Read The Key To the Kingdom for Free Online

smile she opened her mouth to speak.
    “Hold on just a moment please, Brooke,” a pleasant but commanding voice interrupted. Brooke turned and watched the approach of another cast member.
    This interrupting cast member was not dressed as a tour guide. She had shoulder-length dark hair and wore a professional-looking black skirt, a white long-sleeved blouse, and a pair of heels. Hawk assumed she held a position of authority and was Brooke’s supervisor, or “lead,” as they were known among cast members. This woman’s name tag revealed her name was Kiran, and she and Brooke seemed to be going back over the list that Brooke had been looking at before. As their conversation continued they would occasionally glance up at the slightly curious crowd that watched their discussion and waited to begin the tour. Both Brooke and Kiran would be quick to smile and then would continue to work. As Kiran glanced up Hawk noticed her green eyes and was struck by how attractive she was. Stepping away from Brooke, Kiran addressed the group.
    “Good morning, my name is Kiran and this is Brooke. We are so excited that you have chosen to take the Keys to the Kingdom tour. We apologize for the slight delay but we had some last-minute additions to the tour so we’ve had to reorganize just a little bit.”
    While Kiran continued to talk to the group, Hawk realized that he was the last-minute addition to the tour and wondered if he was the source of this problem. He tuned back in as Kiran explained what was happening.
    “Because there are so many of you, we’ll divide this group into two separate tours. Through the course of the day you’ll see the same things, but this just allows us to provide you a better guest experience and give you the personal attention that makes these tours more enjoyable. So if you will listen closely for your name, that would help us tremendously.”
    Kiran read a list of names clearly and concisely. She stopped and again spoke to the group. “If I read your name, I’m going to ask you to go with Brooke. She will be your tour guide and show you the Keys to the Kingdom. Have a great time!” Kiran watched as Brooke began to speak to the group, and soon their tour was underway. Turning back to the remaining guests, she smiled and read off the list of names of the people who should now be in her group. The last name on her list was Grayson Hawkes. Hawk thought she stared an extra moment at him before she began to explain what their day was going to include. If his last-minute reservation had been the reason that shehad arrived and split the group in two, he imagined she wasn’t real thrilled that she had to spend a chunk of the day leading them around, especially if she hadn’t originally planned on doing so. Regardless, she was a true Disney cast member and was now completely committed to doing her best to create a memorable guest experience for the tour group.
    Kiran rattled off facts, insights, and bits of trivia about the background and creation of the Magic Kingdom.
    She revealed that if you look closely as you walk down Main Street, USA, you will see a series of discs embedded into the street. These are sensors that identify and locate floats during the Magic Kingdom parades. When a float passes over a disc information is transmitted to “Pageant,” which is a central computer that keeps the float synchronized with the appropriate music. Strolling down Main Street the group began to spot these discs easily once they knew what they were looking for.
    As Kiran explained how the Magic Kingdom covered 107 acres with a capacity of one hundred thousand guests, Hawk remembered a Christmas Day trip he had taken to the park. It was the first time he had ever been alone on Christmas. He had planned a quiet distracting day but was stunned by the massive crowds.
    Kiran often paused and allowed the tour guests the chance to ask any questions they wished. Most of Hawk’s questions were different than the inquiries from