MouseAdventure Spring 2010

[BarTopDancer]

In case you missed the email:

MouseAdventure Anniversary

This Spring, MousePlanet celebrates the 10th Anniversary of MouseAdventure with three fun-filled events. Whether you've played every game since 2000 or are forming a team for your very first Adventure, there's a division just right for you! More information about MouseAdventure can be found at www.mouseadventure.com.

Advanced Division

MouseAdventure Anniversary: Decades
Saturday, May 22 - Sunday, May 23

Hop aboard the MouseAdventure Time Machine for a whirlwind Journey through Disneyland Resort History. Teams begin this two-day event Saturday morning with breakfast at Aladdin's Oasis inside Disneyland Park, then embark on a day (and night) of fun in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. You never know where the Time Machine will send you next!

On Sunday, Advanced teams will resume the Adventure with an entirely new set of quests to solve, then return to the Paradise Pier Hotel for the post-event Award Ceremony. This is guaranteed to be the most challenging MouseAdventure ever! Registration is restricted to returning MouseAdventure teams, and all players must be 18 years of age or older. (MouseAdventure Masters teams are allowed to register and compete for prizes in this division).

Registration for the Advanced Division is $250 per 2-person team, plus $30 each for the 3rd or 4th player on a team. Registration includes breakfast at Aladdin's Oasis, two days of MouseAdventure fun, and admission to the post-event Award Ceremony on Sunday. Each player will need admission to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure on Saturday and Sunday. MouseAdventure registration does not include theme park admission.
Registration for the Advanced Division will open at 9am on Tuesday, March 16th online at mouseadventure.com. Registration for this division is extremely limited, and no waiting list will be formed once the division fills.

Basic Division

MouseAdventure Anniversary
Sunday, May 23

Celebrate 10 years of MouseAdventure with this "blast from the past" featuring some of your favorite quest formats.

Registration for the Basic Division is $95 per team, and includes admission to the post-event Award Ceremony on Sunday. Each player will need admission to Disneyland on Sunday. MouseAdventure registration does not include theme park admission.

Registration for the Basic Division will open at 9am on Tuesday, March 16th online at mouseadventure.com. Registration will close on May 13, or whenever the division sells out. No waiting list will be formed once the division fills. Players must be at least 6 years of age and one player on each team must be at least 18 years of age.

Day at the Park Division

MouseAdventure Anniversary
Sunday, June 6

Designed for new MouseAdventure teams as well as returning teams who play "just for fun," teams in the Day in the Park event will solve slightly modified versions of the Basic division quests in a relaxed, non-competitive setting. Teams play only for bragging rights, and there is no post-event Award Ceremony: results will be posted on the Web site about a week after the event. If you've ever wondered what a MouseAdventure event is all about, this is the perfect opportunity to find out!

The MouseAdventure Day at the Park event features an extended sign-in period with a pre-game new player orientation session. Teams can also participate in T-shirt and mascot competitions before the main event begins.

Registration for the Day at the Park Division is $55 per team. Each player will need admission to Disneyland on Sunday. MouseAdventure registration does not include theme park admission.

Registration for the Day at the Park Division will open at 9am on Tuesday, March 30th online at mouseadventure.com. Registration will close on May 27, or whenever the division sells out. No waiting list will be formed once the division fills.

[katiesue]

Have fun

[bewitched]

Sounds fun, I'm hoping to be at WDW.

[€uroMeinke]

Yikes, advance starts at $250? there must be some fabulous prizes - but you know, I'm still kinda glad we've retired.

[BarTopDancer]

I'm 99.5% sure we're not playing. We were iffy, and it would be our last one. Now, the only way we can play financially is as a team of 4 now and it's still $77 a person. It's less than $40 a day to play, and AVP already said there's no sweep at the end of day 1. It's still a ridiculous amount of money for what seems to be to pay for the rental of Aladdin's Oasis. I'm sure there are reasons for that rental, I'm sure it will be fun and we're still talking about it. It's just not likely.

[Disneyphile]

Ouch. I now doubt Ken and I can afford even the Basic. Will have to check, but it's not promising.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I remember when it was $10 per person. Interesting how the economics of scale seem inverted here. I understand that use of the ballroom etc spiked pricing, but shouldn't it start to lower after some attendance threshold? Not an accusation, just curiosity.

Even if we had APs and got a babysitter we'd pass, I think.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

I remember when it was $10 per person. Interesting how the economics of scale seem inverted here.

First: At this point I am essentially a complete bystander. I have no involvement in any of the decisions made about the games.

But I'd point to a couple other things as well:

1. Game presentation is orders of magnitude (in my opinion, anyway) better than the early days and that isn't cheap (and some of the ways I cut corners on those costs aren't at all viable with the attendance seen now).

2. Back in the early days the game didn't pay for itself, it was heavily subsidized in various ways. If we had needed to cover the true cost of putting on the event we likely wouldn't have been able to put it on.

3. Capitalism. If space is limited and demand for that space exceeds availability then there's a basic graph seen early in every microeconomics textbook that comes into play to some degree. I can tell you that when I was running it, I kept the price suppressed more than hindsight says was correct, not so much because I was a good guy looking out for the little people as because I didn't think people would pay much more. I was thoroughly wrong. Though I was very eager to find that perfect balance point where price would reduce demand to exactly the space available if for no other reason than to not have to deal with people who thought it cosmically unfair that the event could sell out, especially if it happened in two days.

Again, I have no inside knowledge of the current financial situation around MouseAdventure, just a few more factors that may be involved.

[Stan4dSteph]

From my vantage point, not being directly involved in the financials, that seems like a fair assessment, Alex.

As a side note, there will also be a MouseAdventure at WDW again this year. October 9 is the tentative date, and it will be in Animal Kingdom. I will most likely be there; still not sure about the spring event. I had a blast at last year's WDW event.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Not if increased capacity and scope means Disney forces them into more and more expensive facilities. And not for a 2-day event which obviously requires more materials, more time from the staff, and more time in rented Disney facilities.