MouseAdventure Card Games returned for another edition, this time with a gamble-worthy subtitle: “Deuces Wild.”
More than 200 teams and nearly 900 people came out on a day that, for once, was nearly perfect game weather. It wasn't too hot, it wasn't too cold, and despite a bit of worry after a pretty good storm on Friday, there was no rain in sight.
This allowed most of the teams to really enjoy themselves (and sometimes enjoying themselves involves momentarily hating the world, or Alex, whichever is bigger) as they took possession of more than they could ever hope to do in a single seven-hour period. Once again, the game consisted of 52 individual tasks, puzzles, and quests tied to a standard-size deck of cards. But 52 puzzles isn't enough. There was also a hidden quest. And a bonus Deuces Wild quest. Let's not forget the 52 EyeSpy images or the 37 trivia questions.
Hopefully, there was something for everybody and something in every difficulty level.
Themed clothing, check. Pencils and pens, check. Clipboard/binder that would make the middle school version of you jealous, check. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Details about the game and results are below, but we always appreciate discussion of the game on our MousePad message board. If you haven't already, you're encouraged to join in here to share your impressions or get your questions answered.
Thanks to all of the players for making the day pleasant as our volunteer crew worked under all of the load as well. Patience and good attitudes are always appreciated, and it is great to see how much fun everybody is having. And thanks to all of our crew and volunteers for making the great day happen.
This “candid” may or may not have been posed. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Quests | Photos | Results | Acknowledgements
Quests
Quests were divided into four suits, like a regular deck of cards—but these suits were themed appropriately to the areas in which their quests were found. The four suits were Bears, Hats, Masks, Shields. Each suit was made up of 10 numbered cards (Ace through 10) and three face cards (Jack, Queen, and King). To obtain the face card quests, teams would have to solve (or at least attempt to solve) the numbered quests first. The Jack quest of each suit involved a physical challenge within the suit area, while the Queen and King quests were more typical MouseAdventure quests. To start the game, the teams were released from the ballroom by suit, beginning with teams with the longest distance to walk to their first suit station.
Bears | Masks | Shields | Hats | Hidden Quest | Deuces Wild | Trivia | EyeSpy
Bears
The Bears suit station was located in the outdoor seating area for Tasts Pilots' Grill in Disney California Adventure. Quests spanned all of the park except for Paradise Pier, which was not included in the game. It is good to have a bountiful condiments bar nearby.
Ace of Bears
The question was on the card and all that was needed was to find and answer it. This slogan could be found on a sign in the queue area for Muppet*Vision 3D:
“What is the slogan of the Disaster Effects Storage Department?”
- Correct answer – We'll Make Your Movie a Total Disaster
Two of Bears
On this one, it was necessary to figure out how much money Goofy spent on flights after he moved to Condor Flats. On the card, you were presented with a bunch of flights he wanted to take, but you then had to determine which flights he was able to take and how much they cost. The way you could tell was by looking at the flight schedule posted outside of the Fly 'n' Buy store. For example, any flights on the card that took place on a Saturday were out, since no flights are available because someone has gone fishin'.
- Correct answer – $47.50
Three of Bears
This card was another instance of our “Evil Paragraph” puzzles where players need to find specifics words and bits of words within a larger text. This time, players were instructed to use the current edition of The Buena Vista Bugle, a newspaper you can pick up around DCA. Using the entertainment listing on the last page, they had to find the specific column, then the item within that column, then the line with that item, then the word within that line, then finally, specific letters within that word.
When solved, players learned that the question was what kinds of candy are in the end cars of the candy train. That candy train can be found in the window display for Trolley Treats.
- Correct answer – Chocolate Kisses and Assorted Chocolates
Four of Bears
Here, everything needed was on the card, but the players had to figure out how to read it. Once they did so, they were directed to find the garden with Heimlich, Francis, and Rosie and count the candy corn growing in it. This garden is just outsdie the A Bug's Land exit to Cars Land.
- Correct answer – 7 (Heimlich is eating an eighth; this one is no longer growing)
Five of Bears
This card showed the boat numbers, and players were asked which number would continue the sequence. The numbers are off the rowboats used as shade structure for the waterside seating at Cocina Cucamonga. Boats 7, 22, and 10 were listed.
