'Walt Disney World: Where Dreams Come True'
The archway, so inviting, beckoned visitors from all around the globe with its multicolored flags. In the very center shone Cinderella's castle, suspended in magical, almost ethereal clouds. Though cartoon in nature, they seemed to match the current Florida weather perfectly as many large, poofy and brilliantly white clouds hung in the almost near perfect blue sky.
As the driver of their camper zoomed closer to the sign, there was no need for the signs that warned not to come to a stop. Gas pedal punched hard, the large expansive vehicle somehow outgunned even the sporty cars near them, outpacing them with ease.
Next to him, his sister raised her camera, excitement shining within her eyes, a smile expanding across her face, revealing the shiny metallic braces cemented upon her teeth. But at the rate of speed at which the camper lurched forward even her pumping legs running at high speed to the nearest window were to no avail. The camper quickly sped underneath of the arch.
"Aw man!" came the dismayed cry. Expecting sadness to overwhelm and control his sister would be like expecting her to spontaneously combust. Mabel Pines was one such individual infused with pure optimism. "I'll just have to walk back here and get that photo! Or we'll have to drive in again and again till we get it!"
Not quite sharing her intent focus on the entrance sign, which in actuality was nothing all that special, her brother instead opted for silence at first in this situation. That usually led to his sister accepting affirmation, however, so whether he responded or didn't usually resulted in the same affect. Mabel would get that picture alright.
"You know, they probably sell postcards of the front entrance sign," Dipper pointed out, knowing full well that his words, which were most likely correct, had merely fallen on a set of deaf ears as Mabel was already leaning out the camper window, snapping photos of passerby vehicles, the greener than green grass on either side, the sky as she tiled her camera upward at random. Turning her focus now, the camera snapped and snapped again even as each of the digital photos recorded their race toward the parking ticket booths.
"Um, Grunkle Stan, you're going awfully fast. We're going to hit someone!" he cried, though his intentions had merely been to warn in a calm voice. Instead, he surprised himself by the way it cracked, lending itself to show his immense worry that they would do just that. The impact would surely send everyone reeling as most inside had no seatbelts to protect them. An image of shattered glass, figures strewn about the camper floor, blood and broken appendages flashed before his eyes in a series so vivid that he wondered for a moment if it weren't a premonition.
Rather than a premonition, however, it turned out to be untrue. At almost the last possible second, the camper switched lanes, crossing into one where the previous guest had begun to pull away, having just paid an outrageous amount of hard earned money for the chance to park amongst hundreds of thousands of other vehicles in a parking lot. One that had been generated its own fair share of admission and of course, contained the most singularly boring ride ever imagined: the tram.
Rather than let up on the gas now that the ticket booth was nearly upon them, however, they soared ever faster past that as well, prompting a shout that came from behind paned glass. Honks exploded like sirens as their cheap skate Grunkle proceeded to merge with the rest of those cars that had forked over the green as surely as watching it be torn apart in a paper shredder.
Dipper didn't recall how long he had gripped the arm rest of his seat but now he realized just how white his hands were as he pried them off. The arm rest itself bore deep impressions where his fingers had bit down into the fabric. Fortunately, it would bounce back into shape with ease after a few minutes. The same couldn't be said for them if the camper met with one of the angry cars besides them.
A cackling issued from Stan. One that was so joyful at his plan having succeeded that it was enough to also earn a fist pump into the air. Mabel joined in, shouting, 'yeah!' despite having no real concept that they had just committed a crime. One that essentially could be considered stealing and earn them a one-way ticket to being rejected permanently from the theme park.
For a moment he envisioned what it would look like. Moms would shield their children from them, turn them away as they were led a long walk of shame out of the park wearing yellow prison uniforms, cuffs slapped upon their wrists. Wanted poster signs would be stapled to every available post and wall. Of course, none of them really got Grunkle Stan's nose correctly as strangely proportioned as it was really.
"Yo, can we like, slow down a tad. Starting to get car sick," came a calm, apathetic voice that belonged to perhaps the most beautiful girl that Dipper had the pleasure of knowing. Her long red hair swept out of her face, revealing that she was in the midst of reading a book on Lumberjacks, Wendy caught that Dipper was staring awestruck at her and giggled slightly. "Also your face is going to freeze that way."
"Oh, right, haha, sorry, Wendy!" he stammered, unsure of when the palms of his hands had gotten so wet or when his heart rate had climbed. And climbed it had but now that they were slowing down, blending in with the rest of the similar campers and tourists, there wasn't much reason for it to be. Regardless, his heart thundered in his ears like someone was beating a drum within his chest so hard that it might pop at the next clap of the stick.
