

The Disneyland Quest

Matt Ainsworth

The Disneyland Quest

Matt Ainsworth

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Copyright © 2012 Matt Ainsworth

This book makes reference to various Disney copyrighted characters, trademarks, marks, and registered marks owned by the Walt Disney Company and Disney Enterprises, Inc. All attractions, product names, or other works mentioned in this book are trademarks of their respective owners and the names and products used in this book are strictly for editorial purposes; no commercial claims to their use is claimed by the author or publisher. All references to such trademarked properties are used in accordance with the Fair Use Doctrine and are not meant to imply this book is a Disney product for advertising or commercial purposes.

This book is a complete work of fiction. All events are fictionalized. The Disneyland Quest is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected with the Walt Disney Company and/or Disney Enterprises, Inc in any way.

Cover photograph taken by Matt Ainsworth.

Copyright © 2012 Matt Ainsworth

All rights reserved.

For Kim, Ally, and Averi

Also by Matt Ainsworth

THE DISNEYLAND QUEST 2

Dizzy's California Adventure

Available April 2015...

THE DISNEYLAND QUEST 3

Unlocking the Disney Vault

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27
Prologue

Five men in suits walked down Main Street, USA at Disneyland. It was a beautiful summer afternoon in Anaheim, only 83 degrees with a slight breeze. The men were Senior Vice Presidents of Walt Disney Inc. and were making their regular visit to the park the day before their quarterly meeting in front of the board.

"Lovely day, isn't it gentlemen?" a short, overweight man with a red bowtie said. "We call this postcard weather. Not a cloud in the sky."

"Let's make this trip quick Pegg," the tallest of the five men said. "Routine walkthrough. You know, the usual."

"Yes, of course," said Mr. Pegg. "But I just wanted to show you guys something and run an idea past you all. I am going to propose it tomorrow at the meeting."

A group of teenagers bumped into Mr. Pegg and continued walking without saying a word. All three had headphones on and were typing away at the screens on their cell phones. Mr. Pegg shook his head in disappointment.

Mr. Pegg led the group through the opening of Sleeping Beauty's Castle and into Fantasyland. King Arthur's Carousel was playing a medley of Disney songs, filling the entire area with music. They walked past the line of Peter Pan's Flight, continued past the line for the Carousel and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and stopped in front of Dumbo the Flying Elephant.

"Gentlemen," Mr. Pegg said. "Look around you. What do you see?"

The four men took in the scene in front of them. Flying elephants swooped past them, white horses rose up and down to the music, and Casey Jr.'s Circus Train chugged by on the nearby tracks.

"I see kids on rides," one man said.

"Ok, what else?" Mr. Pegg asked. "Look closely."

Mr. Pegg pointed their attention to the people standing in line for the rides. Almost all of them had a cell phone, tablet, handheld video game, or some other electronic device in their hand. There were kids lying on the ground watching movies on their iPods and adults were typing away on their phones or talking into a headset attached to their ear.

"This is a problem," Mr. Pegg began. "The magic here is dying. People are so wrapped up in the device in their hand they are missing the point of the park. Look at this place! That kid over there is a few steps away from a flying elephant, but he is on his back watching a movie. He is IN a movie right now but he is missing it. No one appreciates the history of this place anymore. No one notices the small touches that make this the Happiest Place on Earth!"

The four men looked at Mr. Pegg. A passionate speech about the park guests changing was not unusual for Mr. Pegg, but he seemed especially worked up this time.

"I am going to propose something tomorrow that will bring back the magic to Disneyland, something that will let people fall in love with this place all over again. I want people to notice things they have never noticed before. I want people running all over the park and actually experiencing the magic of this place. Tomorrow morning, I am going to propose my idea of The Disneyland Quest."

The men stared at Mr. Pegg.

"The what?" the tallest of the men said.

"The Disneyland Quest," Mr. Pegg repeated. "It will be a treasure hunt across Disneyland. Clues and riddles will be hidden throughout the park leading guests to a combination."

"A combination to what?" another man asked.

"The combination to a vault, of course."

"And what is in this vault?" The men were toying with Mr. Pegg, certain his idea would be a dud.

"I was thinking $250,000 and four lifetime passes to all Disney parks worldwide."

"You are nuts Pegg," the tallest man said, bursting into laughter. The rest of the men joined in. "No one will go for it. The bosses might be ok with the passes. Getting people into the park is what they want after all."

"Can't get their money until they get in," one of the men added.

"But the $250,000 they won't go for," the tallest man continued. "No way, no how."

"The $250,000 will be my own money," Mr. Pegg said proudly.

The smiles erased from the men's faces. They began wondering if Mr. Pegg had lost his mind. "If the board agrees to the Quest as I have designed it, only someone who truly knows Disneyland will be able to solve the riddles. If that happens, I will gladly hand over the prize."

"If you are putting up your own money, I don't see why they won't sign off on this idea," one of the men said as they turned and walked back toward Sleeping Beauty's Castle. "It definitely will fill the park, that's for sure."

The next morning the board unanimously agreed to Mr. Pegg's proposal after another heartfelt speech from the man in the bow tie. There was some stirring from the men and women in the room when Mr. Pegg mentioned the prize money, but they calmed down when he said it would be his money on the line.

As the board room slowly emptied, Mr. Pegg stayed behind and looked out the window. He wondered if anyone out there would be able to finish his Quest. He wondered if anyone loved the history and magic of Disneyland as much as he did. And if there was, Mr. Pegg couldn't wait to meet them.
Chapter 1

"Dizzy...Dizzy. Come on Dizzy, wake up!"

Dizzy rolled over in his bed, saw that his room was still completely dark, and squinted to check his alarm clock.

"It's only 3:30? Go back to bed Ana."

Dizzy Walker was fifteen years old. His real name was Desmond, but when his little sister Ana was a toddler she could only pronounce it "Dizzy." The nickname stuck and six years later everyone called him Dizzy, including his teachers. Dizzy was short for his age, with short brown hair and more freckles than he could count.

He lived in West Sacramento with his sister, Ana, and his mom, Michelle. His parents had been divorced for three years and his dad moved to Arizona shortly after the divorce. Dizzy and his sister hadn't seen their father since he moved, which was fine with Dizzy. The only time he heard from his dad was on his birthday, when he would receive a birthday card with nothing inside it, not even a name.

Dizzy was a typical fifteen-year-old boy. He got mostly good grades in school, except for math, which he hated. He kept to himself in class and on the playground. He wasn't a class clown or a teacher's pet. In fact, he hated any type of attention from teachers or his fellow students, good or bad. He spent most of his afternoons playing basketball alone in his driveway or playing video games with Ana.

"I don't care what time it is," his little sister Ana replied. Her voice was excited and showed no sign that it was only 3:30 in the morning. "Come on Dizzy, wake up and talk to me. I'm way too excited to sleep!"

"Fine," Dizzy said as he reluctantly threw back his covers and sat up to face his sister.

"Tell me what it's like again," Ana said. "Don't leave out any details."

"We've been over this a million times. It's called 'The Happiest Place on Earth,' what do you think it's like?"

The Walker family was leaving for a family vacation to Disneyland later that morning and it would be Ana's first time going. Their mom had been dating her new boyfriend Steve for almost four months, and this trip was going to be a way for the kids to meet and get to know her boyfriend and his son Travis. Normally Dizzy's family wouldn't be able to afford a vacation like this, but Steve insisted on paying for the trip. This trip would be a big change from their normal family vacation of visiting their grandparents in the Bay Area for a BBQ.

Dizzy had visited Disneyland once before. He had gone with his friend Kevin and his family during the summer after fifth grade and instantly fell in love with the place. His mom had sent him with $150 to spend on souvenirs, food, snacks, or anything else he might need on the trip. But Kevin's parents refused to let Dizzy pay for anything, so Dizzy ended up spending almost the entire $150 on different books about Disneyland they sold at the Emporium shop on Main Street. He bought _Behind the Scenes at Disneyland_ , _The Making of Disneyland_ , and several other books about the history of the park. Dizzy read and reread the books so many times over the past three years that he had almost every page memorized. His only other purchase was a small stuffed Mickey Mouse doll he bought for Ana, which she continued to sleep with every night.

That fall on his first day of middle school, he wore the Disneyland shirt Kevin's parents had bought him, excited to show off where he had been that summer. Unfortunately for Dizzy, his classmates were not as impressed as he was expecting them to be. Dizzy was teased by almost everyone he encountered until he was forced to retreat into a nearby bathroom, where he quickly turned his shirt inside out for the rest of the day. To middle school students, there was nothing "cool" about Disneyland. Although Dizzy continued his love of all things Disney and most specifically Disneyland, the unfair workings of middle school forced him to do so in private.

For almost an hour Ana continued to ask Dizzy about every detail of Disneyland that he could remember, but he had perfected the ability to act like he wasn't interested. The more excited she got, the less excited he acted. He didn't want to admit he was just excited as she was. That he couldn't wait to hear that familiar whistle when your ticket is scanned. That he couldn't wait to see the Disneyland Railroad pulling up to Main Street Station. That he couldn't wait to smell the churros, popcorn, cotton candy, and thousands of other smells that create the aroma of the park.

"Whatever...I guess it's alright," Dizzy concluded when Ana was out of questions.

At 6:30 that morning, their van was packed and they started the long drive to Anaheim. Dizzy had packed light, with just a change of clothes, toothbrush, deodorant, and of course, his books on Disneyland all stuffed into his backpack.

"Are we picking this Steve guy up?" Dizzy asked his mom as they approached the freeway.

"No, Steve and Travis are flying down. They are going to meet us when we get to the hotel."

Dizzy was relieved. The long car ride was going to be awful, but being forced to talk to two strangers the whole time would be pure torture.

"It would be a shame if they accidentally flew to Orlando and went to the wrong park," he said sarcastically.

"Be nice, Dizzy," his mom replied with a smile.

While the Walker family van merged onto the freeway, Ana's first of several Disney movies began to play on the overhead DVD player. Dizzy rolled his eyes, put on his headphones and sunglasses, hit a button on his beaten up old iPod, and tried to look uninterested. As Ana started giggling and singing along with her movie, Michelle glanced in her rearview mirror and saw Dizzy holding back a smile.

Dizzy's headphones weren't plugged in.
Chapter 2

It was almost three hours into their drive and Dizzy had secretly watched both of Ana's movies. She now was asleep, and Dizzy's mom sat in silence. Dizzy looked out the window and watched the rows of trees in the fields next to the freeway running alongside the car. Dizzy felt bad his mom had no one to talk to, so he took off his headphones.

"Don't the rows of trees look like sprinter's legs running next to us?" Dizzy asked.

"I've never thought of it like that," his mom replied as she looked out the window at the trees. "Yeah, I guess they do."

Michelle had been on several dates since the divorce, but not once had she introduced her date to Dizzy and Ana. She and Steve were now serious enough for this important step. She was extremely nervous when she told him that she wanted him to meet her kids, not knowing what his reaction would be. She expected a response anywhere from pure excitement to him running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. What she didn't expect was for him to offer to pay for her and her kids to go on vacation to Disneyland so they could meet each other in the best possible setting.

She wanted Steve to like Dizzy and Ana, but she REALLY wanted Dizzy and Ana to like Steve. She knew Ana would be her normal, sweet self and was nothing to worry about. What worried her was how Dizzy was going to respond to meeting Steve and his son Travis.

"Steve has told me a lot about his son Travis," Michelle said, breaking another long silence. "He is your age and from what Steve tells me, you two have a lot in common. I really do think you two are going to get along great."

Michelle's cell phone started ringing, and Dizzy laughed as it took her 25 seconds to get her Bluetooth earpiece into her ear. By the time it was in, the ringing had stopped. Dizzy's mom was never comfortable with technology, so just the fact that she owned a Bluetooth headset made her feel like she was from the future. She and Steve had gone shopping at an electronics store a few days earlier to get her some items for the trip, and she was still trying to get used to the new technology. The phone started ringing again, and with her earpiece finally installed, she pressed the button and answered.

"THIS IS MICHELLE....HELLO?...YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP! I'M ON MY BLUETEETH THING!"

She was screaming into the headset, apparently trying to deafen whoever had called her. Ana awoke instantly and dropped the Mickey Mouse doll she was using as her pillow. Dizzy reached over and picked the stuffed animal up and set it back in his sister's arms.

"It's called Bluetooth mom," Dizzy corrected. "Not Blueteeth."

Michelle put her hand over her ear piece and turned back to Dizzy.

"Same thing."

It was Steve calling to see how the drive had been so far. He had wanted to pay for the three of them to fly down to Anaheim with him and his son, but Michelle refused. He was already paying for the hotel, tickets to the park, and their meals. Michelle told him that was more than enough and insisted on driving to Anaheim. Steve explained to her that they had just landed and were waiting for their luggage. He was going to drop off Travis at the hotel and attend to some business in Los Angeles before Dizzy's family arrived.

"What do you have to do in L.A.?" Michelle asked.

"Just have a few things I need to get signed downtown," Steve said. "Nothing major. I will be back at the hotel before you guys get here. I promise."

"You better be," Michelle replied. "You know how I feel about people breaking promises."

"I haven't broken one yet, have I?" Steve answered.

She giggled, they exchanged their goodbyes, and nearly 15 presses of the buttons on her headset later, their call ended.

The family made a quick pit stop for lunch, gas, and a bathroom break at a small truck stop in the middle of nowhere. Dizzy and Ana looked at the pre made sandwiches on display in the glass case in disgust.

"When were these sandwiches made?" Dizzy asked his mom. "I think that one on the end is older than Ana."

"I've never eaten something older than me," Ana said excitedly. "Can I try it?"

"Let's just skip the sandwiches," Michelle said. "You two grab a few bags of chips and something to drink."

"Chips for lunch?" Ana asked. "This vacation is awesome!"

They bought their snacks, hit the restroom, filled up the gas tank, and were back on the road south to Anaheim.

Ana had been watching the mileage markers count down the remaining miles to Los Angeles. Like most kids her age, places like Disneyland, Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Anaheim all meant the same thing. As the miles to Los Angeles counted down, Ana's excitement grew.

"Only twenty more miles!" Ana exclaimed. Their van was just outside of Los Angeles, and Ana was already looking out the window, hoping to catch sight of Matterhorn Mountain or some other tall Disneyland landmark.

"We still have quite a ways to go sweetie," her mom said. "Anaheim is south of L.A. We still have about an hour until we get to our hotel. Even longer if traffic is bad."

Ana's excitement deflated as she pulled _The Lion King_ out of her DVD case, slid it into the player, and smashed her headphones down over her curly blond hair.

Ana was an active and friendly six-year-old girl. She loved Barbies, hula-hoops, and jump ropes. She played soccer and basketball, but spent more time talking to her friends on the other team than worrying where the ball was. She also idolized her older brother, which is to be expected ever since he saved her life.

The Walker family lived near a small reservoir and every morning during the summer, Dizzy and Ana would head to the shore right after breakfast. They would skip rocks, go fishing, and swim. One summer, when Dizzy was thirteen and Ana was three, they were exploring the hill just past the reservoir and found an old canoe. Someone had thrown it into the tall weeds and forgotten about it. The paint was peeling and the wood looked rotted. Inside the canoe were two old oars.

"Looks like fun," Dizzy said. "Want to go for a ride?"

Ana laughed and Dizzy pushed the canoe down the hill and onto the shore. He flipped it over to check for any holes, and was satisfied the boat wouldn't take on any water. He dug his feet into the shore and pushed the canoe into the reservoir. He waded into the water, holding the canoe steady so Ana could climb in. They both got on board and Dizzy began paddling with the oars. Ana sat in the front of the boat, and looked out over the water.

As they rowed further away from the shore, Ana thought she saw and a fish and stood up. The canoe started rocking, causing her to lose her balance and fall into the water. Ana didn't know how to swim and began to sink. Dizzy screamed and dove in after her. He kicked to propel himself deeper and reached with both arms, but felt nothing. The water was dark and murky and he couldn't see anything. His heart was racing and his lungs burned. He continued to kick and reached out one last time and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her close to him, wrapped his arms around her and kicked back toward the surface. They both emerged, gasping for air. Dizzy continued to kick and paddle toward the canoe until Ana was close enough to hold on to the side. He boosted her up and in, and slowly climbed in himself.

"I'm so sorry Ana," Dizzy said, trying to catch his breath. "This was such a stupid idea. You almost drowned."

Ana was lying on the bottom of the canoe, crying and taking heavy breaths.

"You just relax Ana. I'll get us back to shore."

Dizzy rowed slowly back to shore. When they were close enough, Dizzy climbed out of the boat and stood up in the water. He leaned into the canoe and bent down to pick up Ana. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks Dizzy," she said quietly. "You're my hero."

That was the last time Ana was in any body of water that was bigger than a bathtub. She never learned how to swim and was terrified of boats. Dizzy held himself completely responsible and swore to himself that he would do anything to keep his sister safe and happy from then on.

As the opening lines of "Circle of Life" began to play, Ana motioned to Dizzy to take off his headphones.

"Want to play?" she asked smiling.

For years, Dizzy was the only babysitter that Ana would ever allow to watch her. When their parents both had to work or on the rare occasion they went out to dinner together, Dizzy was put in charge. Since their parents' divorce, they had become even closer. Dizzy made sure she was ready for school every morning, walked her to and from school, and sat with her while she did her homework. After homework was done, he would try to get her to sit and watch a basketball game or an episode of _The Simpsons_ with him, but she only wanted to watch her movies.

She had a regular rotation of _The Little Mermaid_ , _The Lion King_ , _Aladdin_ , and _Beauty and the Beast_ and watched little else. By the time Ana was five she was reciting most of the dialogue along with the mermaid, lion, genie, and candlestick. Over time, she and Dizzy developed a game to see who could recite the most lines without making a mistake. If someone misspoke or forgot a line, the other person immediately would take over and continue the scene. Whoever was able to hold on and say the final line of the movie would be the winner.

"Sure, but you have to do all the songs," Dizzy replied. He knew Ana's favorite part was getting to sing the songs, and since he wasn't going to let down his "too cool for Disney" persona, he wouldn't be caught dead singing "I Just Can't Wait to Be King."

"...Life's not fair, is it? You see I, well I, shall never be king..." Ana began, quoting the villain Scar. The game continued back and forth for about an hour. Dizzy and Ana were enjoying the movie and didn't notice the van was slowing down, heading toward the off ramp.

"Hey guys," Michelle said, looking at them through her rear view mirror. "See anything interesting out of the window?"

Ana's head bolted sideways to look out the window, hoping to see something, anything that meant they finally arrived. She alternated looking out her window and Dizzy's, back and forth.

"Stop, you are making me dizzy," Dizzy said.

"You're always dizzy, Dizzy," Ana replied. It was her favorite joke, poking fun at her brother's nickname. "What side is it on? I don't see anything! WHERE IS IT?"

Through the trees the white of Matterhorn Mountain could be seen, and as Ana pushed her face against the window, the famous Monorail Train suddenly appeared on the track running parallel to their van.

"WE'RE HERE!" she screamed. "Disneyland! I'm so excited! What ride are we going on first?"

"No rides yet," Michelle said. "Remember, we have to meet Steve and Travis at the hotel. Then get checked in and drop off our luggage."

Ana let out a depressed groan. Being this close to Disneyland and having to drive away from it felt like torture.

"Don't worry Ana, we will be there soon," Dizzy said comfortingly.

The combination of seeing the Monorail, glimpses of the park, and his little sister's excitement had sent his heart racing. His friends weren't with him and he no longer cared about keeping his cool. He was literally steps away from his favorite place in the world and he couldn't wait to go through the turnstile and get back inside the park.

Dizzy joined in as Ana started singing "Zippity Doo Dah." They looked out the back window to see the Disneyland landmarks shrinking behind them. As they drove further away from Disneyland toward their hotel, Dizzy turned back around in his seat and saw his mom holding a small digital video camera.

"Isn't this thing great?" Michelle said excitedly, pointing the camcorder toward Dizzy over her shoulder. Dizzy froze in the middle of the song, his mouth hung open. "Steve got it for us. I am going to record our whole trip and put it up on the YouTubes."

Dizzy stared blankly at the camera. So much for not having to act cool this trip, he thought to himself.

"It's YouTube," he said. "Not YouTubes."

"Same thing," Michelle said. "Now keep singing! This will be the opening credits for our family movie!"

Ana and her mom continued singing as they pulled up to their hotel, while Dizzy tried his best to turn himself invisible in the backseat.

"Plenty of sunshine heading my way. Zippity doo dah, zippity aye!"
Chapter 3

The Walker family arrived at their hotel on Harbor Blvd. It was one of the many located across the street from Disneyland Resort and was a short walk from the park. Once they found an available parking spot, Dizzy, Ana, and Michelle climbed out of the van and began stretching their legs after the long drive.

The sound of wheels rolling and bouncing on concrete was approaching behind them and Dizzy turned to see a tall man in a dark blue polo shirt, khaki pants, dress shoes, and sunglasses pushing a bellman cart toward their van. That is great service, Dizzy thought to himself.

"Hey gorgeous!" the man said to Michelle.

Great service and creepy employees, Dizzy thought.

"Steve!" She dropped her purse and rushed to the man pushing the cart. She threw her arms around him and gave him a long hug.

"Steve works at this place?" Dizzy asked.

"Of course not," Michelle corrected him. "Now get over here and let me introduce you."

Dizzy dropped his backpack and walked over to his mom and Steve. Ana was walking closely behind him, acting shy for the first time in her life.

"Steve, this is my son Dizzy and my daughter Ana," Michelle began. "Dizzy and Ana, this is Steve." She had been looking forward to this moment the entire drive to Anaheim. She knew meeting her new boyfriend would be uncomfortable for her children, but she wanted them to at least give Steve a chance. She had told her kids countless times that Steve was a good man and made her happy. This trip was his gift to them and she hoped the vacation would bring them together.

Dizzy raised his hand to shake Steve's and looked up into his face. He only saw his own reflection in Steve's glasses.

"It is nice to meet you Dizzy," Steve said. "Your mom has told me a lot about you."

"That's nice," Dizzy replied quietly. She hasn't told us anything about you, he wanted to say.

"And you must be Ana," Steve said, bending at the knees so he was at Ana's height. "Your mom told me you love Disneyland, so I bought you something."

Ana's shyness was fading away.

"You did?" she asked.

"I did."

Steve reached into the backpack he was wearing and pulled out a small wrapped box. He handed the box to Ana and stood back up, wrapping his arm around Dizzy's mom's waist. Ana turned the box over in her hands. She looked up at Dizzy, as if to ask permission to accept the gift and open it. Dizzy smiled at her and she ripped open the wrapping.

She held in her hands a small pink book. The front cover had blue, bold lettering that read "Ana's 1st Disneyland Trip."

"Do you like it?" Steve asked.

"It's a book," Ana said, flipping through the pages. "But all the pages are blank." Ana was confused, but quickly remembered her manners. "Umm, thank you."

"It's not just any book," Steve said to her. "It is an autograph book. You take that with you to Disneyland and every time you meet a character, they will sign their name in your book for you to keep forever."

"Their real autograph?" Ana asked excitedly. "Like the real Mickey, Minnie, and Cinderella's autographs?"

"The autographs aren't real," a voice said from behind them. The group turned and saw a tall boy wearing an old baseball cap, a green t-shirt, and jeans.

"Hey there Travis," Steve said to the boy. "Come on over here and meet everyone." Travis reluctantly walked over to his dad and stood beside him, his eyes pointed at the ground. "Travis, this is Michelle, the woman I have been seeing. And these are her kids, Ana and Dizzy."

Travis looked up after hearing Dizzy's name.

"Dizzy. What kind of name is that?"

Dizzy was used to people making fun of his nickname, so Travis's question didn't bother him.

"Hi Travis. It's nice to meet you." Dizzy reached out to shake Travis's hand, but Travis did not return the gesture. Dizzy stood there feeling like an idiot until Ana jumped up and gave him a high five.

"I love my brother's name," Ana said excitedly. "Dizzy, Dizzy, makes me dizzy." She was spinning in circles with her arms stretched out wide. She stopped, wobbled a little bit from her spinning, and looked at Travis. "What did you mean the autographs aren't real?"

"They are just..." Travis started to say, but was interrupted by his dad.

"Let's get these bags up to the rooms," Steve said, trying to change the subject. "I'm sure everyone is excited to get to Disneyland!"

Ana and Dizzy gave each other another high five, but Travis acted like his father just suggested they all go to the dentist.

"Yeah, sounds great," Travis said. "Let's go see some dumb mouse and ride a bunch of kiddy rides."

