Recovered Yet? Fall Mouse Adventure Date Released

[BarTopDancer]

November 16th (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?p=1233395#post1233395).

[mousepod]

hmm....

[innerSpaceman]

UGH.


So many people are retiring. I want to give their new "mystery" format a shot though, and then somehow hang on (and hopefully rally tremendously) for the Enchanted Race next Spring, which would be the only time we will have truly been in competition since we became the first Master's Team and began our decent into non-competitive suckery.

Of course, we're a nearly a decade older, and Enchanted Race sounds beyond our physical stamina capabilities these days.

Plus, I have no idea if my teammates want to continue. I know none of us wants to do a Spring MouseAdventure EVER again. But one last chance to compete may be irresistible (though humiliation likely looms).

[Prudence]

I might be interested in competing. I might be without teammates. I might be willing to auction myself off to the highest bidder.

[Ponine]

I might be interested in competing. I might be without teammates. I might be willing to auction myself off to the highest bidder.
I dont have much to bid, but I can pay fees if you'll join. ;)

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Can't wait to solve the mystery....then reclaim our rightful throne in the Enchanted Race. The solve-one-to-get-to-the-next format has ALWAYS been our strong suit. :cool:

[katiesue]

I just hope not to suck as much as last go-round.

[Kevy Baby]

I just hope not to suck as much as last go-round.Nope... gonna leave that one alone.

[katiesue]

Bring it on.....:blush:

[Disneyphile]

Fellowship of the Mouse will make our return this fall. :evil:

You're all screwed. ;)

[Prudence]

I dont have much to bid, but I can pay fees if you'll join. ;)

Well, if the rest of my team retires and/or declines....

[Ponine]

Fellowship of the Mouse will make our return this fall. :evil:

You're all screwed. ;)

Give me back that lucky pencil lady. You dont need it anymore. :p

[Stan4dSteph]

I hope to make it this time.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Want to play. Don't want to miss registration. Must not miss!

[innerSpaceman]

I'm gonna try to hang on through Mystery to the Enchanted Race ... after which time, The Denton Affair, as we know it, will certainly retire for good.

[BarTopDancer]

The original Shiny Happy People should be playing this year.

[belleh5]

So many people are retiring.

Yup!! Zap and I are kind of retiring. We won't be returning until Fall 2009.

Don't worry, we will still be around causing trouble. :evil:

[€uroMeinke]

Someone better tell Nirvanaman - and make him put it on his calendar

[Kevy Baby]

Someone better tell Nirvanaman - and make him put it on his calendarMaybe we should tell him the day after registration closes?

[katiesue]

Registration will start August 15th - Link (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showpost.php?p=1262802&postcount=73)

[Isaac]

Yup!! Zap and I are kind of retiring. We won't be returning until Fall 2009.
Well, I wouldn't say retirement. We're just on hiatus.
Don't worry, we will still be around causing trouble. :evil:
LOL Like there was ever any doubt ? ;)

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Registration will start August 15th - Link (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showpost.php?p=1262802&postcount=73)

Thanks!

[BarTopDancer]

Should we be reminding NM on a daily basis up until that day?

[Kevy Baby]

Should we be reminding NM on a daily basis up until that day?Let him know some time around August 31st.

[libraryvixen]

My teammate and I are considering competing! :)

[Prudence]

I get to be a local this time! w00t!

[Prudence]

So....according to this week's MP update, registration is limited to 100 teams in "regular" and 50 teams in "advanced." Regular is DCA only and Advanced is DCA, DL, and maybe DTD.

Any other existing teams planning to register for advanced and looking for additional members?

[innerSpaceman]

I wanted to play a couple more, but we are officially retired. The game happens after Laurie's AP expires, and she's not renewing.

Oh well, out with a whimper.

[Kevy Baby]

I shall continue my MA prowess with this round.

[BarTopDancer]

Pretty sure MattMatt and I are playing.

It will be the day it is 110 in November. Plan your beach parties accordingly.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

I shall continue my MA prowess with this round.

What level are you playing at?

[Kevy Baby]

What level are you playing at?The same level I always play at: none :D

[Disneyphile]

So, who's gonna be playing?

[Stan4dSteph]

Not playing, but I hope to be there that weekend as staff. Hopefully I will see people even if they aren't playing. :)

[swanie]

So, who's gonna be playing?

I am along with Katiesue and Mr. Swanie. We even have our spiffy new t-shirts already designed. :D

Swanie

[Stan4dSteph]

If there are people looking for a team, Peter's Pans needs two players to fill in for two of their people who will be away that weekend. Here's the thread on MP for players seeking teams/teams seeking players (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=110851).

[Cadaverous Pallor]

We spotted AVP hanging out with a guy from the-mouse.com at the park...no, we didn't stalk them. :)

[Not Afraid]

Chris and I won't be playing this time. It's break time for us.

[libraryvixen]

Time off is secured and I'm ready to play!

[Prudence]

I'm playing! I have a new recruit joining me. If anyone else is looking for two players, we're open to combining forces. (But I'd prefer that it be someone I know, so Peter's Pans are SOL.)

[katiesue]

Additional details are up this morning here (http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=dl080811xx#news4)

Registration opens Friday at 8 AM PT.

Advnaced is $105
Regular $95
101 $40

Now I'll just wait for ISM bi-annual cost increase rant ;)

[BarTopDancer]

I think we're priced out :(

[innerSpaceman]

Nope, not me. I am retired. Not playing this time, or likely ever again. Or at least, the Denton Affair is permanently retired ... but I would be open to playing on a newly formed team.


In light of the bad press the French 4x100 men's relay swimming team is getting, I would expect all the MouseAdventure trash-talk to cease immediately, non?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Additional details are up this morning here (http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=dl080811xx#news4)

Registration opens Friday at 8 AM PT.

