On Sunday May 19th, Third Gate Games sent players into an Emotional Whirlwind in honor of Disney•Pixar’s new summer release of Inside Out 2. Teams adventured into Disney California Adventure for the first time since 2019.
Temperatures were pleasant (for once!), with clear skies during the event.
The day started out in our new “pop up” spot, just down the ramp from the Pixar Pals Parking Structure, with registration taking place right at 9:00 am. Advanced division teams were briefed by Joe at around 9:20 am and then headed out to start their game. A little while later, Joe, David, and Chris briefed the Basic division teams and sent them into the warm welcoming arms of Disney Security right around 9:45am.
Basic and Advanced Quests
Heart-Shaped Box (2 Points Per Correct Answer; 25 for 11 Correct)
We brought back the MouseAdventure version of Pictionary, where one person from the team has a series of cards and must draw images to get the rest of the team to guess. Our version was dubbed Pixtionary and all of the clues were the names of Pixar characters. Teams were given a set of 20 cards, from which they randomly picked 11. Each correct answer was 2 point per card, with a 3-point bonus for getting all of the characters correct. Three teams received the full 25 points for getting all 11 correct in 3.5 minutes.
For the Basic teams, the characters were:
- Bo Peep (Toy Story)
- Mr. Potato Head (Toy Story)
- Wade (Elemental)
- Flik (A Bug's Life)
- Guido (Cars)
- Jack Jack (The Incredibles)
- Dory (Finding Nemo)
- Eve (Wall-E)
- Thumper (A Bug's Life)
- Kevin (Up)
- Barley (Onward)
- Marlin (Finding Nemo)
- Remy (Ratatouille)
- Elastigirl (The Incredibles)
- Sulley (Monsters, Inc.)
- Ember (Elemental)
- Roz (Monsters, Inc.)
- Luca (Luca)
- Mater (Cars)
- Slinky Dog (Toy Story)
For the Advanced teams, the characters were:
- Wheezy (Toy Story)
- Mr. PricklePants(Toy Story 3)
- Wade (Elemental)
- Hopper (A Bug's Life)
- Cruz (Cars 3)
- Edna Mode (The Incredibles)
- Dory (Finding Nemo)
- Wall-E (Wall-E)
- Arlo (The Good Dinosaur)
- Kevin (Up)
- Barley (Onward)
- Darla (Finding Nemo)
- Emile (Ratatouille)
- The Underminer (The Incredibles)
- Sulley (Monsters, Inc.)
- Duke Kaboom (Toy Story 4)
- Randall (Monsters, Inc.)
- Luca (Luca)
- Miguel (Coco)
- Mr. Mittens(Soul)
Blue Monday (30 Points)
In this 3-stage quest, teams headed to Pixar Pier—five years after the construction walls came down and it was finally safe to enter. The first step was to find answers to five questions and circle the correct answers from a set of color-coded responses. These five colors correspond to the color of the memory orbs on the Emotional Whirlwind attraction, and teams used the colors for each number to fill in the orbs on the quest sheet above the five columns provided.
Next, teams used the purple fence outside the front of the ride to determine the proper letters to place in the columns from those provided. For each open section of the fence, teams wrote a letter into the columns below the orbs and for each filled in section teams skipped that letter.
The final step was to find the memory orbs at the Emotional Whirlwind ride and use the letters under each color to decode the final question.
- Final Question: What is written on object in front of fear
- Final Answer: No Height Required
I'm So Excited (30 Points)
Players headed over to Cars Land and got really excited to find all the instances of exclamation points shown on the quest page. Once teams found all the exclamation points in the phots, they then had to count backwards from the exclamation point the indicated number of letters to decode a 45-character question.
- Final Question: Radiator Springs Municipal Impound postcard saying
- Final Answer: Drive On In and Stay A While!
A display of postcards inside the Cozy Cone Motel office includes the final answer.