Pleased with the rate of speed in which they were traveling now, her green irises reverted back to the pages of her book, sliding upon the page once more, gleaming from the contents information that he knew wholeheartedly that she knew by heart having grown up in a Lumberjack family. Perhaps she had bought it out of curiosity at whether or not there was some gem of knowledge that even her family had not gathered in all the time she had been a Corduroy.
Either way, he realized that he had lost all sense of time and space. How long they had been traveling or where they were now alluded him. Eyes flickering back and forth, the young boy was shocked that he had been gazing at his friend since she had retreated back into the page turner.
A giggle in his ear caused the young boy to spin around, realizing that his twin was dangerously close to his face and nearly colliding his own skull into hers in the process. Smiling wryly at her brother, Mabel seemed to taunt him by raising her eyebrows in quick succession up and down and thumbing toward the source of his enraptured stare a moment prior.
"Knock it off, Mabel!" Dipper protested, trying to sound as though he was not phased when he most clearly was.
The previous Summer for the Pines twins had been spent in a town called Gravity Falls. A small little town, it had secretly harbored extraordinary secrets. Secrets that the twins had slowly but surely uncovered and turned a magnifying glass to during their vacation. The more that Dipper had dug, the closer they had gotten to finding the Author of a mysterious journal that he had discovered that focused on discovering the source of the weirdness of Gravity Falls. He couldn't have fathomed that their journey would lead them to essentially saving the World from imaginable terrors and evils unleashed by a being known as Bill Cipher who had been intent on ruling the world and spreading his strange, unholy world into theirs.
All during his stay there in Gravity Falls, Dipper Pines had been enraptured; nay, head over heels for Wendy Corduroy. Much like the symptoms he had experienced a moment prior, now in the present, he had trouble speaking and often acted like a complete buffoon in front of her on the daily. However, by the end of their Summer vacation, both had sat down and talked about everything and had moved past all that. Still, if he was so over Wendy, why had his attention been so intent on her now?
A giggle escaped her lips and the smile returned to Mabel's face, exposing her silver braces that flashed in the sunlight pouring from the camper window. As the vehicle came to a slow and steady stop, assured into a parking space by a friendly and very sweaty attendant, they were finally one step closer to their destination.
For now, vowing to stuff his head with thoughts of theme park food and rides, Dipper hurriedly dismissed prior thoughts in favor of flat out ignoring and bottling up his feelings. While unhealthy, it would prove to be easier to do than to address his renewed crush on his best friend.
Besides, there was something else to turn his attention to instead of simply acting as the typical out of state tourist. They had actually arrived at Walt Disney World for a different purpose. One that probably no one else in the tens of thousands of guests pouring through the gates would also share. As of late, rumors had been spreading through the grape vine of strange occurrences at the park. Worse yet, to confirm these strange reports, their Uncle Ford had confirmed upon a map that he was getting readings of an anomaly somewhere within the grounds. More specifically, inside the Magic Kingdom, the main park.
Having been entrusted to both of their Uncles this time with instructions to keep them entertained in exchange for extra money, the Pines twins had been eager to return to work solving mysteries. After all, they had earned the joint nickname of Mystery Twins and hoped to keep the title. Cameras prepped, a new fresh spiral notebook at the ready, the two had practically been tugging at Ford's trench coat begging to go on the next adventure in the same hour as when they had first arrived back in town. Having just returned themselves from their own high sails adventure, Ford and Stan had been dubious about taking the kids out on a vessel. Especially with the temperamental seas that they had just experienced firsthand. The anomalies offered an easy answer to the children's pleas and would also satiate their parents. This put cash in Stan's pockets, which made their Grunkle dance around hollering in joy, having had withdrawals from the addicting green sheets of paper during his time away.
And so they had begun the long road trip to Florida. Wendy, having never been, had opted to join as well as Soos who now technically still ran the Mystery Shack. The Shack now sported a sign out front that said closed for business for two weeks and to come back soon, as new fascinating objects would be brought back from the Sunshine State!
The gullible folks of Gravity Falls had oo'd and ah'd at the idea of out of state wonders soon to come.
While they all could have fit within the confines of the Camper, Ford had offered to drive a rental car down, taking turns driving with another person on occasion or by himself mostly. He strangely chose to sleep on the roof of the car most nights when they stopped. When they could, Wendy would switch off with Stan and continue to drive as long as Ford was able to continue. The entire trip had taken 5 days in total and around 45 hours of drive time.
