Thursday, November 5, 2009

Hunt for hidden Mickey's goes digital


Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide To Walt Disney World’s Best Kept Secrets, the best-selling book by Steven M. Barrett, now has its very own “official” app for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.

The new app builds on the successful formula of the book. It contains all of the Hidden Mickeys from the new fourth edition of the book -- with over a hundred added, the total is now up to more than 800 – but it takes things to a whole new level of interactivity.

Using the scavenger hunt structure that made the book so popular, the new app offers cryptic “clues” for searchers to puzzle over and “hints” for if they get stuck. But asking for hints before you find a Hidden Mickey lowers your score. Separate user profiles allow family members to compete on the hunts.

But the app is not just the book in digital form. It also includes completely new features only possible with Apple’s iPhone technology. For example, users can upload their scavenger hunt scores directly to their Facebook pages without having to exit the application. This means that for the first time Hidden Mickeys hunters from around the globe can compare their scores instantaneously.

The application also uses a GPS location tracking feature that identifies the user’s location in the resort and automatically displays the nearest Hidden Mickeys up to 500 meters away. Hunters in a hurry can thus save time without skipping Mickeys.

Users of the new app are enthusiastic. “This is awesome,” raved LightningMcQueen1983 in the iTunes Store. “I have already gone through and selected all the Hidden Mickeys I knew, but there are soooooo many more to find.”

The application is available for $5.99 under the “Travel” category in Apple’s App Store via this link http://bit.ly/4E3phY.

The Hidden Mickeys app was created by Campbell/Gambill Designs of Orlando, FL, with the assistance of author Steve Barrett. Barrett’s book, Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide To Walt Disney World’s Best Kept Secrets ($12.95), is published by The Intrepid Traveler. It is available in the Disney parks, in bookstores, and online.

1 comment:

Allison said...

That sounds very cool! I am hoping to get an iPhone for my upcoming birthday and this would be a very cool app to add!

Just found your blog via a tweet from @marcmantoo! I'll definitely be back.

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