In just a few days, the iconic Mickey Mouse will turn 90. To celebrate this historic milestone, the Laughing Place staff have searched through their extensive Disney collections to highlight nine of their favorite Mickey-centric items. Throughout the week, we’ll be unveiling our 90 for 90 series in five parts, with each installment featuring two LP contributors.
Today. we have Laughing Place Co-Founder Rebekah Moseley and nine-year-old Future Laughing Place CEO Gideon Moseley sharing their top Mickey items and what they mean to them.
Rebekah’s 9 Favorite Mickeys
School Bus Lunchbox Mickey
Shortly after I relocated from Texas to California mid-semester, this lunchbox was unearthed in the school’s playground. As the new kid, I was teased a bit for my accent and for loving Disney, but the kids said, if it stayed unclaimed in lost and found for the week, it should go to me. It’s appearance is not anymore rusted than that day, it was certainly an example of one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. It still holds all my Viewmaster reels.
1986 Disneyland Merchandise Bag Mickey
I loved the colors of these bags so I simply folded one up and put it away in a file. Every so often I stumble on it as I’m looking through my files and grin.
Disneyland Annual Passport Icon Mickey
In 1991, our Disneyland visit frequency went from seasonal to monthly to weekly with the purchase of our first Seasonal Annual Passes. Disneyland became my after-work go-to location and where I’d spend most of my weekend time for several years. I met my husband there on Main Street and we started LaughingPlace.com together the year after we married, Eventually moving to Orlando and becoming Walt Disney World APs. Flash forward over 25 years and we’re no longer living in the shadow of Disney Parks and our family trips reflect the pattern of my youth: seasonal.
Fab Four Hat Mickey
I love hats. I’ve purchased numerous hats at Disneyland over the years — the ear hat, a light-up Electrical parade hat, a Peter Pan hat with an enormous feather — but my favorite is this paneled cap. Now, this is actually the second of such hats. The first flew off my head while I was plunging down Chickapin Hill. And weeks, perhaps even months later, it was returned to me, believe it or not. It was covered in all kinds of muck and was packaged with a letter from Disneyland informing me that they had found it in the attraction’s filter. I was thrilled to have it as they no longer sold it, however it returned to store shelves not too long afterwards and I purchased this replacement.
Clock Mickey
Simple battery operated AM/FM Mickey alarm clock. It went off to college with me. Pretty sure I purchased it 30 years ago.
Pal Mickey
What could be better than traveling Walt Disney World with Mickey Mouse as your touring companion? I wish Disney still had something like this in use even if it was just a Siri or Alexa like question/answer bot featuring character voices giving tips or times. Pal Mickey was the beginnings of the technology transitions that brought us MyMagic+. He would respond to sensors around the park. He would vibrate when he had something to say. Sometimes it would be a fact about where you were or a joke. Sometimes he would remind you of an upcoming parade or show. I’d love it if they configured my old Mickey to offer me my FastPass reminders.
Leather Portfolio Mickey
Nearly two decades before Mickey would be regularly appearing on designer purses or bags, the Disneyland Resort would release a few items for the modern executive. I found this folio, matching camera bag and a thin briefcase on deep discount at Disneyland. All these years later the folio is still in use although I’ve hidden the broken embedded calculator with a picture of Mickey the Disney Magazine had as a pull-out when I purchased this.
1983 Tokyo Disneyland Drawstring Bag Mickey
In celebration of my high school graduation, I toured sights around Tokyo, Japan for a week among the fun was a trip to Tokyo Disneyland. It was a very brief trip but this drawstring bag is among my treasured momentos from that trip. I hope to get back there again someday.
Mickey is 60! Mickey
So very hard for me to believe it was 30 years ago that I purchased this collectible magazine. I picked it up for the sericel-style lithograph. Years later I learned of the “scandalous” typo on page 35 that has made this magazine a bit infamous now (see photo #3).
Gideon’s 9 Favorite Mickeys
Test Track T-Shirt Mickey
Mickey is so cool. Look at how determined he is to drive fast! I loved this shirt so much my parents got me a bigger one when I got older.
Maps Mickeys
I love maps, especially Disney maps! It’s a great free Disney souvenir. When I was a toddler I had all the Walt Disney World maps on the wall by my bed. Now I use maps as prizes when I’m playing with other kids.
Disney Storymation Studio Mickey
My earliest stop-motion film “THE RACE” involved Mickey and Minnie racing and was created with this kit.
Mickey’s Walt Disney World Adventure Mickey
This is one of my favorite books. We have probably read it close to 100 times. I love the cute story of Mickey losing his bandleader hat during his day at the Magic Kingdom. I love the character cameos in the pictures such as Buzzy from Cranium Command.
I Found It! Mickey
In this board game, you look for hidden objects before the time runs out. Among the many regions to search is ToonTown with Mickey’s house, Radiator Springs, and the Hundred Acre wood. You use the Mickey shaped piece to mark the object when you find it.
LEGO Mickey
I find the LEGO Mickey so inventive. He looks like Mickey yet he looks like a LEGO mini-fig, too. I often think it would be fun to create a LEGO Fantasmic! with him.
Disney Cruise Line Hat Mickey
What happens when you win Disney Kids Trivia? Simple: you get this hat to remember the awesome time you shared your knowledge at the Oceaneer Lab/Oceaneer Club. Among the questions I answered were “What was Mickey’s name going to be?” It was Mortimer.
Disney Crossy Road Mickey
I like to play this game when I get bored waiting for food at restaurants. You can choose from seven Mickeys like Steamboat Willie, Band Concert, and Debonair Mickey. When you play as Debonair Mickey he wears his usual tuxedo. As he jumps around the world people take photos of him and you see their cameras flash. There’s also a red carpet and lots of limo obstacles.
Mickey Mouse Plate Mickey
My Mickey Mouse Clubhouse plate has a smiling Mickey standing next to Toodles. I loved Mickey Mouse Clubhouse because Mickey and his friends had a lot of fun adventures. I really enjoyed the Choo Choo Express story and its songs.
Come back tomorrow for more of our 90 for 90 series celebrating Mickey’s 90th birthday.