Dizzy had seen that attitude before. It was the exact same response he got from his classmates when he wore his Disneyland shirt the first day of school. Another teenager that is too cool for Disneyland, Dizzy thought to himself. Dizzy didn't care what Travis thought. As far as Dizzy was concerned, Travis was just a stranger that he had to spend a couple of days with. If Travis didn't want to have fun at Disneyland, Dizzy assured himself he wouldn't let Travis spoil his or Ana's trip.

They loaded up the bellman's cart with the luggage from the van and started for the elevators. When they reached their rooms, Steve inserted the key card, the little light turned from red to green, and the door unlocked.

"Cool," said Ana. This was her first time staying in a hotel and hadn't expected the door to unlock with a card.

"Easily impressed, huh?" Travis mumbled as he entered the room.

The room had two beds, a small couch, a flat screen TV hanging on the wall, a desk, a small refrigerator, and a door in the middle of the room. The back of the room held the bathroom and a closet, which already had several items falling out of it.

"Where does this go?" Ana asked, unlocking and opening the door. She swung it open and saw another door. "This door is broken. All it goes to is another door."

"I thought you kids could stay in this room," Steve said while unloading Ana and Dizzy's bags. "That door connects to our room, so we are only a few steps away."

The door in front of Ana opened and she saw her mom standing in a room that was almost the same as theirs.

"Hi sweetie," said Ana's mom. "Do you think you will be ok in the next room?"

"Of course mom," Dizzy said. "We will be fine."

Dizzy was not happy about having to share a room with Travis, who had made it very clear that he had no intentions of becoming friends.

"Who's ready to head to the park?" Steve asked excitedly.

"Me!" Ana screamed. "I'm ready!"

"Good, because Mickey is waiting for you," Steve said, tapping Ana on the nose. "And don't forget your autograph book."

"Got it!" Ana said.

As they began their walk toward Disneyland, Dizzy's excitement grew. He held Ana's hand while she skipped along side of him. Steve and his mom held hands a few steps behind them, and Travis was walking alone with his headphones on a few more steps back from them.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Steve said, pulling out his wallet and walking faster to catch up to Dizzy. "I gave your sister her present and in all the excitement I completely forgot about yours."

"No thank you," Dizzy said, before Steve was able to take anything out. He was sure Steve was going to give him money, but with Steve already paying for the hotel room and tickets to the park, he felt bad about accepting anything else.

"Don't you at least want to see what it is?" Steve asked, smiling at Dizzy. "Here, open it."

He handed Dizzy a small envelope with the Disneyland logo on it. Dizzy opened the envelope and found twelve tickets that said "All Access Fast Pass" on the top. Dizzy read the writing on the ticket out loud.

"The holder of this ticket may continue to the front of the line on any ride at any time. Show this ticket to a cast member at the chosen ride for instructions."

"Wow!" said Dizzy's mom. "Doesn't that sound great? You can jump to the front of the line on any ride you want. What a nice gift." She leaned over and gave Steve a kiss on the cheek.

"These are great," Dizzy said to Steve. "Thank you so much."

Dizzy was really starting to like Steve. He was a nice enough guy, made his mom happy, and Ana seemed to like him. Maybe this vacation would turn out ok after all.

"Don't forget to share those passes Spinny," Travis said, now catching up to the rest of the group. "And we aren't spending them all on something stupid like the Tea Cups."

"Why would we use them on the Tea Cups?" Dizzy asked, ignoring Travis's attempt at making fun of his name.

"I figured since your name is Dizzy, you would love a ride like that," Travis replied.

"Dizzy actually has really bad motion sickness," Dizzy's mom said. "I don't think he'll ride anything that spins like the Tea Cups."

Dizzy's motion sickness had been a problem for years. He would get nauseous if he rode anything with repetitive motion, which meant no swing sets, teeter totters, or merry-go-rounds. In short, if Dizzy got dizzy everyone around would see what he had for breakfast.

"So you won't be able to go on anything?" Travis asked. "Dad, I told you we should have just kept those passes for ourselves."

"I can go on rides," Dizzy said, standing up for himself. "Don't worry about me."

"They are arguing just like brothers," Dizzy's mom said smiling. "I can already tell this is going to be a great vacation."

Dizzy wasn't going to let Travis spoil his great mood. In just a few minutes, he would hand his ticket to a cast member, walk through the turnstile, and be back in Disneyland.

At that moment he was the happiest boy on Earth entering the happiest place on Earth.
Chapter 4

Dizzy, Ana, Travis, Steve, and Michelle walked up to the Disneyland entrance. The lines were still long to enter Disneyland, even though it was almost 4:00 in the afternoon. When they arrived at the front of the line, they were greeted by a smiling cast member. He scanned their tickets and Dizzy leaned in to hear the whistle of the machine. One by one they walked through the turnstile and Ana grabbed a map for each of them from the map holder.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. As soon as they walked through the gate, they glanced up to see the beautiful Main Street Train Station and heard the whistle of an approaching train. There were families taking pictures with the Mickey shaped flower garden in front of the station as the background, and Dizzy's mom was reaching in her purse for her camera.

"Everyone go stand in front of the garden," she said excitedly. "This will be a great picture."

Steve, Travis, Dizzy, and Ana all stood together and smiled for the camera.

"Say 'Mickey!'" Michelle said, pressing the button on her camera.

"Mickey!" the group, minus Travis, shouted.

"Wait, hold on." Michelle was messing with the buttons on the back of the camera. "OK, I have it now. Say 'Mickey!'...no wait. Steve, how do I--"

"Would you like me to do that for you ma'am?" asked a nearby Disney photographer. "That way you can be in the picture too."

"That would be wonderful," Michelle said excitedly. "Thank you so much." Michelle handed her the camera and rushed to Steve's side.

"One more time, everyone say 'Mickey!"

"Mickey!" everyone but Travis said again.

"Are we going to have to say Mickey every time we take a picture?" Travis whispered to his dad. "What's wrong with just smiling?"

"She's excited, Travis," Steve replied quietly. "Cut her some slack."

The photographer returned the camera to Michelle and the group made their way to Main Street. Before they entered the tunnel that went under the Disneyland Railroad tracks, Dizzy looked up and saw a plaque above him. He read it quietly to himself.

"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy." It was such a simple quote but it summarized the entire Disneyland experience.

When they arrived on Main Street, Ana looked like she was going to pop from excitement.

"There's Pluto!" she shouted, starting to run to him. "And there is Alice and the Mad Hatter!" she screamed again, changing directions. She had her autograph book and a pen in her hand and got in Alice's line.

"How long are we going to watch this kid get autographs?" Travis asked his dad. "She will want to spend the entire trip in these lines to meet these dumb characters."

"Believe it or not at one point you did the same thing when you were her age son."

Travis looked at Dizzy to see if he heard what his dad said, but Dizzy didn't seem to be listening to their conversation.

"I wasn't that bad," Travis said, relieved Dizzy didn't hear. "Hey, what's that?"

There was a large stage built on Town Square in front of the Main Street train station with a big crowd in front of it.

"Maybe there is a performance or a show?" Dizzy suggested, just noticing the stage for the first time. "Mom, I'm going to go check it out."

"That's fine Dizzy," his mom answered. "We'll be right here."

Dizzy and Travis walked over to the stage and saw that a large, black vault was sitting on it. The vault looked to be about six feet tall and had a silver Mickey Mouse head engraved in the middle, just above the dial. There were workers busily setting up a podium, microphone, and running wires along the side of the stage.

"I wonder what that's for," Dizzy said to Travis.

"I thought you were Mr. Disney," Travis answered. "I figured you'd know what it is."

"Nope," Dizzy replied. "I have no idea what this thing is. And why would you think I'm Mr. Disney?"

"Your mom told my dad that you knew everything there is to know about Disneyland. I figured you would've known what's going on."

A short, overweight man in a blue suit and a bow tie walked up the steps leading to the stage. His name tag read Mr. Pegg, which seemed odd to Dizzy, as most cast members had the employee's first name and hometown on them. Mr. Pegg stepped up to the vault, looked it over for a few moments and nodded his head, indicating that everything looked fine. He approached the microphone and gave a thumbs-up to a worker standing near a control board. There was a huge explosion that made the now rather large crowd all step back in unison.

Fireworks were shooting out of the top of the vault and music was playing from the speakers along Main Street. The music quieted and a voice began to speak.

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, welcome to Disneyland!" Mr. Pegg was speaking into the microphone. "Tomorrow morning, we would like to welcome you to take part in a once in a lifetime event, the Disneyland Quest. A treasure hunt throughout Disneyland, full of riddles and clues that you must decipher. Solve all the clues to find the three numbers that unlock the Disney Vault you will find behind me."

The man motioned to the vault that was sitting behind him on the stage. Dizzy looked up at the vault that still had sparklers shooting out of the top of it. He saw Main Street Station behind the safe and wished he had his mom's camera to take a picture.

"Hey, can I borrow your phone?" Dizzy asked Travis. "I want to take a picture of that."

"Why?" Travis asked.

"It looks cool, don't you think?"

"Whatever man." Travis took out his iPhone and handed it to Dizzy. Dizzy held up the phone to get as much of the background into the picture as he could. He snapped a couple of pictures and handed the phone back to Travis.

"Why didn't you use your phone?" Travis asked, putting his phone back into his pocket.

"I don't have a cell phone," Dizzy answered.

"Ouch," Travis replied. "That's gotta be rough."

"Signups for the Disneyland Quest will begin now in City Hall," Mr. Pegg continued. It was at that moment that the hundreds of people begin running toward City Hall, wanting to be the first to sign up.

"Before you all run off," the man said, stopping the crowd in their tracks, "don't you want to know what's inside?"

"Yeah!" the crowd responded in unison.

"The first team to open the vault behind me," again he motioned behind him toward the vault, almost as if he was showing off the same picture that Dizzy just took, "will receive the grand prize of $250,000-"

"WHOA!" the crowd yelled, interrupting the man. A huge cheer spread throughout the crowd and the man held up his hands, hoping to quiet them down so he could continue.

"Right," he said when it was quiet enough for him to begin again. "The winners will receive the grand prize of $250,000 and four lifetime passes to all Disney parks around the world. Those passes are good seven days a week, 365 days a year."

More cheers and yells came from the crowd.

"Again, signups begin now in City Hall. Have your entire group with you when you sign up and please, no more than four people per group. Children are welcome to sign up but need a parent signature during registration. Everyone will receive the first clue tomorrow morning and the Quest ends at 7:00 p.m. sharp. If no one finds the combination by then, the prize stays in the vault. Good luck everyone!"

More fireworks exploded behind him as he walked off the stage. He found himself quickly surrounded by people asking him questions about the Quest.

"Wow, this sounds incredible!" Dizzy said to Travis.

"We just heard," Steve said, approaching Dizzy and Travis with Michelle and Ana. "Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Are you two going to join the Quest?"

"Do it Dizzy," his mom suggested. "You will do great. And it does sound like a lot of fun."

"I'm in if you are," Travis said to Dizzy. "Split the prize 50-50 if we win?"

"Sure," Dizzy said. He didn't expect to win, although the money and the lifetime passes sounded great. "There will be hundreds, maybe thousands of teams signing up for this thing though. So don't get your hopes up."

"But Dizzy," Ana said, not looking up from Alice's signature in her book, "nobody knows more about Disneyland than you do. You'll win for sure."

"Well, that settles it," Steve said, clapping his hands. "Let's get you kids signed up. That line already looks pretty long, so let's not waste any more time."

The five of them headed toward City Hall and got in the back of a line that was zig zagging through ropes that had been set up. Dizzy looked back toward the vault and wondered if he actually did have a chance of winning.

Who knows, Dizzy thought to himself. Someone has to win. It might as well be us, right?

Chapter 5

Dizzy and Travis had been standing in line outside City Hall for 45 minutes, listening to the group in front of them loudly explaining how they were going to spend their money. Steve and Michelle had taken Ana to see the rest of the characters that were stationed around Main Street. She told her mom she wanted to stay with Dizzy, but he insisted she went.

"You don't want to spend an hour waiting in this line," Dizzy told her. "There isn't even a ride at the end. Go with Mom and get some autographs."

Dizzy and Travis had learned the loud man in front of them was named Justin and was signing up with his two friends, Joey and Charles. They were in their early 20s and had been bragging about how easy the Quest was going to be. The fourth member of their group was a girl Dizzy and Travis's age. She was shorter than Dizzy, had long blonde hair worn under a pink Minnie Mouse hat, big blue eyes, and was reading a yellow and black book that Dizzy recognized as Hidden Mickeys in Disneyland.

"We have this thing in the bag," Justin said. He was the taller than both his friends, and rested his elbows on each of their shoulders.

"Heck yeah, Justin," his friend Joey said. "That 250 grand is as good as ours."

"As long as slow poke here doesn't slow us down," Justin said, pointing to the girl.

"You are such a jerk," she said.

"Listen Megan," Justin began. "Mom and Dad are making me look after you. So just stay quiet and try to keep up." He turned back to his friends and shook his head. "Sisters are the absolute worst."

Megan turned away from her brother and continued reading her Hidden Mickeys book.

Justin made another joke about the rest of the "losers in the line," which caused his friends to all burst into laughter. They were being really obnoxious, but were oblivious to the dirty looks they received from the people around them.

"I've been to Disneyland so many times I bet I solve all the clues in the first hour," Justin bragged, receiving high fives from his friends. "I bet these idiots in line behind me don't even know there is a basketball court here at Disneyland."

He was of course referring to the famous basketball court that was installed near the top of Matterhorn Mountain. Rumor had it that the Disney company was forced to install a basketball court because of a city ordinance that said a structure of that size had to be a sports arena, so Walt had a basketball court built inside to get around the law.

Dizzy didn't know if Justin and his friends were referring to him and Travis directly as the "idiots in line behind them." Travis looked at Dizzy and raised his eyebrows. He nodded his head toward the group in front of them, as if to say, go for it.

"Matterhorn has a basketball court inside it," Dizzy said. Justin, his friends, and Megan all turned to look at Dizzy.

"What did you say kid?" Justin asked.

"I was just saying that Matterhorn is the ride with the basketball court you were talking about."

Justin and his friends stared at Dizzy. Dizzy looked up at them, wishing he had kept his mouth shut. He looked over at Megan who gave him a small smile. Dizzy never knew what girls were doing or thinking, so he smiled backed, afraid to say anything else.

"Yeah, well everyone knows that," Justin said, ready to change the subject. "What are you two doing in line anyway? You think you are really going to win?"

"It doesn't matter if we win," Dizzy started. "We are doing it because it sounds fun."

This caused Justin and his friends to explode with laughter.

"We are winning this thing," Travis said, interrupting their laughs. "So remember these faces when we open up that vault."

It was now Travis's turn to receive a smile from Megan. Travis noticed and held out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Travis and this is my buddy Dizzy."

She shook Travis's hand and looked at Dizzy, waiting for him to extend his hand. He was surprised at Travis's bravery and was caught off guard, and by the time he realized he should have stuck out his hand, the moment had passed.

"I'm Megan," she said. "Dizzy huh? Is that like a nickname or something?"

"Yeah, it's--"

"Your name is Dizzy?" Justin interrupted. "What kind of stupid name is that? Were you born on a Merry Go Round or something?

"He has a cool name," Travis said. "And don't worry, you'll get to hear it again tomorrow after we open that vault and he is pronounced the winner."

"Whatever," Justin responded. "I'm not wasting my time with some dumb kids. Just stay out of our way tomorrow."

Justin and his friends turned their backs on Dizzy and Travis and continued talking about what they were going to buy when they won the prize. Megan gave them a small wave, turned around, and continued reading her book.

"You really think we are going to win?" Dizzy asked Travis a few moments later.

"I think we can if you can drop the phony-bologna, 'just here to have fun' nonsense."

"What are you talking about?"

"You told this bozo and his friends that we were just doing it to have fun. That's not why I'm doing it. I am in it to win it. If we have fun, that's great. But do you know what would be really fun?"

"What?" Dizzy asked.

"Seeing the look on this guy's face when he finds out he was beaten by some dumb kids."

Dizzy thought about it for a minute. Dizzy was not a very competitive person. If he was playing basketball with his friends, he insisted they didn't keep score. When he played a game with Ana, he often would lose on purpose just to see her victory dance. But Travis spoke with a certain intensity that Dizzy admired. Dizzy thought that if he was going to spend one whole day of his vacation competing in the Quest, he should do it right.

"Ok," Dizzy said. "I'm in."

The two boys shook hands just as Steve, Michelle, and Ana returned from getting autographs.

"Look at you two," Michelle said. "Friends already. How cute. Steve, hold my coffee so I can take their picture."

Justin and his friends overheard Michelle and all started laughing again. Dizzy looked over at Megan, her face still buried in her book.

"Who are your friends?" Steve asked, nodding his head in Justin's direction.

"Nobody important," Travis said.

They stayed in line together until they reached the front. When they arrived at the signup desk, Dizzy and Travis were handed a clipboard that had paperwork to fill out. The top of the paper said "Disneyland Quest" in the famous Walt Disney script. Travis and Dizzy began filling out the paper work.

"Wait, I want to try something," Michelle said, taking her cell phone out of her purse. "Both of you look at me while you fill out your form. I want to take your picture for my Twittery thing. Say 'Mickey!'"

Both boys smiled without saying Mickey as Michelle took their picture. She tapped the screen and leaned back against the desk.

"Twittery?" Travis asked.

"I think she meant Twitter," Dizzy said smiling.

"You are going to need to have your mom or dad sign that," said the woman behind the signup desk. She was trying to keep up the normal happy Disney Cast Member attitude, but after explaining the same thing to hundreds of groups over the past hour her impatience was starting to show. "Any groups without an adult need a parent or guardian's signature."

"I'll take care of that," Steve said. He scribbled "Steve Manning" on the bottom line, crossing his t with a swipe of the pen. "Ok, so when does this thing start?"

"The Disneyland Quest starts tomorrow morning. All teams will receive their first clue at precisely 9:00 a.m. and everyone will have until 7:00 p.m. to find the combination of the vault." She seemed to be reciting all of the information without thinking, and the voice came out semi-robotic.

"Sounds great," Steve said. "I have to run to make a phone call real quick. Meet everyone at the flag pole?" He leaned over and gave Michelle a kiss on the cheek and left. Michelle was still busy tapping and swiping on her cell phone.

"I did it," she said, showing her phone to the kids. "I twittered your picture!"

"It's called 'tweeting', mom," Dizzy corrected her.

"Same thing," Michelle said, returning the phone to her purse.

"Mommy, I want to be on the team, too," Ana said. "Dizzy, can I help?"

"Of course you can," Dizzy replied.

"No way," Travis said. "She's just going to slow us down."

"I will not!" Ana exclaimed.

"Hurry up!" a voice shouted from the line behind them.

"If Ana wants to join us, she's joining us. Ok?" Dizzy said firmly.

"Excuse me miss," Michelle said to the woman behind the counter. "Can we have our sign up form back? I want to add my daughter to their team."

The woman handed Michelle the clipboard with their form on it. Michelle set it down on the edge of the desk and was bumped from behind, causing her to spill her coffee across the form. The papers were ruined.

"Oh no," Michelle said, holding the clipboard away from her. "I'm so sorry. Can I get a new form?"

More shouts and demands to hurry up came from the other people waiting to sign up. The woman behind the desk sighed and handed her a new clipboard.

"Why don't you kids wait outside?" Michelle said while quickly filling out the paperwork. "Steve is probably wondering what is keeping us."

Michelle finished filling out the form and found Steve, Dizzy, Travis, and Ana standing near the stage looking up at the vault.

"Here you go kids," Michelle said, handing Dizzy, Travis, and Ana each a dark blue pin with the number 215 on it. "She told me to have you guys wear this tomorrow morning so they know you are registered for the Quest."

"215?" Travis asked. "Why does it say 215?"

"She said you were the 215th group to sign up."

"Wow," Dizzy said. "215 groups. Not to mention all the groups that are still waiting to sign up."

"There is no way 215 groups of people signed up before us," Travis insisted. "That has to be a mistake."

"I bet most of the people in line ahead of you just signed up as their own group," Steve said. "They can still work together, but if they are in multiple groups they figure they might have a better chance of winning. Especially if they all agreed to just split the money anyway."

"Winning this thing will be harder than I thought," Dizzy said.

The group began walking down Main Street toward Sleeping Beauty's Castle and debated what their first ride should be. Dizzy did not join in on the discussion and said whatever everyone else wanted to ride was fine with him. They eventually settled on Thunder Mountain and Ana opened her map and began giving them directions on which way to go. Dizzy had been looking forward to walking down Main Street since he learned about the trip. He could spend the entire vacation hanging out on Main Street, perfectly happy to not go on a ride. But the shops, sounds, and smells didn't even register. His mind was lost on the Quest and the hundreds of other groups that were still in line to sign up.

Dizzy looked down at the 215 pin still in his hand, squeezed it tight in his fist, and shook his head.
Chapter 6

Steve, Michelle, Travis, Ana, and Dizzy spent most of the early evening going on rides together. After Thunder Mountain they moved over to Fantasyland. Travis was not happy about having to ride the Fantasyland rides that were aimed at much younger guests, but he was able to keep his complaints to himself for the most part.

Dizzy remained quiet for most of the evening, lost in his thoughts about the Quest.

"Dizzy?" Ana asked, pulling on his shirt.

"Huh? What?" Dizzy asked, his mind coming back to the present.

"I asked, what should we go on next."

"Oh," Dizzy said. "How about you pick the next one?"

"She has already picked the last five rides we have been on," Travis said. "Let's do something good, like Pirates of the Caribbean."

Ana grabbed Dizzy's hand and pulled herself close to him.

"What's wrong with her?" Travis said. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Michelle said. "We should have said something earlier, but Ana has this thing about boats. It's fine though. You three boys go on Pirates and we'll wait for you by the exit."

"What does that mean?" Travis asked.

"It means she is afraid of boats and doesn't ride them," Dizzy said. "Is that a problem?"

"Afraid of boats?" Travis asked. "Like all boats? Even little tiny ones?"

"Yeah," Dizzy said. "She doesn't like being on water."

"And you really don't think she is going to slow us down tomorrow?" Travis was angry. "What if the first clue tells us to go on Splash Mountain? Or Small World? You don't think that is going to be a problem?"

"Travis is right," Steve said. "Maybe she should stay with us tomorrow and let the boys handle the clues on their own."

"That's not fair!" Ana said. "I want to help. I'll go on boats...if I have to." She whispered the last part, not saying it with a lot of confidence.

"We'll be fine," Dizzy said to Travis and Steve. "If she wants to come with us, she can."

"Thanks Dizzy," Ana said while giving her brother a hug.

He didn't respond to his sister. His mind was racing. Maybe Steve and Travis were right. Maybe Ana was going to slow them down and she shouldn't be involved. There were going to be a lot of teams trying to win that prize, and any amount of time wasted trying to convince Ana to get on a boat or having to stop to take her to the bathroom could be the difference between winning and losing. But Dizzy couldn't ask Ana to not come with him. It would crush her. Dizzy wondered if it would be worth sparing her feelings if it meant losing the Quest.

He then quickly became disappointed in himself for considering leaving Ana out. Her life had been hard enough, and Dizzy reminded himself that he would do anything he could to make her happy. If letting her join their Quest team made her happy, then she would be on the team. Travis would just have to deal with any slowdowns she might cause.

The five of them agreed to go on Matterhorn. Ana sat with Dizzy and he double checked her seat belt to make sure she was buckled in tight, knowing she would have her hands raised above her head during the entire ride. He had told her all about the ride and she couldn't wait to get going. In the seat behind them were Michelle and Steve, Michelle leaning back against him. Travis had his own bobsled behind Michelle and Steve.

Dizzy loved the Matterhorn and thought about how cool it must have been to ride it when the Skyway buckets traveled directly through the mountain. Looking up at someone traveling by in their bucket while taking a sharp turn and or a quick drop would have been such a thrill. The Skyway was removed in 1994, before Dizzy had even been born, but he had seen pictures of the ride in his History of Disneyland book.

It was at that moment Dizzy thought about his Disneyland books in his backpack in the hotel room. He thought it would be a good idea to look through them tonight, just in case any information would be helpful during the Quest. He didn't want to carry them around the park during the Quest because they were all pretty large and would be heavy in his backpack. He had the books memorized for the most part, so carrying them around would be unnecessary.

After the ride, the group went to get corn dogs for dinner. They sat on benches at the end of Main Street, taking in the atmosphere and watching Ana feed bits of the bread from her corn dog to a family of ducks on the grass nearby. After dinner, Steve and Michelle told the kids they were free to go off and ride what they wanted, as long as they stayed together. Michelle gave Travis her cell phone number so he could call or text her if there was any problems and he saved her number in his phonebook. They agreed to meet back at the vault between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m.

