MouseAdventure is a popular and fun quest-based event produced by MousePlanet and held twice a year at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.

The signature community event for MousePlanet readers, MouseAdventure is part-scavenger hunt, part-road rally, part-trivia challenge—a team-based competition that guarantees you will never look at the Disneyland Resort in the same way again. You'll notice buildings you usually walk past (do you know the address of the Main Street Music Company?), colors you might not have noticed (how many purple cars are there on the Sun Wheel?), and little details you didn't even acknowledge (cannonballs on City Hall? You bet—we've seen 'em).

Held in the fall (usually October) and in the spring (usually March or April) in Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure, or even in both, MouseAdventure uses various event formats with their own rules and strategies, with puzzle-based "quests" serving as their core.

The quests

If you love word puzzles, you're in luck: many MouseAdventure quests incorporate an element of popular paper-and-pencil puzzles like word searches, cryptograms, and logic problems. But don't think that you'll be sitting on a park bench all day, because teams travel far and wide both to find clues and to solve the puzzles they lead to. You may need to ride attractions, watch shows and explore far-flung areas of the resort, all the while using your keen observational skills to complete the quest.

Sample formats

• Classic – solve a collection of quests, in any order and ranked in difficulty from "A" to "E," and earn points for each correct answer. The team with the highest score wins.

• Mad Scramble – requires you to correctly solve one quest before starting another. In this format, the team that correctly solves all the quests in the least amount of time wins.

• The Enchanted Race – sends you on a longer and far more challenging race to the finish line. Due to the difficulty of this event, registration is restricted to returning MouseAdventure teams only.

• PhotoAdventure – presents a novel twist—every puzzle or task leads you to take a specific photograph inside the park; EyeSpy Adventure incorporates mystery photographs into the classic MouseAdventure quests.

In addition to the core quests of each game, a variety of side games add another element to the competition. Teams might receive a sheet of EyeSpy photos and be directed to identify mystery pictures taken within the parks, or be asked to find and obtain a list of scavenger hunt items. A trivia portion is usually optional, but a strong grasp of Disney minutiae can help set your team apart.

Since MouseAdventure attracts both die-hard veterans as well as brand new competitors, we usually offer two levels of difficulty: One for those wanting to spend a fun day learning something new about the Disneyland Resort, and another for those who prefer a more intense game (usually returning teams or new teams glutton for punishment).

At the end of the event, winners are recognized in a post-game award ceremony held on Disney property, where you can relax, mingle, win raffle prizes and heap praise and adoration on the winning teams.

When we say MouseAdventure is fun, it doesn't adequately capture the experience. There's a reason we have thread after thread on our MousePad discussion boards both prior to and after the game—people bond over this thing like nobody's business. Now in its seventh year, MouseAdventure has grown each and every event, and there are a number of teams that have participated in all 13 editions! Come visit our MousePad discussion boards and see what all the chatter is about.

Read the rules. Every member of your team should have and review these rules well before the event so any questions can be addressed before game day.

Familiarize youself and your team with the event schedule, so you know where to be and when to be there. Points can be lost by missing important deadlines.

Wear comfortable shoes; your team will walk considerably during the event.

Eat breakfast so you have energy, and can manage with quick snacks during the event.

Although you need only show up with a writing instrument, consider bringing the following everything in a hands-free backpack (or a hydration pack):

• Water – a bottle in a holder or hydration pack such as a Camelbak. You can always buy a bottle of water and a bottle carrying strap in the park, but be aware that water is expensive to purchase in the park. Note: Dehydration can lead to a serious medical issue. We expect each player to drink ample amounts of water during the event.
• Comfortable shoes – make sure they are broken in; never wear brand new shoes.
• Sunblock – the higher the SPF the better.
• Writing instrument.
• Clipboard – one team should have at least one clipboard, although having one clipboard per team member might not hurt.
• Sunglasses.
• Hat or visor that provides shade over your eyes.
• Scratch paper.
• Small snacks – raisins, nuts, and energy bars to munch on during the event.
• Rain poncho or large garbage bag (poke arm holes) – if weather calls for drizzle.
• Adhesive bandages – if you're prone to blisters on your feet. Consider a proactive measure and put them on your sensitive spots beforehand.

MousePlanet is pleased to offer a new opportunity to experience the fun of MouseAdventure on your own.

After every MouseAdventure, we always have lots of people asking if they can buy a copy of the game so that they can play on their own. Some people want a chance to go back and do the things they missed. Others were unable to join us on the day of the event and want to see what they missed.

For a lot of reasons, we have always been somewhat reticent to do this. For one, the games are constructed to a specific time in the park, and the frequent changes within the park can render specific puzzles insolvable or nonsensical. Also, we like to think that there is something special about being part of the larger event.

However, following the last event we received the usual requests to buy a copy of the game. The same concerns apply, but we've decided to try it out and give people what they want. At least this one time we're offering the game packet used on March 13th (the Open division) for sale. It won't be 100% identical as we have removed those pieces of the game that absolutely required the larger event to make any sense. We also can't guarantee how long any particular puzzle will continue to work as we wrote it.

Each copy will come in a spiral bound format for easy use with an answer key in the back providing some explanation of the puzzles, the correct answers, and how you should have found those answers. The price is $25.00 per packet, which we recognize may seem steep but we don't want to encourage people to avoid the real event and just wait for a potential solo version after the fact. We've also limited purchases to 4 packets per purchase so that you can play with friends, but not to hold your own large event. If you have a large party that would like to do something like MouseAdventure, please get in touch with us and we'd be happy to see if something could be worked out.

If you'd like to purchase game packets, click the link below. Orders will be shipped once a week, so delivery may take up to 2 weeks; all orders will be shipped first class mail.

Order MouseAdventure Packets