Advnaced is $105
Regular $95
101 $40

Now I'll just wait for ISM bi-annual cost increase rant ;)How much was it last time? ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS sounds like a lot...

[swanie]

Unfortunately, Disney keeps upping the ante for them.

They're doing it as cheap as they can by booking dates at off times and by using the Pier's facilities, but as long as Disney is going to require them to use the ballroom as they do now...the price is going to remain high.

They can't do it without Disney's cooperation and frankly, since MP can't really quantify ticket sales and the such for the Mouse...I wouldn't be surprised if they are eventually forced into additional banquet services. I'm sure MA is treated as any other conference/banquet event in Disney's eyes, and since sponsorships are contractually prohibited...the cost has to be passed on to the participants.

It sucks, but I'm sure the MP Staff can't do much about it.

[katiesue]

I think it was either $70 or $75 last go round.

[Disneyphile]

Holy crap! Unless we could enter the 101, we're priced out too. And, we wouldn't want to enter that category, because we don't think it'd be fair to the newbies who'd we be laughing at as we finish a couple hours early. ;)

Looks like Spring for our come back, as long as I get some paying contract soon. At least we'll know what to budget for it.

[Prudence]

Ouch! 105 is kind of a sock to the wallet - but it's my first chance to be a local and I'm not passing it up.

Still room for two more on the team, if anyone's still looking.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I think it was either $70 or $75 last go round.That's what I thought - I rather large gap. I totally understand about Disney sticking it to them (and I'm totally a defender of the increases in recent years) but a 33% increase seems large.

We're not paying it anyway, so we're in. (All you guys need to become Masters, then price is not an issue ;) )

[BarTopDancer]

It's not that bad if you're a 3 or 4 person team.

We get that it's Disney's doing - renting the ballroom and having to pay for some sort of presence in the park. Though now with Guest Relations not allowed to take written complaints they won't have to hear about the unhappy guests seeing people wandering around with clipboards.

[belleh5]

Additional details are up this morning here (http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=dl080811xx#news4)

Registration opens Friday at 8 AM PT.

Advnaced is $105
Regular $95
101 $40

Now I'll just wait for ISM bi-annual cost increase rant ;)

WOW!! $105 Is way too much!! :mad:

Hopefully it won't go up to $200 by next fall. Or Isaac & I will never play again...

[Cadaverous Pallor]

It's not that bad if you're a 3 or 4 person team.

We get that it's Disney's doing - renting the ballroom and having to pay for some sort of presence in the park. Though now with Guest Relations not allowed to take written complaints they won't have to hear about the unhappy guests seeing people wandering around with clipboards.It's been Disney's doing for a while now. I wonder if Disney raised their rates by 33%.

[BarTopDancer]

It's been Disney's doing for a while now. I wonder if Disney raised their rates by 33%.

We (MattMatt and I) 'get' that it's been Disney's doing since they forced them into renting space. I remember the optional dinner event to offset some of the cost increase. Materials stay consistent through events, but other costs have probably also risen since last time, probably filling in the gap between the rental increase and the remainder of the 33%. I do wish there was a way to make the after event optional, or renting space off site (HoJo? Fairfield?) but Disney probably wouldn't allow anyone to set up shop at the usual tables. It's just to big.

There's a chance we'll have 4 and can play. But it's slim.

[katiesue]

They are also allowing fewer teams this time - fewer teams means everyones paying a bit more for the status quo.

[Tenigma]

It's been Disney's doing for a while now. I wonder if Disney raised their rates by 33%.

Given my position there I cannot say much and please don't ask me anything about MA because I don't have my AP anymore and living up in NorCal I'm really out of the loop.

What I CAN mention is that I cannot believe how much Disney charges to rent their ballroom!!!! Holy smokes, it's just outrageous.

That said, we can't risk having security come and kick you out for listening to instructions in the picnic area, eh?

[BarTopDancer]

That said, we can't risk having security come and kick you out for listening to instructions in the picnic area, eh?

Best Event Ever!

New MA quest: Find Mickey Mouse Jail.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

REGISTRATION OPENS TOMORROW AT 8AM.

[innerSpaceman]

Wow, i can't believe we're not playing. It's not the first MA i've missed, but it's the first one purposefully.


(If it's not one thing, it's another. We can play for free, but we can't afford the AP to get into the Park.)

[Disneyphile]

Yeah, it looks like we're not going to make our comeback this time. It's way out of our budget right now, and Ken is still AP-less for now.

[libraryvixen]

Yay!! We're in!

[swanie]

We're in for Advance...and with a new team name. :D

swanie
My Way or the Skyway

[BarTopDancer]

We're out.

[innerSpaceman]

Heheh, clever name, swanie.



Maybe i'll go to the Park that day. Hmm, there was one other day i was at the Park while others were playing MA and i wasnt'. How did that happen? Oy, my memory is just that.

[katiesue]

Registration is over half full already. If you're going to play register now or you may be out.

[katiesue]

Basic is already full, Advanced is over half.

[NirvanaMan]

Is that the fastest sell out ever?

[katiesue]

Is that the fastest sell out ever?

I believe so. Last one all divisions were sold out in a little over 24 hrs.

[NirvanaMan]

Registered. First time I have gotten in, in oh, 2 years?

[Kevy Baby]

Hey: who told NM? We weren't supposed to tell him until AFTER registration was full.

[BarTopDancer]

But the question is, did he register?

[Kevy Baby]

But the question is, did he register?Umm...Registered. First time I have gotten in, in oh, 2 years?

