DISDivas do MouseAdventure

[Califgirl]

This is my mini-trip report for my first ever MouseAdventure, PhotoAdventure.

The Cast: The DIS Divas
Tink33, our ring leader
Mary Jo, puzzle solver extraordinaire (who nearly lost it in the loo)
Kelly, Soduko puzzle master (and Mary Jo’s daughter)
Califgirl, (me) aka VMK MVP (or Dead Weight Brandi – take your pick)

On Saturday night, I was perusing the DIS Disneyland board, and I saw a post that said:

Is anyone going to Disneyland tomorrow? 11/5
________________________________________
Hi all,

We need one more person to join us in a game at Disneyland tomorrow - someone who wants to have fun and has good knowledge of the Disneyland Resort.

If you're interested, please send me a pm.

So, I PM’ed Mary Jo and told her I was planning to go up to Disneyland anyway, so sure I’d love to join her for a game at Disneyland. I had no idea what it was. LOL! So through PM’s I learn that this is a team trivia/puzzle type game and one of their team mates had to drop out, and they needed a replacement for the next morning. All of a sudden this was sounding like it was over my head. A team effort with Disney trivia? I was sure I would only be dead weight, but I was willing to give it a go. Don’t laugh, but I studied all night by looking up Disney trivia websites. It all went in one ear and out the other. Good thing I didn’t really need any of it. All we needed was ingenuity and puzzle solving skills and we all had plenty of that!

We’re at the sign in area bright and early, as soon as the parking structure opened. (Well, I was in line waiting for the Timon lot to open before I wised up and drove over to the main parking structure.) But, finally we all meet up and I get to meet Tink33 for the first time and Mary Jo and her daughter again. We notice something right away.. some teams have done this before. Note the team costumes:

This is not our team, but some other team who had really cute patriotic mickey shirts. We all had on darkish t-shirts. Close enough! So we had our team and group pictures taken, and were ready to begin.

Tink33, the ring leader, kept us organized, having us do a quick perusal of the puzzles and then into Disneyland we went. We stopped at the AAA or Guided Tour Plaza – it has a real name, but it’s not on the Disneyland map (I looked) and we sat down on the benches to go through the puzzles more thoroughly. I spied a VMK puzzle and immediately snapped that up and started to solve it. Kelly started on the Soduko, MaryJo was doing a fractured picture puzzle, redrawing it so it would make a picture of something we had to take a picture of, and Tink33 was doing some sort of complicated math grid that ended up making a picture of an elephant. Somewhere in there, came the first of many distractions: Eyore came by for a visit.

The point of this photo adventure was to solve the 8 quests (many of which had multiple parts) and take pictures of our answers. There were also 12(?) Eye spies which were pictures of things we had to find in Disneyland and take our own picture of it. Did you know there is a backgammon game on the wall between the Children’s Clothiers and the Christmas shop? We didn’t either, we never did find that eye spy (until after the competition).

We went to the Opera House for the “Disneyland: the First 50 Magical Years” exhibit. There were vital clues there, and the answer to our first quest.
Here’s a picture of our team, taking a picture of our first answer.

From there we were all over Disneyland – down main street, back to the Opera House, to the fire station, back down main street, to Fantasyland to Snow White’s Scary Adventures, (which broke down right as we got in line) over to Tom Sawyers Island, back to the Opera House, back to Snow Whites Scary Adventure, rode the Jungle Cruise, over to Buzz light year, somewhere in there we got on the train, got off in Toontown, went to the Princess Fantasy Faire, went back to Tom Sawyers Island – it was all a blur. We saw lots of people taking pictures of all sorts of things.

Don’t ask me how the crowds were. My answer would be, “huh?” I did not notice the crowds at all. We were in puzzle solving mode and then trying to figure out where we had to go and what we had to take pictures of. And of course, I got distracted. (see below)

This was truly the most fun I have ever had at Disneyland! And the DISDivas were such a fun group to be around. We had a blast solving puzzles and taking pictures (and getting distracted). But the most satisfying moment of the day was when we finally found Hucks Spring! It took us two trips to Tom Sawyers Island, an extra trip back to the Opera House, and a sense of defeat before we finally spied – right next to the raft landing mind you – Hucks Spring! The drinking fountains on Tom Sawyer Island ! rotfl!

