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 tre
k 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.