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So this Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure (KPWSA) - what's the sitch?
The Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure is a new technology-based interactive in-park game at Epcot's World Showcase. Guests enlist with Team Possible and are dispatched to a country within the World Showcase where Disney Channel's Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable need their assistance to thwart the evil plans of a super-villain and save the world. No big.
How much does it cost to play?
The Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure is absolutely free to Epcot guests with park admission. No deposits necessary. All you need is a single park ticket to enlist with Team Possible.
What are the age requirements for the game? Can adults play without children?
There are no age minimums or maximums to play the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. Many adults experience the game on their own and the game has received rave reviews across the board from guests of all ages.
Do I need to have the park ticket for each player in my group to sign up?
No. Only one park ticket is required to sign up for the entire group of up to 10 guests.
Does the game support languages other than English?
Currently, the game is available only in English and Spanish. As the game continues to gain popularity, other languages are sure to be added. The most likely languages to be added in the future are French and Portuguese based on the number of visitors from countries that primarily speak those languages.
Where and when can I sign up to play?
Although the first mission begins at 11 am when the World Showcase opens, new recruits can join Team Possible as early as 9 am.
There are three recruitment centers: one in either Innoventions building as well as one in the World Showcase plaza area between Future World and World Showcase.
Once you approach a recruiting center/field station, a member of Team Possible will assist you in enlisting using your park ticket. You will receive a Mission Pass which is a FASTPASS-like ticket and tell you when and where you are to make your initial rendezvous to receive your Kimmunicator and begin your top secret mission.
Now hold on just a minute. A FASTPASS? Does that mean I can't use my ticket to obtain a FASTPASS at another attraction right away?
Not at all. Although the ticket system is based on the FASTPASS system and there are a few similarities, the two are mutually exclusive. In fact, there are plenty of differences between the two.
What time will my mission begin?
If you sign up right at 9 am, it will be 11 am. Beyond that, it's not possible to say. Because it's like a FASTPASS system, the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure offers return windows (which shift in 15 minute increments as opposed to 5) and once it assigns a certain number of groups, the return window gets pushed back 15 minutes. For example, the Mission Pass shown above was obtained at 9:53 am (as you can see by the time printed in the lower right corner) on as low day and it's for 11:15 am. It's also reasonable to expect as 11 am approaches and guests begin to head towards the World Showcase, the number of Mission Passes distributed will increase exponentially.
Does this mean if I sign up later in the day, there may be no more missions left?
Not to scare you, but yes, it might. The last mission begins at 8 pm. Like FASTPASS, once the return window reaches that time, it considers the attraction to be sold out and no more Mission Passes will be distributed. Generally speaking, there's not much to worry about in this respect, however during peak periods such as Easter week, the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure has been known to sell out as early as 12 pm.
How many groups can sign up before the return window gets pushed back?
The system is designed to control how many guests are in any one particular pavilion at any time. Clearly the game will become less fun if the pavilion is mobbed with hundreds of guests all vying for the same objectives at the same time. Currently the system looks to have a maximum of 30 groups in each country at any time. That number can be increased or decreased as needed. For example, during more crowded periods, that number may actually be reduced simply because the pavilions will be additionally crowded from guests not playing the game.
That many can be playing in the same country at one time? Doesn't that cause some sort of congestion?
In a word, yes. And there's noise pollution to boot. If you've heard anyone make a remark about hearing the Kim Possible tune playing all over the World Showcase, I promise you it's an understatement. But we'll cover this in more details as we take a closer look into actual game play.
So if the Mission Pass is like FASTPASS, does that mean I can show up later than the printed time?
Yes. Although as is the case with FASTPASS, Team Possible would like you to be as punctual as possible, but of course things happen. In fact, unlike FASTPASS, sometimes Team Possible will let you begin your mission up to half an hour earlier than your scheduled time depending on how crowded the park is that day.
So that I can plan my day to the tiniest detail, how long is a mission?
