PinQuest Disneyland

The Disneyland PinQuest scavenger hunt is a fun way for pin collectors to solve clues and use a decoder tool to reveal the location of the next clue - all for the opportunity to purchase a series of 7 limited release pins. We took our time in completing the scavenger hunt, going on rides in the different lands the clues took us to. Because of this, the hunt took us about 8 hours from start to finish. If you solely focused on the scavenger hunt, I'd imagine it could be completed in about one to two hours. The Disneyland version of PinQuest began on August 4th 2016 and has no official end date, but it is a limited release. I asked one of the Cast Members how long they anticipated PinQuest to be available and they said they didn't know for sure. When I further pressed them and asked specifically if they thought it would still be around during Christmas time, they replied that they didn't think so. In this post I'll detail the cost and contents of the hunt, explain the basics of how it works and then at the end of the post go step by step through each clue, revealing the answers to the clues at the end of this post, and where to find them.

Update: As of March 8th, 2017 PinQuest was still going on at Disneyland. When I asked the Cast Member how long it would go, she gave the response, "As long as supplies last." She then stated that they continued to sell out of the clues and pins only to be restocked a short time later.

Contents

• Adventure Kit. The Adventure Kit can be purchased at any of the 6 participating stores through out Disneyland - 20th Century Music Store on Main Street, Westward Ho Trading Co. in Frontierland, "it's a small world" Toy Shop in Fantasyland, Little Green Men Store Command in Tomorrowland, Pooh Corner in Critter Country, and The Pieces of Eight Shop in New Orleans Square. It contains a Lanyard, Decoder Medal, Map/Legend, and a Pouch to store the Map and/or clues. 

The Adventure Kit. This is what you need to get started along with a clue card.

The reverse of The Adventure Kit

The lanyard and pouch.

The Decoder Medal

The Map.

This is the back side of the Map, which is also the Legend. When you first get the Map, the 7 numbered boxes on the top right of the Legend are blank. Each time you solve a clue and get a pin, the Cast Member will also stamp the Legend.

• Clue Cards.There are six numbered clue cards that you purchase at each of the 6 participating stores. Clue number one is purchased at the 20th Century Music Company on Main Street.

A look at one of the Clue Cards. This one happens to be Clue 3.

• Pins. Although the Clue Cards and Pins are basically interchangeable (I'll explain later) each pin is a separate item which is received when you solve the clue. There are 7 pins in all - the six pins that correlate to each clue card, and the final Completer Pin.

All seven pins in order from Pin #1 on the top to the Completer Pin on the bottom.

Each pin has a different character on it. Pin #1 features a penguin. Pin #2 features a Little Green Man. Pin #3 features a Hula Girl from small world, Pin #4 features Pete in Cowboy garb, Pin #5 features Tigger, and Pin #6 features Captain Hook.

Cost

Adventure Kit: $14.99
Clue 1: $9.99
Clue 2: $9.99
Clue 3: $9.99
Clue 4: $9.99
Clue 5: $9.99
Clue 6: $9.99
Completer Pin: $4.99

Total: $79.92 + tax

I'll add this in here so it's clear - when you figure out the clue, you turn it in and receive a free pin, so basically the $9.99 you're paying for the clue card is really for the pin.

The Hunt

To begin the PinQuest scavenger hunt, you must purchase the Adventure Kit and a clue card at any one of the six participating stores - 20th Century Music Company on Main Street, Westward Ho Trading Co in Frontierland, "it's a small world" Toy Shop in Fantasyland, Little Green Men Store Command in Tomorrowland, Pooh Corner in Critter Country, and The Pieces of Eight Shop in New Orleans Square.

While you can purchase the Adventure Kit at any of these locations, the scavenger hunt is designed for you to purchase the Adventure Kit at the 20th Century Music Company on Main Street. That is because, as mentioned above, along with the Adventure Kit, you also purchase a clue card and Clue #1 is found at this store. The hunt will still work even if you start with a different clue number by purchasing the adventure kit and clue card at another one of the stores, but if you can start with Clue #1, why not start with clue #1?

