Forever Magical
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Panelists Marc Davis, X Atencio and Sam McKim at the Haunted Mansion Event

Disneyland has also hosted several events that have not only showcased merchandise relating to specific attractions but have included panel discussions with the attraction's creators and a unique ride through experience. At the event Disneyland hosted to celebrate Mr. Toad we were able to eat and drink while riding through the Fantasyland dark rides. The queue area of Snow White was actually transformed into a fruit and cheese buffet which WE then devoured while traveling through the Snow White's adventure. After listening to the legends involved with the creation of Disney's Haunted Mansion we were treated to a midnight ride featuring unique additions. The legends, including X Atencio, Sam McKim and others were in the hallway just after the stretching room. We each had a chance to shake their hands before entering our doombuggies. During the ride the Mansion hosted some additional happy haunts that would jump out unexpectedly.

But if you're a real Park experct and you think you know it all and have seen it all, a favorite way to focus on often overlooked aspects of the Disney theme parks is the scavenger hunt. Doobie and I have participated in quite a few. Back in the mid-90s Doobie used to frequent a Disney bulletin board called the Mouse House. Its owner would host a full day of Disney trivia activities. They were called Houseketeer Days. I never got to participate in one myself but Doobie and John Frost still speak fondly of them. The host and his wife created an elaborate game called Maximize Your Time. Each ride was given a point value which they transformed into tickets (A - E), and you had a designated amount of time to gather these points. You would redeem points if you answered obscure questions about the ride proving you'd been on it.

For people who weren't interested in running all over the Park they had lots of activities at the command center. One involved listening to very short audio clips and identifying their location. Another favorite was "what was this tourist trying to take a picture of?". It was a collection of Polaroids that were either blurred or only a small portion of the intended target was revealed and then the players would have to guess what they wanted to shoot.

The LA Chapter of NFFC also hosts an annual trivia hunt. Two years ago it centered around compasses. Each team was given a small booklet and a compass. The booklet contained trivia questions such as what is the name on the door of Main Street which has a mezuzah. Then it would have a directional bearing. From our current location we'd view a straight line and know somewhere along that bearing was our answer. It was tough but fun. There were lots of little things I had never noticed before. I found myself pouring over the titles of books that were used as décor in the Main Street shops, looking at the ads that serve as themeing in Adventureland and more.

Last year our chapter president transformed the Disneyland map into a board game. We would roll the dice and depending on what square we landed we'd have a choice of various types of trivia questions. If you landed on the shopping square you got to go into a store and price select items. The dining square sent you to a restaurant looking for a specific food item. You would often be equipped with only the food item's name and you'd have to figure out where it was served. I was sent into Fantasyland to look for a crest with two eagles. Initially I went to the Heraldry shop inside Sleeping Beauty's castle, then to Toad Hall and I think I finally found it on King Arthur's Carrousel. Our teammate Terri had to find a location in Disneyland where you can find a representation of the homestead in four seasons. Do you know where it is? Email me your guesses and I'll let you know the answer to this one.

In 1999 we participated in ADDquest- Part Deux which has become MouseAdventure, designed by Kevin Yee and hosted by MousePlanet.com. In one of the scavenger sections of the event we had to finish the quotes. For example, “Funny little toy go play your part, _____________________” or find out who runs the detective agency or name the place where you can get "vests" and "novelty wear?" The fascinating thing about this is that you can have a general sense of where the answer is but you can't quite focus your memory clear enough to pull the answer out. So we' d have to trek to the locations to find the answers. ADDquest also had a fun exercise involving pictures. There were shots of random windows and you had to figure out where they were located in Disneyland. Another hunt we were involved with - actually an activity for a wedding party - gave each team a disposable camera and a list of required shots. We had a designated amount of time to shoot the list and then drop it off at Disneyland's one hour lab. The pictures were graded on accuracy and creativity.