Third Gate Games returned to The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco for an all-new set of challenges on February 23 and 24, 2019. Teams explored the galleries that were skipped over for the first MouseAdventure at the Museum to solve eight quests, locate 10 eye spy photos, and answer 30 trivia questions.
The day started in the lower lobby with check in and a brief presentation of the rules. Teams were scattered through the galleries to avoid crowding at the start, and were required to proceed through the museum in the forward direction throughout the event. Learning a lesson from the first museum event where many teams appeared to complete all quests before time was up, game time was shortened to increase the challenge for players.
A post-game briefing in the lower lobby bestowed prizes graciously donated by the museum on the top two teams for each day. Read below for a full synopsis of quests and answers.
Quests:
Words of Wisdom
Starting in Galleries 1a and 1b, players filled in the missing words to complete quotes from signage and large pull-quotes painted on the walls. The opening galleries give us a glimpse of Walt’s early life and beginnings in animation; it was our goal to have players search around and find out something new about Walt Disney that they did not know. Selected letters from the missing words spelled out the final question.
- Final Question: What is the fiddle owners name
- Final Answer: Elias Disney
Family Story
Throughout the museum, there are collections of Walt & Lillian’s family photos. In Gallery 2b, there are a selection of portraits of extended family, residences, and life events. Teams were given small sections of each photo, with a letter attached, and asked to locate that photo in a particular order.
- Final Question: Walt and Lillian wed county
- Final Answer: Nez Perce
The answer to this question was found in the upper portion of the marriage license facsimile presented as part of the display.
Storytelling with Sound
Proceeding on into Gallery 4, teams were confronted with audio visual kiosks that teach the nuances of adding sound to animated stories. After running though the four different activities, teams matched items on the left side of the paper from those activities with corresponding information on the right; straight lines between the correct answers passed through two words each to spell out the final question when read in order. Teams located the song sheet in the Snow White display cabinet, that had the same name as one of the four activities on the kiosks. The answer to that activity was the correct final answer.
- Final Question: Answer to kiosk activity matching Snow White song sheet title fourth from top in display case
- Final Answer: Bambi
The song sheet title fourth from top was, “With A Smile and A Song.”
Postwar Productions
In Gallery number 7, eagle-eyed teams scanned three different video screens across three walls of the room. Given stills from the video, with a selection of letters next to each picture, players had to put the pictures in chronological order, then transcribe the letters corresponding to each clip into a provided grid. Once the final question was complete, teams located the answer in a display case inside the gallery that is dedicated to the film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
- Final Question: Final Goff design Nautilus was what type of hybrid
- Final Answer: Alligator Shark (we also accepted Mechanized Alligator Shark)
Small Words After All
A surprise break from all the entertainment items on display could be found (with a magnifying glass) in the next gallery, 7b. Walt’s amazing array of tiny items are displayed in cases, and teams looked for missing words from a variety of sources. Once teams located the items, they found the words again in a provided word search grid. The remaining letters, when read in a spiral from the outer edge inward, spelled out the final question.
- Final Question: With sales tax how much did Walt Disney pay James E Serven for the Lot
- Final Answer: $128.75
The final answer was located on one of two invoices in the large display case in the middle of the gallery.
Date Night at Disneyland
In gallery 9a, after the train, teams were presented with an algorithmic puzzle. Key numbers were removed from a series of small photos, and each photo was associated with a theme park icon. Teams located the numbers in the information and displays about the origins and early days of Disneyland, and then they did a little math. These numbers were translated to letters based on a straight alphabetic decode of A=1, B=2, etc. (as long as the value of the number was under 26).
- Final Question: Main St bldg no 408 name
- Final Answer: Penny Arcade
The final answer was located on an original drawing of the Main Street frontage layout in a display case along the wall.
Fairest One of All
Galley 9b covers a variety of post-Disneyland projects that Walt was deeply involved in. The 1964 World’s Fair in Queens, NY featured the premiere of Great Moments with Mr Lincoln, the Carousel of Progress, and "it's a small world" that all went on to be installed at Disneyland. Players received a list of letters and numbers to decode for a final question. Each leading letter corresponded to the first initial of the speaker, either Walt Disney, Alice Davis, Marty Sklar, Don Edgren, or John Hench, who were all involved in the World's Fair projects. Teams used the two numbers after each letter to count into the quote the number of words, and then the number of letters within that word, respectively, to spell out the final question.
- Final Question: Hours of the Tower Lounge at Pepsi Cola Pavilion
- Final Answer: between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m.
A display case in Gallery 9b contains a very interesting letter from WED Imagineering given to an employee to prepare him for a trip to the New York World's Fair. The document is packed with a treasure trove of historical details, including the final answer to this quest.
Let’s All Go To The Lobby
This quest used data from throughout the museum to present an additional challenge to teams. Individual letters from different movie posters were arranged to spell the words WALT DISNEY COMPANY. Upon finding each poster, players had to index the full and correct movie title according to the number given in the quest. Once decoded, the letters spelled out the final answer.
- Final question: Italian title on canine movie poster
- Final answer: La Carica dei Cento e Uno
The final answer was on the large poster for 101 Dalmatians next to the cafe in the lobby. The title of the quest was a small hint to its location, where you would also be able to get yourself a treat.
Eye Spy (5 points each, worth a total of 50 points)
Teams identified the missing words from ten pictures for the Eye Spy quest.
- Diane, found on the Tom Sawyer Island drawing in Gallery 9a
- All the way, found on a brochure facsimile in gallery 9a
- Roald Dahl, found on the cover of a book in a case in Gallery 6
- Aunt Sarah, found on a paint jar viewed from the back of the ink & paint display in Gallery 3
- Worrall, found on a camera in Gallery 9b
- SET, found on a button in the Olympic display, Gallery 9b
- 8 lbs 11 oz, found on a cigar case in the display of Walt’s travel kit in Gallery 9b
- Pinocchio, found on an envelope in a display case in Gallery 5
- Arm, found in the Lincoln animatronic blue prints, Gallery 9b
- RV, found on the saddle in Gallery 8
Trivia (1 point each, worth a total of 25 points)
The subject of trivia can sometimes be a little divisive among MouseAdventure teams. Sometimes the winner of the game comes down to trivia scores. For this game, the top team rankings were not affected by trivia scores.
Results
Full results for all teams are available on the MouseAdventure website. This game had a total of 415 possible points.
Saturday
The top two teams were:
- Plutonium-235 - 368 points
- Mickey Bae Goals - 339 points
Sunday
The top two teams were:
- Team 15 - 349 points
- One Llama Short - 321 points
Plutonium-235
Mickey Bae Goals
Team 15
One Llama Short
Thanks!
You can view all of the candid event photos in our online gallery. Discuss the game and ask questions on our Third Gate Games forums.
Thank you first and foremost to Emily Vann of The Walt Disney Family Museum for coordinating all the logistics for such a fantastic weekend and for providing prizes to the winners on each day.
Thank you also to our MouseAdventure crew volunteers Amanda and Jen.
And finally, thank you to our teams; your support and enjoyment of our games makes for such an amazing experience.