(photo: Tink33)

The puzzles and quests were so clever and they were very fun to solve. I recommend everyone try this at least once. Thanks DisDivas for such a fun time!

I'm terrible at remembering what I did when, these were just my impressions. I hope everyone adds their own recollections and additions to this report. I'll admit, I was sometimes distracted. (see below)

If anyone can tell me how to make these pics a little smaller, I'd appreciate it!

 

[spazzyjazzy]

It sounds like you "divas" had a blast.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Just a few questions, if you don't mind.

1. I've never heard of MouseAdventures. Who organizes it, how did you hear about it? Does it happen every year? Or more often?

2. So you get some clues in puzzles (?) and then go various places in the park to take a picture of the solved item? I gather Huck's Spring was one item, and the backgammon board another. How did the sudoku fit in? Isn't that a numbers puzzle? (I've never done it before.)

3. So how many puzzles did you need to solve, and how long did you have to do it? And was the winner whichever team finished first and had all the right photos? This sounds like so much fun (though unless it had to do with spelling or grammar, I think I'd be 'dead weight', too.)

4. Your competitors with the patriotic matching Mickey shirts look rather serious. Was it more of an "everyone have a fun time" competition, or were there major prizes involved that would perhaps make a more competitive vibe?

5. You didn't mention how Capt. Jack fit into the contest. Or was he one of the distractions?

Don't make the pictures smaller, they look great! And it's nice to 'see' you all! (Or at least three of you, we still need a picture of YOU, Califgirl!) And sounds like you had a great time.

 

[Califgirl]

Just a few questions, if you don't mind.

1. I've never heard of MouseAdventures. Who organizes it, how did you hear about it? Does it happen every year? Or more often?

I had never heard of MouseAdventures either. They have been going on since 2000. It is organized by another Disney loving website that I had never seen before. I only heard about this game because Mary Jo had posted her plea for another player on the Disneyland board. Tink33, our wonderful ring leader, had done a MouseAdventure before and I believe she put together the team. MouseAdventure takes place twice a year, in the fall and in the Spring.

This would be a good time for Tink33 or Mary Jo to chime in to make sure all the facts are straight

2. So you get some clues in puzzles (?) and then go various places in the park to take a picture of the solved item? I gather Huck's Spring was one item, and the backgammon board another. How did the sudoku fit in? Isn't that a numbers puzzle? (I've never done it before.)

Yes basically that is how it works! We got 8 different quests. Most of them were puzzles with multiple parts. The Quest with the Soduko puzzle was one of the most complicated.
Here's how that puzzle went: First someone had to actually solve the Soduko puzzle (That would be Kelly, our Soduko master!) Then we had to take the numbers in the shaded squares of the soduko puzzle and 'fill in the blanks' of another puzzle. It said we had to go to #23 on the current Disneyland map and look up the exhibit of #6. (I'm making up the numbers I really have no recollection of what they were, but you get the point) That meant that we had to go to the Opera House (#23 on the current Disneyland map) and look up the exhibit on Tom Sawyers Island (#6 on the current Disneyland map). Then at that exhibit we had to look up #4 on the exhibit and go there and have our team picture taken, looking sad. That meant that we had to go to Tom Sawyers Island and go to Fort Wilderness , #4 on the exhibit map, and have our picture taken in front of it looking sad (remember, it is closed). Then we had to go to the 'graveyard' behind the fort and take note of the names on the gravestones, except for those that referenced 1812 (another 'fill in clue' from the Soduko puzzle). There was a sheet that had a series of letters at the top, say something like this: nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn ooo bbbbb ccc tttttttttt uuu ssssssssssss wwwwwww lllllllllll hhhhh sssssssss(you get the point)
As we filled in the names from the graveyard that did not reference 1812, you crossed out the corresponding letters at the top of the page. Then when you were done, you unscrambled the letters that were left over. The letters that were left over (eventually) spelled "Hucks Spring" and we were directed to take a picture of it at our current location. So we figured that it should be on the island somewhere, but we couldn't find it. So we went back to the Opera House to look at the old map of TSI, unfortunately Huck's Spring wasn't listed. We did a few more puzzles and went back to TSI as a last ditch effort. It was on our way leaving the island, going back to the raft landing that we found Hucks Spring was the drinking fountain. We took the picture of it and ran to turn in our answers. (No we didn't get all the quests done, but we did complete 7 out of 8)

