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MouseAdventure-ing at Disneyland!

5/30/2013

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PictureMy lanyard collection
If there's one thing you can guarantee a Disney geek will be proud of, it's his or her profound knowledge of all things Disney. And one of the best ways to put that trivia knowledge to an extreme test is to compete in one of the craziest, funnest, uniquely Disney geekiest events out there: MouseAdventure!

MouseAdventure is produced by the Disney fan and news site MousePlanet, and on their website, MouseAdventure is described as...

"...part-scavenger hunt, part-road rally, part-trivia challenge - a team-based competition that guarantees you will never look at the Disney theme parks in the same way again."
I discovered MousePlanet about eight years ago, in the time leading up to Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Celebration. I was searching the Internet for all kinds of info about the park's events, its history and goings on that year. They have a discussion board, MousePad, and for a few months I lurked through the Disneyland threads discovering a lively community of fans like me, before ultimately registering and joining in the discussion. (I go by user name Gone2Disneyland.)
PictureMy first MouseAdventure team
Eventually, I learned about their little scavenger hunt game and finally got the courage to form a team with some fellow Disney friends and register to play. My first MouseAdventure was played in the Spring of 2007. Our team, It's All About ME! And Frank, placed 6th in the Basic Division out of 83 teams. So close to the Top Three and having so much fun embracing the challenge of the quests we had to tackle, it was a no-brainer we'd return to play again.

Alas, after many twice-a-year MouseAdventures and a variety of team members shuffling up the line up, placing in the top three remained elusive. But after a time, it just became more about being challenged and having some fun going through it than needing to win. I was fine with that.

Then of course, that's when things turned around.

PictureAfter our big "Card Games" win
After five years of MouseAdventure with different iterations of the team I started, I dropped out of my own team to play for another. I needed a change.

The new team I joined called themselves the Naboombu All-Stars, and they were made up of other local theatre friends. And in an ironic twist, I had no clue what relevance their team name had to Disney history. I've since amended that lack of knowledge.

They learned about MouseAdventure from me too, and they had played the last few games, getting the hang of the game and after placing 4th in the previous MouseAdventure, were getting hungry to break into the top three. And truth be told when they had a spot to fill on their team, they figured having me on their team wouldn't hurt. As it turned out, our first time playing together was the first time any of us had placed in MouseAdventure at all. Not only that, we won First Place in Basic division! For all my yapping that I wasn't playing to win anymore, it was a pretty welcome surprise that reach that feat!

We played again in the next two MouseAdventures. With expectations distractingly high after our first win, playing MouseAdventure Road Games at DCA was challenging, especially under the 100° heat on game day. We placed 7th overall, but in a game that included Advanced teams with the Basic ones. So we played against teams that had been above our level. Returning this past Sunday for our second MouseAdventure together in MouseAdventure Musical, with the divisions separated as usual, we pulled out our second First Place/Basic win!

PictureAfter winning First Place in "Musical"
MouseAdventure teams who earn three First Place wins are retired from the games, earning the title of Masters. Masters teams can still play, but only non-competitively and many Masters team members also decide to help with Beta testing new quests and work as volunteers during game day. We've discussed it, and we think the next time the Naboombus play, we'll register for the Advanced division. With only one more chance to place first before being retired, we figured it was finally a good time to play with the big boys!

PicturePost Game crowd for "Musical"
Here's a link to the recap of MouseAdventure Musical, the one we just played, to get an idea of the kinds of activities, puzzles and quests you'd face if you participated. There are also links in the paragraphs above to past MouseAdventure recaps to look through as well.

Included with every MouseAdventure game I've played are trivia questions. Each question is worth 2 points, and I've included the ones we had to answer this last game at the end of this blog. Feel free test yourself to see how you'd do with actual trivia questions from a MouseAdventure. Answers are at the very end.

Here's the official page for MouseAdventure, and here's the MouseAdventure discussion board. Take a look through them for more info. Then, if you're interested in forming a team and playing yourself, be sure to sign up to their newsletter at MousePlanet.com to learn when registration begins. The next games are in the Fall.