"I get to stay up late!" Ana shouted, doing her victory dance in front of her new duck friends.

The rest of the night was full of rides, character autographs for Ana, a visit to the Candy Palace on Main Street, and long discussions about the Quest. Everything was going well until they saw four familiar faces in line for Autopia.

"Look who it is," Justin said after recognizing Dizzy and Travis. He elbowed his friends to point them in the boys' direction. "Did your mommy say you could stay up this late?" Justin asked. He made a baby voice when saying the word "mommy," which of course his friends all found hilarious and laughed along with him. Megan was again reading her Hidden Mickeys book and ignored her brother's laughter.

"Just ignore him Dizzy," Travis said as he turned away from the three guys.

"I think I hurt their feelings," Justin said, using the baby voice again.

Travis turned around to face Justin.

"No hurt feelings. We just wanted to let you practice."

"Practice? Practice what?"

"Practice looking at our backs. I figure we are going to be ahead of you every step of the way tomorrow, so we might as well let you practice seeing what we look like from the back."

Travis had a lot of guts. Justin's smile instantly vanished. His face got red and he looked like he was ready to jump over the barrier and attack Travis. He clenched his fists and stared daggers at the boys. Megan was laughing, a sight Dizzy was becoming fond of.

"Jeez Travis. Aren't you worried he is going to come over here and pound you?" Dizzy wasn't big on confrontations, especially ones with older guys that could pick him up and throw them into the nearby submarine lagoon.

"Relax," Travis said while taking a bite of his marshmallow on a stick. "He's like 20-years-old. We are 15. If he touched us he would go to jail, and he knows it."

Travis had a lot of confidence and Dizzy was envious of it. One thing was certain, the combination of the Quest, the prize money, and beating Justin and his friends was definitely bringing Travis and Dizzy closer. Teenage boys can bond over the strangest things.

Around 9:30 p.m., the three kids met up with Steve and Michelle near the vault. There were three spotlights sitting on the top of the vault, slowing rotating down to the entrance to the Main Street Station, and back up into the sky. Every once in a while the three spotlights in the sky would over lap, creating a Mickey Mouse head shaped light. Ana was riding on Dizzy's shoulders, and when he tried to show her the Mickey head in the sky, he found that she was asleep, her chin resting on the top of his head.

"How precious," Michelle said, fishing for her camera in her purse. "Stand in front of the vault. This will be a great picture."

She pointed the camera at Dizzy and Ana.

"Say 'Mickey,'" she whispered.

Travis laughed to himself, no picture opportunity would be complete without saying "Mickey."

She quickly snapped a few pictures and returned the camera to her purse.

"Everyone ready to go?" Steve asked. "You've got a big day tomorrow. Let's get going."

The five of them walked out through the turnstiles and began the trek back to the hotel.

For most visitors, the walk to Disneyland is full of skipping kids, laughing adults, and an overall happiness that can't be found anywhere else. Kids are full of energy and can't wait to get on the rides and parents are in a good mood seeing how excited their children are. Everyone is well rested and ready for a great day at the park. The walk, no matter how far it is, feels as easy as walking to check the mailbox.

Unfortunately, the walk from Disneyland is the polar opposite. Kids are sleeping or begging to be carried on shoulders, parents are exhausted, out of money, and struggling to carry the bags of souvenirs the kids "just had to have." A full day at the park drains kids and adults alike, leaving a barely functioning human being ready to fall asleep the moment their head touches a pillow. The walk, no matter how close it is, feels like trying to finish a marathon in steel boots.

When they arrived at the hotel, Dizzy's back was killing him. He didn't want to put Ana down or shift her too much during the walk, so he suffered through the discomfort. If she was going to be on their team tomorrow, he would need her to get as much sleep as possible. Steve unlocked the door and held it open for Dizzy, Ana, and Travis to enter. Michelle asked Dizzy if he needed help with Ana, but he motioned with his hand that he didn't. As Ana's only babysitter, getting Ana ready for bed was something Dizzy had done hundreds of times before.

"Travis, hand me your phone," Steve said, still holding the door open. "I am going to copy all of the pictures you took today onto my laptop. Maybe we can make a slideshow or something when the trip is over."

"I only took a couple," Travis said. He took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to his dad.

"I'll have it back to you in the morning," Steve said.

They exchanged their goodnights and Steve and Michelle entered their room through the adjoining door.

"We're right here if you kids need anything," Michelle said. She yawned and propped open the door with the garbage can. "Just call us if you need us."

The maid had turned down the beds in the kids' room, and unfolded the couch into a third bed.

"I'll take the couch," Dizzy whispered. "Travis, can you give me a hand?"

Travis came over and Dizzy leaned forward, allowing Travis to lift Ana off Dizzy's exhausted shoulders.

"Thanks Travis," Ana said, half asleep and putting her head on Travis's shoulder.

"Oh, umm. No problem." Travis awkwardly held Ana away from him. He was an only child and was not used to holding someone in his arms.

"Get your pajamas on, sis," Dizzy said, trying to wake Ana just enough for her to get herself ready for bed.

Within minutes, all three kids were in their beds. Ana fell back asleep instantly, and Travis seemed to be out as well. Dizzy took out his Disneyland books and a small book light he kept in his backpack. He began reading the introduction to his favorite book, _Walt_ ' _s Dream: The Making of Disneyland_. He was trying to keep his eyes open, fighting off the oncoming sleep. Just one more page, he kept telling himself. He skimmed through the purchasing of the land, the story behind Walt and his wife Lilly, and Walt's fascination with trains.

At 1:00 am, Dizzy could no longer fight off sleep. He closed his book, turned off his reading light, and closed his eyes.

He drifted off to sleep thinking of the Quest, excited to finally be able to show what he knew about Disneyland, excited to not have to be ashamed for his love of the park, and excited about the possibility of winning the prize and changing his life forever.

Chapter 7

Dizzy rolled over on his couch bed and saw the morning sun peaking in through the window. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head. He looked at the alarm clock on the nearby nightstand and it read 9:15.

"9:15?!" Dizzy yelled, quickly climbing out of bed. "It's 9:15! Wake up!"

Dizzy couldn't believe everyone would sleep in on such an important day. He was disappointed he didn't at least set the alarm clock as a last resort. He looked over at the two beds and found them both empty, the blankets and sheets thrown back. Ana's pillow was lying on the floor.

It didn't seem possible to Dizzy. Why would everyone get up and not bother to wake him? Didn't they know how much he wanted to take part in the Quest? Wouldn't Ana at least beg everyone to stop and wake Dizzy before leaving?

Dizzy rushed to his backpack, threw on some jeans and his navy Disneyland '55 t-shirt, and headed for the door. He swung the door open, ready to start running to the park and collided into Steve carrying a large tray with glasses of orange juice and a plate covered with toast, donuts, and muffins. The tray dropped to the floor, making a loud crash and covering Dizzy and Steve's pants with juice.

"What in the world was that?" Michelle asked, rushing through the door.

"I'm not really sure," Steve said, wiping the excess juice off his pants. "I think Dizzy just tried to tackle me."

"What is everyone doing?" Dizzy asked frantically. "It's after 9 o'clock! The Quest already started. We are late!"

Steve and Michelle looked at Dizzy.

"It's not even 8:00 yet," Steve said, bending down to pick up the pastries on the floor. "We have time."

Dizzy was confused.

"But my alarm clock said 9:15 when I woke up. And Ana and Travis were gone. I thought everyone ditched me."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Travis said, coming out of Steve and Michelle's room. "I was just having some fun with you. I thought it'd be funny to change the clock to see your reaction." He smiled at Dizzy. "You did not disappoint."

"Good one," Dizzy said sarcastically. He was relieved there was still time and bent down to help Steve clean up the mess.

"Want to come with me to get breakfast?" Steve asked Dizzy. "It will probably be easier to carry with two trays."

"Sure."

Dizzy and Steve walked down to the continental breakfast offered by the hotel. There were a few cartons of juice on ice, platters full of donuts, muffins, bagels, and slices of bread, and a few bowls filled with fruit. Dizzy filled five cups with orange juice and grabbed a few apples and bananas, while Steve loaded up on donuts, muffins, and bagels.

On the way back to the room, Steve stopped in front of Dizzy and turned to face him.

"Dizzy, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Dizzy was worried Steve was going to talk to him about his mom, or how he felt about them being together. It was not a conversation he was looking forward to having.

"Do you really know as much about Disneyland as your mom tells me you do?"

The question surprised Dizzy. He looked blankly at Steve, not sure how to answer.

"I...umm...." was all he was able to get out.

"Don't be modest Dizzy. Answer honestly. Do you know as much about Disneyland as your mom has told me?"

"I have read a lot of books about it," Dizzy started. "And I read a bunch of stuff online when I can. I would say I know more than most people, if that's what you are asking."

"Excellent," Steve said. "If you need any help today, just have Travis shoot me or your mom a text. I'd give you a good luck high five right now, but I don't feel like dropping another tray of food all over the place."

Dizzy laughed as they continued walking back to the room. He was glad Steve didn't ask him about his mom, because he wasn't quite sure what he thought about them together. Steve was nice to him and his sister and seemed to treat his mom well. He had also organized and paid for this vacation, something his family wouldn't have been able to afford without saving money for several years.

When they reached the room, Steve had to knock on the door with his foot, as his hands were too full to use the card key. Michelle answered, holding the door open as they entered.

"Room service," Steve announced proudly.

"What's room service?" Ana asked. She was lying on the bed watching a Disney cartoon.

"It's when you get food delivered to your room," Travis said. He was reading one of Dizzy's Disneyland books at the small table near the window. "It's pretty much the greatest thing ever."

"It sounds like it!" Ana said excitedly.

They set the trays down on the table. Travis, Ana, and Dizzy crowded around the table to eat, while Steve and Michelle ate on their bed.

"So what do you think the first clue will be?" Michelle asked.

"It could be anything," Travis answered. "But I hope it's a really hard one."

"You do?" Dizzy asked. Travis's comment confused him. He had secretly hoped the first clue would be really easy, so they could start the Quest in the right direction. He didn't want to think about what would happen if the first clue was too hard and they never even made it to the second.

"Of course," Travis said. "You should, too."

"Why?"

"Think about it. If the first clue is really easy, everyone will find the second clue at the same time. There will be huge crowds of people all going to the same place. It will be impossible to pull away and take the lead. Groups will just follow each other like a herd of cattle. But if the first clue is really hard, like an extremely vague phrase or some obscure piece of Disneyland trivia, how many people are going to give up? If the first clue is hard enough, most people will quit and our chances of winning go from 1 in 500 to maybe 1 in 100."

Dizzy agreed with Travis's logic, but was worried about the possibility that they would end up being one of the hundreds of groups that gave up, unable to solve the first clue.

"But what if that happens to us?" Dizzy asked after a few moments. "What if we can't figure out the first clue?"

"Won't happen," Travis said, taking the last bite of his donut.

"Why not?"

"We have you."

Chapter 8

After breakfast, the two rooms were a whirlwind of activity. Travis had misplaced his 215 pin and tore apart the room looking for it. Luckily he found it in the pockets of the jeans he had worn the day before. Michelle attached Ana's 215 pin to her pink Minnie Mouse t-shirt while Dizzy double checked that he had the twelve Fast Passes in his wallet that Steve had given him the day before. He wisely decided not to use any the previous night, thinking they might come in handy for the Quest. Steve returned Travis's cell phone to him while Ana grabbed her autograph book and pen, and at 8:15 the five of them began their walk to Disneyland.

The lines to get into Disneyland crossed the plaza between Disneyland and California Adventure. Nearly every available entrance was open, and busy cast members were scanning tickets as quickly as they could. Every person entering the park was busy talking about the Quest. Those unable to sign up the day before hoped for a chance to sign up that morning. Dizzy, Travis, Ana, Michelle, and Steve were waiting in a line near the Downtown Disney side of the plaza.

"I think the entire city of Anaheim is here today," Steve said. "I have never seen the lines this long so early."

"I hope we get our clue before the rope drop," Travis said, standing on his tip toes to look over the line in front of him. "It would stink to start off behind."

"Look!" Dizzy said, interrupting Travis. "A new line is opening!" Dizzy pointed to a cast member unlocking a medal gate in front of a group of turnstiles. "Let's hurry!"

The swinging gate and Dizzy's shout to hurry caused a stampede, as hundreds of people in the nearby lines began racing for the new and empty entrances. Dizzy had seen it first and he grabbed Ana's hand, racing for the turnstile. People were running every which way, parents pushing strollers, elderly men and women being pushed in wheel chairs. The scene was hectic. Dizzy sidestepped a stroller and was pushed hard from behind, causing him to lose his balance and fall on his side. He let go of Ana's hand so he wouldn't pull her down with him.

"I told you to stay out of my way kid," a familiar voice came from behind him. It was Justin. Dizzy didn't know if the push was accidental, but doubted it. The stampede had died down and the lines in front of the newly opened entrances were now the same length as the others. Dizzy dusted himself off and got back to his feet, grabbed Ana's hand, and began looking around.

"Where did they go?" Dizzy asked. "Do you see Mom? Or Steve and Travis?"

"Nopers," Ana said. She was busy clicking the end of her retractable pen, something that had kept her entertained for most of the morning. "It would be fun if getting autographs was part of the Quest, huh Dizzy?"

"That would be cool," Dizzy said, still scanning the newly formed lines. "Where did they go?"

"Dizzy! Hey, Dizzy!" he heard a voice from behind him calling his name. Dizzy always said one good thing about his name was that if he heard someone shouting it, that person definitely was calling for him.

He turned around and faced the line he had just left and found Travis, Steve, and his mom just a few groups away from the front of the line. Dizzy and Ana walked back over to them.

"Good trick Dizzy," Travis said. "Telling everyone to run to the new line made just about everyone in front of us go."

Nobody else in the group had left the line when he grabbed Ana and took off. His shout alerted the people in front of them in line about the new opening, and instead of running toward the gate with the others, Travis, Steve, and Michelle just moved up in line.

Fifteen minutes later they were standing on Main Street, shoulder to shoulder with hundreds, maybe thousands, of people waiting to get the first clue. Town Square, the steps to Main Street station, and the street and sidewalks down Main Street were all packed with people. At the end of Main Street was a white rope being held up by cast members. It was a Disneyland tradition for the park to play a recording of Walt Disney's opening day speech from the day the park opened in 1955, followed by the rope drop and hundreds of people running like mad to their favorite ride, wanting to be the first to ride it that day. Cast members would always encourage the guests to walk safely to their destination, but that suggestion almost always was ignored.

Dizzy and Travis began looking at the pins of the people nearby.

"That guy is in group 367," Dizzy said, elbowing Travis and nodding his head toward the man.

"You see that lady covered in pins?" Travis asked, motioning toward a heavyset woman wearing a denim jacket covered in collectible Disney pins. "Look at that pin on her hat. 688."

Mr. Pegg appeared from behind a door marked "Cast Members Only", and the crowd quickly parted allowing him to walk freely to the stage. As he passed, the open space quickly filled up behind him. He climbed the steps to the stage and took his spot behind the microphone. The sight of him ready to give instructions made the crowd eager and excited, and a loud cheer swept across Main Street.

Mr. Pegg held up his hands to quiet the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls," he began. A round of fireworks exploded from the top of the vault behind him. "Welcome...to the Disneyland Quest!"
Chapter 9

The crowd on Main Street was massive. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder and space was becoming more difficult to come by.

"I think we'll just head off into the store for a while," Steve said shouting over the crowd. "A few too many people for my liking."

"Good idea," Michelle said. "Ana, stay close to your brother. And remember Travis, you have my cell phone number. Call or text me if you boys need anything."

They exchanged goodbyes and Michelle and Steve disappeared into the crowd. Dizzy squeezed Ana's hand tightly, not wanting to lose her in the sea of people.

"The time has come," Mr. Pegg continued, "for you all to receive your first clues. But I must first issue a few ground rules."

The huge crowd of people became eerily silent.

"Rule number one, be safe. Anyone participating in the Quest caught breaking rule number one will automatically be removed from the park. Disneyland expects all competitors to show kindness and respect to your opponents and any un-Disneylike behavior will not be tolerated. Do I make myself clear on rule number one?"

Mr. Pegg looked over the crowd, reinforcing the seriousness of what he was saying.

"Rule number two, the Disneyland Quest takes place within the boundaries of Disneyland park. For the guests that would like a less crowded Disney experience, you will find California Adventure has been opened early this morning to accommodate you."

Many people began heading back through the crowd toward the exit. Not everyone in the park was there for the Quest and they were quickly taking Mr. Pegg's advice to head toward the much less crowded California Adventure.

"And rule number three, all clues will be located in areas accessible to all Disneyland guests. There will be no need to go hunting in restricted areas. One might say that they are all hidden in plain sight." He stretched his arms out to his sides, as if to put all of Disneyland on display.

Travis began to take in the scene in front of him. Thousands of people, crammed together on Main Street. He pictured the Cast Members at the end of Main Street holding the rope, guests pushing up against it waiting for the drop. It was at that moment Travis had an idea.

"We have to get out of here," he said to Dizzy, looking for a way out of the crowd.

"What? Are you crazy? He's just about to tell us the first clue."

"Listen to me. As soon as he says the clue and the rope drops, there are going to be thousands of people running like mad. It will be like the stampede from the line outside, but fifty times worse. We are going to get trampled and we have to get out of the way."

Dizzy agreed, and the two boys grabbed Ana's hand and began making their way through the crowd. As they squeezed in between strollers and wheelchairs, Dizzy took the occasional glance at the pins being worn by the guests.

"879!" Dizzy screamed to Travis.

"What?"

"Never mind."

"This is just like _The Lion King_ ," Ana said, weaving in and out of people with her brother and Travis. "When Simba is caught up in the stampede." She began her Scar impression. "Mufasa, quick. Stampede...in the gorge. Simba's down there!"

"That's exactly right sis," Dizzy said. "Let's head up there." He pointed toward Main Street Station, sitting high above Town Square and Main Street. "The crowd should head down Main Street after the rope drop. We will be safe up there."

The three children climbed the steps which were crowded with people enjoying the scene below them. Travis, Dizzy, and Ana found an open spot along the railing. Dizzy checked his watch.

"Just about 9:00. Here we go."

"And now," Mr. Pegg began again. "The moment you all have been waiting for. Here are your first clues!"

There was a loud explosion, as thousands of strips of confetti erupted from the rooftops along Main Street. The confetti rained down on the crowd of people like snowflakes, getting caught in trees and awnings along Main Street. The confetti was sticking out of people's hair and clinging to the back of t-shirts. Dizzy could see the rope had dropped at the end of Main Street, and like he predicted there was a huge rush of people streaming out toward the park.

"That was the first clue?" Travis asked.

Dizzy reached up to catch one of the fluttering pieces of confetti drifting down from the sky, ignoring the pile of them that had built up at his feet. He grabbed one and flattened one out in his hand.

"You bet," said Dizzy.

Written on the strip of paper was a short poem. The writing was extremely small, and the three kids huddled around to get a closer look.

Dizzy read the first clue out loud,

Distant brothers point the way.

A floating ride will rock and sway.

A place that's quiet, dark, and bleak.

Carvings in stone show what you seek.

Dizzy read it again, hoping to find some meaning to the first clue. Travis and Ana looked up at him, waiting for the answer.

"Well," Travis asked excitedly. "Which way Diz?"

The groups below had begun picking up the strips of confetti. Some took off running instantly, certain they knew the answer. Others huddled up to discuss the clue privately. Dizzy read the clue over and over in his head, hoping something would come to him. He lost track of time and expected the entire Quest to have already ended the next time he looked up. Dizzy was embarrassed and couldn't look Ana or Travis in the eyes.

He had no idea where to go.

Chapter 10

"I'm sorry guys," Dizzy began. "But this doesn't make any sense to me."

"Are you kidding me?" Travis said. "Of course it doesn't make any sense! It is a riddle for crying out loud. You didn't think the first clue would say, 'Go to Space Mountain' or something obvious did you? This is exactly what we wanted."

"It is?"

"Of course it is. Do you know how many groups down there are reading this clue and already saying 'Forget this, let's go on some rides.' We can work this out. Let's just take things slow and think about it line by line."

Some people nearby were watching and listening to Travis. He noticed them eavesdropping and lowered his voice.

"But we should probably do that in private."

"The train!" Ana said, pointing to the approaching Disneyland Railroad. "Dizzy, can we ride the train?"

"Great idea Ana," Travis said. "Let's hop on and start figuring out this first clue."

"We should text our parents and let them know where we are," Dizzy suggested. "My mom wanted us to check in throughout the day."

"Fine," Travis said, seeming annoyed. He took his cell phone out and typed out a text to Michelle. "Got 1st clue. Getting on train now." He hit send and put the phone back in his pocket.

The three kids went through the turnstile and walked into Main Street station. The interior of the station was like a small train museum. Old photographs of Walt and the original train engineers, a framed map of the Disneyland railroad line, display cases with old Disneyland railroad memorabilia, and a vintage penny scale. In the middle of the room stood a large display case with a scale model of Walt Disney's Lilly Belle locomotive, named after his wife Lillian.

When the train came to a stop, an engineer hopped off the train and opened the sliding gate. Dizzy, Travis, and Ana entered the train toward the rear and slid into an empty row.

"All aboard!" the train engineer yelled loudly when everyone was seated.

"Hold on!" a man yelled, running up to the closing gate. He was extremely tall, thin, and had a long dark beard. He was almost completely bald and was wearing a red Disneyland t-shirt with a pin that said "898."

"Looks like Big Red is going to pass out," Travis said quietly. The man was out of breath and his bright red face matched his shirt. Dizzy laughed at the nickname.

The nearest Cast Member reopened the gate and allowed the man in red to climb aboard. He didn't bother to give a thank you and climbed into the row in front of the kids. The price tag on his shirt was still attached and hung over the back of his seat.

The train began to move with a lurch and a friendly voice welcomed the passengers to the Disneyland Railroad.

"OK," Travis began. "Let's get to work. Ana can I ask you for a favor?"

"Umm." Ana was hesitant. "What is it?"

"Can we use your autograph book to keep notes about the Quest in? Obviously we can't use this little scrap of paper we got."

Ana looked down at her autograph book, then up to Dizzy.

"Please, sis?"

"Oh, ok," Ana said, handing the book to her brother. Ana couldn't say no to Dizzy.

"Thanks kiddo. You're the best." Travis raised his hand and Ana leapt across Dizzy to give him a high five.

Dizzy wrote the first clue in Ana's autograph book and underlined a couple of words in each line.

"Why did you underline those?" Travis asked.

"They seem important to me. Distant brothers, floating ride, dark and bleak, and carvings in stone."

"Ok, let's start with the first line then. Distant brothers. What kind of brothers are in Disneyland? And how are they distant? Maybe they don't get along with each other?"

"I can only think of one set of brothers," Dizzy said. "Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Donald's nephews. But I wouldn't consider them distant."

"What about Chip and Dale?" Ana asked. "Are they brothers?"

"What about Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb?" Travis suggested.

"Huh," Dizzy said stumped. "I guess there are more than I thought. So which of them are distant? Unless..." Dizzy began writing something in the autograph book. It was a makeshift map of the park. Dizzy had drawn the map of Disneyland hundreds of times over the past few years. He quickly sketched out the different lands and outlined the park with the railroad tracks. The man in red turned to wipe the sweat off his check with the collar of his shirt, and glanced back at the book. Travis and Ana were watching Dizzy write and didn't notice him.

"What if distant means they are far apart from each other?" Dizzy began. "Maybe the brothers are spread out over the park and they are pointing the way to the 2nd clue?"

"Good thinking Dizzy," Travis said. "The only thing we have to do now is figure out what brothers they are talking about."

"Maybe the rest of the clue will help with that. Let's keep going."

The train let out a loud whistle as it was approaching the New Orleans Square station.

"Ok," Travis said. "Line two says a 'floating ride will rock and sway'. What rocks and sways? A boat?"

"And a boat is a floating ride," Ana said.

Dizzy put his arm around his sister.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a smarty pants? Good work Ana!"

"So what rides here have boats?" Travis asked.

"Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Nemo's Submarine Voyage, Small World, Storybook Land Canal boats, the raft to Tom Sawyer's Island, Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, and Davy Crocket's canoes." Dizzy rattled off the rides one after the other.

"Wow," Travis said. "That was impressive."

"Thank you."

"The only problem is, that's like half the rides here. How are we supposed to know what boat ride they are talking about? And which ride has anything to do with brothers?"

"This clue definitely is a tough one," Dizzy said. "But I feel like we are making progress. Line three says a place quiet, dark, and bleak. There are a lot of dark rides, but I can't think of any that are quiet. Who would want to go on a quiet ride in the dark?"