3. So how many puzzles did you need to solve, and how long did you have to do it? And was the winner whichever team finished first and had all the right photos? This sounds like so much fun (though unless it had to do with spelling or grammar, I think I'd be 'dead weight', too.)

The PhotoAdventure race started at 9:30 and answers were due at 3:30. That was the fastest 6 hours ever! You needed to complete as many quests as possible (and take the corresponding pictures) and find as many eye spy's as possible (complete with your own pic of the item/location). No team got all of the correct photos. The winner was just missing an eye spy. It was scored: 5 points for each correct quest, and 3 points for each correct eye spy. In case of a tie in the score, the one who handed in their answers first would win (or place ahead of the other team).
No spelling or grammar (at least on this one! The answers were all photos - you'd be just fine!

4. Your competitors with the patriotic matching Mickey shirts look rather serious. Was it more of an "everyone have a fun time" competition, or were there major prizes involved that would perhaps make a more competitive vibe?

Well, all I can say was I had a really good time - but make no mistake, we really, really wanted to finish the quests and find the eye spy's. It was such a sense of accomplishment to solve some of these complicated puzzles and then take the pictures. I don't think the prizes were 'major', but bragging rights are quite a big thing. Some of these teams were pretty serious. I was super thrilled to find that we placed 24th out of the 102 teams that turned in quests. (I think 120 teams started the PhotoAdventure) We were such a good team, everyone had different strengths and that made it fun. I felt like we were solving those puzzles really quickly. I have no idea how the teams were able to solve all 8 in the time allowed. (oh, we did back track alot. That probably slowed us down more than I realized)

5. You didn't mention how Capt. Jack fit into the contest. Or was he one of the distractions?

He was just a distraction (and a nice one at that - don't you think?)

Don't make the pictures smaller, they look great! And it's nice to 'see' you all! (Or at least three of you, we still need a picture of YOU, Califgirl!) And sounds like you had a great time.

Thanks Alex2kMommy! I had a blast! I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a fun was to spend a day with some fellow DISDivas!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

WOW. That sounds really cool! And 120 teams to start, with 102 finishing? Whoa, that's a lot of teams, I had no idea! (I was picturing 10 or 20...)

You're right, Capt. Jack is a very nice distraction. The Jack you photographed is different from the one we saw in September. The one we met was very witty and charming, and definitely had the mannerisms down perfectly, it was quite fascinating. And he had a whole line of giggly teenage girls (and us with our two little boys) waiting to greet him.

PS. Congratulations on coming in 24th, that's awesome!!!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I'll chime in here, too.

When Tink33 asked if anyone wanted to play MouseAdventure, I jumped because I always have fun when I'm with her. So, our initial team consisted of Tink33, my dd, Kelly, her friend, Brandi, and me (teams are limited to four players). Brandi couldn't go, and so I put out a plea for a fourth team member, and was really pleasantly surprised when Califgirl said she wanted to play - with short notice (so how cool is that!).

Although I had seen players in the park before, I really didn't know the details of the game, and only knew that we had to figure out clues and take pics of the answers.

Check-in was at 8am on Sunday, so Kelly & I arrived a little before that time. I was expecting a little chaos because there would be so many people, but since contestants also checked in on Saturday, it was pretty easy. We received our team numbers to put on our shoulders, a wrist-band, and MouseAdventure buttons.