MOUSEADVENTURE MUSICAL TRIVIA QUESTIONS

1. Music in the queue of Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is from this decade:
A 1920s
B 1930s
C 1940s
D 1950s 
E 1990s

2. What song do guests hear while waiting to disembark from Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage?
A Under the Sea
B Sea Cruise
C Beyond the Sea
D Sea of Love
E Too Many Fish in the Sea

3. Which of these musicals did not run at Disneyland's Videopolis/Fantasyland Theater? 
A Dick Tracy starring in Diamond Double Cross 
B Mickey's Nutcracker 
C The Spirit of Pocahontas 
D Snow White: An Enchanting Musical 
E Twice Charmed: A Cinderella Story

4. This band provided the song for the Rockin Space Mountain makeover at Disneyland:
A Aerosmith 
B Van Halen 
C Red Hot Chili Peppers
D One Direction 
E Bon Jovi

5. This Disney actor voiced Sam, the host of America Sings:
A Fred MacMurray 
B Burl Ives
C Kurt Russell
D Ed Wynn 
E Sterling Holloway

6 The Main Street Window in honor of The Musical Quill is for this person: 
A X Atencio
B Marv Davis 
C Marc Davis
D Ken Anderson 
E Claude Coats

7 The Silly Symphony Swings, based on The Band Concert, operates to this well-known song: 
A 1812 Overture 
B The William Tell Overture
C Yankee Doodle 
D The Stars and Stripes Forever
E Turkey in the Straw

8 On the show Disneyland Showtime, this famous musical family gets to ride the Haunted Mansion with EJ Peaker and Kurt Russell:
A The Jacksons
B The Carpenters
C The Osmonds
D The Carters
E The Cowsills

9 If you go to the Enchanted Tiki Room in Adventureland, don't try to find this song; it was cut several years ago:
A Rockin Robin
B Offenbach's Barcarolle
C Birdland
D Tiny Bubbles
E Pachelbel's Canon in D

10 Whats the name of the show on the Disney Wonder cruise ship that gives awards to Disney films and characters?
A Golden Mickeys
B Golden Walts 
C Golden Disneys
D Golden Minnies 
E Golden Dreams

11 Swisskapolka could be heard in an attraction in this land:
A Fantasyland 
B New Orleans Square
C Critter Country 
D Adventureland
E Tomorrowland

12 Who conducts the Just Add Water concert on the Paradise Pier lagoon?
A Mickey
B Donald 
C Goofy
D Stitch 
E Dopey

13 This TV special aired when Disneyland opened Mickey's Toontown:
A Toontown Rocks
B Party in Toontown
C Toontown Tonight
D Rock N Toontown
E Rock n Roll at Mickey's House

14 Fill in the blanks to this Sherman Brothers song from Adventures Thru Innerspace: A world of __________ , of endless __________, with treasures more than man can ever spend!
A mystery, energy
B energy, mystery
C molecules, possibilities
D possibilities, energy
E mystery, possibilities

15 Are we on our way to Nottingham, to Brittingham, to Buckingham or any hammy hamlet by the sea? No! We're on our way to hang out with this character:
A Peter Pan
B Alice in Wonderland
C Roger Rabbit
D Pinocchio
E Mr. Toad

16 In Muppet Vision 3-D, Sam's Salute to All Nations, but Mostly America includes this classic Disney tune:
A Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
B it's a small world
C When You Wish Upon a Star
D A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes
E The Mickey Mouse Club March

17 Disney's All-Star Music Resort at Walt Disney World is considered to be this type of resort:
A Deluxe
B Moderate
C Home Away From Home
D Value
E Military

18 Which name is not part of Thomas O'Malley's full name based on the song he sings?
A Giussepe
B Abraham
C Casey
D Delacy
E Augustus

19 The Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy horns can play all of these songs, except:
A Be Our Guest 
B
A Whole New World
C When You Wish Upon A Star
D A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes
E Yo Ho (A Pirates Life For Me)

20 Why Don't You Do Right? is sung by this character who appears in Roger Rabbits Cartoon Spin:
A Roger Rabbit
B Benny the Cab
C The Weasels
D Jessica Rabbit
E Bongo the Gorilla Bouncer

21 True or False: You can hear the theme song to Blazing Saddles as you walk through Frontierland.
A True
B False


22 In the song “Grim, Grinning Ghosts,” what kind of wake is it?
A Scary
B Spooky
C Splendid
D Swinging
E Somber

23 “ The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” which was also sung by the characters Henry and Sammy in the Country Bear Jamboree, came out first in this year:
A 1953
B 1954
C 1955
D 1956
E 1957

