MouseAdventure Luau
Wahine makune mana, ladies and gentlemen, come with us to a world of joyous song and wondrous miracles.
–Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room introduction
With 267 teams made up of 912 players (plus at least nine kids under 13) this wasn’t quite our “biggest event ever” but it was certainly one of the smoothest. Forty Advanced teams signed in at 8:00 a.m., got their (very brief) orientation at 8:30 and were on their way by 8:45. We got them out early because they had quite a long day ahead of them. 161 Basic teams followed, signing in by 9:30 and out the door a bit after 10:00. And then 66 101 Division teams made their way into the ballroom for a somewhat longer and more detailed introduction to MouseAdventure. 101 Division is our non-competitive “beginners” version, featuring quests pulled from past events which we’ve rewritten and re-tested to bring them up to date.
For once, the weather cooperated with MouseAdventure. Teams (and staff) weren’t scorched by unseasonable heat, deluged with rain, blown away by tornado-strength winds or covered with ash from nearby wildfires. Overall the event proceeded quite smoothly; one or two minor overnight changes meant teams who smartly stopped by MouseAdventure Central every so often got updates for their quests, but no quests were completely broken, no attractions went down while teams were riding and Tom Sawyer Island didn’t close. Though the reason the Island didn’t close is most likely because we didn’t have a quest on the Island. This time.
There was one issue of note and that was scoring. Not in the accuracy or precision of scoring; we ensure that each and every answer card is graded multiple times by different people and sent through quality control checks before the scores are announced. No, the problem, as it so often is, was technological. One of our barcode scanners failed and our not-a-ScanTron machine was being especially picky about reading answer sheets. As a result, results weren’t announced until almost 7:00 p.m. Sunday night, by which time many teams had already left the ballroom. We regret the delay but feel it’s certainly preferable to have accurate scores a bit late over the alternative.
MouseAdventure teams are a charitable lot, and the Luau teams were no exception. For this event we partnered with the American Red Cross to collect donations for their Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami relief fund and offered to match donations up to $1,000. Our teams surpassed that, donating a whopping $1,073. With MousePlanet’s $1,000 match, that meant $2,073 went to the Red Cross for earthquake and tsunami relief.
During our awards and closing ceremonies, as is customary, we recognized our staff and crew and announced the dates of our next events. And now, on to the recap. Mahalo!
Quests
Advanced and Basic teams completed a set of nine quests in Disneyland, plus Eye-Spys, Disney Trivia, Park Trivia and (naturally) a Hidden Quest. Advanced teams then went over to Disney California Adventure for five more quests and another set of Eye-Spys. 101 Division teams had six quests in DCA plus Eye-Spys. As we’ve done in the past with the 101 Division, partial credit was available for some of these quests.
Disneyland (Advanced and Basic)
Direct From The Islands (20 points)
A word search with a twist! Teams were tasked with searching Adventureland to find the missing words that had been blanked out of a series of photos. Once they had the words, they had to find them in a word search grid, where only the 12 letters of the Hawaiian alphabet were used; the rest of the letters were replaced with tiki symbols that the teams had to decode based on the word list they generated. When all the words were found, the remaining unused letters formed a question.
- Question: How much do you pay to go halfway?
- Answer: Half Fare
- Common incorrect answers: Free, Dole Whip
Island Guide (20 points)
The only tools that teams needed for this quest were a standard Park Guide map and their quick wits. Teams who paid attention at the briefing had an advantage if they remembered to pick up a map on their way into the park; inattentive teams had to resort to other means, like hunting down a cast member.
The quest contained a list of criteria that referenced the attractions on the map, along with a color-coded list of attraction names whose colors matched those used for each land in the Park Guide. Attractions were eliminated or added back to the list based on these criteria. After going through the criteria, teams took the remaining attractions, identified their corresponding numbers from the Park Guide, and added the digits in those numbers together to get a single digit. This single digit was used as an index for a letter from the name of each attraction. Those letters, in order (no unscrambling necessary) formed a question.