It really depends. A mission can be anywhere from 20-45 minutes on average depending on how well you know the pavilion you're playing in. The game uses photos and names of shops, eateries and attractions to instruct you where to go so if you're really familiar with the pavilion, it can be mighty quick. Or it can take longer too. There are too many factors to reliably guarantee you how long your mission will be.
What if I need to take a break while playing? (or just want to!)
We'll cover this in more detail later, but once you meet at the field station and are handed your Kimmunicator, it's yours for the day. You'll be able to start and stop and re-start and re-stop whenever and however often you wish without disrupting game play. You may even be able to choose additional missions once you've completed your assigned one, all without returning the Kimmunicator.
Do all of the countries in the World Showcase offer the game? Do I choose which one I want? If not, how do I know which one I'll be playing in?
Alright, take it easy - just one question at a time, please.
Sorry.
No big. The game currently takes place in seven countries: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Japan, France and the United Kingdom. When you enlist with Team Possible, the system automatically and 'randomly' assigns you to a country (remember it's trying to keep groups as spread out as possible). A member of Team Possible at the station where you enlist can re-assign you to another country instead if you prefer. Otherwise you can just show up at the field station and be surprised when you're handed your Kimmunicator (or if you don't really want to be surprised, your ticket actually tells you which country you've been assigned to. At the bottom of the ticket, in smaller print, is a whole lot of information which includes your assignment using the country's abbreviation. So for example, Japan will say JP, Germany will say DE, Mexico will be MX and so on). In the example Mission Pass above, I've been assigned to play in Germany.
Once you complete your mission, as long as missions are still available, you will be offered the option to select another in the country of your choice. Although you can't repeat the same country back to back, it will become an option again after another mission or two.
Huh? Why on earth would I want to repeat the same country again?
Each pavilion has roughly 12-14 different events in it, of which you'll experience about half. The subset of events you experience are chosen at random for you by the game. This ensures both repeat value as well as preventing multiple game players from constantly piling up on each other. If you do choose to play the same country more than once, odds are you will experience at least a couple of different tasks. I have personally experienced this playing both Norway and Mexico multiple times.
Wow! I had no idea each country had so many events. Can I choose which ones to do?
No, the events you experience are chosen at random by the game. If there's a particular event that you know about and want to experience, you'll have to play that country over again and just hope it's offered to you. Or stake out the event's location and wait for another agent to come by and complete it.
Can you give me a list of all of the events in each country?
No. But if you want to do so, I'll be more than happy to publish your list with full credit.
Will the game eventually be added to the other four countries?
Definitely not for Morocco. Although it's a prime candidate for the game, Morocco is the only pavilion to be government sponsored and the King of Morocco has explicitly said no to the project because of the installation of the electronics required to support it. The remaining pavilions aren't included because their layout and perceived size (all pavilions are assigned the same amount of land) don't really lend themselves to the nature of the game. Although it's possible to see a country like Canada eventually added, it's not likely that the American Adventure will ever be.
Once you approach a recruiting center/field station, a member of Team Possible will assist you in enlisting using your park ticket.
Once it's time for my rendezvous, what's next?
Report to the field station (Norway, Italy, UK) as indicated by your ticket. There you will be handed your Kimmunicator and be given a brief introduction on game play.
Umm.. Kimmunicator? Don't you mean cell phone?
No, it's a Kimmunicator. Didn't you know top secret agents always use devices disguised as another to avoid suspicion (hint: I wouldn't eat the churros if I were you)? Sure, it looks like a cell phone, but it's the only way for you to keep in contact with Wade and the rest of Team Possible. It also allows Wade to download special functionality that will help you accomplish certain tasks. When I tell you that the folks at Walt Disney Imagineering let their imaginations run wild when designing the game's possibilities, I'm not giving them enough credit. In addition, the Kimmunicator does not have cell phone capabilities. It only runs the game software and will not work outside the World Showcase.
I have two or more children. Do I get two or more cell- er - Kimmunicators?