[Not Afraid]

So, when you guys make post-game dinner plans, let me know. I'll come visit, freshly showered and smelling good. :evil:

[Cadaverous Pallor]

So, when you guys make post-game dinner plans, let me know. I'll come visit, freshly showered and smelling good. :evil:...to visit a bunch of sweaty people bitching about the quests. :) I'll be sure to give you a damp hug.

[Not Afraid]

I'll bring lysol and baby wipes.

[BarTopDancer]

Advanced sold out.

Fastest sellout ever.

[NirvanaMan]

Holy crap that is nuts!

[Alex]

Now, I'm on the outside but can knowledgeably say that there isn't any great profiteering going on with the pricing of the event.

But, looking at this morning's timeline from a purely economic calculus, what does this suggest about the pricing?

[Disneyphile]

Good luck to everyone!

We'll come by for a post-game meet. :)

[swanie]

So, when you guys make post-game dinner plans, let me know. I'll come visit, freshly showered and smelling good. :evil:

...to visit a bunch of sweaty people bitching about the quests. :) I'll be sure to give you a damp hug.

I'll bring lysol and baby wipes.

If anyone is concerned about post-race hygiene, our team will be staying at the Pier this go around. I'm sure we can arrange for an extra washcloth and deodorant. :D

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Now, I'm on the outside but can knowledgeably say that there isn't any great profiteering going on with the pricing of the event.

But, looking at this morning's timeline from a purely economic calculus, what does this suggest about the pricing?Yeah, inelastic. They haz an MA! WANT!

[BarTopDancer]

http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/8/15/upromizedmouze128633048160764931.jpg

[Kevy Baby]

http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/8/15/upromizedmouze128633048160764931.jpgI don't remember seeing that T-Shirt (that they wore in the picture). Is the picture on the T-Shirt posted somewhere?

CP & GD ALWAYS have great T-Shirts!

[belleh5]

Wow, it's already sold out!! Thats crazy!!

Zap and I will be around causing trouble and drinking at the cove bar. :cheers:

[Tenigma]

Wow, it's already sold out!! Thats crazy!!Technically I think at least of one the categories sold out in less than 40 minutes, or something close to it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I don't remember seeing that T-Shirt (that they wore in the picture). Is the picture on the T-Shirt posted somewhere?

CP & GD ALWAYS have great T-Shirts!
Posted here (http://www.loungeoftomorrow.com/LoT/showthread.php?p=204674#post204674)with a comment from you 2 posts later.

[Kevy Baby]

Posted here (http://www.loungeoftomorrow.com/LoT/showthread.php?p=204674#post204674)with a comment from you 2 posts later.:blush:

I'm getting old too quickly

[Gemini Cricket]

I'm getting old too quickly
Yeah, you said that before, too.



:D

[Prudence]

New team
New name
Still crazy enough to sign up for advanced.

Heffalump and Woozle
(quick, slick, and insincere)

[Disneyphile]

Ken just made me sign us up for the 101. When broke, just charrrrrrge it!

At least it will recondition us after a 3-year hiatus. But, I'm expecting we'll be done in an hour. ;) :p

[swanie]

Holy Carp! They just announced the tentative schedule for MA...

MouseAdventure 101 teams:
11:00 am - Sign-in begins at the Paradise Pier Hotel; team photos.
12:00 noon - Event starts.
4:00 pm - Game concludes.
6:00 PM - Award ceremony at the Paradise Pier Hotel.
7:00 PM - Event concludes.

MouseAdventure Mystery (Basic Division) teams:
9:30 am - Sign-in begins at the Paradise Pier Hotel; team photos.
10:30 am - Event starts.
4:00 PM - Game concludes.
6:00 PM - Award ceremony at the Paradise Pier Hotel.
7:00 PM - Event concludes.

MouseAdventure Mystery: Advanced teams:
8:00 am - Sign-in begins at the Paradise Pier Hotel; team photos.
9:00 am - Event starts.
4:00 PM - Game concludes
6:00 PM - Award ceremony at the Paradise Pier Hotel.
7:00 PM - Event concludes.

That would be 7 hours for the Advanced teams. Good thing we're training for the half marathon. ;)

[Disneyphile]

Oh goody. We get to sleep in. :p

And, I notice there is now a "Team Mascot" competition. It'd be almost too easy for us. ;) I have oodles of Disney plush, a ton of scrap fabric and crafty objects, and a glue gun with a license to impress. ;)

[katiesue]

Ack Advanced is 7 hours. That's a long time to argue about who's right on what :p

[swanie]

Ack Advanced is 7 hours. That's a long time to argue about who's right on what :p

What's there to argue about? You just need to finally accept that I'm always right. ;)

[CoasterMatt]

Damn... MA is just too expensive to join, just to turn in an entirely blank answer sheet at the end of the day.

[Stan4dSteph]

Current forecast for Sunday:

Accuweather.com
High: 79°F RealFeel®: 79°F
Mostly sunny and not as warm
(Saturday predicted high of 90°F!)

Weather.com
High: 82°F
Sunny

Record high for this date: 87°F (1989)

[Not Afraid]

Because it's going to be so hot and steamy AND because we're throwing a party the night before and I really don't need much sleep anyways....we've been invited to join the NM/EH team. I just hope they don't have high expectations of us.

[Stan4dSteph]

Updated forecast for Sunday:

Accuweather.com
High: 92 °F RealFeel®: 91 °F
Sunny and hot

Weather.com
High: 83°F
Mostly sunny

Record high for this date: 87°F (1989)

[Ghoulish Delight]

I vote for Weather.com.

[Disneyphile]

The weather curse of MouseAdventure prevails once again.... :eek:

That just made our decision on whether or not to freeze our Camelbaks for the occasion.

