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Sweet Valley Kids #67
The Secret of Fantasy Forest
Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield can't wait to visit Fantasy Forest. As soon as they arrive, they meet Billy. He knows all the secret hiding places in the park. He even knows how to make the ferris wheel stop! But Billy won't tell the twins anything about himself. Is he hiding something, or is he just very shy?
- GenresChildrensMiddle Grade
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,151 books1,857 followersFrancine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.
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June 2, 2026The Secret Of Fantasy Forest
Alice and Ned pass out the yellow passes to Fantasy Forest and tell the kids (and Joe) to hang them around their necks and don’t lose them. The twins want to go to the Enchanted Castle first, but Joe and Steven want to go on the Screaming Squall (the park's biggest roller coaster). They all start to argue over it. So, Ned and Alice make *the* WOST decession I ever heard, and say they can all split up (because Fantasy Forest is the safest park in the world). Umm. If I had 7 years old and a 10 year old do you *really* think I’d let them walk around Disney World ALONE?
So, it will look like they’re being parents; they give them some rules. They have to stick together in pairs, f they need any help ask a employee, and they have to check in for meals. They’ll meet at the Pie-In-The-Sky Pizza Parlor at noon. The line says it’ll be an hour, but the twins decide it’ll be worth it. So, they wait.
While they’re waiting, Liz asks Jessica where in the tower would she want her bedroom to be. She says in the tower. When Liz looks up, she sees a man in one of the windows. Jessica says it must be her imagination, but Liz gets this feeling that there’s something mysterious about the castle.
The ride consists of scenes from “Snow White”, “Cinderella”, “Rapunzel”, and “Sleeping Beauty”. The twins decide to ride it again. A boy behind them with a red pass says his favorite scene was “Cinderella” because in one of the stepsisters mirrors you can see the Prince in the doorway holding the slipper. They ask him how many times he’s been on this ride, and he says he’s lost count. The boy says his name is Billy.
Weirdly, Billy tells them that parents let their kids just wander around this park by themselves all the time. HORRIBLE! I bet all the parents are in one of the restaurants that serve alcohol drinking and hoping the time goes slowly so they don’t have to go get their kids. Despite him telling them parents do this all the time, they can’t believe his just let him roam around the park on his own. He asks them if they want to know a secret. Then he gives them two, identical, passes to his and tells them to follow him.
Liz notices the man she saw in the window behind them, but when she turns around, he’s gone. Billy leads them through a gate that says STAFF ONLY. A lady glances at their passes and lets them through another gate, and this puts them at the front of the line. Then they’re back on the boat that takes them through the Enchanted Castle.
Liz of course, can’t just be happy with a good thing, and wants to know how. He says it’s the red passes, but they can’t be bought. He says how he got them is a secret. Liz’s mind jumps to conclusions and immediately thinks he stole them, and she’ll have to give them back. Still, she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. He doesn’t seem like a thief, but there’s something off about the whole thing.
Again, Billy uses the passes to get them on the Ferris Wheel. They get on with a little girl and her sister. The little girl wants to ride with her sister, but her sister “Pigtails” refuses and says she wants a car of her own. Only the ride operator says she can’t have one. She’ll have to wait. The little girl is scared, but Billy tries to console her. But Annie isn’t ok. Her sister is being a brat and won’t go on any rides with her.
Billy goes like this. He tells them to wait for him and then goes to speak with the ride operator. When Annie’s sister gets on the ride stops at the very top. This freaks out “Pigtails” so much that when she gets off the ride, she apologizes (after Annie tells her now she knows how scared she’s been having to go on rides alone), and she promises she won’t have to anymore.
Jessica thinks it's great that the girl got what she deserved. Again, Liz questions how. Billy just smiles and asks if they want to play some games. They follow him to the arcade. Billy takes them to the Chipmunk’s Nest Arcade. Jessica says Liz likes playing the softball toss; Billy leads her to this game. Liz tries to pay for it, but the man points to her red pass. The man lets Liz play as many games as she wants. She even gets to pick double prizes after a win. So, she gets a dinosaur and Jessica gets a pink flamingo. The man says any friend of Billy’s gets a double prize. Liz asks how the man knows Billy but before he can answer, Liz sees the man again. She’s about to say something but then notices its 12:05.
