Preparing for MouseFest, 2007 (Searching Disney with Steve)

I lead Hidden Mickey hunts in the four major WDW theme parks during MouseFest. 2007 will be my fifth MouseFest, and more authors, webmasters, podcasters, and guest registrants than ever before will congregate soon at this wonderful celebration. I look forward to MouseFest all year long; it's an ideal time to reconnect with Disney friends.

I visited WDW last week to practice for my hunts. I arrived at the Magic Kingdom first. The weather was comfortable and the sky clear. This year, we'll examine the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and some other areas of Adventureland for Hidden Mickeys old and new. I'll pass out Hidden Mickey images and descriptions to the group before we enter the Pirates queue. As we've done in recent years, I'll ask the group to vote on Questionable images, and we'll attempt to spot some compelling new ones. The barnacle image on the Jungle Cruise sign (under the "J") was recently voted in on my website (photo from Jesse Kline).

Next stop: Disney's Animal Kingdom. Camp Minnie-Mickey is our focus this year. I hope we can all get into Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends, either to see the show and stay around a while afterwards or enter as the show ends to examine the stage murals for some cool Hidden Mickeys. I don't work for Disney, so I'm usually not accorded any special treatment. However, sometimes the Cast Members are helpful to me with the hunts, especially if they like Hidden Mickeys! Our group will then wander around Camp Minnie-Mickey and spot some more HM's.

The Disney-MGM Studios hunt will begin in the front courtyard of Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. The large outside mural there has some decent Hidden Mickeys (take a look at the photo, courtesy of Kyle Lighting, of the "bling" Mickey on the man's necklace). We'll enter through the gift shop at the exit of Tower of Terror to find a couple of images to vote on. Then we'll wander up Sunset Boulevard and continue our search for the elusive Mickster.

My last stop was Epcot. We'll walk the most distance here, all around World Showcase from Mexico to Canada (depending on everyone's stamina). A group of Hidden Mickeys are there for us to enjoy, as well as a few to vote on. The rock Hidden Mickey in Japan (photo from Sharon Dale) is one of the more compelling recent additions. I hope it stays around for a long time!

I think I'm ready for the Hunts. We have lots of fun, and I respect the opinions of the MouseFest Mickey Hunters. If an image is voted in, I add it to my website and credit the MouseFest group. As you can probably sense, I'm looking forward to MouseFest!