"Beats me," Travis said. "Ok, last line. 'Carvings in stone will show what you seek.' That's a relief."

"Why is that a relief?" Dizzy asked.

"I was worried that the second clue would be written on a piece of paper somewhere. The first person to find it could just take it with them, erasing the trail for everyone else. If the clue is carved in stone then it will be there permanently."

"Good thinking," Dizzy said. He was amazed at how far ahead Travis's thinking was at all times. He was the one that thought about the impending stampede on Main Street after the clue, decided to stay in line when the new gate opened outside, pointed out the benefit of the first clue being challenging, and now this. Dizzy was impressed, and a little jealous.

The train was approaching Toon Town Station.

"Let's get off here," Dizzy suggested, closing Ana's autograph book and shoving it into his pocket. "We can go check out some of the brothers we talked about. Chip and Dale have a tree house in Toon Town we should probably go look at. We have to start somewhere right?"

"You're the boss," Travis said.

The three of them waited for the train to come to a complete stop, climbed off, and headed for the exit.

So did Big Red.
Chapter 11

Dizzy, Travis, and Ana entered the tunnel that passed under the train tracks and entered Toon Town. They walked past Goofy's house, which had a playground for toddlers in the backyard, and Donald's boat, named the Miss Daisy. In the back corner of Toon Town was Chip and Dale's Treehouse, a walkthrough attraction with a spiral staircase through an acorn tree.

"Can we go inside?" Ana asked excitedly.

"Of course," Dizzy said. "Everyone should be on the lookout for a stone carving, ok?"

"And if you do find something," Travis said, pointing a finger at Ana and Dizzy. "Play it cool. There is no reason to go shouting that we found the second clue, ok?"

"Deal," Ana and Dizzy said in unison.

The three of them walked up through the tree house, inspecting the small details as they went. There was a line of children behind them, forcing Dizzy to move faster than he wanted to.

"You two go ahead," Dizzy said to Travis and Ana. "I'm going to let these people pass me."

Travis and Ana continued up the tree, and Dizzy tried to squeeze against the wall to allow the kids behind him to pass through. After they passed, Dizzy was able to move more slowly, looking for anything that could be a clue. After ten minutes he decided there was nothing in the tree house, and caught up with Travis and Ana standing near the exit.

"Anything?" Travis asked.

"Nope. Not that I could see anyway."

"So where to next?"

"Let's head over to Alice in Wonderland. Your Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb idea sounded good to me."

The three kids headed back toward the tunnel leaving Toon Town and passed Big Red sitting on a bench. Travis recognized him and wondered why an adult would be sitting alone in Toon Town. Travis shrugged his shoulders and thought he must have been waiting for his family.

"I love Alice in Wonderland!" Ana exclaimed as she grabbed both of the boys hands. "Let's go!"

Alice in Wonderland was another dead end, as was any hope of finding Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Dizzy kept thinking back to the word "distant" from the clue. He was sure it was important. Chip and Dale weren't distant, and neither were Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. He hoped everyone else in the contest was as stumped as they were. His mind drifted back to Megan and what she was doing. He wondered if she was still with her brother and his friends.

"Any other ideas?" Travis asked, snapping Dizzy out of his daze. The three of them were sitting on a bench near the Partners Statue of Walt and Mickey in the hub in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Ana had wanted a snack and Travis bought them some popcorn to share.

"Not that I can think of," Dizzy said sadly. It was not the start to the Quest he had hoped for.

Ana was trying to catch a piece of popcorn in her mouth after throwing it in the air. The small pile of popcorn on the ground was proof it was not going well. She leaned back to try again and a piece of popcorn landed in her hair.

"Here, I'll get that," Travis said, reaching over to help. "Hey, what's this?"

Travis pulled a piece of confetti out of Ana's hair.

"It must have gotten stuck there this morning," Dizzy said.

Travis opened the piece of paper and gasped.

"You are not going to believe this."

"What? What is it?" Dizzy asked.

Travis spread the paper flat in his hand. Dizzy looked down in shock.

"Is that--?"

"Yep," Travis said excitedly. "Another first clue."

Chapter 12

Travis read the clue on the strip of yellow confetti in his hand:

Two brothers lands apart.

You arrive where you depart.

At the base, not the peak.

There you'll find what you seek.

"I don't understand," Travis said, staring at the clue in disbelief. Why is there a different riddle on this strip of paper?"

"I wondered why Mr. Pegg said 'Here are your clues' before the confetti erupted," Dizzy said. "I just thought he meant there were going to be a lot of extra clues lying around. I didn't bother to think the papers were different. He must have literally meant there were going to be several first clues."

Dizzy was depressed. It was 9:45 and they were practically starting over with a new clue. He wondered how many people had gathered as many clues as they could on Main Street and gotten to work immediately. He feared they were already too far behind.

"Don't even think it," Travis said, looking at Dizzy. "You are thinking we can't catch up and we should quit."

"How did--"

"You are doubting yourself. I'm telling you, we are going to win this thing. This was a minor setback, that's all. Now let's get to work on this clue."

"Don't you think we should go back to Main Street and see if there are any more clues?" Ana asked. "If the one stuck in my hair was different, maybe they were all different?"

"Good thinking," Dizzy said. "Let's go."

The three kids ran to Main Street, just a few yards away. When they looked down the street toward Town Square they were surprised to see every scrap of confetti had been cleaned up. The sidewalks, street, trees, and awnings were all spotless.

"They move fast," Travis said. "Oh well, nothing we can do about that now. Let's go grab a seat somewhere and get started on this clue. Again."

Dizzy, Travis, and Ana sat on the sidewalk in front of Main Street Cinema. Ana asked if she could go inside to watch the cartoons, and Dizzy agreed. He reminded her they would be right in front and to not go anywhere else.

Travis flattened out the strip of confetti and Dizzy began writing the riddle down into Ana's autograph book.

"It is almost the same as the first one," Dizzy said. "But the clues are a little different. This one says two brothers. The other clue didn't say how many, so that helps. And I was right about distant meaning they are far apart. This clue says they are lands apart."

"So one brother is like in Tomorrowland and the other is in Adventureland?" Travis asked.

"Yeah, something like that."

Dizzy searched his brain, trying to think of two brothers that they hadn't thought of yet. He looked to his left, toward the vault sitting on the stage, wondering if they would even have a chance to try to open it. As he looked up, he saw the Cigar Store Indian statue that was positioned on the sidewalk. Years ago, there was an actual tobacco shop on Main Street, selling cigarettes and cigars to the guests. That sort of thing would never be allowed now. In fact, not only could someone not buy cigarettes in Disneyland, you couldn't smoke at all unless you were in one of the few designated smoking areas in the park.

Dizzy continued to look at the statue and leapt to his feet.

"I got it!" he shouted, startling Travis.

"You do? What? Where?"

"The Indian," Dizzy said pointing at the statue. "There are two of them. One here on Main Street and another in Frontierland. Two brothers, lands apart."

"Distant brothers point the way," Travis said, quoting the original clue. "You are brilliant."

Dizzy and Travis ran past the ticket booth and through the turnstile at Main Street Cinema and found Ana sitting on the steps watching an old black and white Mickey Mouse cartoon. They each grabbed one of Ana's hands and raced back out and ran down Main Street toward Frontierland.

The entrance to Frontierland was a nod to pioneer living. Tall wooden logs formed the walls in front of the land and a wooden sign welcomed visitors to the Old West. The three kids ran through the open gates and found the second Indian statue in front of the Westword Ho Trading Company.

"It isn't pointing anywhere," Travis said, inspecting the statue.

Dizzy walked a few circles around the statue, checking it out carefully. He put his head right up next to the Indian's shoulders.

"Maybe his eyes are pointing the way?" Dizzy suggested, pointing in the direction the statue was looking.

It was looking directly at Tom Sawyer's Island.

"We might be too late," Travis said, pointing at the island. "Look."

The scene on Tom Sawyer's island was incredible. Hundreds of people were running around the island. As Travis, Dizzy, and Ana walked closer to the Rivers of America, which separated Frontierland from the island, they saw a huge line of people waiting at the dock to ride the raft over to the island.

"Looks like everyone figured out the clue already," Travis said. "Let's go."

The three children began running to the growing line forming near the dock. When they reached the line, Ana froze in terror.

"What's wrong?" Travis said.

Ana stared at the island.

"Oh no," Travis began. "The boat thing?"

"Ana," Dizzy said, bending down and looking at his sister in the eyes. "Listen to me. You can do this. The whole ride across takes fifteen seconds tops. We are at Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth. They wouldn't call it that if everything here wasn't perfectly safe. You can hold mine and Travis's hand the whole ride over and close your eyes tight. It'll be a piece of cake."

Ana took a deep breath and wiped a tear away from her eye.

"Ok, I can do this."

"Thanks sis, you're the best."

They stood in line and watched raft after raft take passengers across the river. Dizzy noticed that not once had someone returned back across the river from the island.

"This is terrible," Dizzy said after watching another raft fill with passengers. "If I would have grabbed more confetti this morning, we could have been here an hour ago."

"Don't worry about that," Travis said reassuringly. "We are here now. Let's just find the second clue. Hand me the autograph book so we can figure out exactly where we should go about looking."

Dizzy reached into his pocket and handed the book to Travis. He jumped backwards as the book was slapped out of his hand, crashing to the ground.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is." Justin and his two friends were standing behind the boys. They had jumped over a rope, cutting in front of the 50 people behind them in line. Justin was wearing a pin that said 212 and each of his friends wore their own pin, 213 and 214. Megan was standing on the other side of the rope, not wanting to jump over and cut in line.

Dizzy bent down and picked up the book, dusted it off, and put it back in his pocket.

"Good morning fellas," Travis said confidently. "Didn't one of you say you were going to unlock the vault within the first hour?" Travis looked at his watch, tapped the face and held it up to his ear. "Maybe my watch is broken."

"Very funny smart guy," Justin said. "Megan, I told you to get over here." Megan reluctantly crossed over the rope and joined her brother. She was also wearing a 212 pin.

"Hey, no cutting!" a voice yelled from the back of the line.

"We're just joining up with our friends here," Justin called back. He put his arm around Dizzy's neck playfully, and squeezed a little too hard. "Isn't that right, pal?"

Dizzy held up his hand and waived to the people behind him in line. Justin let go and turned his back on Travis, Dizzy, and Ana. Megan took her Hidden Mickeys book out of her backpack. She was using a piece of confetti from that morning as her bookmark.

"Find anything good?" Travis asked. "Hidden Mickeys, I mean." He motioned to her book.

"I've found most of them already," she said. She opened her book and flipped through the pages. Dizzy saw most of the pages were full of check marks, indicating which Hidden Mickeys she had already found.

"What's a Hidden Mickey?" Ana asked.

"All over Disneyland," Dizzy explained, "are small, hidden Mickey Mouse ears. They could be anywhere. In restaurants, on rides, or even on garbage cans."

"Cool!"

"They are cool," Megan agreed.

She was wearing her same pink Minnie Mouse hat, a white Disneyland t-shirt, and tan shorts. That was the second day in a row Dizzy had seen her, and both times she was wearing Disneyland clothing. She apparently was not like the rest of the kids his age, too cool for Disney.

"I like your bookmark," Dizzy said after a short silence. He was normally awkward around girls and was trying anything he can to keep the conversation going. He was again jealous at how easily Travis seemed to be able to talk to her.

"Oh, thanks," she said. "Got it this morning. You know, the treasure hunt and all." She held it up and Dizzy noticed that her confetti had a much shorter poem on it. It seemed to only have two lines. How many different clues were there, he thought to himself.

"Can I see that?" he asked as yet another raft had filled and left the dock. The line moved forward and it appeared they would all fit on the next raft.

"Sure I guess," she said and handed Dizzy the confetti.

Dizzy only had a moment to read it before it was snatched out of his hand.

"Megan, what are you doing?" Justin was furious. "Why would you show them your clue?"

"I'm sure they have the same clues we have," Megan replied. "Sorry about him," she said pointing at her brother. "He's a jerk."

"Yeah," Travis said. "We noticed."

"Shut it kid," Justin said pointing his finger at Travis. "I've had about enough of you."

Dizzy remained quiet, Megan's poem repeating in his mind.

The raft had returned and began loading the eager guests, excited to get to the island and begin looking for the second clue.

"How many in your party?" the Cast Member asked Justin.

"Just the four of us."

"And you?" the Cast Member turned to Dizzy. "How many in your party?"

Dizzy didn't answer. Megan's riddle was now on a loop in his mind, blending in with the other two clues they received that morning.

"How many in your party, sir?" His patience was about gone.

"None, we aren't riding. Sorry."

"Oh, thank God," Ana said, letting out a huge breath of air. She had been holding her breath without realizing it.

"Dizzy," Travis said. "What are you doing?"

The Cast Member shrugged his shoulders and motioned to the man driving the raft to depart. He replaced the rope fencing and the raft began the short trip to Tom Sawyer's Island. Megan looked back at Dizzy, confused why they didn't get on the raft.

Dizzy motioned for Travis and Ana to follow him out of line. They looked at each other and began following Dizzy through the line of people behind them.

When they were clear of the line, Travis grabbed Dizzy's shoulder and spun him around.

"Care to tell me why we aren't on that boat right now?"

"I saw Megan's clue. Everyone is going to the wrong place."

"They are?" Travis asked. "How do you know?"

"Because I know exactly where the next clue is."
Chapter 13

Dizzy, Travis, and Ana ran past Thunder Mountain Railroad and onto Big Thunder Trail, the walkway that leads to Fantasyland. This was Dizzy's favorite area of Disneyland. The sounds of the train on Thunder Mountain, the steam whistle from the approaching Mark Twain Riverboat, and the splashes of the mechanical fish in the nearby pond created a wonderful soundtrack. The area was a great place to relax and cool down, with plenty of benches located in the shade the entire day. But Dizzy didn't stop to take in the sights and sounds. He continued to run around the back of Thunder Mountain and into Fantasyland. Travis and Ana followed closely behind.

Dizzy stopped in front of the Casey Jr. Circus Train ride. He had his hands on his hips and was trying to catch his breath.

"What are we doing here?" Travis asked. "I thought the clues were about the Indians and Tom Sawyer's Island?"

"I think that is what they wanted everyone to think," Dizzy said. "Did you see how many people were on that island? Don't you think one of them would have found something by now?"

"Ok, so what are we doing here?"

"We're here for that." Dizzy pointed at a set of stairs leading up behind a cart selling frozen lemonade. "The next clue is up there."

"How do you know?" Travis asked.

"Megan's clue was different," Dizzy began. "It only had two lines and neither had anything to do with Indians, boats, or islands."

"What did it say?"

"It said 'One of two still remains, up the steps from nearby trains.'"

"And what does that mean?" Travis asked.

"It means the Indian statues weren't the brothers the first clues were talking about. One of two still remains? Both statues are still there. It didn't make sense."

"Ok, then why are we here? What is up those steps?"

"Years ago there was a Skyway ride. Buckets on wires that stretched from here, through Matterhorn, and into Tomorrowland. The ride was taken down years ago and the station in Tomorrowland was demolished. See that building up there?" Dizzy nodded with his head toward the steps leading to the trees. There was a building visible behind the overhanging branches. "That is the Fantasyland station. All the clues fit. Distant brothers, two brothers land apart, a floating ride that rocks and sways, arriving where you depart, the base not the peak, and a place quiet, dark, and bleak. It has to be the place."

"I have been to Disneyland many times and I don't think I've ever noticed that building before," Travis said.

"Mr. Pegg did say the clues would be hidden in plain sight, didn't he?" Dizzy said.

Travis stood silently, thinking about what Dizzy said. Everything made sense and he agreed that with so many people on Tom Sawyer's Island they would have found something by now if it was there.

"But Mr. Pegg said all the clues would be in accessible areas of Disneyland didn't he?" Travis asked. "Are we allowed up there."

"Look at the gate," Dizzy said.

The blue metal gate that would normally keep guests from going up the stairs to the building was propped open, held by a rope to the nearby fence.

"It sure looks open to me," Ana said.

The three of them looked around to make sure no one was watching and walked up the steps.

The former Skyway to Tomorrowland station looked like a Swiss chalet. But instead of vibrant colors and decorative designs, it was covered in a thick layer of dirt. The paint was chipping and warped and showed years of abuse from the elements. It had not been regularly maintained like the rest of the buildings in Disneyland and it showed.

The door that normally would have been closed and locked was removed entirely. Dizzy was sure this was it. They entered and found an empty room. All controls, wires, and any other evidence of the building once housing a ride had been removed long ago. Travis took out his phone and opened the flashlight app. He held the phone over his head, lighting up the room.

"Dizzy," Travis said, tapping him on the shoulder. "Look at this."

Dizzy turned and saw the wall at the end of the room. At the top of the wall was the number 55, the first number of the combination to open the vault. Below it was another riddle.

It was the second clue.

Chapter 14

Travis read the clue out loud:

~55~

Many steps you must travel,

To begin to unravel.

Four places you will see,

If you want clue number three.

A. Belle will help you know,

The next place you'll have to go.

"We need to get out of here," Dizzy suggested. "We need to write this down and leave so we don't attract attention to this place. From the dust on the floor it looks like we are the first ones in here all day." He took the autograph book out of his pocket and began writing the poem.

"There's no time for that," Travis said, stepping in front of him. He held up his phone and hit the camera app. He centered the clue on his phone, hit the screen and a flash filled the room. He checked his phone and was satisfied with the picture. "Let's go."

The kids went down the steps quickly and looked around to see if anyone was watching. There was a short line for the Casey Jr. Circus Train and a few families were sitting at the tables of the nearby Village Haus Restaurant. Sitting alone at a table near the wall of the restaurant was the man in red.

"I have to go potty," Ana said when they had made it down the steps.

"Really? Now?" Travis asked, not trying to hide his annoyance.

"Yes. Now."

"Go ahead, sis," Dizzy said. "The bathrooms are right over there." Ana quickly trotted to the nearby restrooms while Dizzy and Travis took a seat.

"Let's take a look at that clue again," Dizzy said, holding out his hand. Travis gave him the phone and leaned back in his chair to stretch. He looked at the people nearby and spotted the man in the red shirt.

"Hey, isn't that Big Red?" Travis asked, nodding his head in the man's direction.

"Who?" asked Dizzy, not looking up from the phone.

"The guy in the red shirt from the train this morning. He's over there alone. I feel like I have seen that guy behind us all day."

"You are just being paranoid," Dizzy said. "Why would he be following us?"

"Beats me," Travis said.

"You probably only recognize him because he stands out. That family sitting right over there could be following us, but nothing about them stands out so you wouldn't even notice them."

"Yeah, that's a good point." Travis wasn't sure and took another peek at the man in the red shirt. He wasn't looking at them, as his attention was on the cell phone in his hand. Travis turned back and faced Dizzy. "Ok, so what do we have to work with?"

A message appeared on Travis's phone. It was a text from his dad.

"Hi boys. Just wanted to check in and make sure everything is ok. Any luck with the Quest?"

"Can I text him back?" Dizzy asked.

"Be my guest."

Dizzy typed a short response telling him about the first number in the combination and the second clue and hit send. A few moments later another text message appeared.

"Congratulations! Michelle and I are eating lunch and waiting for the parade. We're on Main Street if you want to join us."

"Do you want to go grab some lunch?" Dizzy asked Travis. "I'm sure Ana would love to watch the parade and I'm pretty hungry. Besides, this clue is even tougher than the first one and it will take some time to figure it out. We might as well get something to eat while we think about it."

"That sounds like a good idea," Travis said. "I'm pretty hungry too. Let's go get Ana."

The boys waited outside the girl's restroom for Ana. She came out, skipping and spinning and singing a song from _The Little Mermaid_.

"Ready to get some lunch and watch a parade?" Dizzy asked. "The princesses are going to be in it."

"Oh yeah!" Ana jumped up in the air. "I'm ready." She grabbed Dizzy and Travis's hand and began swinging their arms as the three of them walked toward Main Street.

The man in red stood up and began to follow them. As the three kids walked through Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Travis looked in a window and saw his reflection walking behind them. Travis didn't turn around to double check. He didn't know what Big Red's reaction would be if he was caught following them.

As they walked down Main Street they saw Michelle standing and waving in their direction. Travis took a peek over his shoulder and saw Big Red turn left into one of the stores along Main Street.

"Hey guys, over here!"

Michelle and Steve were sitting on a bench in the shade near Town Square, the vault sitting on the stage just a few yards away. There was a line of people in front of the stage and Mr. Pegg stood in front of the vault.

"What's going on up there?" Travis asked.

"Beats me," answered Dizzy.

The three kids squeezed onto the bench Michelle and Steve were sharing. Michelle was eating gumbo in a bread bowl she had bought in New Orleans Square. Steve was eating a corn dog and checking his cell phone with his other hand.

"Hey Dad, what are they doing up there?" Travis pointed up to the stage.

"They've had people lined up for the last half hour," Steve answered. "They are just people trying to guess the combination I think. That one guy in the blue hat has made about fifteen guesses already. Maybe he thinks it's his lucky day."

"That's cheating," Ana said. "They aren't even looking for clues. Besides, we know what the first number is. It's--"

Dizzy put his hand over his sister's mouth.

"That's our secret, remember?"

Ana mumbled "I remember," but it was hard to talk with her brother's hand over her mouth.

"I heard about your big discovery. Congratulations," Steve said in between bites of his lunch. "Do you think anyone else has the second clue yet?"

"It looked like we were the first ones there," Travis answered, reaching over and grabbing a handful of french fries from his dad's tray. "But who knows for sure?"

"You three must be hungry. What can I run and get you for lunch?" Michelle stood up and reached for her purse.

"No, Mom," Dizzy said stopping her. "You have your lunch already. You eat and I'll go grab us something."

Michelle handed Dizzy $40 and told him to buy lunch for the three of them. Dizzy and Travis went back into Frontierland to the Stage Door Cafe. They both wanted to see if the crowd of people were still inspecting Tom Sawyer's Island. They were not disappointed.

The island looked like an ant hill, completely overrun with guests looking for the second clue. Dizzy hoped Justin and his friends would stay stuck on that island the rest of the day. Dizzy wished Megan would come to her senses and leave them on the island. If only Justin would look at his sister's clue, it would tell them exactly where to go.

Dizzy and Travis both ordered chicken strips for themselves and a kid's meal for Ana. They stood off to the side of the line while they waited.

"Your mom is nice," Travis said. "I think my dad really likes her."

"I was thinking the same thing about your dad," Dizzy said. "He seems great."

"How often do you see your dad?" Travis asked.

"I haven't seen my dad in over two years."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Travis said.

"Don't be. He's a jerk." Dizzy said with a smile. "How often do you see your mom?"

"My mom actually lives here in Anaheim. I live with my dad because she works for the Anaheim Angels and travels a lot. I fly down here and stay with her during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks though."

Dizzy hardly ever thought about his dad, but wondered what it would be like if he and Ana had to stay with him for two weeks over Christmas break.

"What do you do when you visit your mom?"

"We come here."

"You're kidding," Dizzy said. "I thought you hated this place."

"Don't tell anyone, but it's all an act. I actually love coming here."

Dizzy smiled.

"Trust me, I know all about it."

Their lunch was ready and they began walking back toward Main Street.

"So what do you think 'A Belle' means?" Travis asked.

"The only thing I can think of is Belle from Beauty and the Beast," Dizzy answered. "But there is no ride here for that movie."

"Isn't she going to be in the parade?"

"You're right. She is. Maybe the third clue will be written on the parade float or something?"

"I don't think we are looking for the third clue," Travis corrected him. "Remember the poem? Many places you must travel. Four places you will see. I think this clue is going to be hard to find. We are going to have to go from place to place to find it. From what the clue says, I'm guessing four different locations. So maybe four new riddles to solve. It won't be like the clue we just found, that's for sure."

"Ana and I used to do little hunts like that around our house. I would leave a note on her bed telling her where she could find the next clue. That clue would lead her to the next and so on. At the end of the line she would find a piece of candy or something."

"That's exactly what I think this clue is. So 'A Belle' is only going to lead us to the next part of the clue. But if the clue is in the parade, that puts us at a huge advantage."

"How so?" Dizzy asked.

"The next parade isn't until 6:00. If all those idiots on the island miss the parade, they'll have to wait hours until they get a second chance. How great would that be?"

The two boys bumped fists. For the first time all day Dizzy was happy. The parade couldn't start soon enough. He just hoped he didn't miss the clue from the parade, or they would have to wait for the next clue along with everyone else.

When they returned to their bench, Ana was placing stickers in a book with Disney princesses on the cover.

"Hey, where did you get that?" Dizzy asked. "That looks cool."

"Steve got it for me."

"Steve asked Ana if she wanted to come with us for the rest of the day so you two could continue with the contest," Michelle said. "But of course she said no. So he went and bought her a little present, something she could do in between clues."

