MouseAdventure?

[JLKirscher]

I am very curious about entering the MouseAdventure coming up, so I would like to hear from other MPers that have participated in the past.
I would be coming down from Chico (way up north) and am not an AP (for obvious reasons). I think I might be at a disadvantage but think that it would be incredibly fun.

So could some of you that participated in the past tell me about it.

Thanks!!

[Matterhorn Fan]

You're not an AP for obvious reasons? What might those be? Distance perhaps? (hmmmm)

Go to the Lounge (where this thread will probably end up anyways) and do a search of the old threads. Find the one called "Mad Scramble Memories" or something like that.

I don't think you'd be at a disadvantage for not being an AP. Except for the fact that you'd have to buy a ticket to get into the park on the day of the event.

[MouseWife]

I would say the same.

It says it is a game mostly to be won by speed and not
just trivia, right? So, if I'm right, you quickly run around and
find the answers that are all over the park. Right?

So, previous knowledge won't really help. Maybe really studying the map wouldn't hurt and that sort of thing.

Names of stores, restaurants, rides and locations............

[Lashbear]

Originally posted by MouseWife
...Maybe really studying the map wouldn't hurt and that sort of thing.

Names of stores, restaurants, rides and locations...[excess dots seleted for brevity]

.....except, MouseWife, it will be fruitless, as [Marvin The Martian Voice] We claim Moral Victory in the name of the Bitter East Coasters, Hmmm, Isn't that Delightful? [Marvin Mode Off]

[Laffite]

Since the puzzles are land-specific, you don't have that great of an area to hunt for your answers. You don't need to know the park inside and out because it doesn't help that much. Do your crossword puzzles from your Sunday papers, now that'll help

[Techie7]

Originally posted by MouseWife
you quickly run around and
find the answers that are all over the park. Right?

No running allowed.

[cemeinke]

Originally posted by Techie7
No running allowed.

And NO BUMPING!

[Techie7]

Originally posted by cemeinke
And NO BUMPING!

And along with this is NO LEAVING YOUR GROUP.

[Alex S.]

JLKirscher, I'll let others describe the experience since I've never actually played the game.

But I can address a couple of your concerns:

1) Intense park knowledge is not necessary, but it doesn't hurt either. Part of the game is figuring out where you are supposed to go to get the information you need. If you just know the park well enough to do that, then it'll be a help.

2) Yes, by being a first timer you'll probably be at a disadvantage. There is a certain flow to the event that people who have done it before will fall into with greater ease. That said, we generally have a couple first time teams that perform very well.

But those things are mostly moot, I hope, because the competition is not necessarily the goal. The point is for everybody to have a good a time and experience the park in a unique way.

Unless winning is very important to you, just show up and do the best you can. Have fun. It's all about attitude. There are teams that show up, only solve one quest and go away happy with their day. Others aren't happy unless they are striving for completion and a shot at winning.

[FEJ]

and no counting blocks!!!!!






wait..you have to count blocks....my mistake.... 5

[Alex S.]

And I've a favor to ask of everybody else: When someone comes and asks about the game, I would like to request that the inside jokes be kept to a minimum. They'll only tend to confuse.

[Sophie832]

Some honest advice here...take everything in stride. Many times I have found myself at the point of actual crying or screaming because I couldn't figure something out, and I wanted to win. This has led to tension with my partner, and also made the day less fun. Always remember to have fun...that is my advice.

[Lashbear]

...and take LOTS of photos that I can put on the Padders web-page !!

...If I can't be there in person, I might as well get some vicarious thrills !

[Laffite]

Originally posted by Sophie832
Some honest advice here...take everything in stride. Many times I have found myself at the point of actual crying or screaming because I couldn't figure something out, and I wanted to win. This has led to tension with my partner, and also made the day less fun. Always remember to have fun...that is my advice.

So true... too true for me


Hey Lash. No cameras allow during the game!

[Lashbear]

Originally posted by Laffite
Hey Lash. No cameras allow during the game!

Oh NO !!!!!!!!

