Great activity for kids with mild autism/Aspergers

[missypie]

I had never paid much attention to the "hidden Mickey" threads, but when we were waiting for Epcot to open, we were chatting with a family who had a hidden Mickey book. My DS14 (my Aspie) was very interested. We bought the book and for the rest of the trip, he was our guide to hidden Mickeys. If you are traveling with a person with Aspergers or mild autism, this just might become one of their interests!

 

[lewdyan1]

This has saved us on multiple occassions...My son loves having something to focus on and something for him to succeed at and be able to share with the rest of the party. It only becomes a problem when he tries to share it with other guests (too often), they are usually very nice and just smile. Anyway, just want to say this is a great tip!!!

He also loves pin trading and this gives him another outlet, we seem to always be running after him...

 

[SueM in MN]

Somebody else posted it a while ago, so it's good to hear it's worked well for a number of people.
I would much rather have heard hidden Mickey tips than the specifications for every car in the showroom at Test Track when we took my nephew.

 

[missypie]

Somebody else posted it a while ago, so it's good to hear it's worked well for a number of people.
I would much rather have heard hidden Mickey tips than the specifications for every car in the showroom at Test Track when we took my nephew.

DS also bought the book on the Haunted Mansions at all the parks. Since we've been to Disneyland in California and Paris and have seen those HMs, DS really keyed in on this. We had to hear A LOT of detail about the various Haunted Mansions, their "residents" etc.

 

[kittenkatt]

I think the "Hidden Mickey" trick is probably a pretty frequent one. My DH even does it to me at home to distract me from something or other. There are hidden Mickeys everywhere if you look

I'm admittedly a little embarassed by hearing about some of the focuses the Mickeys are deflecting from. I feel bad for going on about the WDW resorts like I do. Rooms, sizes, dates of completion and rehab, amenities, pricing, number of elevators and flights of stairs, restaurant menus.... My poor family! The only upside of letting me go on and letting me share is that so far no one I've recommended a resort to has to do any of their own research, and we always know where to go for dinner.

 

[Ambassador]

Where does one purchase the book?

 

[welovedis]

Thanks for mentioning this, I had meant to order this book before, but I've done it now. I think I'll give it to DS for Xmas as our trip is in early January. Thanks again!

 

[missypie]

Where does one purchase the book?

We got ours at Mouse Gear at Epcot, but we saw them in lots of stores. I think that even some of the hotel gift shops have them...often by the checkout counter.

 

[missypie]

Thanks for mentioning this, I had meant to order this book before, but I've done it now. I think I'll give it to DS for Xmas as our trip is in early January. Thanks again!

The thing is, it really IS fun to find the hidden Mickeys...But I was glad to have him point them out, because I would have never bothered to find them myself!

I read that there are "Hidden 50s" at Disneyland, but I haven't heard of any of those at WDW.

 

[lewdyan1]

We got ours at Mouse Gear at Epcot, but we saw them in lots of stores. I think that even some of the hotel gift shops have them...often by the checkout counter.

They are at all of the resort gift shops...Pretty much at most registers...

 

[Poohnatic]

Someone gave me the book, my Aspie is marginally interested, but the 5 year old looks for hidden mickeys everywhere! It made for a good comparison on what his big brother goes through...

Suzanne

 

[WDWendy]

Thanks for the tip!!! My son will love this and it will be a great way to keep him focused on something positive.

 

[Figment1964]

Make sure you keep your eyes open for Hidden Mickeys that aren't written about in the book. We had CM's point out 2 to us that were very unusual.

From a fallen tree from Hurricane Charley:

From my salad at the Garden Grill. Our server told me to watch for a Hidden Mickey when he put the salad down for me to eat: