Disney World Hidden Treasures (And Mickeys Too)

For today’s post, I wanted to answer an email question I received from Ellen J. from New Mexico. Ellen wrote in and asked to share a reason, besides the food, that I loved Disney World so much more than say Universal Studios, which also has a ton of great rides and attractions.

This is easy to answer for me, and I can answer it in one word – Imagineering.  The Disney Imagineers love their job so much that they have taken the time to hide many little magical items all throughout the Disney World parks, but you have to take time to stop and look around Disney World.  You just never know what you will find!  What do I mean?

The Imagineers that imagine and build the Disney World Parks and Resorts truly love their jobs and they go the extra mile to make everything as magical as possible, but sometimes that means you have to take your time and open your eyes and look for things.  So many people, and I see them everytime I go to the parks, are rushing off to their next FastPass ride and are rushing right by some very cool and neat secrets that the Imagineers have hidden right in plain sight.  Let me show you 5 of the literally hundreds of “hidden in plain sight” secrets that the Imagineers have built into Walt Disney World.  Let’s see how many of them you have seen before and this will act as a test for you to see if you too are rushing through the magic.

#1 – Hollywood Studios – Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular

How many of you have ever seen this area that sits just to the left of the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular?

 

Did you ever notice the sign there just to the left that reads “Do Not Pull The Rope” with the word NOT crossed out?  Ever notice that if you lean over you can indeed reach the rope and pull it?  Have you ever pulled it?  I have!  When you do, you will hear Indiana Jones himself yell at you for pulling on the rope that he is trying to climb down.  Sometimes Indiana Jones yells at you to pull harder because there are a ton of snakes at the bottom of the pit!  My kids kept telling me not to pull it when they were little because they didn’t understand the sign, but now they run over to pull it themselves to see what Indiana will say to them, and you should too.  Thank you for this little touch of magic Imagineers!

#2 – Hollywood Studios – The Store By Muppetvision 3D

Ever seen these little prop boxes in the store by Muppetvision 3D?

 

This little girl did and was curious enough to open the lid!  Wonder what she heard?  There are many of these prop boxes all around this area and each one plays a different sound or line from the movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”.  In fact right behind this little girl you can see the steamroller that flattened the villain in the movie!  Next time your in this area, please open all of the boxes and you’ll get a good laugh every time!

#3 – Hollywood Studios – Muppetvision 3D

While we are here close to Muppetvision 3D, have you ever seen this area of the entrance before you enter the waiting area for the movie?

 

Ever notice the sign that says the key is under the mat?  Well did you ever look under the mat to see if the key was there?  To tell you the truth, virtually no one ever does as my family enters this area, so I do, then every other person behind us does it!  The key is indeed under the mat and this is a chance for you to get your picture taken with the key to the Muppetvision 3D Movie!  I just love stuff like this and it is a true shame that so many people are in so much of a hurry, even on vacation, that they miss these little touches of magic that are gifts to us from the Imagineers.

#4 – Magic Kingdom in Tomorrowland

Have you ever been my the Mickey Starttraders shop that sits outside the Autopia Car ride and notices a trash can like this one in the picture that seems to be sitting out of place?

 

If you did, did you ever go up and talk to it?  Well why not?  This little guy is actually named “Push The Living Trash Can” and he will indeed talk back to you, move around on his own, and will throw empty popcorn containers at you if you refuse to talk to him, but of course he always goes back to pick them afterwards because, after all, he is a trash can.  I always love seeing Push scare the daylights out of kids, and sometimes adults who are not expecting a trash can to talk to them and move about.  Where else but Disney World will you ever see something like this that can just make your day by watching it work its magic?  Especially something so commonplace as a trash can.  Remember, someone has a job where they get to think up ideas like this for a living!  I want that job!  Thanks Imagineers!

#5 – Hidden Mickeys

Ok, there are thousands of Hidden Mickeys that are scattered everywhere you look all around Disney World.  You will find them in the parks, in the restaurants, in the parking lots, on monorails, in your silverware, on the carpets, and even on the napkins.  In fact, there are several books that have been written that I love to take to the parks with me to help me find all of these hidden Mickeys.  Hidden Mickey are simply the shape of the famous Mickey Head, but usually hidden somewhere within something else.  Here is an example in the picture below.  Do you see the hidden Mickey on the LEGO cow?:

 

You can spend entire days in the parks finding and taking pictures of these hidden Mickeys, and this makes an amazingly fun thing to ask your kids to find for you.  They absolutely love doing this and get great please when they find them.

So there you go Ellen, this is one of the millions of reasons that I love Walt Disney World much more than any other resort area in the world.  Great care has been taken to make my surroundings magical if only I take the time to see the forest for the trees.

Thanks for spending your time with me today, and as always it is greatly appreciated!  I am very proud to say that we passed the 2000 unique visitors milestone yesterday, so thank you all so much for continuing to come to disney247.wordpress.com and for reading my posts and leaving me comments and emails.  Your the best guests in the world and I truly appreciate you!

Until next time, I’ll see ya real soon, oh and did you ever notice the brides rings that embeded in the ground right at the exit of the Haunted Mansion?  I wonder if she knows she lost it? Hmmm.