I Second That Emotion (40 Points)
After 11:30am, teams could return to MouseAdventure Central to collect this quest. Team scoured the stores and many windows of Buena Vista Street looking for double-lettered signage or items, that were then decoded by counting the indicated number of letters to the left or right of the double letters to decode a final phrase. The quest's instructions told teams to locate a final word containing a double letter that corresponds to the phrase.
- Final Word: We are just getting started
- Final Answer: Storytellers
The final phrase (which also contained a double letter) is a quote from the Walt Disney & Mickey Mouse statue near the non-functional fountain. The statue is called Storytellers.
Part of the standard morning game introduction includes the phrase “Printers aren't perfect. The color you see on the printed quest page may vary slightly from the exact color of the item you are looking for or at.” For this quest, one of our cameras managed to get the color balance so wrong that we initially couldn’t find the sign for the Kingswell Camera Shop during our pre-game park audit. Brown became blue!
Better Together (40 Points)
One of our favorite quest mechanics is to ask teams to find sets of items. This time we put a different spin on things by using a description for each set and providing the number of letters for each word or words teams were searching for. Inside the boundaries of the Grizzly Peak area, players had to search for nine different sets of items. Teams then decoded a series of letter and number combinations by counting into each indicated answer to spell out the final set. The quest instructions told teams to write where the final set of words was from.
- Final Question: Food Fun and Games
- Final Answer: Gold Rush Days
The final answer could be found in a bumper sticker in the rear window of the AMC Rambler parked just outside Humphrey’s Service & Supplies. This was another quest that fell afoul of our pre-game park audit: When we tested the game a couple of weeks before, the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail was closed and clearly under construction, but the map on the outside of the attraction was clearly visible. In the intervening two weeks, green construction fences went up around the entire location and obscured the names of the three lookout points used for set “F.” Teams were given this answer during the check in portion of the event.
F.E.A.R. (50 Points)
There are acronyms galore in Avengers Campus, even if we did make up some of them. Teams were given acronyms and then hunted for words and phrases that started with those letters and could fit into the spaces provided on the quest sheet. Color coded letters in each answer unscrambled into seven words to form the final question.
- Final Question: What does the acronym CAMPUS stand for?
- Final Answer: Centralized Assembly Mobilized to Prepare Unite And Safeguard
One location that had teams searching high and low was only visible from a very small vantage point, and the general busy-ness of this part of the park made for a technically challenging quest. Possibly the first example of MouseAdventure providing a word in the answer during the quest introduction, this quest's unscramble still posed a challenge to many team. This is also the longest answer we think there has ever been to a MouseAdventure question.
Love Rollercoaster (50 Points)
Pages of the cutest critters imaginable greeted folks for this quest, which at first seemed quite daunting. The task: survey Jessie’s Critter Carousel and record the position of all 56 critters, then place the critters in order along the carousel's rows between additional critters (that could be found around the top of the carousel canopy). Once the letter for each critter was placed, a question formed when read clockwise from the outer edge inward. Basic division teams were given a blank diagram of the attraction to complete, while Advanced division teams had to figure that part on their own.
- Final Question: Count the total number of yellow eyed critters located inside logs
- Final Answer: 14
Eye Spy (5 Points Each)
In concert with having to solve all the above quests, players also had to find nine Eye Spy locations throughout the park. Provided with the letters "IN" from each sign, teams had to provide the "outside" (first and last letter) of the word that contained the "IN."
- TG (Trumpeting)
- DR (Dinosaur) [missing]
- TE (Turbine)
- VA (Vampirina)
- FH (Finish)
- SS (Springs)
- SS (Sardines)
- CS (Cousins)
- WE (Wine)
- SS (Slingers)
- ME (Mine)
- LG (Loading)
- MS (Mandarins)
- CN (Cinnamon)
The final issue we discovered in our pre-game park audit is that letter “B” in Eye Spy had been removed from the wall in the Hollywood meet and greet area.