First, it would really behoove you to determine just how many children you have, but I digress.
Because the Kimmunicators are tangible items and thus limited in supply, Team Possible kindly requests you share the Kimmunicator whenever possible. If that's not possible, each group can actually have up to three Kimmunicators assigned to them. Although events are randomly chosen, the Kimmunicators can be configured so they all perform the same events. To keep game play more interesting, however, Team Possible cast members can arrange it so multiple Kimmunicators can operate independent of each other (keeping in mind that there will be some overlap in events between each Kimmunicator) or can even send each Kimmunicator to different countries altogether at the same time. The possibilities are virtually endless.
So tell me more about this 'Kimmunicator.'
I was just about to. The Kimmunicator keeps you in contact with Wade (although both Kim and Ron and even a villain here and there can make appearances). The mission is presented as a storyline based on the missions listed above. The characters are completely audible so you hear them all in their real voices, but you can also follow along with text captions. You will be lead through the mission step by step, pressing the OK button to progress through it (as directed by the Kimmunicator). There are also a few other options that will appear on the Kimmunicator as you play: Back will allow you to go back within the storyline (but it's limited to the story portion, you can't go back to repeat a prior event); Do It Again will sometimes be available in lieu of Back as some events are repeatable (there doesn't appear to be a limit to how many times you can repeat an eligible event either); and Help which will sometimes give you an additional clue to finding and triggering the event. Pressing Help will also eventually give you the option to skip an event if you're having trouble (or if it's not working properly which can sometimes happen).
What kind of events will I be able to do?
There's a whole range of events to engage in during each of the missions and that's a lot of the fun. For the most part, the Imagineers have gone out of their way to embed the events into the pavilion in a way that the casual observer would pass by them not giving them a second thought. Some items are there in plain sight, some pop out
of nowhere. Some are even animatronic in nature. It doesn't stop there either. Some events such as one in Norway have you seek out
the aid of a World Showcase Cast Member. Some events have you complete a task to obtain a secret password to enter into the Kimmunicator to move on. Some events are data fact finding missions which have you seek out information
posted somewhere on signs, in exhibits, etc. and answer a multiple choice question to proceed. While not necessarily as fun, they do help to keep an educational element in place and they also offer another event that didn't require extensive engineering so that agent collision becomes less of a problem. They also have the added benefit of sending guests into areas of the
pavilion that they may not have even known existed. Some of the interaction is sheer genius. In China, use the Kimmunicator to 'hack' into a door that becomes momentarily unlocked so you can eavesdrop in on a conversation; in France, physically push a button
on a very ordinary looking poster; in Norway and France, hidden cameras take a photo that gets downloaded to the phone (you can't keep them though); the UK even has an adorable and novel 'golf ball' two-parter event.
In addition, much of the magic is that you are in control. While some events are private to your group, many are in full view of all non-game players who are visiting the pavilion at the right time to see something extra special. This is especially true of repeatable events where you can provide a cheap (well, downright free) thrill by commanding a repeat performance over and over on demand to the delight of guests of all ages (I made the steins in Germany sing about 5 times in a row).
So I just completed the mission and saved the world, what am I going to do next?
You're going to Disney World! As mentioned earlier, you'll be given the option to choose either another mission or finish for the day. The only exception is that if the missions are sold out for the day, you will not be offered this option. When you are done, the game will advise you where to drop off the Kimmunicator (another fun thing - deposit boxes are in plain sight but themed to their environments).
Do I get anything for completing the mission?
In most cases, we'd like to think that saving the world would offer some element of personal gratification, but otherwise, not really. Some events such as one in Norway may yield you a free souvenir however. Just sayin'.
Help! I'm standing where it tells me to but it just keeps telling me to make sure I'm in the right place. What do I do?
You're a victim of one of the coolest features of the Kimmunicator and possibly the exposure of a deep, dark secret. Many events don't actually care where you are when you go to trigger them (but where's the fun in that?) but some require you to be in a specific spot. So how does the game know if you're where you're supposed to be? The blue tag hanging from the phone is actually a Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tag. If the game doesn't see your phone's RFID, then it knows you aren't where you're supposed to be. But sometimes you are.
