What exactly are hidden Mickey's?

[happylittlefamily]

I'm trying to figure out this Hidden Mickey thing. Is it like a game or something? We just started collecting the Disney pins and my son wanted to trade with a cast member the other night. So, the cast member pointed out that he had a pin with a Hidden Mickey on it that my son might like to have. I always thought hidden mickey's were just like ways Mickey was worked into Disney stuff/parks. But now, my son thinks he should trade all of his pins for ones that have hidden mickey's on them. He's mildly autistic and while I don't care what he does with the pins, I don't want him to trade ones special to him just because he now believes the hidden mickey ones are more special. Not sure if that makes sense. But he gets obsessed with certain things and now pin trading has been added to the list.

An example is that my son's favorite color is green and he was so protective of 2 of his favorite pins which were a green mickey one and a Disney flag one. But the other night, he stressed over trading them for ones with a hidden mickey on them. I was able to distract him by giving him 2 of my pins to trade instead because I knew he'd be upset later when he wanted to look at his pins and his green favorites were gone. It's ultimately his decision of course, but thought I'd get the inside scoop on the hidden mickey stuff before encouraging him in this direction

~Erica

 

[Reddog1134]

In regards to the pins, I just found this out myself the other day.

What is a Hidden Mickey Pin (formerly known as a "Cast Lanyard Pin")?


The Hidden Mickey pin (formerly Cast Lanyard pin) program was introduced in 2002 at the Walt Disney World® Resort. The Disneyland® Resort also introduced a similar "Lanyard pin" program in 2003. Cast Members use Hidden Mickey pins to trade with Guests. These pins measure approximately 1.25". The backstamp is silver-colored and contains a box indicating the pin is a Hidden Mickey pin (formerly "Cast Lanyard Series," "Cast Lanyard Collection," or "Lanyard Pin"). The back stamp also contains the number of pins in that collection (i.e. 1 of 5). The front of the pin contains a small Mickey Mouse icon in the artwork.



How and Where are Hidden Mickey Pins Released?


Hidden Mickey pins are released at random to Cast Members at Disney Parks and Resorts. The Hidden Mickey pin checklist is a great resource for images of the pins (see the .PDF files below). Please note that not every pin pictured may be available at a particular time as availability of a particular pin is subject to change without notice.

Part of the fun behind the Hidden Mickey Pin Collection is searching for your favorite pins. Trade and collect the pins which are most important to you. Along the way, you are sure to meet Cast Members that are dedicated to making your visit to a Disney Park or Resort a magical one!

 

[Ames389]

Hi there and welcome to the world of Hidden Mickey pin addiciton! Yes, Hidden Mickeys are pins. If you look closely at your son's pins, on the front it will have a little Mickey Mouse head. Now, turn it over and read the back. It will say Hidden Mickey Pin. It will also say something like pin #1 of 5. That tells you that there are 4 others of the same set to collect. The hidden Mickey pins (used to be called Cast Lanyard pins prior to 2007) are not available for sale. You get them from usually buying cheap starter packs of pins and then trading them with Cast Members. There are collections and sub-sets for each year. There are usually about 100 for each year. Go to Disney.com and search for the pictures for each year's collections. Also, there is more information available on the website about pin trading, rules, etiquette, etc.
It is so much fun! My children and I all collect. We spend more time chasing pins than riding rides! I hope your son enjoys his new hobby. You can go to ebay and look around too if he is looking for something special or to complete a set. You can buy shadow box frames and display your favorites or buy pin books and keep them organized and safe that way too. Have fun!

 

[Ames389]

P.S. One more thing...The new sets are released each year beginning in late January in Walt Disney World and I think they are released monthly in Disneyland. I always go to the World.

 

[happylittlefamily]

Thanks for all the info! He actually collected several hidden mickey pins while we were there the last couple of days. He was driven to search out all hidden mickey pins to replace the stash of pins we gave him for his birthday. So much for picking out special gift pins! LOL

Another quick question...

Our kids all have various autistic tendencies, etc. One thing 3 of them managed to do during this trip with their pins was to chew on the black backings for the pins. Is there any way to purchase new backs? I'm highly doubting there is great demand for chewed up and excessively hole-poked pin backings....

 

[bababear_50]

Hi Hon
Mel here
I post mostly down on the Creative DISign thread but your post caught my eye. A little while ago I made a Hidden Mickey game for a little boy who has Autism. I thought you might like to take a look at it. It's in my photobucket under Hollywood Studios Hidden Mickey Hunt and the link to my photobucket is in my signature.The mom said it went great and he really opened up when getting castmembers to sign his pages.
Here is a better link
http://s940.photobucket.com/albums/ad245/bababearbucket/Hollywood Studios Hidden Mickeys/
Hugs Mel

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Thanks for all the info! He actually collected several hidden mickey pins while we were there the last couple of days. He was driven to search out all hidden mickey pins to replace the stash of pins we gave him for his birthday. So much for picking out special gift pins! LOL

Another quick question...

Our kids all have various autistic tendencies, etc. One thing 3 of them managed to do during this trip with their pins was to chew on the black backings for the pins. Is there any way to purchase new backs? I'm highly doubting there is great demand for chewed up and excessively hole-poked pin backings....

The black Mickey-shaped pin backs are available in packages at any place that sells pins, about 12 for $8, if I remember right. You can also buy metal locking backs that do not fall off (you use a tiny Allen wrench to tighten/loosen them) if you have special pins that you do not want to trade and do not want to lose.

When we first started collecting pins and had our clear favorites, I made a display board. I had a piece of foam board and I covered it with some Mickey fabric. As we collect pins that we deem "keepers" we place them on our board. When you wrote about your son liking his special green pins, I thought you might want to make something like that for him to keep his special pins on. We even take it with us to WDW and swap our pins around all the time. My own lanyard has 5-6 special pins that I love and will not trade and I have locking backs on them, and then I keep maybe 3-4 others on it that I consider traders. We've done that for our sons, too, so that they aren't tempted to trade a pin we know they really want to keep.