Billy leads them there with ease. He makes them give him back the passes, but tells them he’ll give them back when they meet up again after lunch. He reminds them not to tell anyone about the passes. Liz then sees the man in black and tells Jessica she thinks he’s following Billy. Jessica tells her it’s just her imagination and she really needs to eat. The twins and Steven are late meeting their parents. They tell them not to be late for the next meet at 6:00.
As promised, they meet Billy. Liz tries to tell him about the man, but Billy interrupts and gives them back the passes. They then go on “Sawmill Splash”. Next, they head to the bumper cars, but see Steven and Joe in line. Billy doesn’t want them to see the red passes, so he leads them through a gate, up a staircase, and they’re on a balcony that looks down on the attraction. Billy says they look nice, but Jessica says they aren’t. She tells them they have been calling all the things they want to do baby-ish. She says she wishes she could teach them a lesson like “Pig tails”.
Billy says Your wish is my command and heads to the ride. The twins see him taking to the ride operator. Then the ride operator fiddles with something in their cars. Billy tells them their cars were turned off. When the others see that their cars don’t work, they all start bumping into Steven and Joe (which makes them angry). The twins don’t hesitate to walk past them and taunt them.
After going on some of the attractions, Billy treats them to free curly fries (curtesy of the red passes). It’s almost time for the Princess Pageant. Jessica invites Billy, but he says he can’t. They see him looking at the distance at… the muscle man in black. Billy tells them there is a way, and leads them to a pirate ride. But, the muscle man has followed and is now in the boat next to them. He also has a red pass. Billy and the twins jump from the ride. The muscle man tries to jump, but his foot gets stuck and he falls into the water.
They escape Butch. Liz asks why he’s following them. Billy says it’s a long story. Jessica says they don’t have time. The Pagent is about to start. The man follows them to the theatre and spots them. He motions for Billy, and he leaves with the man. Liz convinces Jessica to miss the Pageant, and they follow Billy and Butch to the Enchanted Castle. They go inside, but the twins can’t enter because the door is locked. I’m surprised the red passes don’t work on the door as well. Maybe they should try holding them up. Jessica tho is able to get in through a window,, and she pulls Liz in.
They see a room that has screens for all the parks. Liz is now very convinced that Billy has been kidnapped. When they find Billy, he’s in a room crying. They tell him to come with them. They’re breaking him out. But the muscle man appears in the doorway and says Billy’s not going anywhere.
Billy tells the girls they should leave. He’s in enough trouble. The twins tell the man they know he’s a kidnapper. Billy corrects them and tells them the man is his bodyguard. His family owns the park. Then his mom and dad come into the room. Introductions are made. Explanations are given. Billy says its hard being a normal kid when he has to have a body guard following him around all the time and having to keep secrets. Liz looks at the clock and sees that they’re twenty minutes late meeting their parents. Like it *really* matters to Ned and Alice.
Billy’s mom and dad say they’ll have a guard tell them where they and invite them to dinner. The twins ask about Butch. Billy hates being watched, but he says Butch is his friend and he would miss him if he wasn’t around. The twins suggest he speak to his parents.
At dinner, Billy’s parents ask Ned and Alice if they were worried about the twins being late. They say not really. They heard it was one of the safest places in the world. Liz asks if it’s so safe then why does Billy need a bodyguard? Billy glares at her. Joe and Steven say it was ok but they could do something about the bumper cars and the long line at the Screaming Squall. They say a man named Henry used to work at the Enchanted Castle and he did good there, but not so much at the Screaming Squall. Jessica, suggest they put Henry back at the castle and have Butch run the Screaming Squall. Butch is good with this idea.
Since Jessica didn’t get to go to the Princess Pageant, Billy’s mom gets 12 girls to model princess dresses. Then she has the twins model two of the dresses.
My Thoughts:
This book brought back a memory that my family and I often still to this day marvel on (on) occasion. We were at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. We were standing in a long line for the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. It was my mom, my aunt, my cousins, and my cousin’s girlfriend. So, this guy walks up to us (a park employee) and asks us. “Do you all want to go to the front of the line?” We were all kind of looking at each other like uh what. But the guy was serious. My cousin Jay said “What do we have to do?” The guy was like “Nothing. Just follow me.” I’m sure the looks on our faces were like what in the world is this all about. The guy then leads us around the crowd and to the side of the building. He lets us in through a side door of the attraction and down a long hallway. And sure enough, he leads us to one of the cars. To this *day* we still don’t know what made him pick us. It will forever remain a mystery to us. One the way out, my aunt tried to pay the guy. He wouldn’t take it.