If this happens, first ensure you are really where you're supposed to be. An arrow will point to the location on the photo on the Kimmunicator. If it's still not working, it's more likely the event is having a problem. In some cases, an entire pavilion might not be working (meaning only the RFID enabled events won't work. Mexico has several of these.) You'll also probably know if the pavilion is having a problem because other players will have the problem as well.
In the mean time, pressing the Help key will give you the option to skip the event (if it doesn't at first, keep pressing it until it does). Then please report to the nearest field station and let the Team Possible members know of the problem so it can be resolved as quickly as possible.
Help! The Kimmunicator keeps freezing on me and/or is skipping stuff automatically. What do I do?
This is a problem when there are many guests actively playing the game. Every mission involves communication between the Kimmunicator and the game's servers so when too many players are making a request at the same time, the request gets queued and there's a bit of a delay. Sometimes you may get anxious and want to hit OK twice, unsure of what's happening. This will cause the next sequence to skip (you'll miss some story, but not an event). Just be sure to hit the OK button only once and give it about 30 seconds. It should be fine. If not, please take the Kimmunicator back to a Team Possible field agent. If necessary, they can provide you with a replacement Kimmunicator and set it to be right where you left off.
Do you have any tips for me?
A few. First, sign up as soon as you can. Even if you can't play at 11 am, this will guarantee you a Kimmunicator when you can play so you're not at risk of all of the missions selling out when you're ready.
Second, the earlier you can play the better. The park will become progressively busier and that means more guests and more game players. More guests means the pavilions can get harder to navigate in some areas and more game players means you're more likely to run into other guests on the same event you're on (although events are short so it's just an issue of experiencing the event before you experience it). This is also more likely at repeatable events where someone who has just completed an event does it again.
Plan ahead and smart. Not like me. Here's a perfect example. I had a 12 pm lunch at Les Chefs de France in France. Knowing that I could probably accomplish 2 missions prior to the lunch, what I should have done was requested to start in the UK, not the assigned pavilion of Norway. That way, I could do the UK mission, then the France mission, and then go to lunch. Instead, I started at Norway, did Mexico and then had to walk to France and had to double back once more to visit other pavilions.
When between events, please seek shade/shelter. Orlando can get very hot and the less time you can spend in the sun, the better. Even though the game will repeatedly instruct you to leave the area just to try to minimize the number of players in one specific area, your next event might be in the same area. So you can save yourself time and sun exposure by just finding out your next stop right there.
You can minimize the time it takes to play out a mission doing one or both of two things. First, the game is pretty redundant. If you select France for example, it may first tell you to go to France, press OK. Then it might say press OK when you get there. Then it might tell you to go to a specific location and press OK. A good idea is to do many of these initial steps while walking between pavilions - this way you already know just where to go when you get there. You can listen to the prompts as you go.
Another speed tip is that pressing the OK button will skip to the next step. I really don't recommend this because it takes the storyline element, but it's a good way to speed up repeat countries if you've already experienced the event (even better if the repeated event doesn't require you to actually go there - passwords and number codes don't change so if you remember them from before, you can just enter them again) .
Can I meet Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable or even Shego anywhere?
Unfortunately, while Kim and Ron used to make appearances at Disney's Hollywood Studios, they stopped prior to the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure opening. Although a very hyperactive birdie indicated to me that it's possible they are set for a return (fingers crossed). Shego never did appear in the parks, but you never know.
Thanks for all the information, you're so awesome! Thank you so much! Can I offer you money? Name my next child after you?
Oh, you flatter me so. No, I don't want your money or anything. But if you do believe this guide has helped you, I do encourage you to help spread the word that it exists by sending folks the link to this page. The more folks that know about the guides, the more encouragement there will be to produce more of them.
And yes, Brad would be a splendid name.
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