24 This song from Newsies can be heard in the Red Car News Boys show at Disney California Adventure:
A “Carrying the Banner”
B “Santa Fe”
C “The World Will Know”
D “High Times, Hard Times”
E “Seize the Day”

25 “Fortuosity” is not only a store on Main Street, but also a song from this Disney movie:
A Pete’s Dragon
B The Happiest Millionaire
C Summer Magic
D The Parent Trap
E The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes

26 The new full-service restaurant in Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland is named for this song in Beauty and the Beast:
A “Something There”
B “Be Our Guest”
C “Beauty and the Beast”
D “Human Again”
E “Belle”

27 This Sherman Brothers song, from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, makes inanimate objects move:
A “Higitus Figitus”
B “Bye-Yum-Pum-Pum”
C “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo” 
D “Substitutiary Locomotion”
E “Ooo-de-Lally”

28 What is the name of the a capella group that performed in the lobby of Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln?
A Voices of Liberty
B Songs of Freedom
C Voices of Freedom
D Songs of Liberty
E Red, White and Blue Baladeers

29 “A Lady Has to Mind Her Ps and Qs” could be heard in this Disneyland attraction:
A The Disneyland Railroa
B Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
C Splash Mountain
D Mine Train Thru Nature’s Wonderland
E The Golden Horseshoe

30 What is the name of the “gift” that Captain EO and his team have to give the Supreme Leader?
A “We Are Here to Change the World”
B “Billie Jean”
C “Rock With You”
D “Just Another Part of Me”
E “When You Believe”

31 Casey Jr. has its own attraction in Fantasyland, and its own song in this Disney film. Do you remember which?
A “Make Mine Music”
B “Melody Time”
C “Dumbo”
D “Fantasia”
E “Saludos Amigos”

32 This Disney attraction got its own version of “Macarena” in the 1990s:
A The Jungle Cruise
B Star Tours
C “it’s a small world”
D The Enchanted Tiki Room
E The Matterhorn Bobsleds

33 Peter Pan’s “The Second Star to the Right” was originally written for another Fantasyland attraction based on this film:
A Dumbo
B Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
C Pinocchio
D Sleeping Beauty
E Alice in Wonderland

34 What’s the name of the band in The Country Bear Jamboree?
A Bear Cave Five Plus Two
B Bearly There
C The Five Bear Rugs
D The Sun Bonnet Trio
E Henry and the Hibernators

35 According to the Sherman Brothers (and Disney lore), this was Walt’s favorite song:
A “It’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow”
B “Feed the Birds”
C “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius”
D “Fly A Kite”
E “it’s a small world”

36 If you are in Toontown, you can sing this line appropriate to Gadget’s Go-Coaster:
A “ Gummi Bears! Bouncing here and there and everywhere.”
B “ Life is like a hurricane here in Duckburg!”
C “ Ch-ch-ch-Chip ‘N Dale’s Rescue Rangers”
D “ Friends for life, through thick and thin … With another tale to spin”
E “ Darkwing Duck (Better watch out, you bad boys)”

37 According to the song “Date Night at Disneyland,” what time does “the sky light up each night”?
A 7 p.m.
B 8 p.m.
C Half past 8 p.m.
D Quarter to 9 p.m.
E 9 p.m.

38 This venue in Downtown Disney is known for its Sunday Gospel Brunch:
A The Earl of Sandwich
B Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen
C The House of Blues
D Napolini
E Catal

39 In Disneyland’s Fantasmic! what song is not part of the show?
A “Pink Elephants on Parade”
B “Part of Your World”
C “A Night on Bald Mountain”
D “I’ve Got No Strings”
E “Colors of the Wind”

40 The song There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow started gracing Tomorrowland in this year:
A 1964
B 1965
C 1966
D 1967
E 1968

41 The Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grof is made up of five movements but this is the one you hear on the Disneyland Railroad:
A Sunrise
B Painted Desert
C On The Trail
D Sunset
E Cloudburst

42 These days, at the end of Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln, you can hear this song first heard in the American Adventure at Epcot:
A Golden Wishes
B Golden Dream
C American Dream
D American Adventure
E America of Gold