There were two categories - one was an Invitational that covered the whole Disneyland Resort, and at least two members had to have played before. The second was the Open that only covered Disneyland and available to newcomers and people who wanted a slower paced game. (I don't know about slower paced. We didn't waste time, and we still took all day) There were about 120 teams that joined the Open, and I think 40-50 teams that joined the Invitational. Of 120 teams, 104 completed the Open, and I think 40 teams completed the Invitational. The rules were easy - no cheating, no separating, and respect the DLR and fellow guests. The Invitational began at 9:am, and the Open at 9:30am.

Soon Tink33 arrived, and then Califgirl. Tink33 had her clipboard and supplies (that we all used), and Califgirl gave us each this cool clip that we could attach to our waterbottles & then hang from our belts or in my case my camera case that I had around my waist. They put on their stickers and buttons. That's when we started calling Califgirl Brandi . She was a little concerned that she would be dead weight and not much help to the team, so she had been studying. I really didn't know what to expect from the game, so I was looking at this as an opportunity to use my Disney knowledge to find the pictures. I really didn't think that we would be playing all day long - I mean, we go to Disneyland ALL THE TIME, so how hard could this be? Uh huh --

We then took our team picture.

At 9:15 we took our group picture, and then were given our game folders. At 9:30 we entered the park and the Game began.

We went to the little courtyard behind the Tour Kiosk and gathered around a bench. That's where Tink33 opened up the folder so we could look over the quests. As Califgirl said, there were 8 quests, which were complex puzzles, and then some sheets stapled together with Eye-Spy pics that we had to find and also take a pic of. Only one disk per team could be submitted, and only photos taken during the game. So, Tink33 volunteered her camera as the game camera. We looked over the quests, and Kelly saw Soduko. Since she plays it, she quickly started solving the puzzle. Tink33 took a Minesweeper game that had been translated to paper, and Califgirl grabbed a VMK quiz. This was great since she is a VMK player, and could use her talents and knowledge to solve that puzzle. We then started laughing at her because she thought she was going to be a dead weight, and turned out to be a very valuable team member. I grabbed a fractured picture that I had to redraw.

Tink33 solved the Minesweeper game, and drew a good sketch of a dog - I mean an elephant. The 2nd part of the quest then told us that there were three of these in three different lands and we were to take a pic of each of them as we found them.

The fractured pic that I drew was of a car with a certain design on it that we had to find and take a pic of. I think Califgirl was the first one to think of the corn dog stand on Main Street - so we knew our target.

The VMK quiz that Califgirl figured out told us to go on Snow Whites Scary Adventures and take a pic while on the ride.

Kelly's Soduko turned out to be the most complex of the puzzles, as Califgirl said earlier. She had to figure it out, then put the numbers on part 2 of the puzzle. Part 2 had instructions, and she had to fill in numbers from the Soduko game. As Califgirl said, we were told to go to Attraction #__ that was on the Disneyland Map, and look for a map of Attraction #__. We ended up going to the Opera House where the 50th film is being played (or the Lincoln Tribute for those of you who haven't visited Disneyland during the 50th celebration), and found a map of Tom Sawyer's Island, which was what we were looking for. We had to find #6 on that map, go there, and take a sad pic, as Califgirl said.