- Correct answer – 16
Six of Bears
Once decoded, the question on this card asked how many sardines were in the record catch if you assume each sardine weighed half a pound. The intended location to find this was the photo spot in Pacific Wharf where you can take a picture of yourself in a sardine net. The sign on that says the record catch was 7 1/4 tons, which works out to 29,000 sardines.
Unfortunately, a recently removed construction wall also revealed another mention of a record catch of sardines, and the answer for that one worked out to 1,000,000,000 sardines. We accepted either answer.
- Correct answer – 29,000 or 1,000,000,000
Seven of Bears
On this card was an oddly shaped word find. In the word find were all of the named sundaes and ice cream bars at Clarabelle's, except for one—players simply had to determine which one was missing from the word find.
- Correct answer – Chocolate Chip Cookie and Hot Fudge
Eight of Bears
This card had players helping Alice play a hand of poker again Mad Hatter. The two parts of the puzzle were to first compile a list of all the cards that were to be used (they were all the cards around one of the stages used for Mad Tea Party) and then to answer a few questions to determine the rules of the game. Finally, the players had to answer who won, and with what hand. Two answers were accepted, as the cards in play would vary depending on whether the stage was covered or not.
- Correct answer – Either way, Alice wins, but if the stage was covered, she won with four 8s. If it wasn't covered, she won with four Aces.
Nine of Bears
Players were shown an outline of a gecko and simply asked what does the gecko say? The geckos are used as decoration around Cocina Cucamonga and most say nothing at all. But two of them, near cast member doors say:
- Correct answer – Cucamonga Cooks Only
The gecko is less interesting in its conversation than the fox. Photo by Alex Stroup.
10 of Bears
For this quest, we learned a little bit about the seedy underbelly of Cars Land. It turns out that Flo had been ripping people off with her gas pumps. This went unnoticed until Rick Le Feuvre, commissioner of Orange County Bureau of Weights and Measures, noticed that half of her 16 pumps were charging people more than the listed price. Players were asked to determine how many pumps were cheating and then to calculate a fine. The calculation was different for our Basic and Advanced players.
- Correct answer – Basic: $200,005.19; Advanced: $116,805.19
Jack of Bears
Jacks were our physical challenges this time around, and for Bears, players had to combine their knowledge of Route 66's route with some rapid jigsaw puzzling. Presented with a 60-piece jigsaw puzzle of the United States (no reference image, we hoped everybody would be familiar with what the U.S. looks like) teams needed to put together just those parts of the puzzle that included states through which Route 66 passes.
- Correct answer – California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois
“Does Route 66 go through Florida?” This team didn't ask. Photo by Alex Stroup.
Queen of Bears
Sometimes it is the littlest of details around which a puzzle gets built. For this one, players were shown a set of ampersands around Buena Vista Street. They then used the words surrounding those ampersands to reveal a question asking for the first names of the Silver Lake Sisters.
- Correct answer – Dolly, Dottie, and Ethel
King of Bears
The final quest in the Bears suit revealed a little bit more about the unseen side of Cars Land. For this quest, players learned that Fillmore lied to Doc Hudson about how well he could see, so that he could get a prescription for his “glaucoma.” Players had to identify the names for the artisanal motor oils sold by Fillmore at his roadside stand, and then figure out what his real vision ratio was, and what he said was the best he could see when being examined by Doc Hudson (there's a big eye chart in his office).
- Correct answer – Fillmore can really see with 20/13 vision, but claims to have 20/30 vision.
Masks
The Masks suit station was located in the seating area of the Stage Door Cafe in Frontierland, with quests spanning Frontierland, Adventureland, New Orleans Square, and Critter Country. It is good to have corn dogs nearby.
Ace of Masks
A bunch of Disney characters were shown on the card, and players were asked which type of animal shown was not available as a seating option in Critter Country. Over by Pooh's Corner in Critter Country are a set of benches where the backs are in the shape of various animals.
- Correct answer – Chipmunk (Chip was not accepted, we asked for type of animal)
Two of Masks
For this card, teams had to do a little bit of coloring. They needed to figure out that they might be able to color the image on their card if they went to Big Thunder Ranch. Then, answering a few questions that could be answered in that area, they had to actually color their card in the indicated way (the image on the card was one in the rotation for coloring sheets put out there, but it wasn't on the day of the game).
