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MouseFest 2008
MouseFest is back again, and this year MousePlanet is hosting or co-hosting five events in addition to our participation in the Mega Mouse Meet!
About MouseFest
The Land-and-Sea events for MouseFest 2008 (link) will be taking place from Sunday, December 7 through Monday, December 15, 2007. The Sea portion will be aboard the Disney Wonder from December 7 through December 11, while the Land portion of MouseFest will run from December 11 through December 15. The Mega Mouse Meet is planned for Saturday, December 13.
We'll be using this page to keep you updated on MousePlanet's plans for MouseFest, as well as informing you about the event as a whole.
Just announced!
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MouseFest 2008 preview
MouseFest registration | MouseFest hotel deal | MouseFest 101 | "Epcot's Never Lands" | Mega Mouse Meet | Shocolate Mousssse Meet | Mini-MouseAdventure | Hustle-tini Meet | Other stuff
MousePlanet is sponsoring or co-sponsoring five events at this year's MouseFest. For the second year, MouseFest 101 will kick off the land portion of MouseFest at noon on Thursday, December 11, in Nutcracker Ballrooms 2 & 3 at Disney's Contemporary Resort. David Koenig will be hosting a walking tour of Epcot entitled "Epcot's Never Lands" at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, following the Mega Mouse Meet. The fourth annual MousePad MousssseFest will take place at Boulangerie Patisserie in Epcot's France pavilion at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, immediately after David's walking tour. The fourth annual mini-MouseAdventure, a shortened version of MousePlanet's signature event, will run from approximately 10 a.m. until noon on Sunday, December 14, and will launch from the gazebo just past Aloha Isle in Magic Kingdom's Adventureland. Our final scheduled MousePlanet event will be the MouseStation Hustle-tini Meet at 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, December 14, at the Pop Century Resort.
MouseFest registration
Due to the success and ever-increasing size of MouseFest, the cost of holding the event is rising rapidly. While all participating communities are contributing and some (like MousePlanet) are providing underwriting sponsorships, it's still not enough to cover all of the costs of the event.
That's why the MouseFest Organizing Committee is again asking all attendees to register for MouseFest. Registration is not required, but registered attendees will receive additional benefits not available to unpaid attendees. Many questions about registration are answered in the registration FAQ on the MouseFest site. Other questions or discussion can be directed to the MouseFest Registration thread on our MousePad discussion forums.
NOTE: Registration opened on Monday, September 15, and closes on Saturday, November 15.
MouseFest hotel deal
MouseFest arranged for a special discounted rate of $243 per night plus tax at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resorts for MouseFest (which also includes free MouseFest registration for all reservations of two nights or more)! Stay near the heart of MouseFest action within walking distance of Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, Disney's BoardWalk entertainment district, Disney's Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf courses, and Saturday's MouseFest's Mega Mouse Meet at the Yacht & Beach Club's Convention Center. Payment in full for these rooms was due by October 31. To learn more about this offer, visit the MouseFest.org web site.
MouseFest 101
Our first event at MouseFest will be the second appearance of MouseFest 101. Join MousePlanet's Mark Goldhaber and AllEarsNet's Mike Scopa as they give you advice on how to approach MouseFest, its various meets, meeting all of the "celebrities" and just plain managing your time. If you're new to MouseFest, this meet is for you! MouseFest 101 will take place at Disney's Contemporary Resort's Nutcracker Ballrooms 2 & 3 from noon to 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 11. To get to the Nutcracker Ballrooms from the main resort tower building, take the escalators down from the second floor, then immediately turn left.
If you'd like to let us know that you plan on attending MouseFest 101 so that we can make sure that we have enough materials for all attendees, you can check in for this event by either emailing Mark Goldhaber or posting on the MouseFest 101 thread on our MousePad discussion forums.