Once you receive clue #1 and think you have figured out the answer, you scratch off the option on the clue card that you think is the correct answer (don't worry, there are no penalties for multiple scratches), and then show the clue card to a Cast Member in the shop They will then remove the bottom part of the Clue Card, stamp the corresponding box on your Legend, and give you your Pin.

The Cast Member stamping the Legend (back side of the Map)

Once you have your pin, use the Decoder Medal and the Pin you just received to figure out where to go next to purchase the next clue. You do this by putting the Decoder Medal on top of the Pin while aligning the triangular pointers. This will reveal a number and a letter (the coordinates of your next destination).

A look at the first Pin and the Decoder Medal. I've indicated where the triangular pointers are in the picture above. 

The next step is to put the Decoder Medal on top of the pin while aligning the triangular pointers. As you can see in the picture above, this reveals the letter "C" and the number"6"

So looking at the map and using the coordinates "C" and "6" we see a green rocket ship (which I circled on the map for emphasis). On the back of the map in the "Map Key" it says that green rocket ship is the Little Green Men Store Command in Tomorrowland. That's where you head to next to purchase your next clue.

On the far left side of the Map you'll see letters and on the bottom of the Map you'll find numbers. As shown in the picture above, follow the letter and number on the map to an Icon, in this case a green rocket ship. Then turn the map over and look at the "Map Key" on the back side to see what store correlates to the icon. That's where you go next to purchase the next clue.

You'll repeat that entire process 6 times, solving six different clues and thus receiving 6 different pins. On the back side of each pin is a letter. Once you have all six pins, write down and unscramble all the letters to reveal a hidden password. To purchase the completer pin, show your map with all 6 stamps from each store and reveal the hidden password to a Cast Member in the store.

I'll now show in pictures how the entire hunt is done. Beware, SPOILERS AHEAD! If you'd rather be surprised when you do the hunt, skip down to the end for my summary!

Here's a look at the 20th Century Music Company on Main Street. It is located on the right side of the street as you are walking into the Park. 

Clue #1 says, "So many sights to see and sounds to hear! With music all around, what instrument is not featured inside of the 20th Century Music Company on Main Street U.S.A?" The three choices are Trumpet, Accordion, and Bassoon...Let's take a look... 

...there's the accordion...

...and there's the trumpet. So the answer is the Bassoon.

The Decoder Medal and Pin give you the coordinates "C" "6" which is the Little Green Men Store Command in Tomorrowland. As you walk into Tomorrowland from Main Street, it is on the left hand side.

Clue #2 says, "To infinity, and beyond! When you look about Little Green Men Store Command, what award do you see the Little Green Men bestowing upon Buzz Lightyear inside of Little Green Men Store Command in Tomorrowland Area?" The choices are: Galactic Emperor, Space Hero, or Galactic Hero. 

Although it's difficult to see in this picture, the medal that the Little Green Men are handing Buzz says, "Galactic Hero" on it. That's the answer.

The next coordinates are "A" "6" which means that it's time to head over to "it's a small world" Toy Shop in Fantasyland. The Shop is located right next to the exit of the "it's a small world" attraction.

Clue #3 reads, "Take a trip on the happiest cruise that ever sailed! How many "it's a small world" characters can be found on the attraction sign outside of "it's a small world?" The choices are 11, 12, or 13.

Ready for a laugh? Lets count the characters on the sign, shall we? 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11...12...13...14. Uh, 14? That's not one of the choices...13 is the closest to it so we marked it off, inquired of the Cast Member if we had counted correctly and she replied that yes, the answer was indeed 14 but that for the sake of the errant clue card, to mark of 13.

The coordinates given from this Pin in conjunction with the Decoder Medal are "C" "4" which leads us over to Westward Ho Trading Company in Frontierland.

The Westward Ho Trading Company is located on the right hand side of Frontierland just as you enter the land from Main Street.

Clue #4 reads, "When you look around Westward Ho Trading Co. in the Frontierland Area, you can't help but feel at home. What home felt message can be found inside this location, punctured onto a tin frame?" The answers are, Home is where the heart is, Home Sweet Home, or There's no place like home. 