43 This lyricist wrote both Grim, Grinning Ghosts and Yo Ho (A Pirates Life for Me):
A Alan Menkin
B Robert Sherman
C Tim Rice
D X Atencio
E George Bruns

44 When it's a small world gets a holiday makeover, you can hear this song in the attraction:
A Joy to the World
B Sleigh Ride
C Winter Wonderland
D Let It Snow
E Deck the Halls

45 Every night in Cars Land, when the lights come on, so does this song:
A Life is a Highway
B Shake, Rattle and Roll
C Our Town
D Sh-Boom
E Route 66

46 This patriotic song became the basis for a Circle-Vision 360 film that ran on and off for several years in Tomorrowland:
A America the Beautiful
B This Land Is Your Land
C God Bless America
D A Grand Old Flag
E God Bless the USA

47 Every few minutes, you hear this song playing at the Snow White Grotto:
A One Song
B Heigh Ho
C I'm Wishing
D Someday My Prince Will Come
E The Yodel Song

48 Which of these is not a float in the Soundsational Parade?
A Simba's Beastly Beats
B Pinocchio's Stringed Symphony
C Tiana's New Orleans Jazz Jubilee
D Royal Princess Romantic Melodies
E Mary Poppins Spoonful of Rhythm

49 If you are listening and watching Remember Dreams Come True Fireworks, what attraction music is the last one you hear?
A Space Mountain
B Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
C Star Tours
D The Disneyland Railroad
E The Peoplemover

50 If you were trying to remember where you parked on your Disneyland visit, which of these songs would not help you find your car?
A Hakuna Matata
B I've Got No Strings
C Youve Got a Friend in Me
D Disco Mickey Mouse
E The Second Star to the Right

MOUSEADVENTURE MUSICAL TRIVIA QUESTION ANSWERS

1. Music in the queue of Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is from this decade:
B 1930s**

2. What song do guests hear while waiting to disembark from Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage?
C Beyond the Sea**

3. Which of these musicals did not run at Disneyland's Videopolis/Fantasyland Theater? 
E Twice Charmed: A Cinderella Story**

4. This band provided the song for the Rockin Space Mountain makeover at Disneyland:
C Red Hot Chili Peppers**

5. This Disney actor voiced Sam, the host of America Sings:
B Burl Ives** 

6 The Main Street Window in honor of The Musical Quill is for this person: 
A X Atencio** 

7 The Silly Symphony Swings, based on The Band Concert, operates to this well-known song: 
B The William Tell Overture **

8 On the show Disneyland Showtime, this famous musical family gets to ride the Haunted Mansion with EJ Peaker and Kurt Russell:
C The Osmonds**

9 If you go to the Enchanted Tiki Room in Adventureland, don't try to find this song; it was cut several years ago:
B Offenbach's Barcarolle**

10 Whats the name of the show on the Disney Wonder cruise ship that gives awards to Disney films and characters?
A Golden Mickeys**

11 Swisskapolka could be heard in an attraction in this land:
D Adventureland**

12 Who conducts the Just Add Water concert on the Paradise Pier lagoon?
C Goofy** 

13 This TV special aired when Disneyland opened Mickey's Toontown:
D Rock N Toontown** 

14 Fill in the blanks to this Sherman Brothers song from Adventures Thru Innerspace: A world of __________ , of endless __________, with treasures more than man can ever spend!
A mystery, energy**

15 Are we on our way to Nottingham, to Brittingham, to Buckingham or any hammy hamlet by the sea? No! We're on our way to hang out with this character:
E Mr. Toad**

16 In Muppet Vision 3-D, Sam's Salute to All Nations, but Mostly America includes this classic Disney tune:
B it's a small world **

17 Disney's All-Star Music Resort at Walt Disney World is considered to be this type of resort:
D Value**

18 Which name is not part of Thomas O'Malley's full name based on the song he sings?
E Augustus**

19 The Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy horns can play all of these songs, except:
A Whole New World **

20 Why Don't You Do Right? is sung by this character who appears in Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin:
D Jessica Rabbit**

21 True or False: You can hear the theme song to Blazing Saddles as you walk through Frontierland.
A True**

22 In the song “Grim, Grinning Ghosts,” what kind of wake is it?
D Swinging**

23 “ The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” which was also sung by the characters Henry and Sammy in the Country Bear Jamboree, came out first in this year:
B 1954**