[Ghoulish Delight]

The weather curse of MouseAdventure prevails once again.... :eek:

That just made our decision on whether or not to freeze our Camelbaks for the occasion.omg, thanks for saying that, I completely forgot that we recently purchased a Camelbak! Will have to bring that.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Because it's going to be so hot and steamy AND because we're throwing a party the night before and I really don't need much sleep anyways....we've been invited to join the NM/EH team. I just hope they don't have high expectations of us.

HIGH! VERY HIGH!

Says the newbie playing an advanced game, of course, and will be very, very nervous. :)

[Not Afraid]

And, now I am damaged goods. This should be fun.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

But the goods that are damaged, and pretty fVcking good. :evil:

[Cadaverous Pallor]

HIGH! VERY HIGH!

Says the newbie playing an advanced game, of course, and will be very, very nervous. :)OMG, you guys are doing advanced?? Heh.

We missed the deadline for the t-shirt contest. Oh well. :) Haven't done a single thing for it.

I'm so ready for a serious MA FAIL.

[Kevy Baby]

And, now I am damaged goods. This should be fun.The first MA that we ever played in, one of our players was not in peek health and wasn't going to be able to walk all day. So, we rented her a wheelchair. She was able to read stuff, work on puzzles, etc. while we pushed her around. It came in handy.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

OMG, you guys are doing advanced?? Heh.



I think so. I thought that's what I read in a recent email forwarded to me, but perhaps I misread. Wouldn't put it past me...

[Not Afraid]

Yes, we're doing advanced.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Team NicRobinMark is playing the regular game. What a weekend this will be. No sleep, lots of walking - I will need the AP lounge more this year than any other....

Or maybe a Baked Potato.. .

[Stan4dSteph]

There's also a Toys for Tots drive. Don't forget to think of the children!

[Kevy Baby]

Don't forget to think of the children!When they start thinking about me, I'll start thinking about them.

Until then: eff em!

[libraryvixen]

Ugh... I hate the heat!

[madmonkeygirl]

This will be fun not participating and gonna be at home on Sunday. Have fun everyone...lol of course it will be HOT weather it always is lol....will be inside nice air conditioning and plenty of rest and drinks etc. Good luck to everyone...ha...lol

[Prudence]

We're going to beat you all!!!!!

.....



in the race for last place, of course. :p

Now, who's making dinner reservations and where?

[swanie]

Now, who's making dinner reservations and where?

Katiesue has made them for Tortilla Jo's the last couple of games, but she isn't going to be here this weekend. Do we want to stay there, or try some place different?

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

I want another awesome Baked Potato. w/o onions OR mushrooms, thank you...

[Prudence]

So, jazz kitchen then?

[Not Afraid]

Chris and I won't be joining for dinner if we go after the awards. We need to get home to Thurston. However, if there is time in between the game and the awards, we'll probably join.

[lashbear]

Chris and I won't be joining for dinner if we go after the awards. We need to get home to Thurston. However, if there is time in between the game and the awards, we'll probably join.
Isn't Thurston on the team ?

[~MS~]

I think Lisa should put him in a stroller, look the CM's straight in the eye and say he's under 3 and he's my therapy doggie...if Miss Pink poodle can do it on regular basis, someone as beautiful as Thurston should be able to pull it off.

[Not Afraid]

I think Lisa should put him in a stroller, look the CM's straight in the eye and say he's under 3 and he's my therapy doggie...if Miss Pink poodle can do it on regular basis, someone as beautiful as Thurston should be able to pull it off.


I DID smuggle him in the Grand Cal when WB and Co were down. That was fun - especially when he barked out the window, which caused Brad to quickly bark himself and claim Turrets. :)

[~MS~]

I can just see Brad doing that!

[Prudence]

I'm not even sure we're staying for the awards. If dinner's not between game and awards, we won't be doing it.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Ok, fine, I'll post about the event. :) Now you'll find out why I didn't post yesterday, even though we skipped the awards ceremony :eek: and got home early. My mood hasn't improved much...

It was f'n hot. Like, seriously. And I swear, we did that walk to Paradise Pier in the bloody sunniest part of the sunniest park in the hottest part of the day at least 6 times. HOT. We had frozen our brand new camelback but alas, it is such a well-insulated pack that the ice refused to melt fast enough, and would block any actual water from coming out the tube. We had to resort to adding drinking fountain water to keep us alive.

I swear, halfway though the day, we were looking at each other and saying "is this even fun anymore??" I felt ready to YAGE from the event forever, and that's never quite happened to me so strongly before.

Ok, enough introductory complaining, now on to the rest of the complaining.

The Mystery concept was a cool idea, actually. There were 6 crime dossiers we were given one at a time. Each dossier contained 3 different puzzles to solve. In Disneyland we were allowed to separate to work on different puzzles which was fun though the concept of being divided without being able to call each other kind of freaked me out. I don't even wear a watch, so we couldn't set a meet time either. Thankfully we both wore recognizable hats so it wasn't an issue.

After you solved the three crime puzzles you handed it in and got one of the 6 mystery components to solve. It required parts of info from the three puzzles to solve it. If you skipped small bits of your crimes you could be in trouble.

Once again we found ourselves doing a ton of work and then, due to one missing component, getting the answer wrong. Still not a fan of this concept. Other teams said the same afterwards. Oddly, I think we did pretty well on the major questions as we were able to backtrack and get answers, but I'm really not sure (not ready to hit MousePad yet). All that backtracking didn't help our mood, though.

There were a couple of construction wall problems and they dealt with them in interesting ways. One was an errata sheet, which gave the answer in a storyline way, which worked fine (once someone told me to check the errata sheet. Yup, I still miss stuff). The other was to add an extra sheet to the actual puzzle, but in reading it, we were totally confused. It seemed to give us the answer in a roundabout way, but it didn't quite come across well enough. We were confused as it seemed we didn't have to do any work. Even so, I think we got that one wrong. Confusing!