Mega Mouse Meet
The Mega Mouse Meet is the main event of MouseFest. Come and meet all of your favorite Disney Internet authors and forum leaders, including MousePlanet's Mark Goldhaber, David Koenig, Mike Demopoulos, Jeff Kober and Chris Barry. You can also meet the folks from All Ears Net, Passporter, Disney World Trivia, and many more. This year, the event will be held at Disney's Yacht Club Resort from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 13. (If you're registered for MouseFest, you can join us starting at 10:00 a.m., when we'll also have special refreshments for you!) This year, we're in slightly smaller quarters than last year, with nearly 18,000 square feet in Grand Harbor Ballroom North. The doors will open an hour early for registered MouseFest attendees. To get to the Grand Harbor Ballroom North from the Yacht & Beach Club guest rooms, keep walking straight when you enter the convention center and the entrance will be on your right. When entering from the convention center's porte cochere, turn left and the entrance will be on your right.
The Mega Mouse Meet will also feature door prizes and other giveaways. In fact, MousePlanet will again be presenting a huge door prize. We can't announce it yet as we're still finalizing the details, but you can pretty much bet that it will include a resort stay, courtesy of one of MousePlanet's lodging partners, and an Owner's Locker, courtesy of MousePlanet sponsor Owner's Locker. (If you've been listening to our MouseStation podcast, you already know about these folks!)
If you'd like to let us know that you plan on attending the Mega Mouse Meet, you can check in for this event by either emailing Mark Goldhaber or posting on the Mega Mouse Meet thread on our MousePad discussion forums.
We'll also be looking for some volunteers to act as greeters at the Mega Mouse Meet. If you're interested in helping out, please email Mark Goldhaber.
"Epcot's Never Lands" with David Koenig
Join MousePlanet's David Koenig, author of the best-selling "Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World," on a one-hour walking tour around the World Showcase that NEARLY was. We will meet at 3 p.m. on December 13 at a location to be announced.. David will regale with tales and point out what was almost built where, including pavilions on Equatorial Africa, Scandinavia, Costa Rica, Russia, and Israel. Come ready to hike, as we will be walking the entire perimeter of the lagoon. David is the author of the Mouse Tales column at MousePlanet.
It's requested that you pre-register for this event so that David can be prepared appropriately for the number of attendees. You can RSVP for this event by emailing David (link). You can also check in on our "Epcot's Never Lands" thread on our MousePad discussion forums, but to be registered with David for the tour you need to email David directly.
MousssseFest 2008
The fourth annual MousePad MousssseFest at Boulangerie Patisserie in Epcot's France pavilion, perhaps better known as "MousssseFest 2008", will take place at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, following David Koenig's walking tour.
The group toasts to the Parker brothers during MousssseFest 2005. Photo courtesy
of Mark Goldhaber.
For more on the origin of the Shocolate Mousssse phenomenon among MousePlanet readers, please see this thread on our MousePad discussion forums.
Registration for this event is not necessary, but we'd appreciate it if you'd let us know if you plan on attending, so that we can alert the staff at Boulangerie Patisserie that they may need extra mousssses on hand, if necessary. You can RSVP for this event by either emailing Mark Goldhaber or posting on the MousssseFest thread on our MousePad discussion forums.
Mini-MouseAdventure
For the competitive-minded, our premier event is a smaller, non-competition version of our flagship event, MouseAdventure (link), which is held twice each year at the Disneyland Resort. This fourth annual Florida version of the game again returns to the Magic Kingdom.
This version of the event will not have an entry fee, but pre-registration is requested so that we can make sure that there are enough game packets for each team. The event will run from approximately 10 a.m. until noon on Sunday, December 14. Please bring something to write with; we will not be supplying pens or pencils.
A group works their way through the Mini-MouseAdventure puzzles in 2005. Photo
by Mark Goldhaber.
Since this event will not have an entry fee, there will not be a prize ceremony, though finishers' buttons and an answer key will be distributed at the end of the event, when players will also have an opportunity to ask questions about the game. With the Fall MouseAdventure 2009 announced for Walt Disney World, this will be a great opportunity to get a feel for what you might be in for next year!
