September 18, 2026: The Start of the Search
Greetings, explorers and adventurers! In August, a group of Imagineers presented at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event and brought an unopened crate from the Society of Explorers and Adventurers (S.E.A.) Archive to share with the public. However, when the crate was opened for the very first time, the Imagineers and the audience were shocked to find nothing inside but a pile of bricks and a mysterious note:
After the S.E.A.’s artifact went missing at D23, they asked for our help to figure out the thief’s name! The Society says the thief is leaving riddles behind with clues to their name, but the letters are in the wrong order. Once players unscramble all of the letters, a brand-new S.E.A. character will be revealed!
These riddles can all be solved online by looking up images of Disneyland. While Disneyland serves as the inspiration for this adventure, the riddles can be solved completely at home.
S.E.A. Archivist Bonnie Booker says this is the perfect adventure for explorers to prove themselves as honorary S.E.A. field researchers! She has been sending us riddles, clues, and information via the Walt Disney Imagineering Instagram page — let’s see what we know so far!
Our first riddle, discovered by Bonnie Booker, seems to allude to Main Street, U.S.A. What do you think? Here’s the next one she sent to us to solve:
Astute explorers think this one may be referencing the Lilly Belle car on the Disneyland Railroad. And here’s the third riddle we’ve received:
In addition to this riddle, Bonnie Booker found a potentially relevant clipping in the S.E.A. archives from a newsletter dated March 1886:
At this point, we’ve gathered so much information about this mysterious thief that Bonnie Booker decided it would be prudent to compile everything and see what we have discovered so far. As she explained, “We’ve answered many questions but only brought up more!”
Including the third riddle, the letters we’ve solved for are: T, L, and A.
Remember: the thief is leaving riddles behind with clues to their name, with a letter as the answer to each riddle. However, these letters are scrambled and in the wrong order!
Through these riddles we have also learned the following about the thief:
- They were rejected from the Society of Explorers and Adventurers.
- They potentially stole the “Ridge Jewel” mentioned in the 1886 news clipping.
- They somehow leave clues across different time periods.
Our pals over at Walt Disney Imagineering have been attempting to make sense of all this information too — don’t miss the mystery board they built to keep track of everything that has been uncovered so far! And speaking of, here’s the fourth riddle:
This one seems to all but confirm that the Ridge Jewel is our missing artifact! But if the Jewel was found in Rainbow Ridge in 1886…how could the thief be leaving riddles for us to find today? Luckily, the fifth riddle found by Bonnie found us a bit more information:
Mention after mention in the riddles of what we can safely assume is the Ridge Jewel! But who stole it? And when? All we can do is wait patiently for Bonnie Booker to uncover more clues.
If you have any leads, please report in to @WaltDisneyImagineering on Instagram to share your findings and check back here for further updates. We need all the help we can get!
October 9, 2026: More Clues Along the Way
Welcome back, explorers! We have plenty to catch up on in our quest to unmask the mysterious thief who stole the Society of Explorers and Adventurers missing artifact! Since our last report on this mystery, we’ve received two new riddles about our cryptic crook…have you been able to solve them? Let’s see what we can glean, together:
“I can go anywhere, anytime, and tell my tale.” This line stands out to us the most! Who would have guessed that the next great S.E.A. story would involve…time travel?! The rest of the puzzle seems to involve the Swiss canton shields that adorn the entrance to the Matterhorn Bobsleds queue at Disneyland park. How many are red and white? Moving on to our next riddle…
Disneyland has many ties to the intrepid S.E.A.! From Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Jungle Cruise to one of the park’s newest additions, the Adventureland Treehouse inspired by Walt Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson, S.E.A. lore can be found around every corner! But newcomers, you may have missed a wonderful tribute to the Society at The Tropical Hideaway in Adventureland. Here, you’ll find a display of oars, each commemorating a rite-of-passage river expedition undertaken by an S.E.A. member. The final four lines of this riddle appear to reference these very oars. So, whose expedition took place in 1831?
Luckily, a group of Imagineers who are investigating this case alongside us have put together another evidence board, tracking all of the clues, lore, and evidence we’ve discovered so far.
Are any items immediately jumping out to you? We are obsessing over the incredible schematics that were sent by Bonnie Booker along with the last batch of riddles. Take a closer look here:
This diagram is a feast for the eyes! There is so much to decipher here. Where to start?! We can confidently call this invention “The Timeskipper,” as indicated by the design name in the bottom right. However, the inventor’s name has been smudged, along with the date and location where it was created. In their place, we see that cryptic symbol that first appeared on our thief’s note inside the crate at D23…
Even more interesting are the notes scrawled all over the page: “This device should “tune” into the time I want to travel…” and “I want to design it so that it will only work if I wear it.” Who was genius enough to invent time travel, and how? While we ponder that, let’s review the letters we have so far and everything we’ve learned about the thief.
Letters Known
T L A R O E E Z
How are you faring so far? Any wild claims to make at this point? We are surely nearing the end of this captivating case, and we cannot wait to discover the identity of this beguiling riddle master! Stay tuned for one more update here on Disney Parks Blog before this adventure comes to an end and continue following @WaltDisneyImagineering on Instagram for more information. Until then, Exploratio Continua!