Pocahontas really does live at Big Thunder Ranch. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
- Correct answer – Diane Disney was in the photo so teams colored the peg leg in the image; Pocahontas is a donkey kept in a nearby pen, so the cactuses hat was to be colored in, the C volume of the encyclopedia is in the house and not S-Sm, so they had to write their team # on the card, and finally, only a piano is found in the house so the rabbit's tail was colored.
A sample coloring sheet shows what components teams were asked to work on for the Two of Masks quest.
Three of Masks
For this one, several “icon” type images were shown on the card, and teams simply had to identify which attraction those images were associated with. Each could be found on the bow end of one of the canoes.
- Correct answer – Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
Four of Masks
Players had to find something being shipped from “Prof. Henry Jones, Lost Delta, India” and were asked to identify to where the item was being sent. Many teams of course assumed this was something associated with the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction, and wondered if it was possible with the ride closed for refurbishment. However, this bit of Adventureland theming is not actually located at that ride. Instead it is on a large crate on the second floor queue area for Jungle Cruise (visible from the street; you didn't need to get into line).
- Correct answer – British Colonial Affairs, Delhi, India
Five of Masks
This card showed a selection of brand logos and asked which two were not appropriate for the area covered by the masks suit. Basic just needed to correctly identify one of them, while Advanced needed to name both.
Quilted Northern sponsors all of the restrooms in the park, Dole sponsors Enchanted Tiki Room; Dixie sponsors Hungry Bear Restaurant; Brawny sponsors Big Thunder Ranch. A tricky one was Nikon, since many teams were not aware that they have taken over the sponsorhip of photo spots from Kodak.
- Correct answer – AT&T (former sponsor of Indiana Jones Adventure) and Stouffer's (former sponsor of French Market).
Six of Masks
Teams needed to solve a Sudoku puzzle for this card. Turns out that some people really hate Sudoku while others really love it. Once solved, they used the numbers to the indicated squares to fill in the blanks in their question. That question asked them to find a book in a window in New Orleans Square (which was in one of the windows next to Club 33) and provide a specific word from the exposed text.
- Correct answer – Assumption
Seven of Masks
This puzzle looked worse than it really was. It contained 26 questions you could answer from around Frontierland to find what numeric values had been assigned to the letters of the alphabet, and then players decoded the question asking which of two items was more expensive: Four chimichangas or Five arroz con pollo (found on the children's menu at Rancho del Zocalo).
As a point of strategy, rather than just working the 26 questions presented, ideal strategy would have been to treat it like a game of hangman and answer only those letters that seemed most useful and work from there. Using this method, many teams really only needed to answer 6 to 10 of the questions. Also, hopefully nobody went over to River Belle Terrace to count “the number of live ostriches (male or female) currently looking for food in the outdoor seating.” The answer, and we're almost positive this is always true, is zero.
- Correct answer – Four chimigangas
Eight of Masks
This card showed a treasure map with various bits of text identified, and players were asked to give the final bit of text. The map was found inside the “fortune teller” booth occupied by a pirate in the courtyard at Pieces of Eight.
- Correct answer – Follow signs
Nine of Masks
This puzzle was one that many teams found more difficult than had been predicted, both in its initial solving and then in answering the question asked. First, teams had to solve a simple crossword puzzle using the eight named gods in the Tiki Room courtyard, which associated eight letters with eight numbers. They were then instructed to find the line in a block of text that started with each letter, then rotate that line by the indicated number of spaces. Once all of that was done, the question could be read by scanning the block of text from top to bottom then left to right.
The question however, caued people a lot of difficulty. It asked teams to count the number of peacock feathers painted on the short wall around the courtyard next to Aladdin's Oasis. A lot of teams did not read the whole question, and ended up counting all of the peacocks around the entrance to Aladdin's Oasis, which was 20 (21 if you counted the peacock figure on the top center). Many of those who correctly counted the peacock feathers around the wall failed to take note of the fact that the wall had two sides and the feathers were mirrored on each side. So a common incorrect answer was 28 but that should have been doubled to the correct answer of…
- Correct answer – 56
10 of Masks
This was another scary-looking puzzle that hopefully wasn't as bad for teams as they may have feared. Presented with a large grid of numbers, they were told to color in the numbers that met the rules on the card. The one that seemed trickiest for teams was the instruction to color in all of the numbers for which 46 (the minimum height for Indiana Jones Advenure in inches) is a multiple. 46 is a multiple of 1, 2, 23, and 46 (23 seemed to get missed a lot). When colored, the squares spelled out “chicken skewer sauce?” and the question asked what the proper name was.
