Our Adventurers Meet, Mingle, Dine, Compete, and Get Presents!
After a brief visit to my room to wash the coffee out of my sleeve (I dragged my shirt through my coffee reaching out to stabilize my food items when a sudden gust of wind threatened my snack down in the plaza) I headed down to the mezzanine level to meet the group. There were already a fair number of people there, with the buzz of conversation filling the air. I spotted my roommate Alissa and introduced myself, and we chatted. I met Chris, and Oscar Jr. and Oscar Sr. Kevin was circulating through the crowd distributing the first of many goodies that were given out adventurer to adventurer, this one being a visor embroidered with the identifiers of our trip: ABD 1.0, Backstage Magic April 2010 and the Dis Unplugged Podcast logo.
Our guides Jaime and Michael arrived and started their first of many times of counting heads. (Kevin probably could have told them that two people were yet to arrive, from his count of his visors.) While we waited a little bit longer, the guides introduced themselves and told us the plan for the evening.
We were shepherded to a small function room in the hotel for a mix and mingle. Jaime and Michael gave us some time to continue chatting and to enjoy appetizers and beverages and then they each gave a brief history on their respective Disney careers.
Appetizers:
Michael and Jaime:
Michael had been with the Backstage Magic tour since its inception, and also was a guide for the tours of Costa Rica and Peru. Jaime had worked in many different areas, most excitingly to me including two years on the Dream Team. His many experiences were an illustration of how many different things people can do within the Disney company in a career.
After sharing their own Disney histories, they gave us some ground rules for the tour, with timeliness being especially important for this largest of all Backstage Magic tours. They explained that they would give us call times for meeting, and that sometimes there would be a time buffer, and sometimes the call time would be the real departure time. Todays 3:50 call had a ten minute buffer to the actual start time of 4:00. They talked about the special event that had been added for our tour, breakfast at Club 33. This was when we found out that ABD was thinking of adding Club 33 to the tour for the future, and since Jaime and Michael didnt realize that John had been responsible for bringing the opportunity to our tour, Kevin let them know who the mover and shaker was behind this particular piece of magic.
They told us a little bit more about the tour handbook we had been given at check-in. They told us to expect that the tour would immerse us in the history of Hollywood and of all things Disney, and that we would find a word and theme of the day for each day of the tour in the handbook, along with a description of the days events, fun facts and helpful hints. Todays theme was a familiar one, It all started with a mouse. Todays word was actually two words which together comprised a proper name, Mickey Mouse.
We then paraded to our dinner at the Trastevere Restaurant in the Hollywood and Highland complex, a short walk out into the mall, across a pedestrian bridge with a view of the Hollywood sign, and then into the restaurant.
ABDers queued up to enter for dinner:
Our dinner was held in a porch like setting with 3 long tables in a U-shaped configuration. One side of the room was open to the outdoors, and there was a game show panel and podium set up on the open end of the room opposite the U.
Podium:
View down to the street from the open side of the room:
The tables were already set with large platters of salad, Focaccia and antipasto when we arrived.
The table settings were beautiful and bounteous. There was so much food there almost wasnt room for all the people. We had to adjust the seating arrangements a little bit, as it was close quarters for the number of people, a reflection of the size of our tour versus any previous group. There were menus at each place with the entree choices listed. The offerings were a pasta, a chicken, a salmon and a veal scaloppine, with a choice of beverage. We started on the platters of food while the wait staff took our orders. The game show host arrived and began a lively Disney trivia game. He asked questions of the group in general first, and the four brave folks who answered the first four questions were brought to the game podium as the contestants.
Our brave contestants:
Our host:
The host had sound effects, recorded pieces to query the contestants about, and an antic way of keeping the game moving. He kept the group in close competition by awarding points for random things like someone finally pressing their buzzer as well as actually answering a question correctly. Many of us thought that the questions for this Disney mad group would be extra hard, so were shy to participate. As it turned out they werent out of reach, although a question about the fastest ride at
Disneyland stumped many of us. (You, too? The answer is the Monorail.) There was singing required at times.
They are the world:
They are the children:
Kim ended up being the grand prize winner and was ceremoniously awarded her prize of Mouse ears and was declared the Big Cheese. The other three contestants were given Disney character pens.
And the winner is:
Bill with his new writing implement:
The salads, focaccia and antipasto were very good. The tomato basil mixture on the focaccia had a nice garlicky bite, and the fresh mozzarella and marinated veggies were delectable. Our entrees started to arrive after the game show, and received mixed reviews. I didnt hear anything positive about the pasta. My veal was competently although not spectacularly prepared and the potatoes were excellent.
Jennifer had a little trouble with a lively piece of fresh mozzarella leaping into her water glass. The laughing in the aftermath:
Dessert arrived, the Trastevere version of Tiramisu. Im not a huge Tiramisu fan, but mine started to vanish even before I remembered to take a picture. It was light and not too sweet.
so sorry for what you are going through. 
If I had known we going to eat the early bird special we wouldn't have eaten lunch. 
I hadn't heard that term before - very apt!
I totally visualized you guys rockin' the night away! 
all the more. I look forward to your next installment when you have the time.
