Mid-Hunt a PhotoPass Photographer captures the fun

Scavenger Hunt Sunday started EARLY!  We were up, registered, and waiting for the hunt to begin long before I would normally get up for work.  Clue book in hand (but still securely sealed), we waited for the official start.  The teams were broken into three groups – one group started in Disneyland, one group started in Downtown Disney, and our group stayed at the Disneyland Hotel.  Likewise, the clue book was broken into sections – The Resorts, Downtown Disney, Disneyland, and California Adventure.  There were over 300 questions!  We knew we’d never make them all but we definitely made a dent.  We kept mostly to the considerably less crowded California Adventure, which proved to be a good strategy for knocking out lots of questions at once.

The hunt lasted for five hours, which was a little overwhelming considering it was over 100 degrees that day.  Heat aside, however, we pressed on in pursuit of some of the most obscure Disneyland questions I’ve ever seen… did you know that the newspapers on the new “newspaper stand” in Paradise Pier are nearly all dated with Mickey Mouse’s birthday?  Or that you can find the word “California” by counting letters in the plaque over-looking Grizzly River Rapids?  Neither did we, but we sure do now!

The scavenger hunt was loads of fun, and when all was said and done, we finished 59th out of over 500 teams!  Not too bad for a couple of rookies.

After a much needed and well-deserved nap, we headed back out to Disneyland for our only chance to see the Halloween decorations at night.  We had reservations at Cafe Orleans, and it was so magical at night.  We had only ever eaten there for lunch, so seeing New Orleans Square all lit up at night was particuarly wonderful.  We also got to see all of the pumpkins and other decorations in the park lit up for the night, which were really stunning.  Even though we were still a bit hot and tired it was a lovely end to a fun day.

We ended our night by listening to and partially watching World of Color from our balcony at the Grand Californian… a perfect night.

Next Tuesday… The hottest day in the history of Southern California.

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