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Archive for the ‘Hotel Animal Kingdom’ Category

A Hidden Mickey is an image of Mickey Mouse concealed in the design of a Disney attraction. Hidden Mickeys started out as an inside joke among the Walt Disney Imagineers. It has been said that when EPCOT center began, it was to be for adults, not children, therefore, Mickey was to be left out. But the Imagineers, in a form of quiet rebellion, began adding subtle Hidden Mickeys.

Eventually, the Imagineers included Hidden Mickeys most anywhere — when designing buildings, putting the finishing touches on a new attraction or hotel, hiding silhouettes, profiles, and other images of Mickey Mouse in murals, queue areas, and even golf course sand traps.

The word quickly spread of these subtle tributes to Walt’s famous mouse and soon it became a tradition for Disney fans everywhere to search for Hidden Mickeys in Disney theme parks.

Originally, it took the shape of a head and ears silhouette – one large circle with two smaller circles in the appropriate place on top. But Hidden Mickeys can take on many forms, including Mickey’s profile.

Because new ones are continually being added and older ones removed, the total correct number of Hidden Mickeys will probably never be known. But that doesn’t stop Disney enthusiasts from tracking them down, and rejoicing at each new find.

They’ve been discovered hidden in murals, fences, shows – you name it, you can probably find a Mickey hidden somewhere in it!

The search is fun for the entire family, and adds a sense of adventure to your Disney World Vacation. How involved your search becomes will depend on the ages of your children. And obviously the most serious “searchers” are usually adults. Keep in mind that some Mickeys appear to be hidden and some deliberate. The deliberate ones won’t count if you’re doing a serious Hidden Mickey search.

There are two ways to approach the Hidden Mickey search:

1. Arrive in the Magic Kingdom with no clue as to where to find Hidden Mickeys. Rather, rely only on the observation skills of all family members to discover them. This is the most challenging option. If you decide on this course, be sure to keep score and make a game out of it. Have a prize already decided for the winner which can be given out on the day of departure.

2. The second, easier, method is to do a little research before you go. Read up on where they are located, then you will know exactly where to look for various Hidden Mickeys. An official Walt Disney World list can be obtained by visiting Guest Relations at any of the Walt Disney World theme parks. Not as challenging a search, but still holds the fun of discovery.

Here are a few advance tips:

Magic Kingdom

The Haunted Mansion boasts “999 Happy Haunts,” but it also has one “mouse” – a Hidden Mickey formed by an arrangement of dishes on the table in the attraction’s banquet scene.

A Hidden Mickey enjoys a day on the river in the final scene in Frontierland’s Splash Mountain. A pink cloud floating high above the Zip-A-Dee Lady steamboat looks very much like a profile of Mickey lying on his back.

Epcot

Mickey goes to Norway, the Gateway to Scandinavia. A Viking dons a pair of Mickey Mouse Ears on the mural above the queue line for Maelstrom, the pavilion’s boat ride attraction.

At Spaceship Earth in Epcot Future World, Mickey is hidden in his own constellation of stars just beyond the attraction’s loading area.

Disney-MGM Studios

A Hidden Mickey can be found in the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The child actress who vanishes from the Hollywood Tower Hotel one stormy night is clutching a Mickey Mouse doll in the attraction’s pre-show.

Two Hidden Mickeys were placed in the tile floor in the rotunda area of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster attraction.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Look for Mickey in the Pizzafari restaurant in Discovery Island. His silhouette can be found on a wall mural hidden among leopard spots.

The Boneyard in DinoLand U.S.A., in the woolly mammoth dig site, Mickey has been formed with a fan and two hard hats.

There are more than 25 Hidden Mickeys at Rafiki’s Planet Watch. He is hidden in murals, tree trunks and paintings of animals.

The Maharajah Jungle Trek is Hidden Mickey treasure land! There are several in the drawings on the ruins just as you enter the tiger habitat.

Resorts

Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course presents a Hidden Mickey in the form of a giant sand trap that lies next to the green.

Golfers at Disney’s Eagle Pines and Osprey Ridge Golf Courses will notice that Mickey’s head is used as a putting green at the course clubhouse area.

At Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, a Hidden Mickey is found on the weather vane atop the convention center.

Unfortunately, no one – not Imagineers nor Cast Members – has ever kept official track of where the Hidden Mickeys were originally placed. Since attractions change or are enhanced throughout the years, Hidden Mickeys can disappear and others appear or reappear for many reasons. Therefore, there is no official count.