- Correct answer – Polynesian Sauce was the desired answer but “Chieftan Chicken Skewer in a Polynesian Sauce” and “Polynesian” were also accepted.
Jack of Masks
The physical challenge for this suit was the return of charades from the first Card Games. Teams that did it, seemed to like it, but it came back because we like watching it. This time around, instead of Disney characters, the task was to pantomime Disneyland attraction names. Which really brought out the creativity in teams, including one that apparently involved an inside joke requiring slapping each other.
Queen of Masks
This was a lengthy word find puzzle. First, teams had to reuse their solved Sudoku from the 6 card and use a different set of indicated squares to reveal that they needed to use a mileage chart on the message board next to the Tom Sawyer Rafts to generate a list of cities between 11 and 25 miles away.
After finding all of those places in the word find, the remaining letters asked them to identify which of five steamer captains (something found on another pamphlet on the same board) had the alphabetically last surname and then to answer what boat they captained.
- Correct answer – Itasca or Steamer Itasca (captained by N.F. Webb)
King of Masks
This was a unique puzzle format, so hopefully teams enjoyed it. The first task was to connect a bunch of broken phrases that could be found around the exterior to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (early in the writing process, we considered making teams ride the newly reopened attraction, but thought you all might like to do more than one thing all day). With that information, they could then derive instructions for how to mark and fold an accompanying piece of paper covered in apparent nonsense.
As the paper was folded, however, it would begin to reveal the quest's task, which was to identify the costliest item at River Belle Terrace.
- Correct answer – We accepted either Huck's Slow Roasted Beef or Fresh Catch of the Day
Shields
The Shields suit station was located in the seating area next to Dumbo in Fantasyland, with quests spanning Main Street, Fantasyland, and Toontown. It is good to have a puppet-themed dining opportunity nearby.
Ace of Shields
Three questions in different colored text were on the card, and players were instructed to answer the one in the same color as the (garden) rake that cold be found in Toontown. This rake is leaning against Goofy's garden shed and is blue, so teams were to answer who was standing to Minnie's left in the postcard from Hawaii (part of the Disney Vacation Club booth that used to be the Jolly Trolley station).
- Correct answer – Mickey Mouse
Two of Shields
This puzzle type shows up in pretty much any game written by Alex Stroup (he hates them so feels he must inflict them on others). An image was broken into random pieces and players needed to redraw the complete image and identify the attraction number shown. When done correctly, it revealed the water tower at the Toontown stop of the Disneyland Railroad.
- Correct answer – 44
Original artwork by Lani Teshima, before it got mangled. Photo by Alex Stroup.
Three of Shields
Teams were asked to find the image (a stylized snowflake) on the card somewhere within the area of the park covered by the suit, and then to identify which character was closest to the image. The image could be found on the outside of the area being used for the Frozen meet-and-greet.
- Correct answer – Olaf (he's up on the roof)
Four of Shields
Images on the card make up the component parts of the towers found near “it's a small world,” and the task was to identify which of those towers was shown and then to identify what could be purchased there for less than $4.
- Correct answer – Coffee and Hot Cocoa
Five of Shields
The card asked a question about part of the Mechanicl Kingdoms exhibit in the opera house. By reading the display plaques, teams could answer the question.
- Correct answer – Portable Containment Unit
Six of Shields
This card showed various animals that could also be found as topiary outside of “it's a small world.” Teams had to identify the extra animal not found there. Buffalo, elephant, lion, ostrich, zebra, dolphin, an rhinoceros are all there. The one animal shown that cannot be found as a topiary is…
- Correct answer – Hippopotamus
Seven of Shields
Teams were asked to find the phrase “kinder machen die eltern stoltz” somewhere on Main Street and identify who wrote it, as well as which suit of the four standard card suits (heart, diamond, jack, spade) cannot be seen on an item nearby.
The phrase appears in a letter written by Harry Houdini to his mother and is on display in the window of the magic store. The lampshades on the lights at the entrance to the magic store show three playing cards, and clubs is the missing suit.
- Correct answer – Harry Houdini and clubs
Eight of Shields
Another “complete the sequence” task. The book showed a sequence of shields and the question was which image on the card would continue the sequence. The shields in question are found on the poles around King Arthur Carrousel.