24 This song from Newsies can be heard in the Red Car News Boys show at Disney California Adventure:
E “Seize the Day” **

25 “Fortuosity” is not only a store on Main Street, but also a song from this Disney movie:
B The Happiest Millionaire**

26 The new full-service restaurant in Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland is named for this song in Beauty and the Beast:
B “Be Our Guest” **

27 This Sherman Brothers song, from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, makes inanimate objects move:
D “Substitutiary Locomotion” **

28 What is the name of the a capella group that performed in the lobby of Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln?
A Voices of Liberty**

29 “A Lady Has to Mind Her Ps and Qs” could be heard in this Disneyland attraction:
E The Golden Horseshoe**

30 What is the name of the “gift” that Captain EO and his team have to give the Supreme Leader?
A “We Are Here to Change the World” **

31 Casey Jr. has its own attraction in Fantasyland, and its own song in this Disney film. Do you remember which?
C “Dumbo” **

32 This Disney attraction got its own version of “Macarena” in the 1990s:
D The Enchanted Tiki Room**

33 Peter Pan’s “The Second Star to the Right” was originally written for another Fantasyland attraction based on this film:
E Alice in Wonderland**

34 What’s the name of the band in The Country Bear Jamboree?
C The Five Bear Rugs**

35 According to the Sherman Brothers (and Disney lore), this was Walt’s favorite song:
B “Feed the Birds” **

36 If you are in Toontown, you can sing this line appropriate to Gadget’s Go-Coaster:
C “ Ch-ch-ch-Chip ‘N Dale’s Rescue Rangers” **

37 According to the song “Date Night at Disneyland,” what time does “the sky light up each night”?
E 9 p.m. **

38 This venue in Downtown Disney is known for its Sunday Gospel Brunch:
C The House of Blues**

39 In Disneyland’s Fantasmic! what song is not part of the show?
E “Colors of the Wind” **

40 The song There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow started gracing Tomorrowland in this year:
D 1967**

41 The Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grof is made up of five movements but this is the one you hear on the Disneyland Railroad:
C On The Trail **

42 These days, at the end of Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln, you can hear this song first heard in the American Adventure at Epcot:
B Golden Dream **

43 This lyricist wrote both Grim, Grinning Ghosts and Yo Ho (A Pirates Life for Me):
D X Atencio**

44 When it's a small world gets a holiday makeover, you can hear this song in the attraction:
E Deck the Halls **

45 Every night in Cars Land, when the lights come on, so does this song:
D Sh-Boom **

46 This patriotic song became the basis for a Circle-Vision 360 film that ran on and off for several years in Tomorrowland:
A America the Beautiful **

47 Every few minutes, you hear this song playing at the Snow White Grotto:
C I'm Wishing **

48 Which of these is not a float in the Soundsational Parade?
B Pinocchio's Stringed Symphony**

49 If you are listening and watching Remember Dreams Come True Fireworks, what attraction music is the last one you hear?
C Star Tours**

50 If you were trying to remember where you parked on your Disneyland visit, which of these songs would not help you find your car?
E The Second Star to the Right **
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Another (almost) 24 hours at Disneyland °o°

5/27/2013

2 Comments

 
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It was just over a year ago that I attended the event where Disneyland was open for 24 hours. That was on Leap Day 2012, and Disney named the event "One More Disney Day." Because of work, I wasn't able to go until that evening, but make it into the park I did - eventually - and it was a cool, novel experience.

But what a mess getting there! Disney did not anticipate the evening traffic gridlock on the I-5 and the neighborhood streets around the park of folks deciding to go after work and on into the midnight hour, gridlock I found myself in. What usually was a forty minute drive tops trip from home to the park took me three hours that evening! So while I did make it into the park and enjoyed being there to see the sunrise over Disneyland, I wasn't entirely convinced Disney would try the same "stunt" again.

But, a year later, Disney decided to go for it. This time, at the start of this past Memorial Day weekend to kick off the summer and also promote their next theatrical Pixar release. And I was there. Again. But this time, for longer than just the "graveyard shift."

