The Confusing Reason Everyone Was Staring at a Wall in Disney World Today

Finding hidden Mickeys is something of an art form in Disney World.

We see Mickey!

We’ve seen some super tricky hidden Mickeys, some that you can’t even see from the ground, and even one that will probably never reappear in the parks again. But there’s one very famous Hidden Mickey that can only be seen for a little while once per YEAR.

When Imagineers created the queue area for the Journey of the Little Mermaid attraction in the Magic Kingdom, they slipped in a couple of amazing details that guests can find, if they know where to look.

Journey of the Little Mermaid

No, we’re not talking about the hidden Steamboat Willie that you can see in the rocks at the exit queue (though this one can be VERY difficult to see).

There’s a hidden Steamboat Willie in there somewhere…

There’s actually a hidden Mickey in the queue before you get to the ride that only appears once a year! On Mickey Mouse’s birthday — November 18th — around noon you can try to find this detail. We were waiting in the queue for 12PM to hit in an attempt to catch a glimpse!

Let’s go find it!

And we weren’t the only ones there, either. This is a really cool hidden detail, and it seems like a few more people were in on the secret.

Waiting for the hidden Mickey

Want in on it too? If you’re in the queue, look up at the rocks above you. There’s one area where sunlight comes through a hole. If you look carefully at the rock edges around the hole, you’ll see a couple of edges that look something like Mickey — or at least part of his head.

When the sun hits those rocks just right, Mickey comes in!

At noon on November 18th, if the sun shines perfectly through those rocks, it’ll create a sunny Mickey shape on a nearby wall area in the queue. The only problem? It was cloudy today! We were all ready to see this exciting detail, but the sun wasn’t shining enough, which meant no Mickey for us.

Cloudy in the Magic Kingdom

But if you happen to be in the Magic Kingdom on November 18th around noon next year, be sure to look out for this incredible Imagineering detail. And keep following DFB for more tips as you plan your upcoming trip!

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