Backlot express and TSM dessert party
After our lunch at Coral Reef Mica and I decided to split up. I was meeting up with some Dis friends at Epcot and she wanted to go check out DTD for awhile. Since we were going to the dessert party that evening at TSM we made plans to meet up outside of Star Tours @ 7pm. This is one of our favorite rides at Disney. My DS23 is a huge Star Wars fanatic. Growing up he had nearly every Star Wars toy you could imagine plus he collected quite a few of the original ones. We went to every midnight opening of the movies there were, always in costumes. On one of our previous trips he rode Star Tours 33 times in one day.

Since Mica's stomach was still quesy we only rode it twice today then headed over to the Backlot express for dinner.
Backlot express is located between the Indiana Jones attraction and Star Tours. DHS does not have much of a selection for any meal options but since this is close to Star Tours we always end up here. It's a fairly large CS restaurant with both inside and outside seating areas. There are 2 fixing bars with the usual fixings- no cheese sauce or sauteed onions here. Since we would be eating again soon we decided to just split a meal. We ordered the grilled turkey and cheese sandwhich and french fries. Grilled turkey and provolone cheese with argula and roasted red peppers.The french fries were hot and crispy and not greasy at all. This was a nice break from all the cheeseburgers at other CS. It was nice and fresh and the service was fast. For dessert we tried the sugar free strawberry parfait. It was creamy with a pudding like texture. There were strawberries on the bottom and blueberries on top.You really couldnt even tell it was sugar free. All in all a good value for a CS meal.
Cost:1 CS
After eating we walked the streets of America to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. This is absolutely amazing. If you ever get a chance to go to Disney during the Christmas season make sure you go see this. You can read about and see pictures that people have posted but its nothing like really being there to see it.

We got there around 8pm and spent about 45 mins just trying to see everything and listen to the holiday music. Every so often they would have the lights dance to the music and snow flakes would fall onto the streets. It is truely spectacular.
Mica and I continued waling down the Streets of America towards Pixar street. We were to be there around 8:30 to register for the TSM event. CMs were there to tell people that they were not ready yet and to go to the Studio catering Company for registration. As we walked back down the streets of America I saw someone who looked familiar from these boards. I went over to say hi and ask if she was from the Disboards. It was Circusgirl from here. She was with 2xcitedtosleep, they were going to the TSM meet also. Both of them are super nice people and it was great to be able to talk to them for a couple minutes.
Continuing on we made our way over to the Studio Catering Company. The TSM event sponsors were still setting up so we just hung out and talked to some of the people that were waiting to register. Right before 9 they open the registration area up. This was sponsored by the DiS unplugged and
dreams unlimited. After you showed your confirmation email and signed in everyone received a goodie bag. This was a black drawstring travel backpack with all the sponsors names on the back. The front of it said Dis mania meet 2008,
www.wdwinfo.com. Inside there was information about the sposors and a beaded necklace that also siad DIS mania meet 2008. Woohoo we havent even got into the meet yet and we already got a prize!!
This is a great backpack to take to the parks- empty its small enough to fold and carry in a pocket, purse or fanny pack.Expanded its big enough to carry whatever you'd buy in the parks. I used mine the next day to carry back the goodies I bought at the Main Street bakery .
CMs came and lead us down into Pixar Street where we were escorted straight onto TSM.

This was the first time I had been on this ride. It's great!! After the ride ended the CMs asked if you wanted to ride again. We could ride as often and we wanted without getting off. We rode 3 times in a row then went outside to the dessert party. There were tables and chairs set up down Pixar Street for everyone to sit and enjoy the desserts. Large outdoor patio heaters were placed throughout the seating area to keep everyone warm. There were tables set up on both sides of the street with the desserts. Board games were scattered along the serving tables for decorations and CMs made sure the desserts were replenished frequently. There were large trays of fresh fruit with dip, bite size pastries, a coffee table and a cash bar. The fruit tray was full of large strawberries, blackberries, cantalope, honeydew, kiwi and star fruit. Everything there was fresh and delicious. Living in PA we dont have fresh fruit like that here during the winter. I went back twice for the fruit.

There were also 3 trays of pastries: mini cheesecakes, pumpkin tarts, nut tarts and chocolate cake slices. I only tried a nut tart but it was very good. Mica had a piece of the cake and a cheesecake , she said they were both excellent.
The coffee service table was spectacular.

There were 3 large urns, one with coffe, one with decaf, one with hot water. Large baskets held different types of tea and hot chocolate and there were bottles of gourmet flavoring syrups. My favorite part though were the garnishes. 4 large containers held real whipped cream, cinnamon sticks, chocolate curls and orange peel. It was a little chilly that night so all this warm goodness was definately appreciated. There was also an ice cream cart set up so that anyone who wished could have ice cream bars. I didnt get anything from the cash bar but it was doing a brisk business. The DIS unplugged team was walking around passing out glow necklaces to everyone and making sure everyone was having a good time. After about an hour Mica started getting sick again.

I was concerned about getting her back to the resort since the park had already closed. There was to be transportation back to the resorts from the event but I wasnt sure when it would be arriving. I asked some of the workers there and they directed me to Alex (webmaster alex). He went to find John (webmaster john) and they both contacted the disney transportaion to find out out when the buses would be arving to take the guests back to their hotels. They came back to where we were sitting to inform us a bus would be there in about 20-25 mins. They offered to call and pay for a cab to get us back sooner if she felt that bad. She said she would be ok if we just sat there until the bus came. When the buses came the driver took us right to our bus stop at CBR. He even offered to take us closer than the stop so we wouldnt have to walk that far.
This was a beautiful, well put together event. The staff and volunteers worked very hard to ensure that everyone had a great time. Thank you so much webmasters Alex and John for all your help getting my daughter back to our hotel. Even though we didnt get to stay the whole time, I really enjoyed being able to attend.
Cost- nothing
would we do it again- YES!!!!
One quick update on Mica. She went to the doctor's Thursday. Infection is still coming out of her drainage tube so she needs to go back for another CT scan next week. The plan is still for her to get her appendix removed once all the infection is gone and she heals for a couple weeks. Thank you everyone who has been keeping her in your thoughts and prayers.
Next up: Le Cellier and WPE