What I kind of loved about this is the concept of a park that rewards “the good” with red passes and punishes the bad with ride break downs. That’s a concept that I can definitely work with!
Rating: 6 and a half
Alice and Ned pass out the yellow passes to Fantasy Forest and tell the kids (and Joe) to hang them around their necks and don’t lose them. The twins want to go to the Enchanted Castle first, but Joe and Steven want to go on the Screaming Squall (the park's biggest roller coaster). They all start to argue over it. So, Ned and Alice make *the* WOST decession I ever heard, and say they can all split up (because Fantasy Forest is the safest park in the world). Umm. If I had 7 years old and a 10 year old do you *really* think I’d let them walk around Disney World ALONE?
So, it will look like they’re being parents; they give them some rules. They have to stick together in pairs, f they need any help ask a employee, and they have to check in for meals. They’ll meet at the Pie-In-The-Sky Pizza Parlor at noon. The line says it’ll be an hour, but the twins decide it’ll be worth it. So, they wait.
While they’re waiting, Liz asks Jessica where in the tower would she want her bedroom to be. She says in the tower. When Liz looks up, she sees a man in one of the windows. Jessica says it must be her imagination, but Liz gets this feeling that there’s something mysterious about the castle.
The ride consists of scenes from “Snow White”, “Cinderella”, “Rapunzel”, and “Sleeping Beauty”. The twins decide to ride it again. A boy behind them with a red pass says his favorite scene was “Cinderella” because in one of the stepsisters mirrors you can see the Prince in the doorway holding the slipper. They ask him how many times he’s been on this ride, and he says he’s lost count. The boy says his name is Billy.
Weirdly, Billy tells them that parents let their kids just wander around this park by themselves all the time. HORRIBLE! I bet all the parents are in one of the restaurants that serve alcohol drinking and hoping the time goes slowly so they don’t have to go get their kids. Despite him telling them parents do this all the time, they can’t believe his just let him roam around the park on his own. He asks them if they want to know a secret. Then he gives them two, identical, passes to his and tells them to follow him.
Liz notices the man she saw in the window behind them, but when she turns around, he’s gone. Billy leads them through a gate that says STAFF ONLY. A lady glances at their passes and lets them through another gate, and this puts them at the front of the line. Then they’re back on the boat that takes them through the Enchanted Castle.
Liz of course, can’t just be happy with a good thing, and wants to know how. He says it’s the red passes, but they can’t be bought. He says how he got them is a secret. Liz’s mind jumps to conclusions and immediately thinks he stole them, and she’ll have to give them back. Still, she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. He doesn’t seem like a thief, but there’s something off about the whole thing.
Again, Billy uses the passes to get them on the Ferris Wheel. They get on with a little girl and her sister. The little girl wants to ride with her sister, but her sister “Pigtails” refuses and says she wants a car of her own. Only the ride operator says she can’t have one. She’ll have to wait. The little girl is scared, but Billy tries to console her. But Annie isn’t ok. Her sister is being a brat and won’t go on any rides with her.
Billy goes like this. He tells them to wait for him and then goes to speak with the ride operator. When Annie’s sister gets on the ride stops at the very top. This freaks out “Pigtails” so much that when she gets off the ride, she apologizes (after Annie tells her now she knows how scared she’s been having to go on rides alone), and she promises she won’t have to anymore.
Jessica thinks it's great that the girl got what she deserved. Again, Liz questions how. Billy just smiles and asks if they want to play some games. They follow him to the arcade. Billy takes them to the Chipmunk’s Nest Arcade. Jessica says Liz likes playing the softball toss; Billy leads her to this game. Liz tries to pay for it, but the man points to her red pass. The man lets Liz play as many games as she wants. She even gets to pick double prizes after a win. So, she gets a dinosaur and Jessica gets a pink flamingo. The man says any friend of Billy’s gets a double prize. Liz asks how the man knows Billy but before he can answer, Liz sees the man again. She’s about to say something but then notices its 12:05.
