I'm not your average Disney person, but I'm a big fan of Pixar and I love Star Wars. I thoroughly enjoy Disney On Ice and should I ever get married then the dress of my dreams was always Cinderella's....so I gladly accepted the invite to a Disney Quiz Night at the Zombie Shack as a guest of Paladone - the gift people.
If you've never been to Manchester's Zombie Shack (it's up the spiral staircase) then it can be a bit hard to spot. GPS takes you round the corner, but happily I bumped into a couple of other lost North West bloggers and we wandered aimlessly together.
I have no idea why we didn't spot the 20 foot tall Paladone flag at the side of the stairs...you can't say they didn't try.
Inside we were treated to one of the Zombie Shack's signature cocktails. I think I was so excited at the prospect of being out without any children that I forgot I was a blogger. I have no idea what it was called, nor did I take a photo, but luckily Lauren did. It was great though!
The Zombie Shack's resident chef was on hand to fill our tummies with a gorgeous vegan spread of curry, chilli, naan and rice, and spring rolls. In fact he was so insistent that I wouldn't have dared pass him by - thankfully I hadn't eaten tea and was ravenous.
His food was delicious, especially the curry, really hearty and served with a cheeky smile. He insisted I took his photo.
We knew it was going to be a team game, and my mate Jen had eventually also found the entrance and joined me. We knew Jess was a big Disney fan and so we sat next to her and her husband and made them be our friends.
Sadly we were then told only 2 or 3 to a group and had to split up. My disappointment was momentary. How delighted was I when Lauren came to join us - this was looking promising!
Our Quiz was supplied by Quiz Actually and I have to start with the bad news - no Star Wars all night. I was naturally devastated, but found my niche due to the fact I have about 15 years on my team-mates and knew some of the more vintage Disney answers.
We were treated to even more veggie food - again, no pictures because I'm rubbish, but tasty buffet bits including veggie sausage rolls and little filled cobs (or muffins if you are from round here). Eyes on the prizes, we were back to business and taking it very seriously despite our 2nd to last position.
There was a Screen Test round. My teammates hadn't heard of it, so I gave them my best hints and we did okay. Then we had an individual round. The Generation Game round. I used to love that as a kid, and I was determined I would be taking something Star Wars home for my boys to fight over, I'd checked out all the prizes. This was to prove helpful...a lot of the prizes appeared on the 'conveyor belt'.
I won!! Well, I joint won with Laura's mate Becky. She has 2 younger girls - it worked so well. We only argued over 1 thing and didn't even have to resort to rock, paper, scissors.
Then we had the final round and there were prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 2nd to last. We only needed to hold our dreadful position and we'd be winners again.
Luck was on our side and despite doing very well, everyone else around us did equally well. We were proud booby winners!!
I packaged all of my treasure into a huge cardboard box and couldn't wait to get it home to all my boys. Then I was reminded I was going home on the tram. Pah, it'd be fine. It actually got a bit scary rainy at one point. I was walking with Jen and we were both trying to casually ignore the softening condition of our cardboard boxes full of glasses and mugs and stuff.
The grown up vultures were waiting up for me to arrive home....it's amazing how much a 19 year old loves his Mum when she has a box of Star Wars presents with her. Disappointingly for them, they weren't allowed to choose anything until the little boys were awake too, and I've hidden at least half of it in the wardrobe....it's going to be perfect for Christmas.
Huge thanks to Paladone for arranging the evening and supplying all of those amazing Disney prizes, the Zombie Shack for hosting and the Chef for being so keen on his own food - it shows.
Edit: Laura informs me my drink was called Ding Dong Dory's Dead. It was lovely.
What an excellent night! Wish I'd been there!