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This time, instead of just one park on the west coast, Disney announced they'd have both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure open for the 24-hour event. And while rumors about a second overnighter hit Disney chatboards in March, Disney didn't officially announce it until April, and just one month before the May 24-25 date. As someone who experienced One More Disney Day, I was surprised they were giving this one more Disney shot, and on Memorial Day weekend to boot. But by announcing it so late, they assumed that by the time of their announcement, many potential attendees (i.e., local annual passholders) couldn't make it now because they'd already put deposits down to travel elsewhere that weekend.

When I talked to friends who work at the park about the event, they told me the word was that cast members were planning to arrive two or more hours before their shift, to avoid getting stuck in any potential gridlock that happened to cast members last year, and just hang out or watch a movie until they had to clock in. Also, Disney planned to use Angels Anaheim stadium for cast member parking, bussing them in, to free up more local parking for guests.

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Now last year, I went solo. But this time, some friends wanted to go too, my Naboombu All-Stars teammates from MouseAdventure, a scavenger hunt-like game put on by MousePlanet that we've competed in a number of times and won twice! MousePlanet announced they were going to run a non-competititve version of MouseAdventure titled UP All Night, handing quests out during the all-nighter. No prizes but we want to play too. So we all planned to hook up there when we could. Again like last year, I was too busy to go until mid-afternoon.

I picked up a friend and we took advantage of the carpool lane, not that traffic was crazy at two in the afternoon. We got there fine and made it into DCA first. And no long lines to get in - whew! Unfortunately, the next new quest wouldn't be handed out until 6pm, so we spent the next few hours meandering the park until one more friend arrived and we could play our first quest together.

Unlike the normal conditions of playing MouseAdventure, which is that all teams randomly start any of several quests received at the start of game play, this time all the teams present (there were about four or five there at six pm) were handed the same quest and started it at the same time. So completing the quest was more like a mad dash rally race than anything else. And we felt the pressure!

How did we do? We solved the first half of the quest just fine. It involved using the DCA park guide map to locate the correct words to cross out from a provided word search, leaving the unused letters to spell out a sentence explaining what we need to find and tweet a photo of to complete the quest. Unfortunately we tweeted the wrong "Storytellers" reference. Instead of the Storytellers Cafe, the correct answer was the new Storytellers statue of young Walt and Mickey on Buena Vista Street. Dang it! On the plus side, we took pride in knowing we were just seconds behind the winning team in tweeting our photo. We were just at wrong location.
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Humbled, we looked forward to playing the next quest which would be handed out around 9pm at Disneyland. We tried out the Oozma Kappa Nacho Dogs for dinner before crossing the promenade to enter Disneyland for the first time today.

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The lines to enter weren't crazy during the evening hours, and while Main Street USA was pretty full of guests walking into and out of it, the rest of the park wasn't too crowded. This all-nighter was shaping up to be a pretty successful event on Disney's part.

When we picked up our first quest, we also picked up three quests that were distributed earlier in the day. We worked on the Disneyland ones to bide our time until it was time to get that next quest.

My friends and I are annual passholders, and when we visit the parks together, more often than not most of our time is spent hanging out, usually at a restaurant, rather than riding every ride with a short(-ish) line. And the same went for today. After finishing the quests, we headed for the Village Haus to chill out and also to use the outlets there to charge our iPhones.

When 9pm rolled around, we headed for Main Street Station where teams were handed our next quest. But the quests themselves needed players to search for images and phrases in Tomorrowland. At 9pm, not only was Main Street USA becoming crushed with guests holding spaces to watch the evening's fireworks show, but congested even further with guests arriving at Disneyland for their first time as well as those wanting to leave. Rushing to Tomorrowland was impossible! Oh, the anxiety!

Once inside Tomorrowland, we traveled to restrooms, restaurants and food carts to find the essential words that answer several questions, and those answers would somehow dictate which parts of a lightsaber we would need to assemble inside the Star Trader. Once assembled, we'd need to tweet a photo of it with the Jedi Knight associated with this particular design.

We proved to be less than well-trained Jedi Knights this evening. Ugh!!

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The next quest would be handed out at midnight. But after meeting up with a cast member friend who'd just gotten off work, we decided to take the Monorail out and head to Trader Sam's for dinner and drinks. Over a period of three hours, I'd actually dropped by here twice! The first time was with this time. The next time was when our final Naboombu All-Stars teammate arrived. While my other friends took a little break, I returned to Trader Sam's for a little pick-me-up, this Irish Coffee.