"That's really nice," Dizzy said. "Did you say thanks?" Dizzy looked around and noticed Steve was gone. "Hey, where is Steve?"

"He had to take a phone call from work," Michelle said. "Come sit and eat."

Dizzy and Travis sat down and began eating their lunch. Ana ate a few bites of her lunch but was absorbed in her sticker book. A few moments later, the music indicating the parade was about to begin started playing over the speakers. Dizzy had an idea.

"Mom, can I see your new video camera?"

"Of course sweetie." She handed him the camera. "Just be careful with that, it was expensive."

"What's that for?" Travis asked, his mouth full of a bite of chicken.

"I'm going to record the parade. Just in case we miss something, we can go back and watch it again later."

"That's a great idea."

As the first float began to roll by, Dizzy zoomed in close. He inspected every part of the float, not wanting to miss anything. There was a gap before the next float approached and Dizzy's camera was still zoomed in. It pointed at the crowd on the other side of the street. Dizzy saw something that almost made him drop the camera.

It was Justin, his friends, and Megan watching the parade.
Chapter 15

"Look across the street," Dizzy said, pulling on Travis's shirt to focus his attention. "It's Justin and his idiot friends." And his beautiful sister, Dizzy thought to himself.

"What are those guys doing here?" Travis asked. He was shocked to see Justin and his friends. He was certain they would still be on Tom Sawyer's Island with the rest of the people who misunderstood the first clue.

"Maybe it's just a coincidence. Who knows, maybe they have given up on the Quest?" Dizzy said unconvincingly.

"You don't think...Big Red?"

"What about him?"

"He was following us after we found the second clue. He must be working with Justin and his friends. He probably followed us after we got out of line for the raft. That's how Justin found the second clue. He is now looking for Belle in the parade, too!"

Dizzy didn't want to admit that they were being followed, but it was hard to argue with Travis's logic. How could they have searched Tom Sawyer's Island, then figured out the real location of the second clue, and made it down here to Main Street before the parade started? Travis's idea seemed to make a lot of sense.

"There goes our head start," Dizzy said. "I sure hope we find this clue."

The floats continued to travel past them. Each float had different Disney characters on it. They would wave to the crowd as they passed and danced to the music. Ana was experiencing happiness overload, screaming at each character as they waved in her direction.

Near the end of the parade was a long float covered in silver and white streamers. Riding on it were four princesses and their respective princes, dancing and waving to the crowd; Cinderella and Prince Charming, Ariel (in human form) and Prince Eric, Princess Jasmine and Aladdin, and Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. Belle was nowhere to be found.

The parade ended with a float featuring Mickey and Minnie, waving to the crowd and thanking them for coming. There was a large group of people, including Justin, his friends, and Megan, gathering to follow the parade as it continued down Main Street toward Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

"Well, that was a waste," Travis said.

"That wasn't a waste," Ana said excitedly. "That was awesome!"

"Ana seemed to like it," Dizzy said. "So I guess it wasn't a complete waste of time. I can't believe Belle wasn't in the parade. Maybe they didn't mean Belle the character from the movie. Maybe they wanted us to translate the word belle to beauty?"

"So any of those princesses could have been the next clue," Travis added.

"That's what I'm thinking," Dizzy said.

"I'm sure you boys will figure it out," Michelle said, stacking everyone's garbage on her tray. She began looking around Town Square. "I wonder what is keeping Steve. I'm going to look for him. Dizzy, will you watch my stuff?"

"Of course, Mom."

Michelle threw away everyone's trash and walked across Main Street to look for Steve.

The kids sat on the bench and watched Mr. Pegg reappear from behind the Cast Members Only door. A line of people wanting to guess their combination reformed in front of the stage. The guessing of the combination had paused during the parade.

"These people are pathetic," Travis said. "There are over 400,000 different combinations to open that safe. How could they think they are going to get it without even looking for the numbers?"

"How do you know how many possible combinations there are?" Dizzy asked.

"There are seventy-five numbers on the dial, three numbers to unlock the vault. Seventy-five times seventy-five times seventy-five is over 400,000."

"Wow." Dizzy was impressed. He was an OK student in school, but math was by far his worst subject. "We know the first number though, so don't you think our chances of guessing the last two are better."

"Yeah they are better, but do you really want to go ahead and tell everyone the first number of the combination?"

Mr. Pegg had a little ceremony for each person trying to open the vault. The guest would write down their numbers on a piece of paper and he would read them out loud over the microphone, before turning to the vault and entering their combination.

"I guess you're right," Dizzy said, feeling stupid.

"Do you think we should watch the video of the parade?" Travis asked. "Maybe the camera caught something we missed?"

"Yes!" Ana said excitedly. "Let's watch it again."

Dizzy took the video camera out of his mom's bag. He opened the screen and scrolled to the most recent video file. He hit play and Travis and Ana leaned in close to watch.

"We are looking for anything that will lead us to the second part of the clue," Travis said. "Remember the clue, a belle or a beauty will help us know the next place we are supposed to go."

Dizzy hit the fast forward button on the video camera and hit play when the princess' float appeared. They looked carefully, hoping to find any detail but came up empty.

"Hey, what is that?" Travis said pointing at the video screen. The camera was pointed at the crowd across the street during the gap in the parade floats.

"What is it?" Dizzy asked hopefully. "The next clue?"

"No, it looks like my dad. Look. There in the background."

"It looks like he is arguing with someone in the store."

The video camera's autofocus feature kicked in and the picture became clearer. It definitely was Steve arguing with someone.

"I can't tell who he is talking to," Dizzy said. "The wall of the store is blocking whoever it is."

"That is really weird," said Travis. "We'll have to ask him about it."

The video of the parade ended and Dizzy closed the screen in frustration.

"Relax" Travis said, taking his phone out of his pocket. "Let's take a look at this clue again. Maybe it didn't mean Belle the princess or belle meaning beauty after all."

Michelle returned to the bench alone, unable to find Steve.

"No luck, huh?" Dizzy asked.

"I couldn't find him anywhere," Michelle answered.

"Maybe he is still yelling at that person," Ana suggested.

"Maybe he's what?" Michelle asked. "Yelling at who?"

"We think we saw him on the parade video," Dizzy said. "It looked like he was standing in that store over there yelling at someone inside it."

"Oh no," Michelle said. "It couldn't be him. Travis, is your dad someone that would go around yelling at a perfect stranger?"

"I guess not," Travis said.

"It must've just looked like your dad. I'm going to keep looking for him. I just wanted to come back and grab my bag. You kids go back to your Quest and have fun."

She gave Ana and Dizzy a kiss on the forehead, placed the video camera back in her bag and began to walk away.

"Oh, but before I go." She reached in and pulled out her digital camera. "Say 'Mickey!'"

"Mickey!" the three kids reluctantly said. Michelle checked the image on the back of the camera and dropped it back in her purse. She waved goodbye and left.

Ana reopened her sticker book and continued dressing the princesses in sticker dresses. Travis opened the picture of the clue on his phone and read it to himself.

"Can you make the picture bigger?" Dizzy asked.

Travis touched the screen with two fingers and slowly spread them apart, zooming in on the picture.

"What's that?" Dizzy said, pointing at the screen.

"What?"

"That dot. Right there. Do you see it?"

"You mean after the A in 'A Belle?'"

"Yeah," Dizzy said. "Maybe it means something." He took out the autograph book and wrote "A. Belle" in it.

"When you write it like that, it looks like a first initial or something," Travis said. "Anyone or anything have a first name that starts with A and has a last name Belle?"

"It could be the name of a place. Or an animal. Or a--"

There was a loud "pop pop" from somewhere in the distance. It was the sound of the cap gun on the Jungle Cruise ride used to scare away the attacking hippos. The ride was located just on the other side of the buildings on Main Street.

"Or a boat," Dizzy said. "I think I got it. Follow me!"

The three kids quickly stood and began running down Main Street.
Chapter 16

The line for the Jungle Cruise was short as usual. It was not a very popular ride, but it was by far Dizzy's favorite at Disneyland. The robotic animals and scenery looked a little phony, but Dizzy loved the skippers' corny jokes. His dream was to move to the Los Angeles area for college and work at Disneyland, hopefully as a skipper on the Jungle Cruise ride.

"What are we doing here?" Travis asked.

"The clue said A. Belle. I think it means Amazon Belle, one of the boats on the Jungle Cruise." Dizzy was excited, not just to find the next clue, but to get to ride the Jungle Cruise. "Let's go."

"No way mister," Ana said as they began walking through the queue. It was full of items from a fictional exploration company, complete with old radios, dusty cargo, and an old chessboard with small animal statues and shotgun shells as the pieces. On the walls were framed maps and drawings of the boats.

"Come on Ana," Dizzy pleaded. "You were willing to go on the raft to the island earlier, right?"

"That was different. It was like five seconds. This thing goes on and on."

Dizzy had shown her a video of the ride on YouTube before the trip, hoping it would put her at ease. It didn't work. Her love of her brother and fear of boats were now at odds with each other.

"I'm sorry, Dizzy," she said, not looking up at him. "I can't."

"Look," Travis interrupted. "I'll stay here with her, you go on the ride. Find the next message that will tell us where to go. Remember, look for anything that looks out of place."

"Got it," Dizzy said. He was disappointed in his sister and didn't return her goodbye as she and Travis exited the line.

"Welcome to the world famous Jungle Cruise," the skipper began as the boat left the dock. "I'm your Skipper John and we are going to spend six crazy days and eight magical nights on our cruise."

Dizzy laughed. He knew the jokes were bad, but for some reason every one of them cracked him up. He had to remind himself he was looking for a clue, and turned around to look outside the boat, hoping to find something that would catch his eye.

Eight minutes later the ride was almost over and nothing looked like a clue to Dizzy.

"And here we are, the Eighth Wonder of the World. The back...side...of...water!" the skipper said as the boat passed behind the famous Schweitzer Falls.

"And a reminder for all of you to keep your arms and hands inside the boat as we approach the dock. If your hand gets caught between the boat and the dock it will really hurt....our dock." The skipper finished up the journey with one final joke. "Thank you for being a wonderful crew. Anyone want to go again?" No hands went up. "Didn't think so. But I will. Over and over, again and again. For the next seven hours." The skipper continued to mumble about how painful his job was. The guests laughed as they climbed off the boat.

Dizzy was depressed. The ride was over and he hadn't seen anything that resembled a clue. He saw Travis and Ana waiting for him near the exit.

"Well?" Travis asked excitedly. "Did you find anything?"

"Nope," Dizzy said. "You think I should ride it again? Maybe sit on the other side of the boat this time?"

"Couldn't hurt," Travis said.

"Any sign of Justin or his friends?" Dizzy asked. He hoped they hadn't figured out 'A. Belle' wasn't the princess, but the Jungle Cruise boat.

"Nope, not that I could see." Travis said. "I haven't seen Big Red either."

"Ok, good," Dizzy said. "I'm going to ride it again. Hopefully I find something this time."

"Make sure you ride the right boat," Travis said as Dizzy went back into the line.

"Oh man, of course!" Dizzy was furious with himself. In his rush to get on the ride, he didn't think about riding the actual Amazon Beauty Jungle Cruise boat. He just got on whatever one arrived when it was his turn.

As Dizzy snaked his way through the line, he approached a cast member.

"Um, excuse me," he began. "Can I wait to ride the Amazon Belle boat?"

"The Belle isn't running today, buddy," the cast member said in a fake Australian accent. "Sorry, mate."

That surprised Dizzy. He was sure the clue would be on the actual boat. But maybe his first idea of the clue being somewhere on the Jungle Cruise ride itself was correct. He got on the next boat that arrived and began his second journey through the jungle.

Dizzy's skipper was a girl, but she told mostly the same jokes. Dizzy became more and more frustrated as the ride went on, not being able to find anything that looked like the next clue.

"And here it is ladies and gentleman. The back side of water!"

As the boat approached the dock Dizzy became depressed. He checked in with Travis and Ana and went right back to the line, hoping the next time would improve his luck. He rode the Jungle Cruise four more times in a row, each time hearing the same jokes and finding himself less and less entertained. By his sixth ride, he was mouthing the words to the jokes along with the skipper.

Over one hour had passed since the parade ended and Dizzy still hadn't found the next clue. He was sure A. Belle referred to the Amazon Belle, but without that boat running he had no idea where to look for the clue. Again, he found Travis and Ana waiting near the exit.

The look on Dizzy's face answered Travis's question before he could answer it.

"Nothing, huh?" Travis asked. "And you looked everywhere?"

Dizzy was frustrated and snapped at Travis.

"Yes! I looked everywhere! What did you want me to do, get out of the boat and inspect every single rock and tree branch on the ride?" He was getting angrier now. "That's it, I'm done. This whole thing stinks. We have wasted most of our vacation. And for what? One stupid number of a combination? This is pointless. Let's just give up and go on some rides and have a normal rest of the day."

Travis and Ana said nothing. They both looked at Dizzy, his face red with anger.

"Please don't give up Dizzy," Ana said. "Would it help if I rode it with you? Come on, let's ride it just one more time. Maybe we will get lucky."

"You don't have to do that Ana," Dizzy said. "It isn't there. I can't make you ride on that boat, especially if there isn't even a clue on the ride. Besides, if I have to see the backside of water again I am going to throw myself overboard."

"Well, I'm going," Ana said, walking back toward the entrance. "You can stand there and whine about it or come with me."

Travis and Dizzy stood there, shocked at the little girl's boldness. They both started laughing and followed her into the entrance.

Ana was acting as brave as she could, but the sound of each boat leaving the dock was a reminder of what was coming. She tried to take her mind off the boat by paying as much attention to the items hanging on the walls in line. She wanted Travis to take her picture in front of the chess set, the maps, and the drawings of the boats.

"Send these to Mom," Ana said posing in front of a framed drawing of a boat. "Something for her to remember me by."

"Wait a minute," Dizzy said, pointing at one of the pictures on the wall. "Look at that." He and Travis approached the picture. Ana stood on her tippy toes trying to see.

"What?" she asked. "What is it?"

"It's the Amazon Belle," Travis said.

"How could I miss that?" Dizzy said. "I walked right past it six times."

"Don't worry about it," Travis said. "Your mind was on the ride, not on the line."

"Look at that box in the bottom corner," Dizzy said. "There is a word written in red and underlined. Can you see what it says?"

Travis held up his phone and took a close up picture of the writing. He then used his fingers to zoom in on the picture.

"It says Tilly. Does that mean anything to you?"

"I know who that is!" Dizzy said happily. "Let's go."

"You mean we don't have to ride the boat?" Ana asked as they began working their way out through the entrance. "Boy is today my lucky day!"

The three kids ran out of Adventureland and back down Main Street.

"What are we doing back here?" Travis said as Dizzy came to a stop in front of Main Street Cinema.

"Meet Tilly," Dizzy said, pointing toward the female mannequin in the theater's ticket booth.

Travis and Ana looked at the fake cast member, complete with name tag with her name and hometown.

"It says she is from Marceline, Missouri," Travis said. "I wonder why."

"That's Walt Disney's hometown," Dizzy said.

The walls of the booth behind Tilly were decorated with photographs. Old pictures of Walt and his wife Lilly, decorative hats, American flags, and more.

"This must be the second step of the clue," Travis said excitedly. "We are halfway to the second number and the last clue. Look for anything that stands out. And do it quick. We don't want people to see that we are looking in here. We have no idea who might be watching us."

The three kids looked at Tilly, her name tag, and the items on the wall behind her.

"The clue could be any of these things," Dizzy said.

"What's that pig doing there?" Ana asked, pointing to a black and white picture of a pig statue hanging on the back wall over Tilly's left shoulder.

"That does look strange," Travis said. He held out his hand like he was holding an imaginary microphone and began speaking in a game show host voice. "Dizzy Walker, for $250,000...name that pig!"

Dizzy stepped back from the ticket booth, trying to remember where he had seen that pig. It seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't place it.

"I know I've seen it somewhere," he said, jumping slightly, trying to jog his memory. "Where would a pig statue be at Disneyland?"

"Aren't there a bunch of statues around Walt and Mickey at the end of Main Street?" Travis suggested.

"Yeah, but those are statues of the main Disney characters. There isn't a pig there."

The sun was beating down on them and all three kids were sweating. Dizzy continued to hop in place, hoping the memory of where he had seen the pig would come to him. Ana saw someone walk by with a giant ice cream cone.

"Can we get some ice cream?" she asked. "I'm dying out here."

Dizzy's eyes lit up.

"Dying," he said excitedly. "That's it! The pig statue isn't a regular statue. It is a gravestone at the pet cemetery."

"Where is there a pet cemetery at Disneyland?" Travis asked.

"Outside the Haunted Mansion," Dizzy said. "Let's move."

"Good job, Ana," Travis suggested as they began yet another jog down Main Street.

"Thanks!" she said, already lagging behind. "Does that mean I get an ice cream?"

"As soon as we open that vault," Travis called back to Ana. "I'll buy you the biggest ice cream cone you have ever seen. I promise."

Ana smiled and ran faster to catch up to the boys.

The three kids arrived outside the Haunted Mansion a few minutes later. The line for the ride was extremely long, stretching out of the gates and through a temporary line set up by ropes along the brick wall nearby. The sign above the gate said the wait was sixty minutes.

"Let's use your Fast Passes," Travis suggested. "This line is going to take forever."

Dizzy had forgotten all about the twelve Fast Passes in his wallet. If he would have remembered, he would have used them for sure on Jungle Cruise. It was a good thing he didn't, as the clue was hidden in the line and not on the ride.

"Bad idea," said Dizzy. "We don't want to get on the ride. We want to get up to the pet cemetery in line."

"Oh yeah," Travis said. "That makes sense."

As the line moved forward, Dizzy, Ana, and Travis entered the gates outside the Haunted Mansion. The line split into two lanes and curved around a grassy area. On the other side of the grass was the pet cemetery, complete with fake statues and gravestones of the deceased pets. The line continued to move forward and Dizzy saw something that made his heart drop into his stomach.

Justin, his friends, and Megan were all crowded around the pig.

Chapter 17

"How did they get ahead of us?" Dizzy asked. He was shocked to see another team already at the pig. He knew Justin's group had the second clue but assumed they would have been stumped after the parade. "I rode the Jungle Cruise twice, and we all got in the line again together after that. I never saw him. Or his friends. Or his sister."

"Dizzy definitely would've noticed his sister," Ana joked.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Dizzy," Travis said. "It's cool. Megan is nice, pretty, and loves this Disney stuff just as much as you do. It's pretty obvious you like her."

"I don't like her," Dizzy said defensively. "I don't even know her."

Dizzy was embarrassed. He had no idea he had been obvious in the attention he had paid to Megan.

"None of that matters now," Travis said, redirecting the conversation. "What are we going to do? We can't exactly walk up next to them and start looking at the pig, too."

"So what? We just wait around until they figure it out, then we try to make our move?" Dizzy was angry. "Forget that. Travis, hand me your phone. I have a plan."

He held out his hand and Travis handed him his phone. Dizzy then climbed over the fencing and walked across the Haunted Mansion's front lawn. He hopped over the other fence and squeezed in between Justin and his sister. Justin, his friends, and Megan all looked at Dizzy like he had just fallen out of the sky.

"What do you think you are doing?" Justin said, pushing his finger into Dizzy's chest.

Dizzy was scared but remembered what Travis told him the night before. He shouldn't be afraid of Justin, regardless of how much bigger he was. Dizzy was just a kid and Justin couldn't hurt him without significant punishment. Dizzy took a breath to calm down and turned back to the pig.

"Just solving this clue," Dizzy said. He held up the phone and took a picture of the pig. Dizzy looked at the gravestone one last time and then turned to Justin. "That was easy. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet."

Dizzy gave a quick smile to Megan, hopped over the fence and walked back across the grass. Travis and Ana were still in the same spot, shocked by Dizzy's bravery.

"You already solved the clue?" Travis asked.

"Of course not," Dizzy said. "But they don't need to know that."

They looked back at Justin. He was arguing with his sister and both of his friends, angry that they weren't smart enough to solve the riddle as fast as Dizzy.

Dizzy handed Travis his phone back.

"The pig is on there," Dizzy said. "Let's go find a place and see if we can figure it out."

"I know a quiet spot," Travis suggested.

The three kids began walking toward Splash Mountain and Critter Country. The Mark Twain Riverboat let out a loud whistle as it floated by them on the Rivers of America.

"Hungry Bear Restaurant," Travis said as they approached the walkway leading up to the cashiers. "Let's go sit at a table on the bottom level. We should have some privacy down there."

His cell phone gave a short buzz and he took it out of his pocket to check it. It was a text from Michelle.

"Hey kids, just checking in again. We were wondering where you are? Hope the Quest is going great! Mom."

Travis sent a text back to her. "We are at Hungry Bear, everything is fine. Travis."

Travis, Dizzy, and Ana sat at a table near the water. There was a family of ducks swimming in the river below them, and Ana sat and watched them paddling around the water. Travis set his cell phone on the table and Dizzy pulled the autograph book out of his pocket.

"Open up the picture of the pig," Dizzy said. "I thought I noticed something but want to look again to make sure."

Travis found the picture of the pig and opened it. The boys leaned over the phone and inspected the picture.

"What did you notice?" Travis asked.

"Do you see how certain letters are capitalized?" Dizzy said. "On the gravestone it says 'ROSIE. She was a poor little Pig but she boughT the Farm.' It could be nothing, but it caught my eye."

"Yeah, that is interesting. Let me see that book." Dizzy handed the autograph book to Travis. "Read me the letters that are in capitalized again."

Dizzy zoomed in on the picture and read the letters. "The name of the pig is ROSIE. All of those letters are in caps." Travis wrote down the letters. "The letters S, P, T, and F."

"R, O, S, I, E, S, P, T, and F," Travis said. "So what does that mean?"

"Maybe it's an anagram?"

"What?" Ana said standing up. "What did you call me?"

"Nothing," Dizzy said laughing. "An anagram. It's when letters get rearranged to make a new word."

"I like that word," Ana said, making up another song. "Ana, anagram. Grannie Ana anagram." She was dancing around her chair and stopped abruptly. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"It's right there," Dizzy said pointing to the nearby restroom. "We'll be right here."

The boys both took turns attempting to turn the letters into new words, but ended up scribbling out their failed attempts. After Travis dropped the pen in frustration, Dizzy picked it up and began writing.

"Wait a minute," Dizzy said, crossing off letters as he went. "I think I got it. It's--"

Dizzy was knocked sideways out of his chair and to the floor, and a blur of red leapt over him. He looked up to see the man in red running away at full speed.

"Dizzy!" Travis shouted, chasing after the man. "He stole the book. Get up!" Dizzy clumsily got to his feet as he heard Travis shouting at the man in red. "Come back here Big Red!"

Dizzy began running after Travis and Big Red and froze. He almost left Ana behind. She would have been terrified to walk out of the bathroom and found Travis and Dizzy both gone. Dizzy stuck his head into the woman's room door.

"Ana, we have to go. Now!"

A few moments later Ana came skipping out of the bathroom.

"So where are we off to?" she said happily. Dizzy grabbed her hand and began to pull her behind him. "What are you doing? Where's Travis?"

"The man in red stole the autograph book. We had just figured out the pig clue. Travis went after him. We have to hurry."

They ran up the steps of the restaurant and began running back toward the Haunted Mansion. They weaved in and out of people, apologizing to each as they passed. Dizzy had noticed a lot fewer Quest pins as they day went on. He guessed they had given up after getting stumped on the first clue. Less competition for us, he thought.

They ran over the raised walkway above the line to Pirates of the Caribbean. He hoped he could see some trace of Travis or Big Red from up there, but found nothing. They stood there for a few more minutes and saw Travis walking back in their direction. Dizzy waved his arms to get Travis's attention, and they met at the base of Tarzan's Treehouse.

"I lost him," Travis said out of breath. "He is fast for a big guy."

"He took my book?" Ana said angrily. "I hate Big Red."

"He had to be working for Justin," Dizzy said. "Justin must have had him follow us after I embarrassed him at the Haunted Mansion. He was probably hiding behind us at the restaurant, waiting for us to solve the pig's riddle."

"Oh yeah," Travis said excitedly. "You said you had it. You still remember it right?"

"Yeah," Dizzy said. "But it doesn't make 100 percent sense. I was able to rearrange the letters to make 'fire spots.'"

"Fire spots?" Travis asked. "Where are first spots in Disneyland? Somewhere hot maybe?"

Dizzy thought hard, trying to remember if any rides were particularly warm.