So, off to Tom Sawyer's Island we went, and at the same time, continuing to solve the quests, and look for Eye Spy pics. After we went to the cemetery and took the names off the tombstones, we ended up with extra letters we had to unscramble: CGHIKNPRSSU Actually, CGHIKNPRSSU were the correct letters, but I had an extra C & K & O, I think, so that kind of threw us off. Though we knew that the second word was SPRING - we looked all over for that darn SPRING on the island. As I crossed off letters from the list of names, the other DIS Divas continued to solve puzzles. One quest was another 2-parter. The first part had letters and you had to find the corresponding number. For instance, a couple that I remember off the top of my head (the letters are just examples here) -
- A: the number of lights around the King Triton statue minus the number of points on his crown
- M: the number of disco balls at the Carnation Plaza.
The 2nd part of that puzzle was a Cryptogram, where the letters replaced numbers, and once we got that puzzle we would have our instructions what to do. We worked on this puzzle simultaneously with the others, solving the numbers in the lands that we were in. At Tom Sawyer's Island, Califgirl got the paper and started figuring out the Cryptogram with the letters we already had (and there weren't that many). While she did that, Tink33 and Kelly were working on the sign quest. In that one, there were four signs where the middles had been blurred out so all we saw were the outline of the signs. We had to find the signs, and then using them, figure out the instructions. So, in that puzzle, to get the letters, we had to use the code, which was line-word-letter, so 3-5-4 would mean that we had to go to the third line, 5th word, 4th letter. Once all the letters were figured out we could read the instructions and take a picture of that. (Though, right now, I forget what "that" was. We did get a pic of it, though.)



The Cryptogram puzzle, once solved, took us to Buzz Lightyear, where we had to play and get certain scores. It was hard for the competitive Tink33 and Califgirl to put their guns down and not play anymore once they got the desired scores. (heh heh)

There was another quest where we had to go to the Opera House, find the original map of Disneyland, find the shops on Main Street, and using that, figure out the puzzle. We then got instructions to find a pic of Goofy, and if he was doing one thing take a picture of something in the Opera House, and if he was doing something else, take a pic of the model of Space Mountain. In order to get the picture, we had to figure the first part of the puzzle. That was a fun one.

So, as you can see, we were all over the place figuring puzzles, taking pics, and regrouping ourselves. Every once in awhile we would lift our heads, but only to find the clues. I think once I said, "oooh, Mary Poppins" (there was a show in front of the castle) and Tink33 said, "Yeah yeah yeah, what's our next photo." It was really funny. I think the only time we did stop for about 2 minutes was when we saw Captain Jack Sparrow, and Califgirl couldn't help herself. She HAD to take a pic - that was the first time I saw him interact with people, and he was excellent!

We were on Tom Sawyer Island (for the 2nd time that day) when we realized that we had to head back to the park entrance. As we were leaving the island we FINALLY found HUCKS SPRING! We also found out that the game ended at 3:30 when we thought it ended at 4pm. We decided to submit our photos anyway, even though we didn't make the deadline. When we got to the Esplanade we found out that a LOT of teams didn't make the deadline, so we were actually okay. That made us all smile, and we decided to grab dinner before the award ceremonies at 6/6:30. We ate at the Plaza Inn, and my Cobb Salad was delish. Kelly had the pasta and I think she actually licked her plate. We were HUNGRY! Tink33 & Califgirl also had big salads.

We then went to the Festival Arena for the award ceremony. There were a lot of people in there, and they were playing trivia games. We smartly didn't play as we realized that we would no sooner get up than have to quickly sit down again (but shoot, those people were good!). I was commenting to the gals that I liked the Passporter pouch that this man was wearing around his neck, and Tink33 said that she thought that was Dave -- THE DAVE -- The Dave & Jennifer Marx of Passporter Dave. Califgirl & I instantly perked up and we had such a nice conversation with the both of them, who had played along just for the fun of it. They had their little toddler with them, and he was adorable! They very very generously gave us autographed Disneyland Passporter books, and I can't thank them enough. That was so nice of them. I've looked through my book, and would recommend their books to anyone. I've used them in WDW, and I know that they would be good here in the Southland, too, because they have a lot of good info, tips, and those pockets to keep your receipts, postcards, notes, etc., organized.