Who looks after Mouseadventure - I have to see if we can set up an official "papparazzi" to follow everyone and get some 'Official' pics !...

IF someone couls give me the contact details, I will inquire !

[kranders]

I participated in my first MouseAdventure last fall and had a blast. We weren't very competitive and weren't planning on winning, just doing the best we could and our main goal was to have fun and make new freinds. After my wife beat my competative nature out of me and I calmed down a bit, we accomplished all of our goals!

You just might find yourself having so much fun you'll get an AP. If your obvious reason is distance, it doesn't hold up! There are APs on here from Oregon, Washington, Nevada and probably further than that!

[EandCDad]

Originally posted by Lashbear
Who looks after Mouseadventure - I have to see if we can set up an official "papparazzi" to follow everyone and get some 'Official' pics !...

Alex is basically in charge of Mouseadventures as he is the main contact and the person that seems to make all the annoucements before and after. I've never heard on there being no cameras so if you can get team members to take pictures while they are playing, that would be my suggestion.

JLKischer, I will echo some of what Alex said. We have done the game twice and the second time was a little better just cause we had experience and understood what was expected a little better. That said, we had fun either way and the game can be quite a thrill even if you don't do as well as some other teams (our fate the past couple of times).

I will disagree (slightly) with those who say you don't have to have park knowledge to play. In my opinion (and my opinion only) you do need to have a basic knowledge of the park to play the game. You CAN do it with little or no knowledge and a map, but I tend to think it would be a VERY frustrating experience.

In order to compete, you need to have pretty good park knowledge. I have been to the park more times than I can count and I would have been lost at certain points if we had not had Flubber (another poster with tons of park knowledge) on our team.

Let me say it this way, you should be more of a PARK enthusiast than a DISNEY enthusiast to play the game without getting frustrated. That said, I would encourage all newbies to give it a whirl, everyone is very nice and the game can be a major blast even if you finish near the back of the pack (I speak from experience).

[JLKirscher]

I appreciate all of the feedback. I just wanted to get an idea of how the game works. It sounds so fun.

I have a pretty good knowledge of the park, and a better than average knowledge of all things Disney. So, I am sure that we'd be able to hold our own.

You just might find yourself having so much fun you'll get an AP. If your obvious reason is distance, it doesn't hold up! There are APs on here from Oregon, Washington, Nevada and probably further than that

And Trust me kranders, if having an AP was a more of an option for us I would definitely have one. Unfortunately the 9-10 hr distance and an extremely hectic work schedule don't allow for it.

Now, if my cousin/partner in crime and I can clear the trek down with our husband's we are on board for the game.

Plus it would be very cool to meet my fellow MPers in person

[hefferdude]

Some tips that have made the MA a better event for my famiily -
1. Keep it fun. Don't worry about the win. Its the experience that counts. Particularly if you have younger inexperienced team members.I get particular delight at seeing my teenage sons brains actually working towards a common goal!!!
2. A clipboard and extra pencils/pens for EACH team member and a good timepiece help.
3. Make a point of saying hi to the people who put this event together. They appreciate it. ( bribes are optional....)
4. Practice "brain teasers" ie anagrams, jumbles, crosswords, etc.
before the game.
5. Study a map of the park. It will help.
6. If team members get in a mental "bunch" on quests, take short breaks and work on the other things usually included in the game ie "eye spy" or "trivia". Give yourself time to breathe.

Welcome to MA and good luck!

[innerSpaceman]

Let me add one thing:

This April's MouseAdventure is going to be the game called the Mad Scramble. This particular game has only been played once before, and that time it was in DCA. This will be the first time that Mad Scramble will be played at Disneyland. So you will be at much less of a disadvantage than had this been a "regular" MouseAdventure.

There are certain similarities between the types of games that may give an edge to experienced players. Mostly in that those who have played MouseAdventure before will be a little bit familiar with the various types of puzzles that make up the gist of the game. But these puzzles will not be out-of-the-blue to newcomers either.