- Correct answer – 5
Nine of Shields
On this card was seen a scrambled word, but not scrambled in any of our normal ways. It referenced something written in Toontown using a stencil and, of course, toon physics required that when text like that got jumbled, it really got jumbled, as each letter broke into the individual stencil parts. Teams had to figure out the word (Clarabell'es) and the address that went with the word identified (it was on a shipping crate over by Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin).
- Correct answer – #3 Toon Square
10 of Shields
This was a basic decode task where players were given a pool of letters and instructions on how to decode an encoded question. The trick was that only half of the question “At Village Haus on a sh” and they needed to figure out that the rest of the question could be read in the unused letters from the decoding pool (“elf is a clock what time is it”).
- Correct answer – 1:39 (we accepted within a couple minutes). We also accepted 6:00 due to another clock in Village Haus that is very hard to see.
Jack of Shields
The physical challenge for this suit had teams trying to either count the number of acorns in the area of Chip 'n' Dale's Treehouse (105 to 110 accepted) or memorizing the text on various Toontown windows.
Queen of Shields
This quest existed solely as an excuse for Alex Stroup to unleash the Huey Dewey Decimal System pun. Players needed to match altered book titles (and their call numbers) with actual book titles found in the Starbucks windows on Main Street (example: Treasure Island was transformed into “Hoarded Wealth Amidst Dihydrogen Monoxide”). Only seven of the eight listed items could be found in those windows, and teams then had to find something related to the remaining item elsewhere on Main Street. That remaining item was “Electricity and Its Interpersonal Meanings” with call number 132. That led teams to a “love” machine in the Penny Arcade, and on that machine, a score of 132 went with the phrase…
- Correct answer – More PEP will put you over BIG
King of Shields
This was physically the most complex quest in the game. Teams where given three sheets of paper. The first two (which were perforated for ease) had letters and numbers on one side and images of shields on the other side. The third sheet just had letters on one side. Teams were instructed on how to remove various shields from the first two sheets (using the same shields as seen at the entrance to Matterhorn). After that task was completed, teams could then stack the remaining portions of the sheets so as to reveal six Disney character names (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Roger, Jessica). They were then instructed to find another location within the suit where those six could all be found together and write their names in the accompanying numered grid.
That location was the post office boxes in the Toontown post office. Players then had to notice two things: First, that on some of the shields they had torn out, the numbers 1 through 6 could be found (associated a specific number with a specific character name) and second, that on the cards within the suit there was a different shield for each card value in the bottom margin. So now players would tie a specific character to a specific shield (via the number in the grid) and specific shields to a specific card in the deck. This allowed them to answer the question of which character had the highest numbered card.
- Correct answer – Mickey Mouse (Jack of Shields) was the intended answer. But it was pointed out that the phrasing of “highest numbered card” could be read to exclude the Jack, Queen, and King cards. So the decision was made to accept the result of that as well Roger Rabbit). This decision was incoporated into the results announced that day.
Hats
The Hats suit station was located in the outdoor seating area at the Downtown Disney Starbucks. Quests spanned all of Downtown Disney as well as the Grand California Hotel and the Disneyland Hotel. It is good to have a copious source of caffeine nearby.
Ace of Hats
The card showed an image of a LEGO figure about to jump. The instructions were to find the specific location and then identify which 2×2 grid of LEGO figures could be found there. Going to the LEGO store in Downtown Disney was the obvious first step, but teams had to notice that the jumping figure was found in a specific exterior window. It was in that specific window teams needed to look.
- Correct answer – B
Two of Hats
For this task, players, had to recognize that the map number for Apricot Lane Boutique in Downtown Disney varied based on which map you look at. On the regular written map, it is #38. On the Braille maps found through Downtown Disney, however, it is #33. The task was to write the Braille map number in regular Arabic numerals and write the non-Braille map in Braile numbers. An added unintentional wrinkle for those who looked at the regular map in front of World of Disney was that Apricot Lane Boutique was identified as a children's store with a different name (but still #38 as the correct location).
- Correct answer – 33 and ? ? ? (we also accepted ? ?)
Three of Hats
The card simply said “Disney Theme Night, That Sounds Fun” and players were asked to find where they'd take their children to experience that.
- Correct answer – Disney Theme Nights are found at Pinocchio's Workshop in Grand California Hotel (as indicated on a sign on their door)
Four of Hats
This one tested player's ability to do spatial manipulations. First, they needed to fill the faces of a die with patterns found on the carpet in the Disneyland Hotel lobby. They then had to determine which of four images represented a possible rotation of that die.
