2010 "Minnie" Review - Minnie's Moonlit Madness

This was the very first Minnie's Moonlit Madness for 3/4 of our team.  Our team "Drink Me, Eat Me" had previously participated in the MouseAdventure hunt back in May. 

Our team met at Mimi's off Harbor Blvd. before the race for dinner since we knew we'd be running around the rest of the night.  A short drive from there over to the Mickey and Friends parking structure and we were ready to go.

From there, we got on a pretty empty tram to head over to the park.  The park closed at 8pm so most people were leaving. 

Once we got to the main entrance plaza, Ruston went over to stand in line with the rest of the captains to pick up our race packet.

A quick flash of our wristband and we were inside the park a short time later.  We moseyed on over to Frontierland back to the festival arena to where we would start the festivities.  We looked over the merchandise table (pins, t-shirts, clipboards for people who forgot) and then snapped a group photo.

We staked out our spot on the pavement and waited until the event began.  The theme this time was Holidays.  Our group was wondering why they were playing Christmas music while we were waiting.  Shortly after 9pm our host, Mister Holiday, came out and greeted everyone.  His costume was inspired by all the major holidays of the year.  After some banter, he led everyone in the holiday song.  You know how it goes right?

 

Happy NewYearMartinLutherKingGroundhogValentinesSt.PatricksEasterCincoDeMayoMotherFathersIndependance

LaborYomKippurHalloweenThanksgivingHanukkahChristmasKwanzaa Day to you.

Happy NewYearMartinLutherKingGroundhogValentinesSt.PatricksEasterCincoDeMayoMotherFathersIndependance

LaborYomKippurHalloweenThanksgivingHanukkahChristmasKwanzaa Day to you.

Happy NewYearMartinLutherKingGroundhogValentinesSt.PatricksEasterCincoDeMayoMotherFathersIndependance

LaborYomKippurHalloweenThanksgivingHanukkahChristmasKwanzaa Day to everyone.

Happy NewYearMartinLutherKingGroundhogValentinesSt.PatricksEasterCincoDeMayoMotherFathersIndependance

LaborYomKippurHalloweenThanksgivingHanukkahChristmasKwanzaa Day to you.

 

Right, that's how it goes.  Unfortunately no good photos of Mister Holiday because I was stuck behind a pole.  Shortly after that Minnie Mouse came out to greet us.  Mister Holiday then introduced the people from Mercy House (the charity who all the entry fees for this scavenger hunt were donated to).  Mercy House was presented with a check for $5500 which they said would help them keep 5 families from being homeless.

 

After that it was time for trivia. My group huddled into a circle and got ready to answer some fast paced trivia questions.  Each question is multiple choice with 5 possible answers.  You answer by filling in the scantron sheet that they provide for you.  They project each question on the screen for maybe 15 each, so there isn't much time for discussion.  They don't go back over the questions either, so you had to be quick with your answers.

Trivia questions ranged from very simple to very difficult. There were 50 total questions.  Sample questions from the event:

• • What state was the first Disney park located?

  • How many balloons did Carl Frederickson tie to his house in Disney / Pixar's Up?

  • What year did Mickey first appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade?

  • Who was the youngest winner of ABC's Dancing with the Stars?

  • How long did people black out in the ABC show FlashForward?

  • Who played Ebenezer Scrooge in Mickey's Christmas Carol?

  • Who played Scrooge in A Muppet's Christmas Carol?

  • A113 is snuck somewhere in every Pixar movie. What does it stand for?

After we finished answering trivia we passed in our bubble sheets and were told we could then open our first clue!

There was an explosion of confetti and we were sent off! 

Okay!  So now what?  This was supposed to tell us where we were supposed to go to find our first answer.  But wait, let's take a closer look at all that confetti that came down.

Very clever Disney!  I love it!  The confetti was actually part of our first clue.  Once we deciphered it, we were off to Alice in Wonderland to get our first answer.  I should mention at this point we were also tied together.  Yes, that's another fun element Disney adds to this scavenger hunt to keep everyone from splitting up.  Your entire team is tethered by a 6 foot long rope, which you must stay connected to unless given special permission (on some challenges or for restroom breaks).  This also made navigation in the park interesting because you had to stay together, but also had to watch out for other teams so you don't cut across anyone else's rope.

We got our first answer and headed over to clue central which is right beside the hub.  The hunt includes 11 total questions (including that first one).  You can only do one question at a time and you must turn in your answer to get the next question.  You can't go back and repeat a question either so you have to make sure you've got it right the first time.

Here's the lanyard they punch holes in once you complete one of your questions.

We received our first clue, which told us to head over to the Nemo Submarines.  Once we got there, there was a sheet of bubble wrap cut out in the shape of a fish.  All the team members could only grab onto it with one hand.  Our goal was to pop all the bubbles without letting go of the sheet.  One of the VoluntEARS watched us the whole time to make sure we didn't let go.  After we finished, it was a quick walk back to the hub for our next clue. 

 

Weaving around all the other teams, we made it back to the hub.  Our next clue led us over to "it's a small world".  Luckily they printed out the text on the plaque because it was tough to see it in the dark.

Back to clue central, our next quest led us over to Star Tours.  Apparently there was some sort of Ewok celebration or something going on.  There were so many people in such great costumes here.  The goal for this challenge was to toss some mini Ewoks into the thermal exhaust port in front of you (poor little Ewoks).  Every team member had to do it three times before you could move on. 

After completing the challenge we gave a quick High Five to Yoda ("Fooled you I did, only three I have") and headed back to the hub

We got to the hub and then made our way to the main street train station.  Here our next quest dealt with how the Cast Choir for the Candlelight Processional walked in.  How apt!  Our teammate Ruston was in that cast choir!  And look, there's his name on the clue!

Our next clue took us over to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln where we had to do a math problem based on numbers we found around the attraction.

Then back to "it's a small world" where we had to find which drawing matched the front of the building the closest.

Our next clue took us to the Main Street flagpole where we learned about the different names other countries have for Santa Claus

Back into Fantasyland where we looked at the murals painted on the carrousel and used the names of the characters to solve a question.

With only 15 minutes to go, we got our 2nd to last question. 

 We were able to solve it with 5 minutes left in the competition.  Unfortunately once we got back it was very crowded around clue central.  We got our last clue and we figured out we needed to go into Tomorrowland by Space Mountain but we knew were couldn't make it there and back before time was up.  We unclipped and turned in our rope.  10/11 quests completed.  Not too shabby.  Finally finished, we walked untethered back over to Star Tours to get some photos.

And we're done.

 

So how'd we do?  Out of the 342 teams that signed up.

18th!  Not too bad.  We had a great time going all over the park when it was closed to everyone else!  I hope to be able to do it again!