Once again, we begin our event recap with the same fact: this was the biggest MouseAdventure ever, with six additional teams and over 30 people to our previous high for this sold-out event. But the increasing crowd doesn’t seem to diminish the excitement with which the teams enter into the spirit of the game.

MouseAdventure is a full work day, and not just for the staff. Sign-in began at 9:45, and most teams did not head home until well after 5:00 p.m. It’s a long, hard day of playing, but hopefully all the teams left having had one of their best times ever at Disney’s California Adventure (DCA) park—even if the sun had somehow moved millions of miles closer to Earth.

By 11:30, team photos had been taken, instructions had been given, and teams were on their way. For the next three hours, they would be sent all over DCA to solve various puzzles and find things they’d probably never noticed before. At Grizzly River Run, they’re scheduled to sing “Disco Inferno” every night at 7:30. There is a hitchhiking deer in the Mulholland Madness mural. When printed in black and white, the nose of a pink dinosaur can be confused for that of a cow.

The popular EyeSpy element returned yet again, in a different format. A terrible printing blunder resulted in substandard black-and-white copies. It just goes to show how knowledgable some of our players are that many teams still recorded solid scores in this section.

Teams also learned again just how hard it is to find a face in the crowd. This time around, a staff member wandered Paradise Pier in her mouse-eared mortarboard, wondering how many teams would notice her.

Another side game had teams seeking out the autograph of a Disney character. One team reported that Mickey was very eager to help them, but the big hands and lack of talking proved an impediment.

In all, teams visited five parts of DCA and attempted to solve 11 quests, find six scavenger hunt items, find Shoshana, identify 16 EyeSpy photos, and decide whether to gamble for some bonus points. About half the teams are truly dedicated players and added 70 trivia questions to all of this.

By 4:30, the results were a bit late and the crowd had reconvened in the picnic area to learn the outcome.