"I think I know a place that has fire spots," he said after a few moments. "Anyone up for a wild ride?"
Chapter 18

Dizzy, Ana, and Travis ran to Fantasyland and stopped in front of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Dizzy expected to see Big Red laughing with Justin in line, both of them looking through the autograph book, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Are you sure we are at the right place, Diz?" Travis asked. "I'm surprised we are here alone."

"This is all I could think of," Dizzy answered. "Maybe they are already on the ride?"

The three of them entered the line to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. The line was short so Dizzy didn't bother to use any of his Fast Passes.

"Toward the end of the ride," he explained to Ana and Travis, "the judge is going to declare us guilty. We go through a door and suddenly we are in Hell."

"Oooh, bad word!" Ana said, correcting her brother.

"It's not a bad word. We literally go to Hell. The temperature is turned way up in that room and there are demons and pretend flames all over the place. Maybe that is where we find the next combination and the last clue."

"That makes sense," Travis said. "I still can't believe a ride in Disneyland sends the guests to Hell though. That's crazy."

Dizzy heard a familiar voice shouting from near the King Arthur Carousel.

"I got it guys! The fire is the old settler's cabin on the river. Fire spots!" It was Justin calling to his friends who were standing in line for the carousel. He had been looking at his phone, searching for information of fire spots at Disneyland.

Travis looked at Dizzy.

"Is that it? Are we at the wrong place, Diz?" Travis was ready to jump out of line and race to the Mark Twain Riverboat that cruised past the old cabin.

"Just wait," Dizzy said. "I don't think he knows we are in here." Dizzy was looking closely at Justin. He had napkins on his lap with writing on them, some words had been scribbled out. He didn't see Ana's autograph book anywhere.

"Let's get him," Travis said. "I'm sure he has our book."

"Just stop a second," Dizzy said, standing in his way. "We want them to leave, trust me."

"Why?"

"Because the fire spots he thinks they're going to see have been out for a few years. They repaired the old burning cabin when they redid Tom Sawyer's Island. Now it is just a settler's cabin, no flaming arrows or fire spots anywhere."

Travis laughed. They watched as Justin's friends jumped over the railing to exit the line. There was no sign of Megan. Justin and his friends began running toward the Big Thunder Trail on their way to the Mark Twain Riverboat.

"Good, so maybe we are on the right track? Do you think this ride has the fire spots from the clue?"

"Fire spots, stops fire. Stop fire spots stop." Ana was making up another nonsensical song. Dizzy looked down at her.

"What did you just say?"

"Oh nothing, just singing."

"I don't think this is it," Dizzy said, backing up through the line. "Ana had it right. It isn't 'fire spots.' It's 'stops fire.' The fire station on Main Street!"

Dizzy began excusing himself as he made his way past the guests in line behind them. Travis and Ana were following closely behind as they ran through the bottom of Sleeping Beauty's Castle and back toward Main Street.

"I feel like our day would have been better spent if we just stuck around Main Street the whole time," Travis said as they ran. "Every clue has brought us back here."

As they approached the Disneyland Fire Station, they were shocked to see the line to submit the vault's combination had over 50 people in it. Mr. Pegg read the next group's combination over the microphone as he had done before, turned to the vault, and spun the dial. He gave the big handle a pull and it didn't budge. He gave the group a friendly thumbs down and accepted the next group's guess.

"55, 18, 26," Mr. Pegg called into the microphone.

"Looks like the secret is out about the first number being 55," Travis said.

The three kids entered the Fire Station through the giant front doors. Inside the station was a mini museum of antique firefighter equipment. Old axes and helmets, black and white photographs, fire hoses, oxygen tanks, and an old pair of boots decorated the station. In the middle of the room was an antique red fire wagon.

"Look for anything permanent," Travis said quietly. "This is the fourth place. The second combination and the next clue will definitely be here somewhere."

"Why something permanent?" Dizzy asked, inspecting the photographs on the wall closely.

"Just like the carving for the first combination and the second clue. They had to put the clue somewhere permanent so someone couldn't take off with them."

"Right," Dizzy said. "Do you see anything yet?"

Travis was inspecting the fire wagon, hoping to find an engraving somewhere. Ana was playing on the fire pole in the corner, trying to climb up it.

"Where does this thing go?" she asked.

"Walt Disney used to have an apartment right above this fire station," Dizzy explained. "He would stay here overnight and wanted to watch people as they entered the park. This fire pole was his way down from the apartment."

"Cool," Travis and Ana said together.

"Do you think the clue is up in that apartment?" Ana asked.

"No," Dizzy answered. "Remember what Mr. Pegg said? All clues would be in normally accessible areas. Walt's apartment is off limits." Dizzy walked backwards away from the poll. He tripped over some rubber fireman boots that had been cemented to the ground.

"I'm OK," he said, trying to act cool. "I knew those were there."

Travis and Ana laughed and began pulling Dizzy to his feet. Just as he was about to get all the way up Travis let go of his arm, dropping Dizzy back to the floor.

"You aren't going to believe this!" Travis was looking down into the boots. Dizzy crawled over and joined Travis over the boots. Engraved into the bottom of each boot in tiny writing was the next clue.

Chapter 19

Dizzy read the clue quietly:

~13~

Time to go for a spin.

"I can't believe it," Travis said as they quickly exited the fire station. "We are one step away!"

Dizzy looked over at the people in line in front of the vault. If only they knew the second number of the combination was just a few yards away from where they were standing.

"Do you think we should check in with our parents?" Dizzy asked. "Let them know how we're doing?"

"If you think so," Travis said taking out his phone. "My dad doesn't care what I am up to. I will text your mom and let her know that we found the last clue."

Travis typed out a short text on his phone. "We found the last clue! Everyone is great. Travis, Diz, Ana."

"That will keep my mom happy," Dizzy said. "Ana, are you hungry for some dinner?"

"Yes!" Ana said. "I'm starving!"

"Look," Dizzy said pointing ahead of them. "There's Mom and Steve. Hey Mom!"

Five women turned to look at Dizzy. Unlike his unique nickname, shouting "Mom" made a lot of people think they were being called.

"Michelle!" Dizzy called.

Michelle and Steve both turned around. Michelle smiled at seeing her kids and Ana ran to give her a hug.

"We found it!" Ana said. "We found the last clue."

"You did?" Michelle asked. "That's great news!"

"I just sent you a text telling you that," Travis said.

"Oh, really?" Michelle said. "I didn't hear my phone chime."

"There are so many people on cell phones here," Steve said. "There are lost texts and dropped calls all the time. We were just going to get some dinner. Do you kids want to join us?"

"Yes please!" Ana said. "We are starving."

The five of them walked to Rancho del Zocalo, the Mexican restaurant next to Thunder Mountain. The temperature was getting cooler as the sun dropped further in the sky. They all sat at a table next to an outdoor heater. Michelle and Steve took the kids' orders and went to get dinner.

"So what do you think the clue meant?" Travis asked Dizzy. "Time to go for a spin."

"It could mean a lot of things. There are a lot of rides that spin." Dizzy was already feeling nauseous, knowing that he would have to ride whatever spinning attraction the clue referred to. The problem was which one?

"Or it could mean go for a spin like drive a car," Travis suggested.

"Let's come up with a list," Dizzy said, unfolding a napkin in front of him. He reached in his pocket for the pen, but he had left it on the table at the Hungry Bear Restaurant.

They waited for Michelle and Steve to return. Dizzy knew his mom had a pen in her purse they could use.

"Ok," Dizzy began a few minutes later, his mother's pen in his hand. "Rides that spin or have a car. You shout them out, I'll write them down."

"Carousel," Travis said.

"Dumbo," Ana suggested.

"Tea Cups."

"Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin."

"Autopia."

"Mr. Toad's Wild Ride."

"Anything else?" Dizzy asked when he had written the last ride. "I can't think of any more."

"Then we must have gotten them all," Travis said, patting Dizzy on the back. "If you can't think of any more, then it doesn't exist. So what should we do first?"

"I know what I want to do last," Dizzy said, taking a bite of his bean and cheese burrito. "Those awful tea cups."

"Ok, then we save that ride for last."

The rest of the dinner was spent catching up on what had happened since the parade. Travis and Dizzy made Ana promise she wouldn't tell the adults about Big Red. If their parents knew someone was following them, they wouldn't let the kids go off on their own anymore. Ana agreed to keep the secret.

"Sounds like you kids have had a crazy day," Steve said, checking his cell phone again. "You said twenty-four?"

"No, it was thirteen," Travis said. "Why?"

"Just couldn't remember. You know, the older you are, the dumber you get," Steve said smiling at Ana. "So don't you go getting old OK? First thing that goes is your memory."

Ana laughed and went back to her dinner.

When everyone was done eating, Michelle said she and Steve were going to sit near the vault and watch the people try to guess the combination.

"Let us know if anyone opens it," Dizzy said.

"Oh, I'm sure you will know if that happens," Steve said. "I bet there will be a huge explosion of fireworks. I'm guessing the whole park will know the vault is open."

"Good luck kids," Michelle said, hugging each kid goodbye including Travis. "You three have fun and stay safe OK?"

All three kids agreed and after a round of hugs from Michelle, they were alone again.

"So, where to first?" Dizzy asked.

"Most of those rides are in Fantasyland," Travis said. "Let's let Ana pick."

"Really?" Ana said. "Thanks Travis!" She hugged Travis around the waist. "Let's go ride Dumbo!"

The three kids jogged to Fantasyland, certain they were just a few rides away from winning the contest.

Fantasyland was packed with people. It was a little after 5:00, less than two hours to go before the Quest ended. They approached the line for Dumbo the Flying Elephant, which stretched through a maze of ropes and down toward the Storybook Canoe ride.

Dizzy took the Fast Passes from his wallet.

"Good thing we didn't use these," Dizzy said. "We don't know how long it is going to take to find the right ride."

Dizzy took three passes from the stack and returned the rest to his wallet. The three kids walked toward the exit and stopped the Dumbo ride operator who was walking by.

"Excuse me miss," Travis said. "We have these passes." Dizzy held up the passes for her to see.

"OK, wait here," she said. She walked back to the entrance and grabbed two black plastic feathers, the magical item that made Dumbo fly. She returned and handed one to Travis and another to Dizzy. "I will come and let you in when this ride is over."

"Great idea Dizzy," Ana said reaching for the plastic feather. "That line would have taken forever."

Travis was inspecting his feather carefully.

"What are you doing?" Dizzy asked.

"Looking for the clue," Travis answered. "It could be anywhere right?"

"Oh yeah," Dizzy said. "Good idea."

Dizzy and Travis found nothing on either feather and waited for the ride to end.

"We need to look in the elephant, on the arms holding them, and the circle in the middle of the ride," Dizzy said as the cast member held open the gate for them. "All we need is the last number."

Ana grabbed Dizzy's hand and pulled him to the Dumbo car wearing a green hat. Travis climbed into the elephant behind them and started looking on the floor, seat, and seatbelt. Dizzy leaned over the side of the elephant and saw each arm holding an elephant had a number on it. None of them stood out as being part of the Quest though.

"Find anything?" Travis shouted while the cast member gave instructions over the loud speaker.

"Nothing," Dizzy answered. "You?"

"Nope."

"...and enjoy your flight," the cast member concluded. Dizzy was so focused on finding the last number of the combination he hadn't even thought about what riding Dumbo would do to him. He closed his eyes and grabbed Ana's hand as the elephant took off into the air.

The ride went round and round, making Dizzy more and more nauseous. The elephant had a black knob to control the up and down motion and he begged Ana to not touch it. He was becoming dizzier and wanted the ride to end. The awful feeling would have been worth it if they had found the last part of the combination, he told himself. But as far as he could tell, the number wasn't on this ride. This wasn't the spin the last clue was telling them to take.

The ride seemed to last for hours, and when the elephant finally came to a stop Dizzy wobbled out and held on to Ana for balance.

"Are you OK?" Travis asked from behind, placing Dizzy's arm around his neck to support him.

"I think so. I can't believe we rode that for nothing. And we used three of our Fast Passes to do it too. What a waste."

"Not a complete waste," Travis said as they walked through the exit gate. If we didn't use our Fast Passes we would still be standing in that line. We would have wasted forty-five minutes and still not found the last number. Those passes saved us time."

"You're right," Dizzy said now able to walk on his own. "What's next?"

"Let's hit all of these rides here in Fantasyland," Travis suggested. "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and the Carousel are right here."

"Let's do Mr. Toad's first," Dizzy suggested. "I can't handle the Carousel yet."

They used three more Fast Passes to jump directly to the front of the line on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but their search turned up nothing. The line for the Carousel was short so no Fast Passes were used, but the result was the same. The spinning Carousel made Dizzy feel sick again, but he forced himself to focus on the Quest.

"Three down, three to go," Travis said. "And we are saving Tea Cups right?"

"Right," Dizzy said, trying to get his head to stop spinning. "Do you think we should split up? You go do Roger Rabbit and we will go do Autopia."

"That would save some time," Travis agreed. "And we wouldn't have to use the rest of our Fast Passes."

Dizzy had six Fast Passes left and handed one to Travis.

"Make sure you check the car right when you get in. Then do your best on the ride."

"Will do buddy," Travis said. "Ana, try to give this guy a smooth ride when you are steering OK?"

"I'll do my best," Ana said. The night before Dizzy thought he was going to suffer whiplash the way she slammed the Autopia car into the railing beneath it. He was not looking forward to Ana's second attempt at driving.

"Meet back in front of Tea Cups as soon as you're done," Dizzy said. "Hopefully one of us finds the number." Dizzy didn't want to think what would happen if he had to ride the Tea Cups.

Travis began running toward Toon Town as Dizzy and Ana began their trip to Tomorrowland.

Travis arrived in Toon Town and handed his Fast Pass to the cast member standing in front of Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. He directed Travis to the wheel chair entrance and moments later Travis found himself sitting in a yellow taxi with a black steering wheel. He inspected the wheel and the base that it sat on but found nothing resembling the third number of the combination. The ride began and his car started spinning and turning. He tried to control the spinning and keep himself steady so he could inspect the ride, but it was no use. The ride ended and he climbed out, taking one last look at the seat and floor of the taxi. Satisfied the number wasn't written anywhere on the car, he began jogging back to Fantasyland.

Dizzy and Ana ran past Matterhorn Mountain and around the submarine lagoon. They arrived at the Autopia entrance and saw three Autopia cast members standing in front of the entrance.

"Sorry sir," one said to Dizzy, "but Autopia is currently down for repairs."

Dizzy's stomach was doing somersaults. He handed the Fast Passes to Ana and rubbed his hands up and down his face. If Autopia had the last number, they would never be able to get it while the ride was down.

"Do you know when it might open back up?" Dizzy asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, we do not know," the cast member answered politely. "But we're hoping sometime later tonight."

That would be too late, Dizzy thought. If the last number was written on an Autopia car, he wouldn't be able to get to it before the Quest ended at 7:00. He thought about jumping over the gate and inspecting a car, but remembered Mr. Pegg's warning. Any un-Disneylike behavior will be cause for removal of the park and disqualification from the Quest. There was no way he would risk that now.

"Come on Ana," he said grabbing his sister's hand. "Let's head back to wait for Travis."

Dizzy and Ana stood next to the blue medal railing near the Tea Cups. The upbeat tune of The Unbirthday Song was playing over head, and Dizzy refused to turn and watch the ride spinning just a few steps away. Ana watched as kids twisted the center wheel faster and faster, causing their tea cup to spin even more rapidly.

When Travis returned from Toon Town, Dizzy explained to him that Autopia was down for repairs.

"If it was part of the Quest," Travis said after a few moments of thought. "Don't you think they would have made sure it stayed open all day?"

"I hadn't thought about that," Dizzy said. "I guess there's just one place left to look."

He turned around slowly and looked at the Tea Cups for the first time.

"It better be in there."
Chapter 20

The line for the Mad Tea Party was short and Dizzy, Travis, and Ana were able to get on the ride with only a few minutes wait.

"Are you sure you don't want to just watch from the side?" Travis asked as they climbed into their pink tea cup. "Ana and I can look."

"No," Dizzy answered. "I have to do this."

The three kids began looking on the seat and floor of the ride. Travis leaned over the side of the tea cup to see if there was any engraving on the outside. Dizzy leaned low and inspected the base of the spinning wheel.

"Oh my God," Dizzy said pointing to the base. "You aren't going to believe this."

"And you aren't going to believe this," Travis said, tapping Dizzy on the shoulder.

Dizzy sat up and turned to where Travis was pointing. Justin, his friends, and his sister were standing against the railing watching them.

"That jerk is following us, hoping we lead him to the last number," Travis said. He gave Justin a dirty look and sat back down in the tea cup. "What were you saying now?"

"Oh nothing," Dizzy said coolly. "Just that I found the next clue."

The ride began and the tea cup slowly started spinning.

"You what?!" Travis said loudly.

"Shut up," Dizzy said trying to calm him down. It had only been a few seconds and he was already feeling sick. He tried to focus. "Right down there at the base, look." Dizzy was pointing to the bottom of the stand holding the spinning wheel. "Don't make it obvious, just look casually."

The tea cup was picking up speed and Travis looked down. He saw a spiral of words, numbers, and math symbols followed by an equal sign.

"What does it say?"

"I didn't get a good look," Dizzy said. "And I don't want to look now with those guys watching us. We have to act like there isn't anything here."

"Let me take some pictures with my phone," Travis said, reaching into his pocket.

The tea cup had reached its maximum speed. No one was turning the wheel in the middle, so it wasn't spinning very fast. But to Dizzy it felt like he had been thrown into a washing machine on spin cycle.

"Just wait," Dizzy said grabbing his arm. His face had lost color and beads of sweet were on his forehead. He looked miserable. "Take a bunch of pictures as we are climbing out."

"But they'll see us take the pictures," Ana said with a huge smile on her face. Unlike her brother, she loved the ride and had her arms high in the air.

"She's right," Travis said. "We're going to need a diversion."

"Just leave that to me," Dizzy said.

The ride was ending and the tea cup was slowing down. The cup stopped right in front of Justin's group.

"When I get out of this thing, you better move fast and get that picture," Dizzy said. He opened the door and took three steps in Justin's direction.

"What do you want?" Justin asked.

"Nothing. I just..." Dizzy's spinning head and upset stomach worked in unison to interrupt his ability to speak. Dumbo, the Carousel, the Tea Cups, and the burrito for dinner he was now regretting all hit him at once. Dizzy put both hands along the top of the railing in front of Justin to steady himself and a wave of vomit erupted from Dizzy onto Justin's pants and shoes. Dizzy would have laughed if it hadn't come out of his own mouth.

"What the..." Justin shouted. His two friends jumped sideways to avoid the vomit, but Dizzy had gotten some on their shoes as well. "You are dead!"

Dizzy looked back and Travis and Ana were not by his side, supporting both of his arms around their necks. Ana was much shorter than Travis, causing Dizzy to lean awkwardly to one side. Two Cast Members appeared quickly with cleaning materials and stood between Justin and Dizzy.

"I'm sure it was just an accident," he said as he wiped the floor. "Would you like someone to help you get cleaned up?"

Justin's face was red and he ignored the friendly Cast Member. He motioned for his friends to follow him and they walked away toward a restroom.

"Thanks for not getting any on me," Megan said with a smile. "Are you OK?"

"Never felt better," Dizzy said, trying to force himself to smile.

Megan laughed and waved goodbye before running to catch up to her brother.

"So did you get it?" Dizzy asked as they sat on a nearby bench.

"Yeah I got it," Travis said tapping his phone with his finger. "I wish I would have had my phone pointing at you though. That was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. I would have loved to have that on video."

The kids laughed as Travis mimicked Justin's reaction. They walked to a nearby cart and bought Dizzy a bottle of water. He was feeling better. A combination of getting the next clue, humiliating Justin, and talking to Megan all helped.

Travis opened up the photos on his phone and scrolled through them, looking for the picture of the last clue.

"It looks like a giant math problem," he said zooming in on the picture of the tea cup base.

"A math problem?" Dizzy was confused. He was certain they were looking for the last number of the combination. It was after 6:00 and they had less than an hour before the Quest ended. He didn't think they had enough time to solve a math problem. "What kind of math problem?"

"It's like a rhyming equation," Travis began, squinting at the screen. "There are parenthesis, some rhymes with subtraction or addition signs between them and an equal sign at the end. Do you think maybe the answer is the last number of the combination? Here, take a look." He handed the phone to Dizzy allowing him to see the clue for the first time.

Dizzy read the clue.

(Elephants in the air - Candles for the bear) +

(Auction wenches x Storybook benches) -

(Splash Mountain drops + Train station stops) =
Chapter 21

Dizzy stared at the phone, more confused than he had been all day.

"This looks like gibberish to me," Dizzy said after a few moments. "The rhymes make sense, but I don't get the math stuff. This might take some time to figure out."

"Well we don't have a lot of time left," Travis said. "Where can we go and work on this thing?"

"I think I know a place where we can have privacy. Follow me."

Dizzy lead Travis and Ana past the Storybook Canal Boats, Dumbo, and Casey Jr.'s Circus Train. He stopped in front of the walkway leading up to the Skyway to Tomorrowland Station where they had found the first number of the combination.

"Up there?" Travis asked.

"Why not?" Dizzy said. "The gate is still open so it isn't off limits. And who would be looking for the first number this late into the contest. Trust me."

The three kids made the familiar trip up the steps leading to the abandoned station. The building was much darker than it had been that morning when they first arrived. Travis checked the time on his phone. It was 6:15.

Dizzy took out the pen his mom had given him and the napkin he had stuffed in his pocket. He handed them both to Travis.

"Ok math guy," he said. "What does this thing mean?"

"It's a simple PEMDAS question," Travis said.

Dizzy remembered a math teacher using that word before, but he had no idea what it meant.

"Speak English Travis," Dizzy said. "What's PEMDAS?"

"You don't know what PEMDAS is? It's the order of operations. Each letter is a different math function, but people remember it by replacing the letters to make a funny sentence. Like 'Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally'. Everyone's heard of that one."

"People eat moldy donuts and sausages," Ana said. Dizzy and Travis both looked at her not realizing she was paying attention.

"I'm impressed," Travis said. He turned back to Dizzy. "P stands for parenthesis, you do those first in all math problems. E is exponents, then you multiply and divide, then add and subtract. Once we replace these words with numbers I can solve this thing no problem."

"Sounds like a plan," Dizzy said as Travis copied the math problem down on the napkin. "Some of these are easy. You ready?"

"Ready."

"Ok," Dizzy began. "Elephants in the air has to be talking about Dumbo. There are 16 of those." Travis wrote down 16 above the elephants part of the equation. "Candles for bear must mean the Winnie the Pooh ride. We are going to have to ride that one to find out."

"Keep going," Travis said. "We will ride what we have to after. Let's get as many of these numbers down as we can."

"Auction wenches is from Pirates. There are five women up to be auctioned off as brides, Splash Mountain drops is 3, and train station stops is 4."

Travis wrote each number down as Dizzy said them.

"You skipped storybook benches."

"That's because I have no idea what that one means."

"Well that is going to be a problem, isn't it?" Travis said.

They were two numbers away from filling out the equation and Travis was sure he could calculate the final number of the combination.

"Let's run over to Winnie the Pooh," Dizzy suggested. "Maybe the storybook benches will make sense after I think about it."

Travis stuffed the napkin and pen in his pocket. "If Justin or Big Red tries to take this napkin from me they are going to wind up in the hospital."

Dizzy was about to laugh but saw the seriousness in Travis's face. He was glad Travis was on his side.

The kids ran down the stairs, took the Big Thunder Trail around Thunder Mountain, sprinted past the entrances to Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, past the line for Splash Mountain and to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

"How many Fast Passes do we have left?" Travis asked breathing hard from the long run.

"Only three," Dizzy said. "Do you think we should use them?"

"It's your call," Travis said. "Any luck figuring out what storybook benches means?"

Dizzy shook his head as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Just the kid I wanted to see," Justin said. His pants were still wet where he had tried to wash Dizzy's puke off and he smelled awful. Neither his two friends nor his sister were with him. Dizzy was terrified and hoped Travis was right about an adult not being able to hurt a kid.

"Listen Justin," Dizzy said. "I feel really bad about what happened. It was an accident, I swear." Dizzy doubted any kind of apology would work with Justin. He was just trying to stall for time until they were close enough to the ride operators. He didn't think Justin would try anything with employees watching.

"You sure you don't want to go back to your hotel and change," Travis said plugging his nose. Dizzy stared at Travis and raised his eye brows. You are going to get me killed, he wanted to scream.

Justin let go of Dizzy's shoulder and turned to Travis.

"Run!" Travis shouted as soon as Dizzy was loose of Justin's grip.

Dizzy, Ana, and Travis ran forward through the line, pushing their way past the confused guests ahead of them. Justin chased after them and caught up to the three kids just as they reached the front of the line. Dizzy held up the three Fast Passes to the Cast Member.

