So, I know we said last week was travel week, but we had a couple more posts to share. They’re about Disneyland, so I guess writing about it could make this the happiest blog on earth.

I am guessing that many of our readers have been to Disneyland.  But I wonder — how many of you know about the Hidden Mickeys?  I was shocked when I found out that the Matts did not know about them. Emily and I made it our job to share some of the hidden Mickey joy with them, with a little help from my dad’s new hidden Mickey guidebook: Disneyland’s Hidden Mickeys, 2nd Edition: A Field Guide to Disneyland Resort’s Best-Kept Secrets!

Step 1: Get out your guidebook — or you can just look one up online, Finding Mickey is a great resource!  They have a checklist that you can print out and bring with you to the park that includes pictures.  It can ruin the fun if you look at them before you go, but might be worth it to take a look after you visit the park!

Emily and I deciding where to start our hidden mickey search for the day

Step 2:  Get out and enjoy the park.  Along the way, look for Mickeys.  They can be anywhere.  The guidebook gave us ideas of where to find them in certain areas (it had a clue in front, and then details about where exactly it could be found further back in the book).  The checklist online contains more Mickeys, but fewer hints.

Do you see one in the castle? Nope!

We found two of them on this doorway!

Can you tell how frustrated I am here?

This was one of the harder hidden Mickeys to find.  If you want to see it close up, then click on over!

There it is -- quite faded! This is in line for Indiana Jones

As you can see, searching for Mickeys is a great way to kill time while you are in line.

Step 3:  Don’t be afraid to ask for help. And honestly, the Castmembers can tell when you are searching for them, and sometimes ask if you would like help.  We asked someone for help while looking at this wall in California Adventures, but she wasn’t much help.   Everyone else was very helpful, though.  It was actually a Castmember who showed us the one on Indiana Jones!

Does this one count?

Almost positive this one counts!

The rules are that the mickey silhouette is supposed to be intact, so the ears are supposed to touch the head.   Some are a bit distorted and do not touch, like the one that Emily found.  Do you see it?   The one that I found seemed to be too much of a stretch, what do you think?

Step 4: The search does not have to end after you leave the park.  We happened to find a few in the next few days — Matt found one in the upholstery at Panera, and I found one in our ice cream at BJs.  Now, these are not true hidden Mickeys, as Disney Imagineers did not plant them, but they are still fun to find!

This pizookie looked a lot like a Hidden Mickey to us!

Did you enjoy our search for hidden Mickeys?  Have you ever found any?

Can’t get enough Disneyland fun? Check out our posts on putting the Disney in your home decor and a weekend in the Magic Kingdom with the NewlyWives.