Disney Dreamlight Valley characters go to bed way too early

Much like many Disney-lovers, I’ve fallen for the “rabbit hole” of Disney Dreamlight Valley. You can feel the comfort of a simulation of life, where you build a city. There are also Disney characters that bounce around greeting you. Goofy and I go fishing. Scrooge McDuck sells me items. Remy is my cook. Ariel is swimming on the beaches. Everything is fine in Dreamlight Valley except that Mickey Mouse never appears to be there.

Mickey is right next to me, and I am always sleeping when he’s playing. While I’m a Disney fan, I am also an adult who works late and is a night owl. This means I often play the game past 11 p.m. Animal Crossing New Horizons, Disney Dreamlight Valley follows real time, which means when it’s day time in real life, it’s day time in the Valley. And when it’s 11 at night and I’m on my couch in cozy pajamas with a mug of tea, Mickey is fast asleep in his house. I guess I’ll never get to level up our friendship.

Gameloft via Polygon

He’s not the only character with an early bedtime. Moana, Kristoff and others also like to get up early. Moana operates a canoe for the player to catch fish from, and interacting with it means that Moana shows up for a second to say hi — no matter where she is or what she was doing. I feel really guilty about yanking her from sleep, but a gal has got to get her rainbow trout, y’know?

Anna wanted me to go into her home and search for clues. This was the most outrageous example. But she shares her house with the other Frozen characters, and because Kristoff was asleep I couldn’t enter, which meant that I had to wait till the next day to progress.

I could play the game earlier — and I do, when time allows — but there is something very soothing about playing a game where you run around collecting little things and helping characters right before bed. It’s calming. It allows me to turn off my anxiety brain and go to bed. So I’m going to continue this nighttime ritual of playing Disney Dreamlight Valley. It would be great if Mickey Mouse worked the same hours that I do.

Gameloft via Polygon

When I do play a little earlier and manage to catch him, he always yawns and says something like “GAWSH IT’S GETTING LATE.” Sometimes, this is at 8 p.m. (Notably, Goofy once greeted me at 6:30 p.m. with a cheery “Good morning!”; I knew we were kindred spirits.) And I can’t even unlock Minnie till I progress more with Mickey. The Disney version must be available. New Horizons’ Night Owl Ordinance, which lets me force my villagers and the local businesses to keep the same hours as me.

I should be thankful that at least Scrooge’s store and Goofy’s stall are available 24 hours a day (capitalism never sleeps, babyyyy), and that I can pick up fish from Moana and crops from WALL-E’s garden whenever I want. Gothel is a night owl, so I know I can count on her to take a passive-aggressive look at me whenever I pass by. Elsa is the same age as I, and we can always hang out whenever we want. Admittedly, it is remarkably in character of Mickey to be an “early to bed, early to rise” sort of person [ed. note: I’m pretty sure Mickey is a mouse, as indicated in his name] and even though his hours frustrate me, he’s just so dang endearing that I can’t get mad.

Perhaps I shouldn’t force these characters to cater to my whims, like I did to my New Horizons villagers. They might teach me patience. Maybe Mickey could just sleep in for an extra night to finally win his girl back.