Oh, and I have to say, the wording on some of these was awful when it came to exactly what kind of answer they were looking for - a character, a location, what? We have finally mastered reading everything but now it was "read everything - 4 times - and debate the meaning."

There were some puzzles that were mostly easy, and some that did have a satisfying moment where you look for the 3rd time and find the hidden sign (Shrunken Ned's "Medical Advice", woo!). For example, the mural at Mulholland Madness had nothing on previous mural challenges. But then there was the license plates in Condor Flats, yeech. I can't wait to see what the hell that was about. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to us. We made a mostly blind stab guess which didn't make much sense. These "logic puzzles" aren't really logic puzzles.

There were some fun gimmicks. I did the yellow grid over the course of the day. It was the best use of my sharpie ever at an MA, as a pen or pencil wouldn't work too well on plastic. I thought I was missing something, had the awesome a-ha moment, and got it right. Yay. Same was true for the red sheet, Miley Cyrus' bday. I got to do a few of these major questions and those were pretty cool. We got the "plans for the DCA expansion" at the very last minute. If we only had time to get them all done...

But seriously, a lot of the minor questions had us frustrated and backtracking and grumbling. However, like any MA, we saw things that we've never seen before at DL. The posters on the ceiling of the pin shop in NOS was my favorite.

Why could we separate at DL, where everything is close together, but not at DCA, where everything is far away and being separate would be useful?

Anyway, I'm not YAGEing from MA yet, but I will say that I really don't want to do another afternoon at DCA. Thing is, we never know which park is at what time of day when we register. So maybe I'm just too old and cranky for this crap anymore? Maybe I've done it enough times. I don't know. The prospect of a freakin' Enchanted Race is not very enticing right now, even though we can actually compete in it, because it just doesn't sound fun.

Anyway, since iSm didn't make it, I guess I had to fill in the curmudgeon role. :D

[Not Afraid]

We tried to sit this one out but it didn't work out that way. I liked the concept of this game, I really preferred the DL portion. I thought the challenge up splitting up and getting back together added an interesting twist since we had no means of communication. Once we got to DCA, I was less enchanted. The park is HOT and it was bloody mid afternoon. We were just getting into our groove at DL then had most of our problems in DCA. Condor Flats was still remains a mystery to me. Try as we might, NM and I just couldn't get a logical answer. We used our hint on that one and still guesed. The Redwood Creek quest caused a lot of problems for us as well. I really only had one moment of epiphany throughout the entire game - the answer to the WHERE question. I'm usually a bit more useful than that.

Our funny team stress moment came when we were crossing the suspension bridge in Redwood Creek. The bridge was moving frantically with all 4 of us on it. I was hanging on to the rope for dear life but still laughing. EH was behind me and thought that I was causing the movement on purpose. She was not amsued (plus she was in pain and having a hard time).

The next event is the Enchanted Race. Everyone thinks that was a great game. I played just after completing radiation and Graves treatment and i was in the worst physical shape ever. We had to make a trip to the HoJo's and A was literally dragging me down Harbor Blvd so I could keep up with the team. I didn't think it was much fun. Who knows if we'll play again.

[Prudence]

I loved the whole green set of questions - super easy for us! We had just scoped out the Redwood Creek area a week or so prior, as I was sure that would be part of the event, so we were totally set for that one. And the flag was was one of those decoding ones I love so much, because I only have to do a very small part of the puzzle. (We even figured out the "blue" mystery element with knowing only the hollywood address; the rest was simple logic to figure out the right numbers.)

Our bugaboo was the Tomorrowland quest. We figured out the crossword answers easily, but just couldn't unscramble the letters into anything relevant. We burned way too much time on that and should have used our hint, but it was our first set, and my teammate didn't want to burn the hint too soon. I think he has a better idea of game rhythm now, so next time we should be a little better.

Splitting up was a challenge, but mostly consisted of me sending him on "assignments" for answers when I knew where they were located while I searched specific areas for things I didn't know.

Bonus for this time: the Toontown quest was neither long and impossible nor conducted at 2:30pm!

We blew off the awards ceremony in favor of riding Midway Mania with Libraryvixen and teammate, followed by a thorough drenching on GRR and a quick escape home.

Anything revealed for the spring dates yet?

[madmonkeygirl]

Sounds like you had fun and at the same time frustrating. That's why we don't play anymore. Yesterday was bloody hot but we had the air conditioning cranked up and it was blaring full blast. Only time we went outside was to go to the store and Best Buy. The rest of the day we were inside. Unless they make MA in the middle of winter here (and even then we can have 80 degree plus weather) we sit it out....

[Prudence]

That remindes me - it really didn't feel that hot to me this time. True, we weren't racing around as much as we might have, but my teammate badgered me into drinking copious amounts of fluid (instead of my usual 1 bottle of water) and I really didn't feel that bad. Feet didn't even hurt. I'm a little more thirsty than usual today, but it really didn't seem that bad this time.

[Disneyphile]

I'm really happy we did the 101 yesterday, considering the heat and air conditions. But, it was way too damn easy. We kept our slowest pace ever, sat down on a few occasions, even chatting with people who asked us about the event.... and were completely done with all quests by 2:30, and only needed 3 more Eye-Spies, to which we found during a leisurely stroll down Main Street, even ducking in the shops to browse the holiday merchandise while we were at it.

We turned it in at 3:30, and decided to head home shortly after, since I could no longer breathe the thick smoky air.

But, we're so ready to jump back into Advanced/Race next time. I love the challenge!