After the awards, we split up - Tink33 & Califgirl to play Buzz again & get "real scores" (I tell you, they are competitive ), and Kelly & I to the Gibson Girls ice cream parlour. She had been thinking of ice cream since that morning when we were in there for part of our quest, and we wanted to grab a cone on our way out. Well, after we got our ice cream we didn't quite want to leave - it was a beautiful night, and the atmosphere was so nice. So, we sat on a bench in Town Square, ate our ice cream and people watched. After a few minutes, though, I couldn't take it anymore. There was a picture we hadn't found, and we were sure it was somewhere on Main Street, so I told Kelly I was going to go through the shops, and she jumped up (well, Kelly doesn't really jump - she got up slowly), and we headed to the shops. We were in the Disneyana Shop when we ran into Califgirl & Tink33, and we all started laughing because we were all looking for that same picture! We never did find it, though we found the backgammon board we had been looking for. Tink33 later told us that she heard that that other picture was someone in Gibson Girls ice cream parlour (the one place that we had gone back to, but didn't search!) I'll have to look for it next time.

We went into the game with some misconceptions, and with some right-on ideas. I thought this was going to be a snap - it wasn't. I found out that there is a lot I don't know about Disneyland. Califgirl thought she was going to be a dead-weight to the team, and as it turned out, nothing could be further from the truth. Kelly is really quiet, so I have no idea what she expected. Well, I think she expected to have a good time, and she did, and part of that, I think, is that Tink33 and Califgirl treated her as a true team member, not as a teen helping out, so that meant a lot to me. Tink33 predicted that we would come in the top 40, and she was right! Our team came in 24th place out of 104. Not too shabby for our first time. Tink33 really kept us on track, and had good advice throughout the day that helped keep us focused, especially when I would say really smart things like, "I'm going to run over there." and she would go "NO! We can't separate!!!" (oh yeah, small detail ) I did expect to enjoy the day, I just didn't realize how much I would enjoy it. We had fun, and we worked well as a team. This is definitely an event that I want to do again -- same team if it works out, and appropriately attired this time.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

There was a picture we hadn't found, and we were sure it was somewhere on Main Street, so I told Kelly I was going to go through the shops, and she jumped up (well, Kelly doesn't really jump - she got up slowly), and we headed to the shops. We were in the Disneyana Shop when we ran into Califgirl & Tink33, and we all started laughing because we were all looking for that same picture! We never did find it, though we found the backgammon board we had been looking for. Tink33 later told us that she heard that that other picture was someone in Gibson Girls ice cream parlour (the one place that we had gone back to, but didn't search!) I'll have to look for it next time.

This cracked me up! I would have headed for ice cream, too. Then the ones I hadn't figured out would have been bugging me, so I would have had to look... How hilarious that you ALL wound up there!

We went into the game with some misconceptions, and with some right-on ideas. I thought this was going to be a snap - it wasn't. I found out that there is a lot I don't know about Disneyland. Califgirl thought she was going to be a dead-weight to the team, and as it turned out, nothing could be further from the truth. Kelly is really quiet, so I have no idea what she expected. Well, I think she expected to have a good time, and she did, and part of that, I think, is that Tink33 and Califgirl treated her as a true team member, not as a teen helping out, so that meant a lot to me. Tink33 predicted that we would come in the top 40, and she was right! Our team came in 24th place out of 104. Not too shabby for our first time. Tink33 really kept us on track, and had good advice throughout the day that helped keep us focused, especially when I would say really smart things like, "I'm going to run over there." and she would go "NO! We can't separate!!!" (oh yeah, small detail ) I did expect to enjoy the day, I just didn't realize how much I would enjoy it. We had fun, and we worked well as a team. This is definitely an event that I want to do again -- same team if it works out, and appropriately attired this time.

How COOL! It sounds like a great time had by all. When you do it again, I hope you write it up again, it was a great read!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[Califgirl]

I realized the picture links had broken, so I fixed them.
We had such a blast at the last MouseAdventure 4-29-07. The format was different, no photos this time. And we weren't allowed to use our cameras at all, so no pics.

I will say that we were properly attired with bling shirts that said "Diva" and LIME GREEN feather boas that were our DIS identifiers!! Thanks to Tink33 for outfitting us.
We looked MAH-VA-LOUS, dah-ling. And everyone was calling us the green boa ladies. I have no idea how we placed this year, as the results are not posted yet, but it was a BLAST.