"We have these," he said with a panic.

"And that guy is not with us," Travis said pointing back at Justin.

The Cast Member took the three Fast Passes and faced Justin. "You are going to have to get in the back of the line."

Dizzy, Ana, and Travis climbed into the next honeycomb car and were off to the Hundred Acre Wood.

"Don't you think he is going to be waiting at the exit to pound us?" Dizzy asked as they gently rocked back and forth in their honey bee car.

"No way," Travis said. "He came here for a reason. I am guessing he found the last clue on Tea Cups and is here to count the candles, just like we are. He wouldn't give up a chance for $250,000 just to beat us up."

Dizzy was relieved.

"Besides, he still can find us after the Quest and beat us up then," Travis continued. He looked at Dizzy who had a look of fear on his face. "Relax, I'm only kidding. You think anyone is going to be able to get to us after we open that vault? We are going to be treated like kings!"

"And a queen," Ana added.

"That's right," Travis said, rubbing her hair. He leaned back and turned his attention to the ride. "So where are these candles?"

"They are at the very end of the ride," Dizzy said. "A birthday party for Pooh."

Ana was enjoying the ride and pointed out each character that she saw. Dizzy hoped she was having a good time. Being dragged from ride to ride all day without getting much say about it couldn't have be fun. He watched her and the sight of her being excited relaxed Dizzy for the first time since the Quest started.

The ride continued into a very strange scene. Pooh was having a psychedelic nightmare about Hefelumps and Woosels stealing his honey. Bright lights and neon colors filled the honey covered room that Pooh had dreamt.

Ana pointed to a splatter of honey on one of the honey pots painted on the wall.

"Look Dizzy," she shouted. "A hidden Mickey!" The splatter of honey looked like a Mickey Mouse head, too perfect to be a coincidence. "I should tell that girl about it, huh?"

"Yes, you should," Dizzy said. He hoped after the Quest was over he would be able to sit with Megan and talk. Dizzy was sure that she had given up on the Quest by now, no doubt tired of having to work with her brother. He had only known Justin for a day and was already sick of him. He couldn't imagine having to live with him like she did.

Pooh's dream ended and their honeycomb car made a slight turn right as they entered Pooh's birthday party. Tigger, Rabit, Owl, Piglet, and Pooh were gathered around a table. On it sat a birthday cake with a single candle.

"One candle," Ana pointed out proudly. "I solved a clue!"

"Great job Ana," Dizzy said. "We couldn't have done it without you."

They exited the ride, looking closely for Justin, his friends, or Big Red. The coast was clear and they began running back toward Adventureland.

"So any idea on those storybook benches?" Travis asked as they ran.

"There are benches everywhere," Dizzy said, slowing to a stop. "I thought maybe we count the benches in Fantasyland, but that didn't seem right." Dizzy checked his watch. It was now 6:32, less than 30 minutes left in the Quest. They couldn't solve the math problem without all the numbers. Time was running out and Dizzy had no idea what to do.

"Dizzy," Ana said quietly, pulling on her brother's arm. "I know where we have to go."

Chapter 22

"You know where the storybook benches are?" Dizzy asked. "Why didn't you say something?"

Ana was now crying. Dizzy bent down and was face to face with her.

"Ana, I'm not angry at all. I just wanted to know why you didn't tell us where the benches are."

"I'm not crying because you yelled at me," she said, wiping away a tear. "I'm crying because I'm scared."

"Why are you scared?" Dizzy asked. "What's wrong?"

Ana didn't say anything. The tears were streaming down her face.

"Tell us where the benches are," Travis said. "Please."

"They are back in Fantasyland," Ana said quietly.

The three of them ran back to Fantasyland. Ana led past the giant blue whale Monstro from Pinocchio as a canal boat full of guests floated through his open mouth. Ana pointed to the landscaped area passed the water. The bushes spelled out Storybook Land.

"We have run past this ride all day," Ana said. "Storybook Land probably has storybook benches right?"

Dizzy and Travis both gave Ana a hug.

"And this is why you were crying?" Dizzy asked. "Because of the boats?"

Ana nodded yes.

"Well don't worry about it," Travis said. "You stay here with me and Dizzy will go count the benches."

"You did it Ana," Dizzy said. "This is it. I am so proud of you!"

They let go of her and Dizzy took out his wallet. He then realized he used the last three fast passes avoiding Justin on Winnie the Pooh.

"Oh no," he said. He checked his watch, which read 6:37, and looked at the line stretching past the blue fencing. There were at least 100 people ahead of them in line. "We're never going to make it."

"Dizzy," Ana said softly, reaching into her pocket. "I still have these." She was holding two Fast Pass tickets in her fingers. "These should help, right?"

"How did you? Where did you?" Dizzy was in shock and couldn't finish any of his thoughts. Travis began jumping up and down in excitement.

"Woooooo Ana!" he screamed.

"Where did you get those?" Dizzy finally asked, regaining his composure.

"You handed them to me at Autopia when it was closed remember? I had them in my pocket." She smiled up at her brother.

"OK," he said, taking control of the situation. "I am going to ride this thing and hopefully find the benches. I want you two to go get in line for the vault. Hopefully I make it back in time with the last number. Travis, you can calculate the answer while we are in line and we can have the combination before it is our turn. Sound good?"

"No," Ana said. "I'm staying with you. I want to ride it."

"Ana," Dizzy said. "You don't have to prove anything to me. Just go with Travis and I will catch up to you."

Dizzy turned and began jogging toward the exit ramp with the tickets in his hand. Ana followed him.

"I'm coming," she said firmly. "Travis, go get in line at the vault."

"We don't have time to argue, Travis said. "Here Dizzy." He handed Dizzy his phone. "Text me the number of benches when you get it."

"Dude, how am I supposed to text you if you just gave me your phone."

"Oh yeah," Travis said. "Then text your mom. I will find them and have them stand in line with me. Now go get on that boat." He turned and began sprinting toward Main Street.

Dizzy put the phone in his pocket as he and Ana approached the Storybook Cast Member and showed her the Fast Passes. She opened the gate and a few moments later Dizzy and Ana stood on the dock waiting for the next canal boat.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Dizzy asked Ana as their boat approached.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she said. "Just promise me you won't let go of my hand."

"I promise."

Ana took a huge breath as she stepped from the dock to the boat. It rocked a little as the other guests got situated. The cast member steering the boat asked Ana if she wanted to go sit on the bow of the boat by herself.

"Are you crazy lady?" Ana replied.

Dizzy laughed and squeezed Ana's hand. The boat left the dock and entered the whale's mouth.

The Cast Member began telling quick summaries of the storybook tales the miniature houses along the water were based on. When they approached a skinny strip of land to the right of the boat, Dizzy noticed a tiny wooden park bench under a miniature street lamp.

"And this where Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, and Wendy flew over on their way to Neverland," the cast member continued.

"There's one," he counted. "Two, three, four, and five. Five benches. We got it." He took Travis's phone out of his pocket and sent a text message to his mom.

"5 benches! We'll be there soon. Dizzy."

The rest of the ride went smoothly and Dizzy and Ana were the first to disembark the small boat.

"How was it Ana?" Dizzy asked as they ran through the exit and toward Main Street.

"How should I know?" she called back. "My eyes were shut the whole time!"

They ran past the Partners Statue and continued down Main Street. There was a roped off area in front of the stage and a cast member continued to shout directions to anyone nearby.

"Line forms around the back of the stage. Any guests submitting an answer must be in line by 7:00 p.m. All Quest players, line forms around the back of the stage." Dizzy and Ana went around the side and Travis and his mom in line a few groups back from the front of the line.

"Dizzy," Travis said as they approached. He looked surprised to see him. "I thought you were going to text your mom the number?"

Dizzy gave a confused look to Travis and his mom.

"I did. I said there were five benches. You didn't get it?"

Michelle's phone was in her hand, she held it up to show it had no new messages.

"Let me see my phone," Travis said, holding out his hand. Dizzy gave Travis his phone back and he typed out a quick text to Michelle. "Where are you?" the message read. Travis looked over at Michelle's phone. It didn't buzz.

"That's strange," Dizzy said.

Travis turned his attention to the math problem in front of him. He did some calculations in his head and quickly wrote down some numbers. A few moments later he wrote down the answer and circled it.

"Thirty-three," Travis whispered, not wanting to alert the three large men in line ahead of them. "We got it!" Dizzy and Travis gave each other a high five and then both hugged Ana. Michelle gave them each a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Travis's cell phone buzzed, indicating a new message. He looked down at his phone with a confused look on his face.

"Hey, where's Steve?" Dizzy asked his mom.

"He had to go make a phone call," Michelle said.

"Now?"

Dizzy couldn't believe it. He checked his watch. It was 6:49. What could pull Steve away so close to the end of the Quest?

Travis was still looking at his phone, swiping his way up through his text message history.

"Who was that text from?" Dizzy asked.

"It was from Michelle," Travis said.

"But I didn't text you," Michelle said. Her phone was still in her hand.

"What's your cell phone number?" Travis asked Michelle. Michelle told him her number and looked at Travis. He was looking at his cell phone in disgust. "We haven't been texting your mom at all today," Travis said after a few moments. "Someone changed her number in my phone book."

"What?" Dizzy asked. "Then who have we been texting?"

"I have no idea."

Another incorrect combination was met with Mr. Pegg's friendly thumbs down and Dizzy took a few steps closer to the stage. He stood on his tip toes to try to see over the men in front of him, but it was no use.

"I'll be right back," he said, stepping out of line. "I want to see who's ahead of us."

Dizzy took a few steps forward and saw there were only three groups ahead of them in line.

The first was the group of three large men directly in front of them.

Next was Megan and her brother Justin.

And at the bottom of the steps leading to the stage stood Steve and Big Red.
Chapter 23

Dizzy was frozen. His mind stopped functioning and all he could do is point in Steve and Big Red's direction.

Nothing made sense to him at that point.

"Travis!" he was finally able to say. "Get over here!"

Travis asked Michelle and Ana to hold their place in line and walked over to Dizzy.

"What? What's wrong?"

Dizzy pointed at the two men climbing the steps to the stage.

"That's my dad," Travis began. "And..."

"Big Red," finished Dizzy.

Both boys stood in the same spot, trying to process the scene that was unfolding before them.

Steve handed Mr. Pegg a piece of paper and Mr. Pegg read it into the microphone. Steve and Big Red were both smiling and Big Red's arm was resting on Steve's shoulder, ready to celebrate.

"55....13....5. Good luck gentlemen." Mr. Pegg turned and walked to the vault, spun the dial and pulled the handle. It didn't budge. The smiles vanished from both Steve and Big Red's face.

"There has to be some mistake," Steve insisted. "Check it again!"

"I'm sorry, sir," Mr. Pegg said. "That is not the correct combination."

Steve turned to Big Red and began yelling at him. Mr. Pegg had security escort them away and down the steps as Michelle joined the boys in front of the stage.

"I wonder where they got those numbers?" Dizzy asked, still confused. "And why is your dad with Big Red?"

"I can't believe it," Travis said. "The whole time..." He was lost in his thoughts and couldn't continue.

"You can't believe what?" Dizzy asked.

"The texts. We thought we were texting your mom throughout the day. But I think it was Big Red the whole time."

"How is that possible?"

"Remember when my dad took my phone last night?" Travis asked. "I think he changed your mom's number to Big Red's. That's why he kept showing up every time we texted your mom to check in. We were telling him exactly where we were. We even texted him the first number of the combination!"

"And when I sent my mom the text from your phone with the number of benches, it went to him!"

"Yes!" Travis said. "That's why they thought the last number was five. They had no idea about the math problem."

"What are you two doing out here?" Michelle asked, walking up to the boys. "I don't want to leave Ana in line alone." She noticed Steve and Big Red arguing to the side of the stage. "Steve?" She walked toward him. "What in the world are you doing?"

"Hey baby," he started. "I can explain..."

Dizzy turned his attention back to the stage. He watched as Justin and his sister handed their piece of paper to Mr. Pegg. Mr. Pegg looked at their combination, raised his eyebrows and spoke into the microphone.

"55....13....33. How intriguing. Good luck you two."

"But those are our numbers," Dizzy said to Travis. "How in the world..."

Dizzy couldn't finish his sentence. It didn't seem possible that they could have found the numbers in the math problem faster than they did. Justin never even went on Winnie the Pooh.

"We are toast," Travis said. "I can't believe it ends like this."

Mr. Pegg finished turning the dial and pulled the handle. It didn't open. He gave his signature smile and thumbs down gesture and turned to look for the next group.

Dizzy and Travis looked at each other in shock.

Justin began yelling at his sister on the stage. He grabbed the Hidden Mickeys book out of her hand and threw it at her feet. Megan bent down to pick it up but Justin kicked it off the stage.

"What a complete jerk," Dizzy said turning to Travis. "How are we wrong? Are you sure your math was right?"

"I checked it twice," Travis said. "The last number is 33."

"Oh my God," Dizzy said. The answer came to him instantly. "That's not the last number. It's a place!"

He checked his watch. It was 6:53. There was still time.

"I'll be right back!" he said as he sprinted down Main Street yet again.

He weaved in and out of guests walking along the street. The cheerful Main Street music played in the background as he jumped on to the sidewalk to avoid two kids having a toy light saber duel in the middle of the street. A crowd of people were stopped on the sidewalk so he took a detour into the Penny Arcade, ran through the back of the candy shop and out through Refreshment Corner at the end of Main Street. He turned left and ran through the entrance to Adventureland. He passed The Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones and went over the elevated walkway crossing the line to Pirates of the Caribbean. He turned left and ran into New Orleans Square, checking the addresses of each door as he passed. He found what he was looking for next to the Blue Bayou Restaurant.

A shining, silver sign with two turquoise threes on it.

The exclusive Club 33.

Chapter 24

Dizzy inspected the sign closely. He was certain the last number of the combination would be on it. His heart was racing, knowing he had only a few minutes to get the number and return to Main Street. He squinted as he pressed his face inches away from the sign. He was beginning to worry this was another dead end when he noticed a small engraving along the edge of the sign.

He tilted his head sideways to get a closer look. It was another riddle. He read it quietly to himself:

Enter the combination,

At the vault's true location.

Where Walt's fascination,

Meets Lillian's representation.

Dizzy smiled. For the first time all day a clue had made perfect sense to him. He checked his watch. It was 6:57. He knew where he had to go. He just hoped he would make it.

He sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him back the way he came. He moved like an NFL running back, finding holes in the crowds ahead of him and moving through before they closed up. He turned right onto Main Street and heard Mr. Pegg calling out another combination from the speakers overhead. Dizzy didn't bother listening to the numbers. He knew the vault wouldn't open.

He ran harder, his legs beginning to burn. He saw Travis and Ana in the front of the line at the stage. They had been letting the people behind them pass while they waited for Dizzy's return. Their faces lit up as Dizzy ran closer, but he didn't slow down. The smiles on their faces drained as Dizzy sprinted past the stage and vault entirely and continued up the steps to Main Street Station.

Dizzy knew he only had seconds remaining before 7:00. A sense of calm came over him as he leapt through the turnstile and entered the station. There in the middle of the room was a glass case holding a model train of Walt Disney's tribute to his wife Lillian.

The Lilly Belle.

Dizzy approached the glass case and ran his fingers along the top. He then bent down and touched the plaque on the front of the case. It moved slightly at his touch. He rotated the plaque clockwise, revealing three number dials.

He carefully spun the dials with the tips of his finger.

"55....13....33," he said quietly. He replaced the plaque and stepped back, not knowing what to expect.

He checked his watch. It was now 7:00. The Quest was over.

For a few moments he stood staring at the train. Am I too late, he asked himself. Are the numbers wrong? Suddenly, the miniature lights on the train lit up. The engine gave out a faint whistle and a tiny puff of steam came out of the top.

A huge explosion erupted behind him and Dizzy was almost blown off his feet. Fireworks were shooting out of the top of Main Street Station and a giant spotlight shone through the doors. Celebratory music began playing over the loudspeakers on Main Street as fireworks continued to explode in the air above him. Dizzy slowly walked out of the station onto the platform outside. He saw Mr. Pegg running up the steps toward him, a wireless microphone in his hand.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" he screamed into the microphone excitedly. "Disneyland is proud to present to you, the winner of the Disneyland Quest," he put his hand over the microphone and Dizzy told him his name. "Mr. Dizzy Walker!!!"

Another round of fireworks exploded overhead. Deafening cheers were coming from the huge crowd on Main Street that had now begun gathering in front of the station.

Dizzy looked down and saw Travis and Ana racing up the steps. Two Disneyland security guards stepped in front of them, blocking their path.

"They're with me!" Dizzy shouted. Mr. Pegg motioned for the security guards to step aside, and Ana and Travis continued up the steps. The three of them met with a huge hug, setting off another round of enormous cheers from the crowd below.

Dizzy and Travis each grabbed one of Ana's hands and they faced the crowd, raising their arms triumphantly, lifting her off her feet. More fireworks and cheering followed and Mr. Pegg shook each child's hands in congratulations.

"How about a few words with our winners," he said facing the crowd. "Tell us how you are feeling." He held the microphone in front of Dizzy. Dizzy was speechless.

"We feel great!" Travis said, grabbing the microphone. "We did it!" Travis let out a loud victory roar, setting off more cheers from the crowd below. Ana treated the crowd to an extended version of her victory dance. The crowd clapped and cheered her on.

Michelle began running up the steps. She was half smiling, half crying. She hugged Dizzy and Ana, and reached out to pull Travis in as well.

Mr. Pegg realized a post victory interview was not going to happen, so he turned his attention back to the crowd.

"Disneyland would like to thank all 1,114 groups that signed up for the Disneyland Quest. It was a magical day and one that hopefully none of you ever forget." He watched as Michelle smothered Dizzy with kisses. Ana had both arms wrapped around Travis, squeezing him in a miniature bear hug. "Ladies and gentlemen. One more time, let's hear it for our Quest winners!"

More fireworks exploded in the sky above them, and the crowd responded with a final ovation.

"I can't believe we won," Dizzy shouted over the fireworks. "We really did it!"

"How did you know to come up here?" Travis asked. "We thought you had lost your mind."

"I'll explain later," Dizzy said. "I think we owe someone an ice cream cone." He smiled at his sister.

"Oh yeah!" Ana said, breaking into her victory dance once again.
Chapter 25

Dizzy, Ana, Travis, and Michelle sat on the curb on Main Street. Ana had an ice cream cone taller than her and was doing her best to keep it from falling.

"So where did you go?" Travis asked Dizzy. Dizzy had remained quiet since the ceremony in front of Main Street Station. "How did you find out about the train station?"

"After Justin and Megan were wrong with our same numbers," Dizzy began, "I first thought it was because you messed up on the math. But you seemed confident that 33 was right. I realized the 33 we got from the math problem wasn't only the last number but also the last clue. Then it hit me, Club 33."

"Isn't that the exclusive restaurant here?" Travis asked.

"Yep. It's an unmarked restaurant. No name, no open doors. Just a silver, oval sign that says 33 and a small button with a speaker. I looked closely at the 33 sign and there was one last riddle."

"And it told you to go to the train station?"

"It was a poem about the final destination being where Walt's fascination meets Lilly's representation. Walt was fascinated with trains and I remember seeing the Lilly Belle model train in the station this morning. I thought that had to be the place."

"Wow. Then what happened?"

"I got to the case, found where to input the combination, then everything went crazy."

"So what happened with your dad?" Dizzy asked. "And Big Red?"

"I have no idea," Travis said. "After your mom saw them together they took off running."

"Your dad and Big Red ran away from my mom?" Dizzy said laughing. The idea of those two big men running away from his tiny mom cracked Dizzy up.

"Yep," Travis said. "Haven't seen them since."

"I was wondering why he wasn't up on the platform with us." Dizzy leaned back, taking in the sights and sounds of Main Street. It was a wonderful place to be, but somehow even more so at night. For the first time all day, he was able to enjoy being at Disneyland without thinking about the Quest.

"I still would like to know how Justin and Megan got in front of us with the right combination though," Travis said, breaking the silence.

"Oh yeah," Dizzy said. "I forgot about that. How in the world did they get the combination?"

"Why don't you go ask her?" Ana said. Her face was covered in ice cream and she was pointing to a bench across the street. Megan was sitting alone, looking at Dizzy. Her brother was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll be right back," Dizzy said, rising to his feet. He walked across Main Street and smiled at Megan. She smiled back and moved her backpack to the side, leaving Dizzy a place to sit.

"Hi," he said, sitting down.

"Hi Dizzy," Megan answered. "I'm really happy for you. You know, winning the Quest and all."

"Oh, umm. Thanks." Dizzy didn't know what to say. Being congratulated on winning by the person you just beat made for an awkward situation. "I was wondering," he said after a moment, "how did you-"

"Get the combination?" Megan asked, finishing his question. "Well, while you were busy puking on my brother, and thank you for that by the way. He totally had that coming." She smiled and continued. "I saw that your funny friend had his phone out and was pointing it at the base. When my brother and his friends went to the bathroom, I jumped in line and rode the Tea Cups. I found the clue engraved on the base. During the ride I lied down on my side and copied down the math problem into my Hidden Mickeys book. I knew most of the numbers in the clue already. The only ones I had to check were the storybook benches and the candles for the bear."

"Us too," Dizzy said. "Those were the ones we had to ride and find out. But we didn't see you on Winnie the Pooh or the Storybook ride. When did you get the numbers?"

"As soon as I got off of tea cups I got in line for the Storybook ride. Justin and his friends had returned from the bathroom and I waved for them to join me. They didn't believe me when I told them I knew how to find the last number. Just like they didn't believe me when I told them the first clue didn't mean to go to Tom Sawyer's Island."

"So you were the one that told them to go to the Skyway station?"

"Yep. When I saw your face while we were getting on the raft I realized you knew something I didn't. I took another look at my clue and saw you three running toward Big Thunder Trail. I figured a smart guy like you wouldn't go running off in the other direction if there wasn't a good reason. As soon as we got to the island I begged Justin to listen to me. But we spent about twenty minutes on the island and then he tried to act like the Skyway station was his idea. What a jerk."

Dizzy laughed. He was impressed that she had been the reason Justin and his group had been right on their tail the whole day.

"But we didn't see you on Winnie the Pooh," Dizzy said. "We used our Fast Passes after your brother chased us through the line. Where were you?"

"I was already on the ride," she said smiling. "Justin didn't want to ride it. He said he was on the lookout for you three and unfortunately for you guys he found you. As soon as I got off the ride we began working on the math problem. When we got the number thirty-three we ran back to Main Street and got in line. I really thought we were going to win."

"So did I," Dizzy said. "When we heard Mr. Pegg read your numbers I thought we were toast."

"I had a feeling the last clue was a little too easy," Megan said. "But we were running out of time. I wish I would have thought to go check out Club 33. That was really smart of you."

"Oh, thanks."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Dizzy desperately wanted to ask for Megan's phone number or email address. He wished he was as brave as Travis and could have just gone for it. But he felt that the moment had passed.

Dizzy couldn't think of anything else to say, so he stood up and stepped down off the sidewalk.

"Well-"

"Umm Dizzy," Megan asked interrupting him. She looked nervous and unsure of herself for the first time. "I was wondering if...if maybe you wanted to exchange cell phone numbers? Just to maybe chat about Disneyland and stuff?"

"Oh," Dizzy said, his heart in his throat. "Umm, no. I can't do that."

"Oh, I understand." Megan's face was red with embarrassment.

"No," Dizzy said. "No, that's not what I meant. I meant I don't have a cell phone." He thought about the $250,000 prize he was splitting with Travis and smiled. "But I will as soon as I get home. How about we exchange email addresses. I will let you know when I get a cell phone. I mean, if that's ok."

"Sure!" Megan said, ripping a page out of her Hidden Mickeys book. She wrote her email address on it and handed it to Dizzy. She then gave him her book and he wrote his email on the inside cover.

"DizzneyGuy00@gmail.com," she said, reading his email address. "That's cute."

Dizzy's face reddened.

"Thank you."

"I better go," Megan said. "My mom and dad made my brother go back to our hotel with them. He was being such a jerk to me on that stage after our combination was wrong. My mom actually climbed onto the stage, grabbed him by the ear, and yanked him down the stairs with her. You should have seen it!" She was laughing now.

"I would have liked to!" Dizzy said, laughing as well. "But you know, I had to go and win the Quest and all." He took a big breath, pretending like he was a super hero who just saved the day.

"Big Quest-winning hot shot, huh?" Megan said laughing. "Just don't forget us poor losers from high upon your throne." They both laughed and when they stopped, they stood in an awkward silence.

"Well, Dizzy," Megan said sticking out her hand. "It was nice to meet you."

