, so just give it some Disney and count it.

New posts are fantastic, but for now, if you have a great old post you want to share, drop it on in.

Try to visit as many of the posts that you can as time allows. The point of this is to share and support each other.

If you're going to be a regular, please link back to the host posts. It's just good etiquette and frankly, that's how others will get to your fellow Disney lovers content. Without that link back, they can't find the linkup and therefore the other blogs. Help me help you.

Have fun. Be a kid. Enjoy.





Image credits:
tri-circle mickey: 
wdsiemer.blogspot.com

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the link up! I love looking for Hidden Mickey's. But when I point them out, I don't really think my husband understands that a "hidden Mickey", is actually a REAL thing. I think he just thinks I'm crazy! I often find ones that probably aren't suppose to be hidden Mickeys, but they work!

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    1. I love those ones. My wife likes looking for them too, so we're always on the lookout. My favorite ones are artwork in resorts. The paintings behind check ins, the paintings in the rooms, always so fun.

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  2. I love Hidden Mickeys and hunting for them is a lot of fun! Thanks for the linkup, I look forward to joining in again!

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    1. It's a great time passer and a fun "Disney magic" thing to me. Like when eating in Be Out Guest the last time, we asked if there were any in the room we were in and they told us 3 and it was then our mission to find them (we did, but thats for another post).

      Glad to have you in the link up. Look forward to see what posts you have. :-)

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  3. What a fun post!
    Are you borrowing a line from my favorite scene in "Hook"? (Oh, there you are, Peter!)

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    1. I was actually going Phineas and Ferb, but that is a GREAT scene as well. I actually watched a large chunk of that movie the other weekend too.

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  4. I love how there is a whole group of people really obsessed with Mickey! Fun!

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    1. Haha. Obsessed is such a strong word. I mean, it's an accurate word for myself, but such a strong word.

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  5. I love searching for Hidden Mickeys! It's a great thing to do, especially if you visit a lot. The cast members will always give you hints as well. If you ever have time, visit Rafiki's Planet Watch at DAK. They have this HUGE multi-wall mural with tons of hidden mickeys!

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    1. I haven't gone up to Rafiki's Planet Watch in a while. Certainly not any trips in a long while. I will have to make sure to make it up there the next time we go to WDW.

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