- Question: Disney Hawaiian resort name
- Answer: Aulani
- Common incorrect answer: Polynesian
Mi Amigo, Pay Attention (30 points)
Teams, on Main Street, with a pencil—clues in this quest referred to locations on Main Street. One of the clues, “Where Jess and Bess stay,” tripped up some teams.
Once teams found a location, they wrote down the street address, and using those numbers, counted along the letters printed on their provided pencil to decode two words that referred to a unique window on Main Street. Teams were instructed to write down the business owner’s name.
- Clue: Parade Illuminations
- Answer: Bill Justice
- Common incorrect answer: Robert Jani
It’s Not FAR Enough Out Of This World (30 points)
Stitch helped out with MouseAdventure this time by taking pictures for a quest, but a strange thing happened: some of the text was removed from the prints. Stitch wrote in the words that were missing, but naturally wrote them in his own language. These pictures were along the Autopia route, so quick-thinking teams scurried to get FastPasses early in the day.
While riding Autopia, teams had to find the missing words and use them as a key to translate a message, also written in Stitch’s language. Veteran teams who might have brought a water bottle lanyard from a MouseAdventure event several years ago may have had an advantage with this quest, because the lanyard, which was used in a multi-language translation quest, included samples of Stitch’s language as well as Aurabesh and Marabic.
- Question: Where in Tomorrowland would you go to fly your own flying saucer?
- Answer: Space Terminal
- Common incorrect answers: Innoventions, Buzz Lightyear
Luau Catering (30 points)
Tangaroa was hosting a huge luau, but he needed some help figuring out which of his guests would be the most expensive. Items on the luau menu were matched to items for sale around New Orleans Square. Teams searched the area for the appropriate items, then wrote down the prices. What at first seemed like basic data gathering and math required a little more figuring based on the criteria of which guests would or would not eat certain menu items.
- Question: Which group of neighbors was the most expensive to feed?
- Answer: Frontierland Gang
- Common incorrect answer: Critter Country Cousins
Country Code (40 points)
Let me tell you a little story about a bear named Duffy… Teams were led through Critter Country based on a descriptive story starring everyone’s favorite bear, Duffy, who was visiting his cousins. Along the way, they encountered the answers to six questions that were written above another series of letters, then decoded the letters using the spinning tiki disk.
- Question: Where can you find the sign that reads kerits?
- Answer: Mr Sanders House OR Pooh Corner Roof
- Common incorrect answers: Pooh ride or queue, Rabbit’s house, Briar Patch
Spam Filter (40 points)
SPAM: a delicacy in Hawaii, and a scourge of email inboxes everywhere. In this quest, teams had to act as their own spam filters, using the words on four signs in Frontierland to filter out unwanted text from the given paragraphs to reveal a question.
- Question: Pioneer Mercantile or Becket and Paige, which was established first?
- Answer: Pioneer Mercantile
- Common incorrect answer: 1807
Trader Sam’s Tiki Test (40 points)
Teams had to collect puzzle pieces from each of three MouseAdventure stations throughout Disneyland, and then a final piece from staff member Bev (for Advanced) or Tracy (for Basic). When the pieces were arranged properly, forming an image of one of the tiki gods, and held up to light, the dots on each piece came together to form a question related to the image.
- Question: What is my name?
- Answer: Koro
Tiki Mixup (50 points)
The Gods have been angered by all the celebrating, and some Advanced teams were angered that they weren’t given any instructions for this quest! Teams were given a sheet of “dominoes,” with letters and symbols on them. Below those were a series of questions to Toontown locations. Teams filled in the answer blanks, then detached the dominoes that were rearranged to form the final question. Teams who didn’t discover the key to arranging the dominoes (the ToonTown population sign) were left scratching their heads.
- Question: What was dedicated on some important day?