He took her hand in his.

"You too, Megan."

They shook hands. Dizzy would have been happy to stand there until the park closed.

"OK, OK. Break it up you two." Travis walked in between them, interrupting their hand shake. They all laughed. "I hope you don't mind me stealing him from you, but apparently the Disneyland head honchos need Mr. Quest here."

"Sorry," Dizzy said. "But it looks like I have to run."

"OK," Megan said. "You'll email me, right?"

"I will," Dizzy said. Dizzy and Travis walked back across Main Street. Dizzy took one more look over his shoulder at Megan, who gave him a quick wave goodbye.

"Well done my friend," Travis said, patting Dizzy on the back. "Now let's go collect those prizes!"
Chapter 26

Dizzy, Ana, Travis, and Michelle were being led by two Disneyland security guards wearing straw hats and white shirts tucked into black pants. They each had an ear piece stuck in their ear. Dizzy thought they looked like Disneyland's version of secret service agents. The guards walked them through a door marked "Cast Members Only." They walked down a long corridor, past offices and employee restrooms. Dizzy hoped they didn't run into any characters walking around without their head pieces on. Seeing that would make Ana faint.

They reached a door marked "Private". The shorter security guard held the door open and they entered.

"Can I get anyone something to drink?" he asked politely.

"No, thank you," Michelle said. "We are fine."

"OK," he answered. "Please wait here. Mr. Pegg will be with you shortly." He closed the door behind him and left.

The four of them sat in silence for five minutes. It had been a long day and Dizzy suddenly felt extremely tired.

"I hope this doesn't take too long," he said. "I am beat."

There was a knock at the door and it swung open. Dizzy was expecting Mr. Pegg or another Disneyland cast member. But standing in the open doorway was Steve.

"Dad?" Travis said in surprise.

"Steve?" Megan asked. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"I told them my son was back here," he said. "And they led me here."

Steve entered the room and had a confident look on his face. Dizzy was worried. Before the door was able to close completely behind Steve, it swung back open and Mr. Pegg's friendly face appeared.

"Good evening boys and girls," he said cheerily. "And you are?" He turned and faced Steve, holding his hand out for a friendly handshake.

"I'm Steve Manning," he said not returning the hand shake. "I'm his dad." He nodded to Travis.

"Excellent," Mr. Pegg said. "Truly excellent. Well, let's get down to business, what do you say?"

Steve sat down at the end of the table. Travis stared daggers at him.

"I'm sorry Mr. Pegg," Dizzy said, standing up. "But he shouldn't be here." He pointed to Steve who looked at him with a face full of rage. Dizzy felt his voice wavering, but forced himself to continue. "He was working against us all day. He had some guy follow us, chase us, even steal from us."

"I did nothing of the sort," Steve said. He turned to Mr. Pegg to explain. "I recognized a friend of mine this evening. He was the tall man in the red shirt. I am sure you remember him." Mr. Pegg nodded yes, wanting Steve to continue. "Well you see, apparently my son and his friends here think he was chasing them, which is just nonsense. They were all following the same clues, were they not? Doesn't it make sense that people would be at the same places at the same time?"

Mr. Pegg raised his eyebrows, considering Steve's story.

"And you kids say that isn't true?"

"Not at all!" Travis said. "He followed us all over the park."

"Yeah," Ana added. "And he stole my autograph book!"

"That is a serious accusation," Mr. Pegg said.

"You are going to trust the word of some kids over an adult?" Steve said, slamming his fist on the table. "This is nonsense! Let's just move this thing along. Isn't there some prize money to hand out?"

"Yes of course," Mr. Pegg said, taking a folder out of his briefcase. "Now since the winners are all underage, an adult signed the form when you registered for the Quest. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Dizzy answered.

"OK," Mr. Pegg continued. "I'm sure you agreed to share the winnings in some fashion, but for legal reasons, the check must be made out to the adult on the registration form."

"Yes!" Steve said leaping to his feet. "I signed their form! This is perfect. I knew I needed a backup just in case Charlie was too stupid to win this contest for us." He caught himself at the end of the sentence, but it was too late. His lie was blown and he saw no reason to try to cover it up.

"Who is Charlie?" Travis asked.

"Is that Big Red?" Dizzy said. "So you were working with him!"

"So what?" Steve said. "It doesn't matter now. I heard about the plan for this Disneyland Quest thing from a friend down here in LA. Then when Michelle went on and on about how much her kid loved Disneyland and knew everything about the park, I came up with this plan. Why else would I bring you or your two annoying kids all the way to Anaheim? Just to meet them? Ha! I knew I was going to win the prize money for this stupid contest thanks to your dorky kid. And as you all know, that form has my signature on it and I'm not giving you a dime. So make that check out to Steve Manning, would you? That's M-a-n-n-"

Mr. Pegg interrupted him.

"I'm sorry but the form I have has the signature of a Ms. Michelle Walker. I am guessing that is you, madam?" He showed Michelle the form she had signed during registration.

"Yes," Michelle said. "That is my signature."

"What?" Steve screamed. "How is that possible?"

"When we signed up you left to make a phone call," Travis said to his dad.

"Which was probably to Big Red," Dizzy added, cutting in.

"Well, when you left," Travis continued, "Michelle spilled her coffee on the original form."

"That's impossible," Steve said. "I didn't leave until we turned it in."

"I wanted to be put on the team," Ana said. "So the lady gave it back to us. Then Mommy spilled her coffee."

"I filled out a new form and signed it," Michelle concluded.

Steve's face was red.

Mr. Pegg picked up the phone on the wall and pressed a single button. He spoke softly into the phone and before he was able to hang it up, the door swung open and two Disneyland security guards entered the room.

"I believe Mr. Manning here needs to be shown the way out," Mr. Pegg said to them, pointing in Steve's direction. "Will you gentlemen care to escort him off of the property? And please put a message out to all security officers on patrol right now to look for a very large man wearing a red shirt. I don't think it will take too long to spot him."

The guards walked over to Steve, each grabbed hold of an arm, and dragged him toward the door. Ana noticed something pink sticking out of his back pocket.

"Wait!" Ana said running to Steve. Dizzy reached out to stop her but couldn't. Ana reached into Steve's pocket and pulled out her autograph book.

"Thanks for the book Steve," she said and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey, Steve," Michelle said holding her camera out in front of her. "Say 'Mickey!'" She snapped a picture of Steve's defeated face and the guards dragged him out of the room.

"I am guessing you are staying at the same hotel as him?" Mr. Pegg asked.

"Yes, we are," Michelle answered. "Or at least we were."

"Would you allow me the honor of sending some cast members over to your hotel to collect your luggage? The Mickey Mouse Penthouse at the Disneyland Hotel is available and we would love to have you stay with us."

They all smiled and quickly accepted Mr. Pegg's generous offer. Michelle reached into her purse and removed her wallet.

"Oh no, ma'am," Mr. Pegg said. "This is a gift from Mickey. All expenses paid."

"Even room service?" Ana asked excitedly.

"Anything you want, princess," Mr. Pegg said smiling.

"Are you OK?" Dizzy asked Travis. It couldn't have been easy to find out your dad was capable of something like that.

"Yeah, I think so. Maybe I should text my mom to come and pick me up. The funny thing is she probably won't even be surprised at what my dad did."

"I think that's a good idea Travis," Michelle said.

"Well now," Mr. Pegg said.. "I'm glad we got all of that business taken care of. Let's get to those prizes." He reached into his briefcase and took out four silver plastic cards. He set the cards down on the table in front of them with care.

"Wow," Ana said, staring at the cards. "What are those?"

"These are the most special cards the Walt Disney Company has ever made. Only eight of them existed before today. Now there are twelve. They will allow you entry to every Disney owned theme park in the world."

Dizzy stared at the cards in awe. He couldn't believe that he would be able to come back anytime he wanted. He could use his prize money to pay for his family to travel to Orlando to visit Walt Disney World, something he never thought would be possible.

"Thank you, sir," he said to Mr. Pegg. "For everything."

"No, thank you Dizzy," Mr. Pegg said. "For proving that there are still people who believe in the magic of this place. I thought I was the only one left." He smiled at Dizzy. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Dizzy answered. "Anything."

"How did you know the last clue meant to go to the train station on Main Street? I was honestly worried nobody would be able to figure that one out."

"The clue was pretty helpful," Dizzy said. "But now that I think about it, there were a lot of hints from before the contest even began, weren't there?"

A smiled appeared on Mr. Pegg's face.

"How so?"

"Well," Dizzy began. "Yesterday when you were introducing the Quest, you kept motioning to the vault behind you. I took a picture of it because the vault had the fireworks going off from the top of it, and it almost seemed like you were pointing beyond the vault somehow. And the only thing behind the vault was the train station."

"Was there anything else?" Mr. Pegg asked.

"The spotlights last night."

"What about them?"

"They should have just been pointing straight up into the sky. I thought it was weird that they kept coming all the way down and hitting the front of the train station. It didn't register as anything important at the time though. Not until I read the last clue mentioning the vault's true location that is."

"You are right," Mr. Pegg said after a moment. "I was afraid I had made the last clue too difficult. So I thought maybe I should start pointing people in the right direction a little early. There's no harm in that, is there?"

Dizzy smiled. He really liked Mr. Pegg and was happy to have the time to talk to him about the Quest.

Mr. Pegg pulled out a small black checkbook and ripped out a check. He began writing the date and Michelle's name on it. Dizzy was shocked that Mr. Pegg would be carrying around the Disney Company's checkbook in his briefcase. He looked closely at the check and saw the name Carlton Pegg at the top. It wasn't a check from the Disney Company. It was a check from Mr. Pegg himself.

" _You_ are paying us the prize money?" Dizzy said as Mr. Pegg finished filling out the check. "I thought it would be from the company or something. We can't just take your money."

Travis looked at Dizzy in horror.

"Umm, we can't?"

"Don't be silly, of course you can," Mr. Pegg said. He returned the checkbook to his briefcase and snapped it shut. "The prize money comes from me and let me tell you something, I am happy to do it. For a while there I didn't think anyone was going to be able to win. I thought maybe my riddles were too tough. You wouldn't believe how many pins I found lying on the ground throughout the park. Most people gave up before lunch! But you kids didn't and you deserve every dollar." He looked at Travis and Ana, making sure they understood that he was talking to them as well. "Now, is there anything else I can help you with this evening? Anything at all, just name it."

Dizzy checked his watch. It was 7:50. The next parade started in 10 minutes. He had an idea.

"I do have one request."
Chapter 27

Dizzy and Travis sat on a bench in a roped off section near the Partners Statue in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. The sidewalks and nearby benches were covered with people sitting on blankets, eagerly waiting for the parade to start.

An announcement over the speakers informed the crowd the parade would be starting a few minutes late due to technical difficulties. Dizzy gave a knowing smile.

Before they left the room with Mr. Pegg, Travis called his mom and gave her a quick summary of what had happened. Like he predicted, his mom was not surprised that her ex husband was capable of something so despicable. She lived a short distance from the park and agreed to drive down right away. Mr. Pegg said she would be escorted in when she arrived.

Michelle returned to the benches with three cups of hot chocolate. She handed one to each of the boys and sat down next to Dizzy.

Travis's phone buzzed and he checked the message that appeared on the screen.

"My mom is here," he said. "I better go meet her."

"No. You should stay," Michelle said. "Mr. Pegg said they would bring her in. He knows right where we are. You don't want to miss it do you?"

The lights along the street went out and music began playing over the speakers. Travis sent his mom a short text in reply.

"Parade is about to start. See you soon."

"Do you think Ana is OK?" Michelle asked.

"I'm sure she's having the time of her life," Dizzy said. "You don't have to worry about her. She's in good hands."

The lights returned and the first float in the parade approached. It was the same parade they had watched earlier that day. Megan had her video camera out and was recording as Goofy and his son Max made a special stop in front of Dizzy and Travis. Both characters climbed off the float and shook the boys' hands. Dizzy laughed as Goofy made the universal hand gesture for money by rubbing his thumb and fingers together, then held out his hand as if to ask for some cash. Max was busy making up a complicated ten part hand shake with Travis. Travis couldn't keep up so Max wrapped Travis up in a big hug.

"Travis?"

A short woman with light brown hair was standing behind their bench. She was wearing a dark blue Anaheim Angles sweatshirt and her hair was up in a pony tail.

"Mom!" Travis yelled, breaking free from Max's arms. He walked behind the bench and gave her a hug. He led her to the front of the bench. "Mom, this is Dizzy. Dizzy, this is my mom."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Dizzy said. He reached out and shook her hand. Goofy did the same.

Travis's mom was extremely confused.

Goofy and Max returned to their float and it continued down the parade route.

"Hi," Michelle said, setting her video camera down. "I'm Michelle, Dizzy's mom."

"Very nice to meet you. I'm Linda. So you finally got to meet the real Steve, huh?"

"It certainly seems so," Michelle said. "He sure seemed like a nice man."

"He's only nice so he can get what he wants," Linda said. "At least you got a trip to Disneyland out of him!"

"Please join us," Michelle said. She put her bag on the floor beneath the bench and Michelle sat.

"So it sounds like I missed a lot, huh?" Linda said to the three of them. "And Travis did I just see you giving that character a hug? I thought you were too old for Disneyland. Isn't what you told me last time we were here?"

"What can I say?" Travis said. "It's growing on me again."

The next float arrived in front of the bench, and like the one before, it stopped. This float featured Chip and Dale. Both characters climbed down and exchanged high fives with Travis and Dizzy. They returned to their float and it continued down toward Main Street.

The rest of the parade followed a similar pattern. Each float stopped in front of the boys and the characters got off and hugged, gave high fives, and danced with Travis and Dizzy and their moms. Dizzy was having the time of his life.

"Isn't this great?" he asked Travis. The parade had been going on for nearly an hour, much longer than the one that afternoon thanks to each float stopping in front of the boys.

"This really is incredible," Travis answered. "I wish that float with all the princesses would come back though. They didn't stay nearly long enough!"

Dizzy laughed and saw the final float approaching. He got a lump in his throat for some reason and stood up on the bench to get a better view.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse were bringing up the end of the parade in an elegant float. The characters were dressed in their formal clothing, a tuxedo for Mickey and a gown for Minnie. Dancing and waving from the golden float was a little girl dressed like a Disney princess. Her usual mop of curly hair was pulled back under a princess crown and she wore a gleaming silver and white dress. Her cheeks sparkled with glitter and she moved from side to side of the float, waving and saying hi to everyone watching the parade.

The float stopped in front of Dizzy and Travis, and Mickey and Minnie escorted Princess Ana down the spiral staircase. She ran to Dizzy and jumped into his arms. Mickey and Minnie gave hugs to Travis, Michelle, and Linda. Dizzy put Ana down and she twirled in her royal gown.

"Dizzy, you wouldn't believe all the characters I just met!" She began listing all the characters who had stopped by and given her a hug before their float entered the parade. "This is the greatest night ever!"

Mickey and Minnie pulled Dizzy, Travis, and Ana up onto the float with them. The crowd cheered as the float continued toward Main Street.

Fireworks went off over Sleeping Beauty's Castle behind them. Dizzy put his arms around Travis and Ana, who were standing on each side of him waving to the crowd below. Michelle quickly reached into her purse for her camera and ran along the side of the street to get in front of the float.

"This picture will look great on my new Bookface page," Michelle said, pointing her camera up to the float.

"It's Facebook, not Bookface!" Dizzy called down to her laughing.

"Same thing! Now everyone, say 'Mickey!'"

"MICKEY!"
Acknowledgements

I could not have written this book without the love and support of my wonderful wife Kim. She was asked, begged, and forced to read this story more times than any person should and her positivity helped more than she will ever understand.

This book was written for an audience of two. Ally and Averi, I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you to Kevin, Becky, Craig, and Ashleigh for their feedback, suggestions, and corrections. I'm just a math teacher, how am I supposed to know where to put a comma? (Did I use it right that time?)

And finally, thank you to anyone that has gotten this far and is still reading. Whether you bought, borrowed, or stole the book, I'm honored that anyone would read something I have written.
Also by Matt Ainsworth

THE DISNEYLAND QUEST 2

Dizzy's California Adventure

Available April 2015...

THE DISNEYLAND QUEST 3

Unlocking the Disney Vault

THE DISNEYLAND QUEST 2

Dizzy's California Adventure

By Matt Ainsworth

# Prologue

Carlton Pegg sat in a comfortable leather chair just outside an office on the 19th floor of the Team Disney Building in Anaheim, California. He took another glance at his watch. It was almost 2:30 in the afternoon and he had been looking forward to the upcoming meeting with his boss, Jay Ravitz, the Interim President of the Disneyland Resort.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Mr. Ravitz's secretary asked.

"No, thank you," Mr. Pegg answered with a smile.

It had been almost a year since Carlton Pegg had proposed the idea of the Disneyland Quest to the Disney board. The Disneyland Quest was a treasure hunt across Disneyland and Mr. Pegg had become a minor celebrity after the success of the Quest and the publicity that had followed. News stories were run on the "man behind the Quest" and he was still surprised how often he was recognized outside of the office. In the past, he would spend his weekends and many evenings at Disneyland and go completely unnoticed, even by Disney employees. But after newspapers, podcasts, blogs, and message boards had spread the story, the guests of the theme park would constantly stop him. His newfound popularity did not bother him, as he was happy to shake hands, pose for pictures, and wait for them to ask the exact same question he had heard hundreds of times over the past year.

"So, when's the next Quest, Mr. Pegg?"

"The Disneyland Quest was a once in a lifetime event," he would answer with a smile. "There are no plans for another Quest. I'm sorry."

But that was a lie. For the past several months, Mr. Pegg had been secretly planning a second Quest, this time at Disney California Adventure, The original Disneyland Quest paid homage to the history of the park, which unfortunately, the younger California Adventure simply didn't have. But with unique attractions, shops, and restaurants at his disposal, Mr. Pegg was confident that the Disney California Adventure Quest, or DCA Quest, would be just as successful as the first.

Telling the excited guests the bad news that there would be no new Quest usually brought the conversation to a halt. They would shake hands and say their goodbyes, and a few moments later Mr. Pegg would find himself meeting another group of park guests, eager to ask him the same question.

Mr. Pegg also had been asked the same question around the Disneyland corporate offices and he gave them the same answer. The only person he had confided in was his former assistant, who just happened to be the acting president of the Disneyland Resort. Mr. Pegg checked his watch again when he heard the phone on the secretary's desk buzz.

"Send him in."

"Mr. Ravitz will see you now," the secretary said to Mr. Pegg.

Mr. Pegg stood and adjusted his bow tie.

"Wish me luck," he said smiling. The secretary returned the smile and Mr. Pegg entered the office.

After the sudden passing of the previous Disneyland Resort President, Jay Ravitz was quickly named Interim President. This surprised most within the company, as many people had expected Mr. Pegg to be given the position. Mr. Pegg had the most experience of the five senior vice presidents and after the success of the Disneyland Quest, his promotion seemed inevitable. But Mr. Pegg supported the hiring and never once complained.

Mr. Ravitz was originally hired as Mr. Pegg's assistant and he quickly showed that he was capable of much more. He learned a lot from Mr. Pegg and constantly looked to him for guidance. He quickly rose through the company's ranks and with the support and a strong recommendation from Mr. Pegg, he was promoted to Vice President of Public Relations after only three years with the company. He continued to impress the Board of Directors and was now the youngest person in the history of the Walt Disney Company to be named president.

"Mr. Pegg, welcome!" Mr. Ravitz said with a smile on his face. He motioned for Mr. Pegg to sit down in front of his desk.

"Please, sir," Mr. Pegg said. "Call me Carlton."

"You were Mr. Pegg when I met you and that's the way it'll stay. And what have I told you about calling me sir? You shouldn't be calling the guy that used to get you coffee and pick up your dry cleaning 'sir,' should you?"

"You do when they are your boss, sir," Mr. Pegg answered with a grin.

"It should've been you and everyone knows it," Mr. Ravitz said. "I feel like I'm just keeping the seat warm for you. The board will come to their senses in no time, I'm sure."

"You're 30 years younger than me, sir. That is going to be your chair for a long, long time. They don't want some old-timer running things. This is your show now, so you better enjoy it."

Mr. Ravitz smiled at his former boss and felt lucky that Mr. Pegg was on his side. He offered Mr. Pegg a bottle of water and opened one for himself.

"So, how is your little project coming along?" Mr. Ravitz asked.

They were the only two people who knew about the upcoming Quest, and Mr. Ravitz had been anticipating being able to announce it to the board. Mr. Pegg smiled and looked out of the window behind Mr. Ravitz's desk before he finally looked up at his boss.

"It's done."

Mr. Ravitz choked on his water.

"Done? Like done, done?"

"Completely done," Mr. Pegg answered. "The DCA Quest is ready."

Mr. Ravitz excitedly reached over to his phone.

"Nancy, I need you to tell the board we need to see them first thing tomorrow morning. Make sure everyone is there and tell them it is good news." He turned his attention back to Mr. Pegg and continued. "So this is really done? And you want to do the same grand prize you did last year?"

"Actually, no," Mr. Pegg answered. "The money part of the prize isn't a problem, that's for sure."

Mr. Pegg was extremely wealthy. Before joining the Walt Disney Company, he had made millions of dollars in successful real estate deals throughout Southern California. The real estate job, which made him a multi-millionaire, left Mr. Pegg with an empty feeling. He had more money than he would ever need and no family to share it with, so he decided to do something that would be more fulfilling. He gave up the real estate job and applied to his favorite place in the world: Disneyland.

He had loved Disneyland since he visited it on opening day in 1955, when he was seven years old, and couldn't think of a better place to work. His first job with the company was cleaning tables at the Golden Horseshoe and he had continued to work his way up the company ladder for the past 35 years.

"I know the money isn't a problem," Mr. Ravitz said. "You don't want to do the lifetime passes again?"

"I was thinking of something different from the company."

"What did you have in mind?"

"What about if we send the winners and their family on a world wide victory tour? We send them to Disney World for a week, then to our resort in Hawaii for a week. Next, they are off to Hong Kong, Shang Hei, and Paris for a week each. Then finish it off with a Disney Cruise."

"Wow, Pegg," Mr. Ravitz said, letting out a long breath. "You're thinking big with this one. I guess all we can do is propose it and let the board make up their mind. Now are you going to pull any surprises like you did last year?"

"What do you mean?" Mr. Pegg asked.

"I mean going back and giving each of those kids their own $250,000 check. We all thought you had lost your mind when we heard about that one!"

"It occurred to me that there were three winners of the Quest, and each winner deserved the grand prize. And believe me, those three kids definitely deserved every penny for what they had to go through."

"Ok, ok. You better get back to your office and prepare for tomorrow morning. I need you to impress the board tomorrow like you did last year!"

The two men shook hands and Mr. Pegg returned to his office, excited about the upcoming presentation to the Disney Board of Directors.

The next morning, Mr. Pegg pitched his idea of the DCA Quest to the board. They unanimously approved Mr. Pegg's victory tour prize and gave him a standing ovation. He thanked them and went around the room shaking each board member's hand. The boardroom slowly emptied, until only Mr. Ravitz and Mr. Pegg remained.

"I think that went well," Mr. Ravitz said happily.

"They did seem rather excited," Mr. Pegg answered. He paused and looked at his boss. "You have a strange look on your face though. What's on your mind?"

"Your last Quest was a huge success, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, sir." Mr. Pegg was unsure where the conversation was headed.

"And that was with no promotion at all. No advertisements, no advanced notice to the media, nothing. The only people who got to participate were the people already at the park."

"Yes, sir. What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that this time it's going to have to be different. We have to let the world know this is happening. California Adventure has always been an afterthought in this company. Even after over $1 billion in renovations, people will always look at it like Disneyland's little brother. This Quest is a chance to put California Adventure on the map. It is our chance to make it the reason people come to Anaheim."

Mr. Pegg had never heard his boss talk like that before. He thought Mr. Ravitz sounded a lot like himself and he respected his boss' passion.

"Sir, the Quest is planned on my end and I'll leave the promotion up to you. You know I'll go along with anything you decide."

"This is going to be the biggest thing in the history of any Disney theme park," Mr. Ravitz said. "And it's all thanks to you. You know, it really should be you up in the president's office."

"The board made their decision," Mr. Pegg said. "I support them, and I support you."

"That really means a lot to me," Mr. Ravitz said.

Mr. Pegg shook his boss' hand and left the boardroom. Mr. Ravitz smiled as he gave Mr. Pegg a friendly wave goodbye. When the door shut, Mr. Ravitz's smile vanished and he quickly grabbed his cell phone from his pocket. His evil smirk intensified as he tapped the top name in his contacts list and typed a short text message:

"It's time."