In addition to the above quests, Advanced Division teams were given three more quests to solve in the same amount of time.
Advanced-Only Quests
I Left My Heart... (40 Points)
What would MouseAdventure be without an awesome translation quest? Instead of some clever and obscure language, the refurbishment of Pacific Wharf into San Fransokyo Square afforded us the opportunity to use a real, actual language!
Teams received a series of Japanese characters and had to look around San Fransokyo Square for the English terms that matched them. Placing the numbered letters from the answers in order spelled out the final question.
- Final Question: In what room can you find Storytime with Friends?
- Final Answer: East Multi-Purpose Room
Several bulletin boards around the area had a variety of delightful options for San Fransokyo Square dwellers. The flyer from the San Fransokyo Public Library can be found adjacent to the Boudin Bakery tour exit door.
Summertime Sadness (50 Points)
On Pixar Pier, Knick's Knacks features a variety of Pixar merchandise for sale. In addition, it has a series of storyboards and concept art from different Pixar features. Teams received two sheets of stickers which they had to place in order according to the storyboards on the wall inside the shop. Once placed in order, letters on each sticker were moved backward and forward in the alphabet according to the next sticker to spell out the final question.
- Final Question: What is written on the Knick Knack snowglobe door
- Final Answer: Emergency Exit
With or Without You (50 Points)
An awesome new quest mechanic for MouseAdventure involved recreations of vintage advertisements with words obscured, and needing identification. "Overheard" dialogue under each image contained anagrams of indicated words from each advertisement with one letter replaced. Using those replaced letters allowed teams to decode the final question.
- Final Location: M Mouse and Red Car Trolley coin press location
- Final Answer: Big Top Toys
Teams were not provided with the location of the advertisements, which are all found inside the Red Car Trolley, which appears to be an underappreciated attraction among our Advanced teams.
Results
We presented results and awards at our post-event gathering on Sunday evening, inside of the Disneyland picnic area. Awards were given to the top two Advanced teams and the top three Basic teams. We also handed out achievement buttons, which allow us to reward MouseAdventure teams that get the highest trivia score, find all of the eye spies, and other accomplishments. You have to be present to receive them though, so make sure to attend our future post-event gatherings!
Full results are available on the MouseAdventure website. The total possible points for the event were 380 for Basic and 510 for Advanced. There was no hidden quest.
The best new team (not otherwise placing) was Tiki Tumblers (#4012) with 318 points, who placed 8th in their first game. The highest trivia score was 45 out of 50 by Team 4018, The Disneyholics.
The top 3 Advanced teams were:
- Nala's Pride - 421 points
- Teamboat Willie - 369 points
- Frank 'n Weenies - 360 points
The top 3 Basic teams were:
- Team 2063 - 341 points
- Bing Bong Brigade - 339 points
- Wishing Stars - 338 points
The Masters
- Churro Chasers - 368 points
- New Orleans Squares - 328 points
A Masters team is a team that has placed first in 3 events, and has been retired from competition. Although not eligible for any prizes during non-Invitational MouseAdventure games, Masters teams return to set the bar for other teams to compete against. They play mainly for bragging rights and the thrill of the puzzle hunt.
Nala's Pride
Team 2063
Teamboat Willie
Wishing Stars
Candid Photos
We try to capture the fun of every event by catching photos of as many teams as we can during the game. All the images we took are in our Third Gate Games candid gallery.
Thank You!
Thanks to our awesome teams for coming out and playing the game. At this event, we had players from 11 different states.
We'd also like to thank:
- Shoshana Fischer for writing the trivia
- Kris & Chris Murray for help writing, testing, and providing incredible emotional support
- Katie M. and Team Plutonium for helping beta test
- Meghan, Katie M., Shoshana, Kris and Chris Murray, & Mox for helping crew
If you enjoyed the event, please share with friends you think might like to play in the future!