- Correct answer – A
Five of Hats
This card had teams making a list of all the words of four letters or more in the poem carved above the exterior of Storyteller's at the Grand California Hotel. They then had to pair up words listed on their card such that when squished together, they'd hide the words in the list they just made. For example, if trying to hide the word GOAL the words BINGO and ALTERNATE could be used, like this: BINGOALTERNATE. Using those extra letters, they could then identify a subset that needed to be unscrambled so they could answer the question. The question ended up being, “What time does Mandara Spa close.”
- Correct answer – 8:00
Six of Hats
This card asked how much it would cost to buy an SX 510 HS. Teams had to figure out that this was a reference to a model number available for sale in the Best Buy vending maching found near La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney. It is for a Canon digital camera. It was on sale the weekend of MouseAdventure, so both the regular and sale prices were accepted.
- Correct answer – $229.99 or $249.99
Seven of Hats
This was a bit of a complicated task designed mostly to make teams take their cards out of the protective sleeves into which many teams had put them. Teams answered some simple true/false questions around the Earl of Sandwich end of Downtown Disney to determine that they needed to use red circles. They then needed to note that around the borders of every card in this suit were a bunch of colored half shapes. It was possible to lay out the cards numerically such that all of the red circles could connect in a specific order. Teams then needed to take this revealed “path” and replicate it on a piece of tile art found next to ESPN Zone (being instructed to start in the tile labeled “Colin”). They were then asked, when following that path, what name do they end up on.
- Correct answer – Tammy
Eight of Hats
Once again, teams were asked to complete a sequence. The book showed two images they needed to find in Downtown Disney, and teams answered which of the characters shown on the card would continue the sequence. The images could be found hanging up high at the entrance to Wunderland Gallery (visible from outside).
- Correct answer – Ariel
Nine of Hats
This card had the question on it, which simply asked which counter service location within the suit used fake pine trees for decoration and how many trees were used.
- Correct answer – Whitewater Snacks and 6
10 of Hats
This quest required teams to find the model of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the lobby area of the Adventureland Tower at Disneyland Hotel. The plaque attached was then used as the key to decode the question, which asked how many mine car trains were seen in the model.
- Correct answer – 5
Jack of Hats
The physical challenge for this quest allowed teams to gamble a bit. All they had to do was throw a coin and get it to land on one of the ledges in the fountains between the tram loading area and World of Disney (all tossed coins eventually get donated to Disney HAND).
The gambling aspect was that they could choose to toss:
- Just one quarter and get the full 60 points if they succeeded.
- Toss two nickels for twice as many opportuities but receive only 45 points on success.
- Get five pennies for five times as many chances but receive only 30 points if they hit it.
It was interesting to watch teams decide how much risk they'd be willing to take. The station crew noted anecdotally that more teams opted for two nickels than the other options.
A player takes his chances at the fountains. Photo by Kenji Luster.
Queen of Hats
This puzzle made use of the celebrity photographs in the convention center area of the Disneyland Hotel. Long lists of letters were shown for three specific years, and players had to remove all of the letters used by people photographed in those years. Letters left over could be unscrambled to reveal the name of someone in those photographs. When all three were identified, the final question was who of the three was photographed earliest.
- Correct answer – Bonita “Granville” Wrather
King of Hats
This one looked really daunting (and is if anybody took it to full completion), but it was essentially identical to the simple Minesweeper game that used to come with the Windows operating system. The puzzle was a huge grid of numbers zero through nine, and the logic of the puzzle was that the number indicated how many squares in the 3×3 grid surrouding that number should be colored in. Doing this completely revealed a logo for a Downtown Disney store. Fortunately, many teams were able to figure out the answer well before having to solve the full puzzle.
- Correct answer – Quiksilver (spelling was enforced so Quicksilver was not accepted)
Hidden Quest
This version of Card Games did have a hidden quest. Normally when one of these is in a game, the quest is embedded in various parts of the game materials. This time we decided to mix it up and embedded the Hidden Quest in the resort. Throughout the duration of the game, we had several people walking around the parks wearing T-shirts that read “Hi! I'm the Hidden Quest” and which provided instructions on how to answer the quest. By showing situational awareness, you simply had to write “Situational Awareness” on your answer sheet. Congratulations to all of the teams that found this one!