- Answer: Landmark 3 1/2
- Common incorrect answers: various ToonTown landmarks and unprintable comments
Tiki Eye-Spys (+5 points each)
It turns out that Disneyland is loaded with Tikis and Polynesian decor and bric-a-brac, and not just in the Adventureland area. Teams were given fourteen close-up photos and asked to identify the locations.
Park Trivia (+5 points each)
Teams were given twelve trivia questions about Disneyland, not necessarily Tiki-related. The answers to many of these questions should have been seen while solving other quests throughout the day.
Hidden Quest (20 points)
The scatter puzzle (Advanced) or Errata page (Basic) included a row of Tiki symbols. Many teams guessed these to be part of the Hidden Quest, but tried to decipher them using characters from the “Direct from the Islands” quest. In fact, if you looked at the Tiki symbols very closely, there were regular old English letters hidden inside, forming a question.
- Question: DOLE WHIP COST
- Answer: $3.29
Disney California Adventure (Advanced)
The Enchanted Tee-ki room (20 points)
Teams headed to Sideshow Shirts in Paradise Pier to fill in the blanks on a series of words that ended in “-tees.” Letters from the missing words were eliminated from a list, and the final remaining letters were unscrambled to form the missing word of the final question.
- Question: What is guaranteed?
- Answer: All shirts have four holes
- Common incorrect answer: Tattoos
Tiki-Tongue (30 points)
In this variation on the eye-spy, teams traveled to A Bug’s Land to find letters shown in a series of photos. Writing down the letter right after the one shown in the photo revealed the final clue: a word that could be translated at another location within DCA.
- Clue: Lealea
- Answer: Fun OR Hawaiian fun
- Common incorrect answer: Friend
Tiki-Trek (30 points)
Searching high and low in Condor Flats and the Grizzly River Recreation Area, teams filled in the blanks of phrases found in the area. A key was used to choose letters from those answers to form the final question.
- Question: Bring what to the ranger’s slideshow?
- Answer: Lotion
- Common incorrect answers: Flashlight, chair, photos
Techi-Tiki (40 points)
ElecTRONica has taken over the Hollywood Backlot. Have you noticed those numbers on all of the staging materials? Teams were tasked with locating the pictured symbols, and writing down the six-digit number above each one. Using the numbers, teams crossed off letters from a series of columns headed by those numbers in order, writing the letters as they went to reveal the final question. The answer was found on a sign outside Flynn’s Arcade.
- Question: Found in Flynns Arcade at stage twelve TRON is a world where blank game battles are real
- Answer: Video
- Common incorrect answers: Flynn, token
Tiki-Trial (40 points)
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right? The construction at the entrance of DCA was the star of this quest. Teams were tasked with discovering which character left a mark in the freshly-poured concrete by verifying the validity of a series of witness statements. Posters and ads themed to the upcoming transformation to vintage Burbank along the many construction walls found around the entrance to DCA held the answers to almost all of the clues, except for one found inside the EnginEARs toy shop.
- Question: Who was the vandal?
- Answer: Minnie
- Common incorrect answers: Clarabelle, Oswald, Mickey, most of the other named characters
Eye-Spys (+5 points each)
Instead of just identifying the location of these Eye-Spys, Advanced teams had to answer the accompanying question, throwing a wrench into the “blind guess” strategy.
Disney California Adventure (101 Division)
Crossing Tracks (20 points)
Teams identified a series of provided animal tracks, then located the corresponding signs around the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail area to solve an evil-paragraph type puzzle.
- Answer: Read in order, the revealed letters spell out “Tired Dwarf.”
- Common incorrect answer: Many teams took this quest one step too far, and provided “Sleepy” as their answer.
Spelling Bee (20 points)
Taking a detour through Flik’s Fun Fair, teams searched for the word or words needed to answer or complete ten sentences. As each question was answered, the letters used in the answer were eliminated from the “colony” of letters on the back of the page. The remaining letters could be unscrambled into two words. Those two words could be found on one of the Radiator Springs postcards (actually the construction wall around the former Bountiful Valley area) and the location advertised on that postcard was the final answer. Partial credit was given for unscrambling the two words if the final answer was not found.