Billy leads them there with ease. He makes them give him back the passes, but tells them he’ll give them back when they meet up again after lunch. He reminds them not to tell anyone about the passes. Liz then sees the man in black and tells Jessica she thinks he’s following Billy. Jessica tells her it’s just her imagination and she really needs to eat. The twins and Steven are late meeting their parents. They tell them not to be late for the next meet at 6:00.
As promised, they meet Billy. Liz tries to tell him about the man, but Billy interrupts and gives them back the passes. They then go on “Sawmill Splash”. Next, they head to the bumper cars, but see Steven and Joe in line. Billy doesn’t want them to see the red passes, so he leads them through a gate, up a staircase, and they’re on a balcony that looks down on the attraction. Billy says they look nice, but Jessica says they aren’t. She tells them they have been calling all the things they want to do baby-ish. She says she wishes she could teach them a lesson like “Pig tails”.
Billy says Your wish is my command and heads to the ride. The twins see him taking to the ride operator. Then the ride operator fiddles with something in their cars. Billy tells them their cars were turned off. When the others see that their cars don’t work, they all start bumping into Steven and Joe (which makes them angry). The twins don’t hesitate to walk past them and taunt them.
After going on some of the attractions, Billy treats them to free curly fries (curtesy of the red passes). It’s almost time for the Princess Pageant. Jessica invites Billy, but he says he can’t. They see him looking at the distance at… the muscle man in black. Billy tells them there is a way, and leads them to a pirate ride. But, the muscle man has followed and is now in the boat next to them. He also has a red pass. Billy and the twins jump from the ride. The muscle man tries to jump, but his foot gets stuck and he falls into the water.
They escape Butch. Liz asks why he’s following them. Billy says it’s a long story. Jessica says they don’t have time. The Pagent is about to start. The man follows them to the theatre and spots them. He motions for Billy, and he leaves with the man. Liz convinces Jessica to miss the Pageant, and they follow Billy and Butch to the Enchanted Castle. They go inside, but the twins can’t enter because the door is locked. I’m surprised the red passes don’t work on the door as well. Maybe they should try holding them up. Jessica tho is able to get in through a window,, and she pulls Liz in.
They see a room that has screens for all the parks. Liz is now very convinced that Billy has been kidnapped. When they find Billy, he’s in a room crying. They tell him to come with them. They’re breaking him out. But the muscle man appears in the doorway and says Billy’s not going anywhere.
Billy tells the girls they should leave. He’s in enough trouble. The twins tell the man they know he’s a kidnapper. Billy corrects them and tells them the man is his bodyguard. His family owns the park. Then his mom and dad come into the room. Introductions are made. Explanations are given. Billy says its hard being a normal kid when he has to have a body guard following him around all the time and having to keep secrets. Liz looks at the clock and sees that they’re twenty minutes late meeting their parents. Like it *really* matters to Ned and Alice.
Billy’s mom and dad say they’ll have a guard tell them where they and invite them to dinner. The twins ask about Butch. Billy hates being watched, but he says Butch is his friend and he would miss him if he wasn’t around. The twins suggest he speak to his parents.
At dinner, Billy’s parents ask Ned and Alice if they were worried about the twins being late. They say not really. They heard it was one of the safest places in the world. Liz asks if it’s so safe then why does Billy need a bodyguard? Billy glares at her. Joe and Steven say it was ok but they could do something about the bumper cars and the long line at the Screaming Squall. They say a man named Henry used to work at the Enchanted Castle and he did good there, but not so much at the Screaming Squall. Jessica, suggest they put Henry back at the castle and have Butch run the Screaming Squall. Butch is good with this idea.
Since Jessica didn’t get to go to the Princess Pageant, Billy’s mom gets 12 girls to model princess dresses. Then she has the twins model two of the dresses.