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

I had a fantastic time playing MA for the first time. I loved the Nancy Drew mystery approach, though some of the sentence structure was screwy and we really lost time on one task because of this. The Disneyland portion was more enjoyable, though I think part of the frustration in DCA was not being able to split up. With no central hub, you really do spend a lot of time running in circles to get around. Still, there were "Eureka" moments throughout the adventure that made the whole day worth it. And enjoying a meal with friends after was all the reward I needed.

Thanks to my teammates for making it such a positive first experience, and sorry again to NA for snapping! :)

[Disneyphile]

Thanks to my teammates for making it such a positive first experience, and sorry again to NA for snapping! :)Team stress is all part of the game. Ken and I were bitching at each other within the first 15 minutes. It wouldn't be MA without it, almost. We have a rule - anything said or done within the game is completely game related and is never to be held against anyone later. ;)

We have a separate "game relationship" that is just that. :D

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

We have a separate "game relationship" that is just that. :D

Haha! NM and I were pretty good. We each got snitty with each other once, I think. Our accomplices were rather incredible, though. Frustrated at times by the game, perhaps, but never seemed frustrated with each other. Cool gaming cats, that's for sure!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Sigh.

I don't know what it is exactly but something about the nature of the puzzles they've been creating no longer excites me. They feel more frustrating and confusing than challenging and clever. Even discounting the ambiguously worded ones, which is a whole other story. I know part of it is a significant move away from on-paper logic puzzles. I'm surely in the minority, but that was my strength and a large part of my enjoyment. That and the fact that everything is all-or-nothing, meaning that, as CP said, you can run yourself ragged doing 99.9% of the work, and get absolutely not credit for it because of one small error or oversight. Frustrating.

I did love having the detective's notepad. I used it a bunch and if we do play again, I'll definitely be bringing that.

There were of course elements I enjoyed. But the overall experience, between the vague quests, frustrating format, and brutal heat, left me feeling pretty sour on the whole.

Also contributing to my general feeling of disconnect from the whole thing was the new schedule. I know there's nothing the staff can do about it with the size of the event and the constraints Disney puts on, but with the staggered start and the short time between registration and game beginning, there was not the usual pre-game social atmosphere at all. We skipped the results at the end and we could have gotten some of it in by then, but by then we're exhausted. And part of what gets me motivated and excited is spending time beforehand talking to fellow competitors, seeing everyone's shirts, trash talking, etc. Without that, it was far more business-like and a bit less fun.

[Disneyphile]

Yeah, it does seem a LOT less social now.

Maybe they could offer a pre-game breakfast option in the future, even if it's just pastries and coffee. They could use early check-in as an incentive to selling the breakfast tickets.

[Prudence]

Oh yeah - the yellow mystery part puzzle had one totally ambiguous instruction that the staff couldn't answer. It said to black out any squares in the the same row AND (caps theirs) column as a Q. Did that mean that whereever there was a Q, one was to block out the entire row and column containing that Q? Or that one only blocked out squares if they happened to be both in the same row as a Q and column as another Q? One version eliminated more squares than the other. (not that it would have mattered for us, since we couldn't unscramble the damn attraction name.)

We skipped the end routine because it didn't seem like anyone we knew would be there, and the door prizes are pretty lame. Honestly, I'd rather just have a bit WOOHOO! as the teams turn in stuff, and then we disperse for the evening and get the results the next day.

But we'll still be doing it again in the spring, assuming we register in time. Now that both of us know how to expect, and we're getting better at reading each other's minds, I think we'll be pretty dangerous come spring-time.

Is next fall still at EPCOT?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yeah, it does seem a LOT less social now.

Maybe they could offer a pre-game breakfast option in the future, even if it's just pastries and coffee. They could use early check-in as an incentive to selling the breakfast tickets.The problem is that Disney specifically wants them to NOT have people there early. They staggered the registration to keep the hotel area clear and not have all 8,000 (or whatever the number is) players there at the same time. At the awards ceremony when everyone is just sitting in the ballroom it's not a big deal, but during registration when they've got tables set up in the hall, people standing in lines, and team photos being taken, they can't have that many people around.

That, and it costs so much to get Disney to add food service to these events that it would just drive the cost of playing up even more.

With the number of pepole that play, all of this is a logisitcal necessity, but it has significantly changed the nature of the game and I miss the old way.

[innerSpaceman]

I've pretty much hated it ever since it moved to the Ballrooms. Charm Gone.


I HATE quests that are poorly worded ... and unless it's the most clever quest ever written, I hate playing in DCA on a hot day.

Sounds like I wouldn't have liked this MouseAdventure.


I have to admit, losing is not as fun as winning ... but we've continued to enjoy the game when the quests are fun and interesting.


It's been hit and miss on that front. But between the ballroom ychhiness, our continued uber-losing streak, games that are only enjoyable half the time and ... the kicker ... not going to Disneyland enough nowadays to make having an AP worthwhile ... I think my days of MouseAdventure are all behind me.


It was fun. But I realized yesterday ... I don't miss it at all.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Oh yeah - the yellow mystery part puzzle had one totally ambiguous instruction that the staff couldn't answer. It said to black out any squares in the the same row AND (caps theirs) column as a Q. Did that mean that whereever there was a Q, one was to block out the entire row and column containing that Q? Or that one only blocked out squares if they happened to be both in the same row as a Q and column as another Q? One version eliminated more squares than the other. (not that it would have mattered for us, since we couldn't unscramble the damn attraction name.)You had to cross out the Q and the whole row and whole column it was in. It was easy to get confused, I know I did. I read each clue about 4 times before marking anything to make sure I was doing it right (permanent marker makes me extra careful).