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After midnight, we headed back to Disneyland. Now,  remembering that this was about the same time I arrived last year for One More Disney Day, I was a tad nervous that I'd find the park gates closed with hundreds and hundreds of guests in lines all over the promenade like last year. However, I was only "a tad" nervous. Throughout the day, both parks weren't crazy crowded, and as it turned out, entering the park at one am was no problem for us at all.

Now obviously, we'd missed the hand out of the midnight quest. The next quest would be handed out at 2:45 am outside Café Orleans. So we just meandered around the park until then. I wanted to check out what was going on at Mickey's Toontown, so we headed there. It was cool what we found there. Disney characters were dressed up in their pajamas for photo ops, Disney animated shorts were projected in the dining area in the food court for families to enjoy, and karaoke was available outside Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin where we saw mainly young adults enjoying.

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When it was time to head for New Orleans Square to pick up the next quest, we found Sleeping Beauty Castle flooded with lights and a portion of the front area roped off. Later that morning we saw Rachel Smith being filmed there. It was for a live feed for the east coast of Good Morning America Weekend Edition.

The next quest took some patience and extreme attention to detail. We were given the lyrics to a song. I don't have the quest with me, but I think it was to "Stay Awake." We were also given a series of numbers. What we had to do is start with the first number and count the number of letters in the supplied lyrics to reach a letter. The letter we reached was the first letter of the quest's question. Continue with each letter, using the remaining thirty-odd numbers to determine the question. Some numbers were one or two digits, but a couple were three! And counting a 143 letters to reach the next letter was a bit stressful at three in the morning. But we managed to solve it and get the question, about naming the special of the day at the Jolly Holiday Bakery. Trouble is we solved it about 30 seconds too late as someone else tweeted the correct answer before us. Stymied once again! With just one quest left to compete for before the park closed at 6 am, we decided it was time for breakfast.
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As soon as I'd learned about the Bananas Foster French Toast being offered during the all-nighter, it was a goal of mine to try it, so that's where we headed. Compared to last year where it was a crowded and pretty much booked for the entire morning, Café Orleans was a walk in experience as we got seated in the patio area right away. Even getting served our French toast didn't take long at all.

Dining at four in the morning in New Orleans Square, with sea shanties performed by the Bootstrappers nearby and a peaceful calm resting over the area, was like a vacation moment. So peaceful and relaxing.

PictureBillys all night!
After breakfast, it was time to head for the Mad Tea Party to pick up the last quest of the UP All Night. By now, the nature of rushing through each quest as we got them was entirely different from the way the normal MouseAdventure games are played. But we couldn't not try! So we picked up the final quest.

It involved drawing a line between a list of phrases on one side of the sheet to their correct match on a list across the page. Between them were an assortment of words that the lines would intersect. Matching the columns of words correctly would intersect the correct words to form a clue telling us what to find and tweet in as our answer.

The list on one side was filled with phrases taken from the upper floor windows on Main Street USA. The list on the other side were location names and addresses on Main Street USA. As we started connecting lines, we started to figure out the first half of the clue. Then, we managed to figure out the rest of it without needing to solve the last two matches. We needed to find a window with a specific phrase, and I knew EXACTLY where that window was! We walked speedily over to the storefront above the China Closet, found the right window and texted it...texted it before we received any text saying there was a winner yet.

We waited.

And in seconds, we got The Tweet.

You got it! We saved the toughest for last - great job!
 
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Now that's the way to end the All-Nighter, right!

When our minds popped out of competitive mode, we noticed cast members were lining the street and hi-fiving guests on their way out of the park. That's when we realized it was five-thirty in the morning. Thirty more minutes before the park closed and this Monstrous Summer All-Nighter officially ended.

As six am neared, Mickey and his friends surprised all of us by appearing on Main Street Station, and the sight of them pumped us up again! Dressed in their PJs, they waved at us as the speakers started to play the Mickey Mouse Alma Mater. We all sang along. "Now it's time to say goodbye to all our company..."

Arriving just before three pm, I was here for fifteen of the twenty-four hours. And it was fun! The quests, while frustrating at the beginning, were something cool to look forward to, trying the exclusive food options were a treat, and being here with friends made it a lot easier to stay up all night. Can't wait to do again! And maybe next time, I'll go for twenty-four.

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