The Disneyland Quest Read online

  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.