My Thoughts:
This book brought back a memory that my family and I often still to this day marvel on (on) occasion. We were at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. We were standing in a long line for the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. It was my mom, my aunt, my cousins, and my cousin’s girlfriend. So, this guy walks up to us (a park employee) and asks us. “Do you all want to go to the front of the line?” We were all kind of looking at each other like uh what. But the guy was serious. My cousin Jay said “What do we have to do?” The guy was like “Nothing. Just follow me.” I’m sure the looks on our faces were like what in the world is this all about. The guy then leads us around the crowd and to the side of the building. He lets us in through a side door of the attraction and down a long hallway. And sure enough, he leads us to one of the cars. To this *day* we still don’t know what made him pick us. It will forever remain a mystery to us. One the way out, my aunt tried to pay the guy. He wouldn’t take it.
What I kind of loved about this is the concept of a park that rewards “the good” with red passes and punishes the bad with ride break downs. That’s a concept that I can definitely work with!
Rating: 6 and a half
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
October 19, 2016READ WHEN I WAS IN ELEMENTARY BETWEEN AGES 6-10.
REVIEW INTENDED FOR THE FOLLOWING:
1. For parents looking for something to give their elementary grade kids
2. For myself to look back to if I will ever be in need of Sweet Valley recommendations for kids these days who might choose a book over their Ipads or who knows, my future kid might be a reader too
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This is a theme park story wherein the adventurous twins befriends a boy who's their age who seems to know the park grounds like the back of his hand. Soon, they discovered why and saw that the life they are envious of may not be so fun after all.
REVIEW INTENDED FOR THE FOLLOWING:
1. For parents looking for something to give their elementary grade kids
2. For myself to look back to if I will ever be in need of Sweet Valley recommendations for kids these days who might choose a book over their Ipads or who knows, my future kid might be a reader too
----------------------
This is a theme park story wherein the adventurous twins befriends a boy who's their age who seems to know the park grounds like the back of his hand. Soon, they discovered why and saw that the life they are envious of may not be so fun after all.
Read
December 16, 2025The 'secret' in the title is pretty easy to guess if you're reading this as an adult, but I'm sure it's not so obvious if you're six years old. The Wakefields (and Steven's friend Joe) go to the Fantasy Forest amusement park, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Disney parks. The queues are out of hand, so it's a stoke of luck when the twins meet a boy who has special red passes that get him right to the front of every queue. But Liz notices that a man is following Billy around...
This is a fun fantasy fulfilment plot. Who wouldn't like to go to the front of every queue at a theme park? The twins are as meddlesome as always, but their hearts are in the right place and Jess is rewarded in the end for giving up her chance to see the Princess Pageant in order to "save" Billy.
This is a fun fantasy fulfilment plot. Who wouldn't like to go to the front of every queue at a theme park? The twins are as meddlesome as always, but their hearts are in the right place and Jess is rewarded in the end for giving up her chance to see the Princess Pageant in order to "save" Billy.
January 10, 2025
Loved it! Twins go to an amusement park and finds a boy who has special access to all the stuff in their agenda.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2021
The Wakefield’s (plus Bob) are finally at Walt Disney World! Oops, I mean Fantasy Forest (check out the familiar spots)! Finally, some book consistency! Anyway, almost immediately the boys and girls are fighting over which rides to go on, and instead of one parent going with each, Alice and Ned let them GO OFF ON THEIR OWN. My jaw actually dropped 😲 Anyway, pretty soon after, the twins meet Billy, who hands them red passes that get them through all the back entrances, no waiting time and free food! But Liz is nervous accepting the passes, and when she spots a muscle man following Billy, worries he stole them. Billy gets them in and out of trouble with those passes, everyone knows his name, and the twins love hanging out with him. But when Billy agrees to sneak off with them to watch the Princess Pageant, they’re suddenly being chased by the mysterious man! They elude him and go to the show, where he escorts Billy out. Billy’s been kidnapped! 🤨 The twins follow them into the Enchanted Castle, and discover Billy in his bedroom - his parents own Fantasy Forest and Butch is his bodyguard (didn’t see that coming). Nosey Liz helps Billy out by telling his parents he’s too old for a babysitter and getting Butch a new job managing a ride line (that Steven and bob spent all day in) and they all eat lasagne in the castle. Oh and Jess gets her own private Princess Pageant, huzzah!
My rating - 6/10 - A kid who lives in a WDW knockoff?! Sign me up! I hope Jess and Billy get married one day!
My rating - 6/10 - A kid who lives in a WDW knockoff?! Sign me up! I hope Jess and Billy get married one day!
June 22, 2013
I remember the cover just not the story.
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