I kinda think that Mad Scramble is a better game for newcomers because its arranged so that you sort of know how you are doing as you go along. For instance (if it's the same as last time), you will solve a puzzle or series of puzzles in Fantasyland and you would not be able to go on to, say, Tomorrowland until you finish Fantasyland correctly. In that way, you can keep track of your success as you go. In Mad Scramble, however, it's all about speed. Whoever finishes all the sections first is the winner.

I'm hardly the one to be saying this, but MouseAdventure is not about winning or losing - it's about having a really fun time at Disneyland in an unusual way.

Come on down and play. We'll be happy to meet you.

[EandCDad]

Originally posted by JLKirscher
I appreciate all of the feedback. I just wanted to get an idea of how the game works. It sounds so fun.

While Mad Scramble (what we are doing in April) and the "classic" format are slightly different, the game is basically solving puzzles. The puzzles are of varying degrees of difficulty and involve going to different places in the park and seeing certain things then using some of those things to solve the puzzle. The puzzles themselves involve word and number type games that don't really have anything to do with Disney, but you do have to get information from the park to get all the information you need to solve the puzzle. Then, usually, the answer to the word or number puzzle asks you a question that can be answered by looking somewhere in the park.

In the classic format, each puzzle has a point value and the team who gets the most points, wins. In the MadScramble format, all the puzzles must be solved and the team that solves them the fastest, wins. There are also eye-spy parts (getting a picture and identifying where in Disneyland it is) that can add points (classic) or subtract time (Madscramble). There is also trivia which you have to complete while doing the other parts.

Let's see, teams have to stay together so one person can't sit and do trivia while the others work on the puzzles. Cheating is bad but some losers do it to feel good about themselves.

[AVP]

Originally posted by EandCDad
Let's see, teams have to stay together so one person can't sit and do trivia while the others work on the puzzles. Cheating is bad but some losers do it to feel good about themselves.

Now now now - there is "cheating," and there is "effective time management." NOTHING in the rules says that all of the members of a team must be working on the same thing at the same time.

So long as the team members maintain physical proximity, they can be working on different aspects of the game. Some of the most sucessful teams hand the trivia off to one or two of their members, while the remaining team members work on the actual puzzles. The "trivia" people just have to stay with the rest of the team.

And, frankly, that's how Tony and I have been able to win or place in almost every such event we're played. We're *very* good at dividing up the tasks, so that everyone does what they are best at.

AVP

[adriennek]

Originally posted by AVP
So long as the team members maintain physical proximity, they can be working on different aspects of the game. Some of the most sucessful teams hand the trivia off to one or two of their members, while the remaining team members work on the actual puzzles. The "trivia" people just have to stay with the rest of the team.

Oooh, MouseAdventure Flashback!

I'll limit what strategies I reveal But I totally remember walking down Main Street reading Trivia Questions out loud to my team, while Jennifer guided my arm so I wouldn't walk into anybody...

Adrienne K

[Alex S.]

Actually, EandCDad, there is a rule against photography during the event. At least with digital cameras. We've run into the issue of people taking digital photos of things they are supposed to rely on memory for. This is an unfair advantage.

I suppose that we wouldn't have a problem with film cameras (if people want to pay for one hour in park processing, then I give up on stopping the cheaters), but I don't want to have to deal with differentiating them.

[Lani]

Originally posted by Laffitte
Hey Lash. No cameras allow during the game!

Actually Laffitte, that's not quite true. We didn't allow teams to take photos of some of the clues during the last Mad Scramble event (for those who remember, this refers to the super eyespy pictures that were at the stations, and which could not be removed from the tables).

Originally posted by Lashbear
Who looks after Mouseadventure - I have to see if we can set up an official "papparazzi" to follow everyone and get some 'Official' pics !...

Alex might pipe in about this, but in the meantime: Since unregistered individuals are not permitted to hang out with or follow teams (this is considered cheating and is a big no-no), it might be very difficult for a person to take papparazzi photos. The only persons who could do this would be MousePlanet staff. That said, when we have enough staffing, we've traditionally tried to take candids during the event. If you haven't done so recently, please visit our past MouseAdventure event articles for examples.