Besides the "wrong answer" from the small world clue, this was by far the hardest one to find. The little tin frame is hiding up on the far wall of the shop and blends in well with the surroundings. The words on it were very difficult to read but say, Home Sweet Home. There's your answer.

The next coordinates are "C" "1" which lead us to Pooh Corner in Critter Country.

The Pooh Corner store is located in the far corner of Critter Country.

Clue #5 reads, "Oh Mr. Rabbit, how does your garden grow? When Mr. Rabbit is not busy keeping gophers out of his garden, what two vegetables can be found growing in his veggie patch just outside of Pooh Corner in Critter Country Area?" The choices are, Carrots and Cabbage, Radishes and Cabbage, and Tomatoes and Cabbage.

Looks like Carrots and Cabbage to me!

The final coordinates are "D" "3" which takes us to The Pieces of Eight Shop in New Orleans Square.
The shop is found at the exit of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, on the right hand side as you are exiting.

Clue #6 reads, "The captain's quarters are hidden away inside The Pieces of Eight Shop in New Orleans Square Area. What pirate icon can be seen hung above the captain's bed?" The choices are, Stashed loot, Swashbuckling swords, or Skull and cross bones. 

Above "the captain's bed" is a skull and cross bones.

Once you have solved the last clue and received your last pin, look at the back of all the pins and you'll see that there is a letter on each one. You are to unscramble these letters to make a password to be able to purchase the Completer Pin. The letters are: W, R, E, A, T, and L. The password is Walter.
Once we completed the scavenger hunt, we were given yellow and purple Mardi Gras style costume necklaces to celebrate.

Our complementary Mardi Gras necklaces for completing the hunt.

My Take:

My family and I enjoyed the PinQuest scavenger hunt. It actually got me to go into stores in Disneyland that I had never been into and may not have ever gone into had it not been for this scavenger hunt (yes, I realize that's exactly what Disney's strategy was with this scavenger hunt...). 

The Negative: 

• While searching for the answers for the clues was actually very fun, some of the shops we were in were extremely small and maybe a little too crowded to do a scavenger hunt in. 
• I also felt somewhat guilty asking the Cast Members to help me redeem my clue for the pin when there were other customers who were waiting to buy merchandise. 
• Obviously the error on the small world clue answer is almost inexcusable considering the total cost of the hunt and considering that by the time we did the hunt, Disney had a whole month to correct the mistake by printing new clue #3 cards but chose not to. 
• I also felt that the way some of the clues were written wasn't up to the normal Disney standards that I'm used to. 
• The Pins featured pretty obscure characters for the most part with the exception of Tigger and Captain Hook. I would have liked to have seen better known characters on the Pins.
• The main drawback to the PinQuest scavenger hunt though, is the price. For as much as guests pay for admission tickets to Disneyland, I would think that Disney could at least supply the pins and starter kit at cost. After all, Disney's strategy in the scavenger hunt is to get you to go into stores to spend more money anyway. Maybe I'm spoiled because I remember the nicer Map I received from the 45th Anniversary in 2000 that I have framed and up on the wall in our Disney Room. I paid $9.95 for that map and we were given 2 complementary pins and 1 button for completing the challenge. That hunt had more of a feeling of getting to know the history of Disneyland whereas PinQuest felt like more of a ploy to get me to spend more money (and hey, it worked!).

The Positive: 

• I really enjoyed solving the clues. The Westward Ho Trading company clue took our family quite a while to figure out! In Critter Country I had never even paid much attention to Rabbit's garden so it was fun to discover things like that as I tried to solve the clues. 
• I also enjoyed visiting shops that I had never been in before. It felt like I had discovered some of Disneyland that I didn't know existed. 
• I like that PinQuest was contrived as a limited time offer and that the pins are part of a limited edition. I hope in the future there might be some sort of PinQuest 2, just at a more affordable price. 
• It was a great way for my entire family to spend time together at Disneyland instead of running off to different rides. The concept is great for people of all ages!