The Disneyland Quest

by Matt Ainsworth

  ~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.”