I Thought I Was a Disney Expert...Until I Found This!

You know about the hidden Mickeys (they’re EVERYWHERE). You’ve spotted all the hidden bathrooms throughout the parks. And you even know incredible details about Walt’s history and time at Disneyland Park. But there might be one thing you do NOT know.

For this surprise, we’ll mainly be taking you over to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, though the tool we’ll be discussing can be used in a number of places. Figured out what we’re referring to yet? Nope? Alright, let’s unpack the details!

Ever walked around Disney’s Animal Kingdom and spotted signs in other languages? You might have walked past a ton of them and not even realized they were there. But if you are a Disney expert, then you know that things placed within the park are typically done carefully and with a purpose in mind.

For example, did you know that “Fichwa” is Swahili for “hidden?” Yup, this is a not-so-hidden-hidden-Mickey that literally acknowledges how it is a “hidden” fellow!

While you could pop some of these words in the old Google machine to get those results, an even more fun way to do things is through the Google Translate app! You should be able to download this app for free on your mobile phone’s app store.

Once it’s downloaded, you can enable a camera view (called Google Lens)…

…that’ll let you take a photo of words to translate.

As we were walking around Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we stopped by these adorable statues of Russel and Dug from Up. Ever noticed how there are little signs underneath each? What do those say? Well, Google Translate can help you find out!

Under Dug’s statue, the sign reads “dog” — appropriate!

And under Russel’s, it reads “boy.” What a fun detail many folks may have NEVER noticed!

It can even help you translate wording included on random things in the parks, like this FuelRod charging station.

Turns out that according to Google Translate, the top words spells out “Power Station.” How cool!

And what about these signs about Anandapur and more? What do they say?

Well, it looks like some have to do with tours, rafting, and teaching you how to survive in the wild — useful. Others have to do with artistic productions and a volunteer team.

Of course, we have to note that Google Translate (particularly in the lens view) doesn’t always work perfectly. It might not pick up the words you want it to find in your photo, forcing you to retake the photo to try and get the system to work.

Plus, things may not always translate exactly as they should. But still, it’s a really unique (and FREE) tool that could help you learn SO much more about the parts of the park you may have otherwise walked right past.

And its usefulness goes beyond Animal Kingdom. Think about how many items you could translate while walking around EPCOT’s World Showcase, particularly when you’re picking up snacks or merchandise items from other countries with tags written in languages you don’t understand. It’s a helpful tool that could add a whole other level of fun to your experience.

You could even make it a game with little ones — how many translations can they guess correctly? Or who can find the most unique item to translate? Your Disney expertise is about to reach level 2,000 thanks to this!