Deuces Wild
Another “gambling” element within this game was that teams could opt to replace their four individual deuce card quests with a single quest worth twice as many points. A surprising number of teams opted to do this. The quest directed them out to the compass rose in the Esplanade between the two parks. Starting at a specific point on the compass, they needed to rotate a designated number of degrees around the rose to identify a specific set of memorial bricks they'd be working with (teams should have ended up on the SE block where due north is pointed at the Disneyland gates).
Teams then had to identify all the states mentioned on the 400 or so bricks in that section. They had a 49-row block of text (we left South Dakota off because there was one brick that was ambiguous about whether it was referencing the state or San Diego) where each line was associated with a state. Teams needed to remove every line of text for a state not found on those bricks, and the remaining letters revealed the next instruction, to go find the appropriate bicycle out in bicycle parking in the ART bus area (how many of you knew there was bicycle parking out there)?
On a bicycle we'd parked ot there was a letter grid. When every other letter was read, teams were instructed that their quest answer was the only ART route that has a number in common with a Frontierland attraction, and to provide the last stop on that route. ART routes go from 1 to 19, and the Frontierland map attraction numbers start at 19.
- Correct answer – The final stop on Route 19 is Discovery Science Center.
Trivia
3 points each
Included in the quest booklet were a set of 37 Disney trivia questions written by MousePlanet's trivia expert, Shoshana. She has provided the full list, with highlighted answers, in a thread on our MousePad message board.
EyeSpy
3 points each
On the back side of each playing card was an EyeSpy photo. Because game writer Alex Stroup can't leave well enough alone, there was a new gimmick to this game's EyeSpy photos. For all cards of the same value, the photos were on a theme but different. For example, all of the fours had images of waterfalls on the back. The trick was to determine which of these four photos could be found within the area defined by the suit of the card to which it was attached.
Did you recognize this Jungle Cruise image as something actually found at Disneyland Hotel? Photo by Alex Stroup.
Queen of Hats
Results
Results for MouseAdventure Card Games Advanced and Basic divisions were announced at the closing festivities on Sunday night. We recognized the top three teams in the Advanced division, the top three in the Basic division as well as the top score for a new team and a family team (family teams include at least one player under 13.) Winning teams received prize packages of Disney merchandise and collectibles selected by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Advanced Winners
First place – Team 4, Scrooge's Shadows (1,396 pts)
Second place – Team 11, The ImaginEars (1,388 pts)
Third place – Team 13, Light Magic (1,383 pts)
Basic
First place – Team 17, Goof! There It Is! (1,319 pts)
Second place – Team 63, Disney MountainEars (1,214 pts)
Third place – Team 2, Once Upon a Dream (1,207 pts)
Best New Team – Team 176, Wild Cards (867 pts)
Best Family Team – Team 34, Cute and Fluffy (885 pts)
Team T-Shirts
Two T-Shirt Competition winners were announced. A Fan Favorite, as voted for on our message board, and a MouseAdventure Staff Favorite. For their excellent shirt design, which really surpassed just a T-shirt, these winners were awarded a Disney gift card.
Team #19, Clube 34, won the Fan Favorite award.
Team #34, Plaza Planeteers, won the Staff Favorite award.
You can view all entries in this thread on our MousePad message board.
Staff & Crew Acknowledgements
Thirty MousePlanet staff members and MouseAdventure volunteers worked in various capacities to make MouseAdventure Card Games a success—from planning, writing, and testing quests, to wrangling lines and photographing teams, to tallying the scores. This event could not have happened without them.
Event Producers: Alex Stroup, Joe Stevano
MouseAdventure Staff: Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix, Amanda Smith, David Perry, Jeff Moxley, Jennifer Rich, Kenji Luster, Kevin Luster, Lani Teshima, Sheila Hagen, Shoshana Fischer, Stephanie Wien, Steven Ng, Tony Phoenix
MouseAdventure Volunteer Crew: Adam, Bev, Charlotte, Chris, Cindy, Emma, Helga, Karin, Katie, Katie, Ken, Kenji, Leon, Linda, Lisa, Mary, Teresa, Tommy, Tracy, Vicki
Special Thanks to the Cast Members at the Disneyland Resort, the event staff at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel and the staff at the Howard Johnson Anaheim Plaza Hotel.
Crew and players work together to make a great day at Disneyland. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