- Question: Open Late
- Answer: Flo’s V8 Cafe
- Common incorrect answers: “Poet Lane,” “One Plate,” “Open Table”
Hollywood Hideout (30 points)
Teams compared a series of photographs of architectural elements to identify landmarks in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot.
- Answer: 6020 Hollywood Blvd.
- Common incorrect answer: Many teams provided the name of the Argyle Building instead of the street address listed on the map.
¿Cómo se dice? (30 points)
Teams searched the Pacific Wharf area to fill in the blanks in a crossword-style puzzle. Once all blanks were filled, highlighted letters spelled a word in ancient Aztec. The final answer, found in the Mission Tortilla Factory, was simply the meaning of that word in English. Partial credit was given for finding the word if it was not translated.
- Question: Tlaxcallim
- Answer: Tortillas
Paradise Sets (40 points)
This variation on the “sets” quest called for teams to fill in a crossword puzzle with the missing word from twelve sets of three words, all to be found in Paradise Pier. Highlighted letters in the crossword could be unscrambled to form a question to be answered. Partial credit was given for unscrambling the question even if it was not answered.
- Question: Year Virginia Park Opened
- Answer: 1939
- Common incorrect answers: 1955, 2010, 2001
Number Crunching (40 points)
The grid for this quest revealed the next question, but only if the directions were followed exactly. Teams explored the Condor Flats and Grizzly Peak areas to find numerical answers to listed questions. Then, after finding those numbers on the grid and carefully following instructions, they used their writing utensil or other ingenious methods to create lines between selected sets of numbers. This created “flaps” in the page. If directions were followed precisely, folding the flaps revealed a question. If not, teams were left with a lovely pile of souvenir confetti and had to return to DCA Central for another copy of the grid.
The answer to the final question was also found in the Condor Flats / Grizzly Peak area. Veteran teams who might have been playing the 101 Division for fun (or who didn’t register in time for Advanced or Basic) might have recognized the grid as exactly the same one used in earlier quests; the numbers and letters were different, but the pattern of lines to be cut was the same. Needless to say, we’re retiring that grid after MouseAdventure Luau.
- Question: Who is meeting you at the cliff hanger traverse rock climb?
- Answer: Will and Jill
- Common incorrect answers: Koda and Kenai, park rangers, Mickey and Minnie
Eye-Spys (+5 points each)
101 Division teams had a set of twelve Eye-Spy photos to keep them occupied as they wandered the park.
Results
Results for MouseAdventure Luau Advanced and Basic divisions were announced at the closing festivities on Sunday night, April 10. There were 780 possible points in Advanced and 560 possible points in Basic, including Trivia, Eye-Spys and the Hidden Quest. No team had a perfect score, and there were no ties that affected winning positions. We recognized the top three teams in Advanced, Basic / Returning, Basic / New and the top team in Basic / Family. (Family teams include at least one player under 13.) Winning teams received prize packages in Luau-themed buckets.
Results for MouseAdventure Luau 101 Division were posted on MousePad late Friday afternoon, April 15. There were 285 possible points in the 101 Division, including quests and Eye-Spys. Here we recognize the top teams in New / Non-Family, Returning / Non-Family, Returning / Family and New / Family. (Family teams include at least one player under 13.) As this was a non-competitive event, no prizes are awarded.
Disneyland and
Disney California Adventure
April 10, 2011
Divisions
- Advanced
Basic
101
Winners – Advanced
- Heffatooies
- The Imaginears
- YM’s Majesty
Winners – Basic
- Team Skillz
- the no name gang
- Disney MountainEars
Winners – Basic (New)
- That’s All Right With Me,
But How Are You with Catching Mice? - Tiki Tumblers
- Perceptive Plaids
Winners – Family
- Practically Perfect