Hidden Mickeys are a fun phenomenon that avid Disney fans love to scope out. Whether you dedicate a good part of your vacation to seeking out these tiny details, or you just enjoy the lore behind them, the concept of the hidden Mickey can add a little fun to your vacation. Here are some interesting facts about these little Mickeys that may leave you seeing trios of circles everywhere.
1. Authentic hidden Mickeys come from Imagineers
Most hidden Mickey fans agree that true Mickeys only come from Imagineers and are incorporated into the original design of attractions, buildings, or park décor. There are two popular stories behind the origination of hidden Mickeys. The first is that Imagineers came up with the idea of the hidden Mickey when designing Epcot. Since Epcot was initially created to cater to more of an adult audience, early designs excluded Mickey from the park. As the story goes, the Imagineers decided to sneak the icon in anyway by adding hidden Mickeys throughout the park’s design.
The other origination story behind the hidden Mickey states that these little details were created for use as Imagineer signatures. Since the designers who create Disney magic can’t put their actual names on each piece of work, it’s said that they work their signatures in by hiding Mickeys throughout their works.
Whether one, both, or neither are true, hidden Mickeys are now a well-known phenomenon throughout the Disney parks. Though you can purchase a third party guide to these hidden features, Disney hasn’t published a guide of its own, so it can be difficult to know which Mickeys are authentic and which are just a trick of the mind. Once you start looking for Mickeys, you can see them just about anywhere.
2. The Haunted Mansion plates can’t seem to hold still
One of the best-known hidden Mickeys at Walt Disney World is in the Haunted Mansion. In the ballroom scene, you can usually spot three plates on the banquet table that are arranged in the form of a hidden Mickey. Depending on the time of your visit, however, you may find this little detail missing.
This is because the plates are not an official hidden Mickey. When Imagineers pass through the ride they move them back to their original position, but the plates never can never seem to stay there for long. At the first opportunity, Cast Members will creep in and move them right back.
3. Cast Members create Mickeys too
As mentioned above, Cast Members are responsible for many hidden Mickeys. Few are as obvious as the plates at the Haunted Mansion, though. In many cases, Cast Members simply add their own sprinkle of pixie dust here and there by arranging things in this iconic shape as they’re going about their jobs. If you spot carefully coiled ropes on a boat dock, or a Mickey-shaped hose on the ground, these are the work of Cast Members.
Pay close attention around you and you may even see little Mickeys pop up in the course of Cast Members’ everyday activities. Working in housekeeping, we would spray window cleaner in the shape of a Mickey before wiping it off, just in case a guest was watching us. It didn’t add any extra work, but it did make something as mundane as scrubbing the glass look a lot more magical if someone was watching.
4. Signature details aren’t always shaped like Mickey
Hidden Mickeys are the most common detail to look for, but some Imagineers leave their signature in a different way. In the Great Movie Ride, the computer screens in the Alien scene have Imagineers’ names hidden in the text. A cloud in Splash Mountain’s finale scene is rumored to be a hidden Minnie rather than Mickey because of what looks like a bow on its head. In Disney’s Animal Kingdom, a rock on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail looks like Jafar.
Disney is filled with fun little details that call to mind well-known characters or add more depth to a scene. While the most popular ones look like Mickey, there are plenty of other fun inclusions to look for.
5. There’s no official number of hidden Mickeys
Since Disney has yet to publish its own guide to hidden Mickeys, there’s no official number indicating how many of these little characters are lurking around the parks. Many Cast Members can point you to hidden Mickeys in their area, but ask around a place like Rafiki’s Planet Watch where the mural at Conservation Station contains dozens of Mickeys, and you’ll find dissention even among those who work there as to the actual number.
The fun thing about hidden Mickeys is that you never know when you may find one. While there are some guides to get your started, it’s entirely possible to find a new one that’s not mentioned in these publications, either because it was missed or because it’s a recent creation. This also means that you may start spotting Mickeys even where there aren’t any, but it’s all part of the fun. In general, if you’ve found three circles in the right configuration you can go ahead and count it.
The lore of hidden Mickeys adds a lot of fun to the parks, particularly for frequent visitors looking for something new and different to discover. Keep a sharp eye and you never know what you’ll find.