In hindsight, flying would have been easier but their stingy Uncle had insisted that they would save money on the trip. Of course, the fact that he had swindled refuels on gas several times during the trip had only confirmed his convictions that they were saving on money.
Which brought Dipper to a thought as they boarded the tram that would take them to the gates of the park. The tickets to this place were not cheap and while they had gotten out of paying for parking, surely his Grunkle would know that most of the extra cash that his parents had given would be burned up just in the entrance fee for them all alone.
Even Stan would not be able to escape purchasing a ticket. Security wouldn't allow it and there was no way to slip inside without being immediately seen.
"Oh man, I can't wait to ride every ride and eat ALL the candy. I'm going to puke so much!" Mabel declared excitedly, bouncing on the plastic seat of the tram and nearly rocking their small section. The operator made an announcement over the intercom to keep hands and feet inside at practically the same moment that Mabel started hanging herself mostly out of the car.
"So many suckers in this place. It's like a gold mine! I can't WAIT!" shouted their Grunkle with such enthusiasm that a few of the tourists actually did swivel in their seats toward them and gave disapproving glares.
By the time that they had gotten to the front entrance, it was obvious to everyone that they were splitting up. Soos declared that he had a desperate need to go immediately to the arcade room. When Dipper had pointed out that they had arcades back in Gravity Falls, the baby faced young man had adamantly asserted that this was not the same as playing the machines while inside of a theme park. Too confused to protest further, Dipper had decided to let it go. There were some battles that just weren't worth picking.
Meanwhile, Wendy had told them she had someone that worked as a cast member that she knew, and was off to go see once they entered inside. Fortunately, she had also earned herself a free ticket from her friend as well which she insisted on using.
"He's quitting in a week or so anyhow. Hates the college program bizz. Apparently, it's really cut-throat. He has to use the tickets now or they will go to waste," she had told Dipper, leaning down to speak with him. This year though, she didn't have to stoop nearly as low as she had the year prior. He had grown! Which wasn't a surprise since he had been documenting that on a growth chart back home. A few inches made quite a difference, actually, but people still regarded him as merely a child in most instances.
Ford had opted to stay with the two children, accompanying them until they discovered the source of the strange anomalies. But upon getting to the baggage area, he had his scanner forcibly confiscated. The guards told them he could place it in a locker outside if he wanted to keep it, but that the device looked too similar to something like a bomb that they could not and would not permit it within the park.
Grumbling that they clearly didn't understand the ramifications of interdimensional tears in the space time continuum and how difficult it was to pinpoint locations without such a tool, Ford had obeyed and gotten a small locker, forking over a dollar for his troubles.
Many other small lockers were clearly full of other items that guests had been unable to bring. A security officer told Dipper that usually the lockers were full of pepper spray.
That just left Stan, who when asked if he was going to be staying with them, shifted from foot to foot and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I mean, it's not like you kids will really need me to be with you the entire time, right? I mean, you've got the brains of the operation with you! You'll be fine! In the meantime I have, uh, some… Business to take care of." The suspicious tone in his voice and his attitude suggested that he definitely meant to carry out his plan of swindling innocent guests in the park somehow. How he was going to accomplish this with the tight security, the young boy had no idea. "I'll meet up with you guys later!"
He all too eagerly forked over all the cash required for the tickets, further increasing Dipper's suspicions that his plans were definitely large scale. Even paying the electricity bill for the Shack gave Stan mild anxiety attacks.
Mabel didn't seem to be at all preoccupied by the worries that plagued Dipper, however. Her eyes were darting back and forth eagerly. When they had gotten past the monorail that led them from the parking lot, she had declared the undying need and urge to hug each and every character within the park. In her hands she now clutched an autograph book that she had purchased at a small kiosk just outside the gates. Within the pages, she had already signed her own name.
"I'm a Princess too, duh!" she had offered as the reasoning when he had asked and, "Silly Dipper," had been tact on for good measure.
Ahead of them now, Ford struggled with the finger print scanner as the attendant looked puzzled down at his hand, realizing he had one too many digits. Being a six-fingered man and all, Ford was finally declared free to go without having his sixth print read.
Stepping up as next, Dipper placed his fingers on the scanner. This time they were not moist with sweat and so the lights turned green fairly quickly.
"Alright, Pine Tree, welcome to the park. Enjoy!" was what the attendant said next. His tone of voice was different than what he had used before for Ford. Instead of slightly bored and trying to stay optimistic, the voice was now taunting, mischievous in nature. A dark shadow seemed to have fallen under the eyes of the pimple faced teenager and a thin lipped grin followed.
A shiver visibly passed through Dipper's entire body.