We want to ensure that we have enough materials for everyone that would like to play, so please let us know if you plan to attend this event by either emailing Mark Goldhaber or posting on the Mini-MouseAdventure thread on our MousePad discussion forums.
What is MouseAdventure?
While much more about MouseAdventure is available at the main MouseAdventure page (link), we'll try to give a synopsis here of the smaller event that we'll be doing at Walt Disney World for MouseFest.
MouseAdventure is a popular and fun questbased event produced by MousePlanet and held twice a year at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. The mini-MouseAdventure during MouseFest 2008 will be a shortened, non-competitive version of the event. Fall MouseAdventure 2009 will be held at Walt Disney World.
What does the event involve?
MouseAdventure is continually evolving, and you are likely to encounter something new, even if you are a MouseAdventure veteran. Past events have included such activities as:
- Eyespy photos Identify mystery pictures taken within the park
- Trivia (usually optional) Test your knowledge of the Mouse with questions related to Disney minutiae.
- Scavenger hunt Find, obtain, and retrieve various items
- Quests This is the core of the event. Solve codes, logic puzzles, and other enigmas and head off on your adventure in the park as you peel the layers that reveal the final answer of each quest.
The MouseFest mini-MouseAdventure will involve some, but not all, of the above.
While the California event itself lasts between three and six hours plus morning checkin and the awards presentation, the mini-MouseAdventure will last two hours from check-in to distribution of the answer keys. Since there will be no prize ceremony, we will get everybody checked through quickly so that everyone will have time for the rest of the afternoon's events.
There are different types of MouseAdventure events. In the past, we have offered point-based, as well as time-based road rally styles. The mini-MouseAdventure will emulate a point-based game.
Who can participate?
MouseAdventure is usually a team-based event; everyone must play in a team of at least two, and no more than four persons. However, since the mini-MouseAdventure is an out-of-competition event, individual players and teams larger than four people will be allowed. But if you're trying to figure out how well you'd do in a regular MouseAdventure game, your best approximation would be to play in a team of two to four people.
Event closure
A normal MouseAdventure wraps up with an awards presentation that recognizes the top three winning teams, as well as special categories like most spirited, or best first-time team, and fabulous prizes (no joke!) are distributed. However, since the mini-MouseAdventure is just for fun, we'll be distributing answer sheets and finishers buttons, and answering questions about the event when we all return to the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station at the conclusion of the game.
MouseStation Hustle-tini Meet
It's Mike's favorite drink, favorite activity and favorite resort! (Mark will just record and take pictures of everybody. Somebody's got to do it!) Join MouseStation co-host Mike Demopoulos in dancing The Hustle at Pop Century, then adjourn to the Petals pool bar (Classic Concoctions has alas, been turned into a package pickup area) to recuperate with Bluetinis (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). Join us at 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, December 14 at the '80s section of the wall across from the Pop Century front desk to prepare yourself and get instruction from Mike on how to do the dance. We'll record something for the podcast during the refreshments portion of the evening, as well. You can arrive late, but remember that The Hustle starts at 6:00 sharp in the lobby!
You can RSVP for this event by either emailing Mark Goldhaber or posting on the Hustle-tini Meet thread on our MousePad discussion forums.
Other stuff
You'll also find MousePlanet staff at a number of other meets, including PodFest (with Mark Goldhaber and Mike Demopoulos representing MousePlanet's MouseStation Podcast).
Additional Resources
Past MouseFest ColumnsMike Scopa
MouseFest 2003 preview
MouseFest 2003 recap
MouseFest 2004 preview
MouseFest 2004 recap
MouseFest 2005 preview
MouseFest 2005 recap
MouseFest 2006 preview
MouseFest 2006 recap
MouseFest 2007 preview
MouseFest 2007 recap
Mark Goldhaber
MouseFest 2004 recap
MouseFest 2005 recap
MouseFest 2006 preview
MouseFest 2006 recap
MouseFest 2007 preview
Other Information