Notice the difference? Now you can’t see Mickey unless you are able to levitate — and the majority of park guests are unable to do that, particularly over water, and there’s no hope at all for those in wheel chairs and strollers!

We asked Elite Mousmasta, Disneyland’s head of Imagineering’s liason department’s interface to blogs’ management’s temporary assistant, why it is that this bit of joy was removed from Disneyland guests’ grasp. “To put it simply,” said Elite, “hidden Mickeys aren’t there for guests, they’re there for cast members. If you don’t have a boat and a ladder and access to the park after closing and a flashlight, then perhaps you should just take a hint that this particular inside joke was intended for a different audience.”

It’s not the first time Disney has removed a hidden Mickey from public view. Said Elite, “When Disney/MGM studios was first built, there was a gigantic hidden Mickey that could only be seen if you hovered over the park in a helicopter. Then guests discovered it with Google maps and other satellite-imaging tools, and it just ruined the fun for the rest of us. Why go to the trouble of taking the cast-member helicopter out for a spin if everyone and their brother can just see it online anyway? So we stuck a giant hat in the middle of it and otherwise removed its hidden Mickeyness. To heck wit it. These days, all we seem to have left are the hidden Mickeys back stage and the ones on castmember underclothing. But perhaps I’ve said too much.”

If you think you know where in the park it is, leave your answer in this entry’s “comments” section.

And while we’re at it, those who say that Disneyland doesn’t have a rodent problem can be quickly quieted by with this photo. The vermin seem pretty well settled in here!

While waiting for your turn to be thrown about by this attraction’s vehicles (which operate quite smoothly when they are in good repair, by the way), make sure to peek into every little nook and cranny in the queue. You may be rewarded with the sight of one of many 3D hidden Mickeys!

(Thanks to our Official DisneyLies Photo Correspondent for the picture!)

This HM, found in New Orleans Square, has unusually small ears. We assume it is supposed to represent a young Mickey Mouse.

This HM, from Disney’s California Adventure, is of the “exploded Mickey” type. Exploded Mickeys can be found in a number of DCA locations, and Disneymaniacs are hopeful that, during the extensive demolition that will preceed upcoming DCA improvements, they will get to see an exploded Mickey actually explode!

Do you see the HM in this photo from the Indiana Jones attraction? No? Here, we’ll crop, rotate, stretch, and enhance the photo. See it now?

If you answered yes, then you’re wrong! That’s not a hidden Mickey, but a hidden Minnie, and they don’t count. Heck, it doesn’t even look that much like Minnie (it’s all blurry, distorted, and full of compression noise). While we’re at it, the hidden Eyeore in this attraction doesn’t count either, so stop sending us photos.

That’s it for this time. Thanks, Official DisneyLies Photo Correspondent!