Since there’s no chance that all the Hidden Mickeys will ever be found, the search for them goes on and on. So go ahead – jump in and join the fun. Create your own family game and let it simply add to the magic of your Disney World vacation.

Please note: If you see a Disney World guest wielding a magnifying glass, you’ll know you’ve come upon a very dedicated, VERY serious Hidden Mickey fan. You might want to stand back and give that person plenty of room!

If you have never been to Disney World, or haven’t been for 20 years, then go ahead and spend a day or two at Animal Kingdom. Check the schedule for the shows — bird show, etc – as these are as good as or better then the “rides”. You will either be staying in the Animal Kingdom Lodge ($200+ per night & up) or you don’t mind paying for a full day of Disney, but this means you’ll leave after a few hours when the babies get tired and cranky. That is the ONLY reason I’d urge you to choose Disney: if you have been to Disney before, or will be able to bring your children to Florida again when they are older (like 8 & 10), then let Disney wait.

Busch Gardens will be less exhausting for younger children and will save you tons of money as well. Not only is BG admission cheaper, but prices for food and gift items are wonderfully lower than at WDW. There are hotels in easy walking distance to the park (there are auxillary pedestrian entrances as well as the main entrance), but some of these hotels are surely not the Marriot… however the prices are very reasonalbe and the convenience can’t be beat.

The park itself is a lot like a large modern zoo, the kind where animals have big islands to roam on instead of being confined to little cages. Of course, there are roller coasters and other rides among these exhibits. There is a ‘kiddie land’ with nothing but rides for the very young, but there are also carosels, bumper cars, sky rides, and so on scattered throughout the park. Just as at Disney, get a schedule of shows, especially the animal shows.

So, BG is a better choice for the children, who are really too young to appreciate Disney OR to handle a full day of “The Disney Experience”.

Exception: if for the adults this is a rare opportunity to do WDW, go for it; there is nothing else like it, and you should do it once in your lifetime. Another exception: if you have the money to stay WDW hotel right next to the park (so everybody can nap), or if don’t mind leaving Disney after a few hours, give your kids the treat.

If you are one adult and two small children, you are going to have problems getting the group onto some rides. Think about it. Two to a seat. Are you going to let them go by themselves? Some rides don’t allow children that young to ride by themselves. You can’t go with them one at a time; who will watch the waiting child? So you might want another adult, even if you have to hire a guide or nanny for the day. This applies to BG and WDW both.

Plan Your Trip

The most important factor is to sit with your family and decide how long you should spend at Walt Disney World theme parks in Orlando. If you are going in a big group then you have to understand that not everyone may like to go to the same park(s). If it is small group (may be 6 or less) then things get a little bit easier. So decide the number of days you want to be at Disney World considering that each individual in your travelling party gets to spend a fair amount of time at the park he/she likes.

Walt Disney World Parks Overview

There are 4 Disney World theme parks: Disney Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, EPCOT and Disney Magic Kingdom. Apart from these there are water parks which need an additional option.

Strategies

Big Family/Group & Short Trip: This strategy may work best for people travelling in a group of 8 or more and their visit to Disney is 4 days or less. If the kids or adults in the group have strong preferences of visiting particular Disney World parks, then best thing may be to divide the group into two or if big enough then do 3 groups. Before you set out for the first day get together at the hotel lobby and decide who goes in which group and suggest an adult to be the leader of each group. Now some kids may like what they did on the first day and want to go to the same park again on second day or go to other park. So sit together again the evening at hotel lobby and re-group the teams for the second day. Now if you think each group may want to visit multiple parks on the same day then buy the Disney World Park Hopper tickets before you start the trip. If all of you have park hopper tickets then instead of deciding the groups in the hotel lobby, you may want to meet again at lunch at one of the parks and re-group.

Big Family or Group and Longer Vacation: If you are going on a 5-days or longer trip to the Walt Disney World and you have a big group then you do not need to split into smaller group right at the beginning. You might want to visit one park per day with the whole group for the first four days. Then for the remainder portion of your trip split the groups depending on the interest. So by doing this you ensure that each one has enjoyed all the parks and they will now enjoy the parks they liked the most in smaller groups.

Small Family & Short Vacation If you are going with just your family and on a very short trip(4 days or less) to Disney World, then the best option may be to buy Park Hopper tickets as you can then go to multiple parks on the same day and ensure your kids and family is happy. If you have more than one kid, then one pay like say Animal Kingdom and the other may like the Magic Kingdom. Here you do not have the pleasure of splitting into smaller groups, but have the challenge of satisfying each of your family member. So on a shorter vacation Park Hopper tickets may be a better option.