[Stan4dSteph]

Sorry you all missed the wrapup. Joe had a really entertaining presentation.

Spring dates are tentatively April 26 or May 10.

Next fall will be at WDW and tentative date is Nov. 14. The event will require a food and beverage purchase, so that exact cost per person will be passed on. It will be a pre-game breakfast.

I had a blast, except maybe for the part where I had to hang out in Golden State Park to read trivia questions.

[Prudence]

Please oh please April 26.

[Kevy Baby]

Next fall will be at WDW and tentative date is Nov. 14.Florida? Well THAT will certainly change the scope of the game.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

The only issue I and team had in the Basic division was the High School Musical 3 part where we had to go to a showing where one member answered trivia. About an hour was wasted on this part mostly because the way it was worded made it seem like we needed to watch the show, which I might add is f**king horrible - I'd rather watch dead fetus' in a blender then sit through that again. It was a huge waste of time and really knocked down our team moral.

I had "fun" playing but it wasn't as fun as previous years.

[Stan4dSteph]

The warning about HSM3 was because it was almost impossible to hear the trivia questions while the show was going on. Teams were told to "plan accordingly."

I was entertained by the one team that had a member actually pulled into the show.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

A similar thing happened to us in Toontown, where a line of MAers waited to listen to the police phone line. We waited too, for what seemed like forever, and finally found that the phone gave no help at all. Of course we didn't tell everyone else in line...

[Not Afraid]

Results up yet? I want to see just how badly we did.

[Stan4dSteph]

Results up yet? I want to see just how badly we did.Recap will be up on Friday.

[innerSpaceman]

Game on Sunday, Recap on FRIDAY???


Lots of complaints about poorly-worded quests?


What goes on at MouseAdventure Quality Control?? :p

[BarTopDancer]

Game on Sunday, Recap on FRIDAY???


Lots of complaints about poorly-worded quests?


What goes on at MouseAdventure Quality Control?? :p

Whatever it is, it probably involves booze.

[Stan4dSteph]

In order to bitch about MouseAdventure, you must play MouseAdventure.

Whatever it is, it probably involves booze.Never.

[Prudence]

I played MA! I wish to register a complaint! We worked pretty hard to secure a last-place finish and I don't want to wait until Friday for confirmation of our hard work!

[innerSpaceman]

Um, i'm :iSm: .... i have a license to bitch issued by Her Majesty's secret service.

[BarTopDancer]

Never.

You're right ;)

[Kevy Baby]

Um, i'm :iSm: .... i have a license to bitch issued by Her Majesty's secret service.And yet, you do it so infrequently...

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Everything was barcoded so I hoped that would speed up the results. I guess they still have to write up a report...

And, :iSm: got pwned :p

[Stan4dSteph]

Everything was barcoded so I hoped that would speed up the results. I guess they still have to write up a report...It sped up grading by a ton. It was amazing.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

It sped up grading by a ton. It was amazing.I gave the appropriate "ooooh" when it was mentioned at the morning orientation. I know the awesomeness of barcodes :) How many scanners did you guys purchase? I know the pricing on those has come down considerably in recent years, probably due to the rise of RFID.

[Andrew]

I gave the appropriate "ooooh" when it was mentioned at the morning orientation. I know the awesomeness of barcodes :) How many scanners did you guys purchase? I know the pricing on those has come down considerably in recent years, probably due to the rise of RFID.
Two, I think. It's not giving too much away to say that we graded every answer card twice, once on each of two separate computers and then diff'ed the results for accuracy.

[Prudence]

I really want to know how the hidden quest worked. I'm assuming it had something to do with the precinct numbers, but other than that I don't know.

[Ghoulish Delight]

And what was with the "Hidden Tunnel in Fantasyland"?

[Stan4dSteph]

I really want to know how the hidden quest worked. I'm assuming it had something to do with the precinct numbers, but other than that I don't know.The precinct numbers indicated the letter number that you took from the officer name. When the parts were then put in date order they spelled out the question.

And what was with the "Hidden Tunnel in Fantasyland"?That was a reference to the closed castle walkthrough I believe. It was supposed to provide a bit of a hint for the unscramble.

[Prudence]

The precinct numbers indicated the letter number that you took from the officer name. When the parts were then put in date order they spelled out the question.



Can you be more specific about the letter number? If it said 1.4.5, for example, was that 3 letters? 1, 4, and 5?

I'm getting better at spotting the hidden quest origin, but I haven't seen enough of them to have any idea what to do with that knowledge. I think the Eye Spy MA is the only other one I knew anything about. I think they're pretty cool, but if you weren't with it from the beginning sometimes it's a little difficult (without some historical examples) to know what to do.

[Stan4dSteph]

Can you be more specific about the letter number? If it said 1.4.5, for example, was that 3 letters? 1, 4, and 5?Yes, that's three letters: the first, fourth and fifth.

Only one advanced team correctly solved the hidden quest, but 13 basic teams solved it correctly.

[Stan4dSteph]

Results are up today (http://www.mouseplanet.com/misc.php?pg=MAFall08Results).

[Ghoulish Delight]

Holy hell, we almost cracked the top 10? Wow.

And we were the highest ranked 2-person team. Interesting.

[Kevy Baby]

I see that we fared the same as we always do.

[Moonliner]

I see that we fared the same as we always do.

So how did you come up with the name "Headless Chickens"?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

With no other Masters teams playing *COUGHbrothersbearCOUGH* we look pretty good. :D

I know people always say it's not about winning, but for me, well, it's about winning. :) Seeing that we did as well as we did makes me feel a bit better. However, I'm still leaning towards sitting out the next one...

[Stan4dSteph]

Holy hell, we almost cracked the top 10? Wow.

And we were the highest ranked 2-person team. Interesting.Yes, you guys did well. You got a shout-out at the awards.

2-person teams are not very common either.

[Prudence]

Wow! We did WAY better in the rankings than I thought we would! We totally failed in our quest to secure last place. (And apparently beat at least one former winning team. :p )

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Wow - I'm shocked we tied for 10th (With a dozen others). Quite a surpirse.

[Stan4dSteph]

I don't know people's team names, but glad you did better than expected.

[Disneyphile]

What about the 101 results?

Edit: Er... nevermind. Found it!



Hmmm. Interesting. We're not even listed....


And, to prove how even more stupid I am..... I'm looking at the Spring results. :rolleyes:


(It was a late night last night....)

[Andrew]

What was your team number? Did you turn in your answer sheet/card?

[Disneyphile]

What was your team number? Did you turn in your answer sheet/card?See my revised post. :blush:

[Ghoulish Delight]

Which leads back to the original question. Where are the 101 results?

[Andrew]

Which leads back to the original question. Where are the 101 results?
Supposed to be posted tomorrow.

[Not Afraid]

Pru, what was your team name?

[Prudence]

We were Heffalump and Woozle. (And plan to remain so for future games).

What were you?

[Not Afraid]

We were Heffalump and Woozle. (And plan to remain so for future games).

What were you?

We won! We came in lower than you did (you're 18th, we're 21st). Har har. ;)

Our team name was "A Swinging Wake" - a name I really like - thank NM and EH!

[Prudence]

Ha! I think it's a typo and we're actually supposed to be tied for 19th, but I'm terribly amused at how well we did. I mean, we took the whole thing at a leisurely stroll after totally botching the tomorrowland quest, as we figured it was a totally lost cause. Imagine if we'd actually worked at it! If we'd actually managed to work on that final dossier.....


Hey - how many of the photos were Disneyland? (And which ones?)

[Not Afraid]

We may have only been in 21st place, but aren't we cute? ;)http://www.mouseplanet.com/mouseadventure/08fall/x137.JPG

[Ghoulish Delight]

Hey - how many of the photos were Disneyland? (And which ones?)According to the recap, 8 except that the correct owl statue was missing (we noticed an empty pillar on the wishing well side of the moat), so they accepted 7 or 8. We had 6 :(

[Ghoulish Delight]

For anyone wondering what our shirts were this time - our creative energy has been channeled in other directions of late and it was reflected in our shirts. We just didn't have the time or inclination to come up with anything, so we went a simple route. But we did get a lot of appreciative responses from MA staff and other park guests.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/mouseadventure/08fall/x101.JPG

[Gemini Cricket]

But we did get a lot of appreciative responses from MA staff and other park guests.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/mouseadventure/08fall/x101.JPG
And rightfully so.
So freakin' awesome.
You guys rock.
:)

[innerSpaceman]

Yay, love you guys!



In other MouseAdventure news ... my ex-Denton Affair teammate Chelsie's team came in first place in the Family 101 Division. Guess that's where us old, worn out champions should be set out to pasture so we can experience the thrill of victory again!

[Ghoulish Delight]

One MA staffer said, "I love your shirts, thanks for standing up for my rights." Got lots of people saying, "Nice shirts" as we walked by, players and regular guests.

While were in the NOS pin shop, a guest asked, "Is there a protest going on here today?" I couldn't really discern anything in her tone of voice that indicated how she felt about that prospect, but she didn't seem angry or anything. I said no, paused, then smiled and said, "But we figured it's a good message to be wearing anyway." She agreed. :)

I think I noticed 2 negative reactions. One was a teenage girl who walked past and seemed to wrinkle her nose in either confusion or disgust, couldn't tell. And I'm pretty sure I overheard an exasperated, "Wearing that at Disneyland?" from someone we speed-walked past.

[Disneyphile]

Gah!!! We totally fudged the second 101 quest. :( We had everything else but that one, and it cost us dearly.

And... they counted the friggin books in the Christmas garland too. We only counted permanent structure.

Wow. We sucked.

Edit: No, no. We missed more than that one.

Worst. Results. Ever. And on the easiest friggin level too.

I'm done talking about Fall MouseAdventure 2008 now. In fact, I'd like to forget it even happened. :rolleyes:

[Cadaverous Pallor]

We may have only been in 21st place, but aren't we cute? ;)http://www.mouseplanet.com/mouseadventure/08fall/x137.JPGHah, I knew you'd acclimate to your team name :evil:

[Kevy Baby]

We may have only been in 21st place, but aren't we cute? ;)http://www.mouseplanet.com/mouseadventure/08fall/x137.JPGWhy am I not surprised that €'s hand is on EH's hip?

[Andrew]

For those who weren't at the awards/announcements, we are looking at the following dates for Spring '09:

April 26
May 10 (Yes, we know this is Mother's Day)
May 17

And roughly the middle of November for Fall '09, which will be in Epcot with MouseAdventure Central at the Odyssey.

Please do not make any non-refundable plans based on these dates; we'll have more information once contracts are signed, which will likely not be for at least a few months.

[innerSpaceman]

Why am I not surprised that €'s hand is on EH's hip?

Why am I not surprised we cannot see where NM's other hand is.






(perhaps explaining NA's smile even though €uro's hand is on EH's hip)

[Kevy Baby]

Why am I not surprised we cannot see where NM's other hand is.Oh, good point!

[Not Afraid]

Why am I not surprised we cannot see where NM's other hand is.






(perhaps explaining NA's smile even though €uro's hand is on EH's hip)

You can see a bit of his arm behind EH. It seems to be heading......oh.

I think if we keep this up, our team name should just be team Grope.