Saving the Magic Kingdom: A Novel

by Jeff Dixon

A nonstop thriller loaded with history, mystery, secrets, and fun, Saving the Magic Kingdom will take Disney fans on the adventure of a lifetime. 

The pandemic is finally over—at least that’s what everyone thinks. People are starting to adjust to the new normal. While the planet is sick of hearing about viruses, in the Walt Disney World Resort, a new virus is emerging that threatens to forever change the world that Walt Disney himself dreamed of.

But this virus is not like anything experienced before. Everything is under attack. No immunity. No vaccine. The only option is to find a cure before time runs out. And the clock is now ticking.

Walt Disney left a secret behind that has the potential to impact the world forever. Will this secret be discovered in time to save Walt Disney World?

In a thriller that could be ripped from the headlines, once again, author Jeff Dixon combines heart-stopping fiction, faith, and Disney facts in Saving the Magic Kingdom. This stand-alone adventure builds upon the world that unfolds in the Dixon on Disney series, blending fact and fiction in an action-packed romp through Walt Disney World that Disney fans will love.

349 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 28, 2025

About the author

Jeff is the author of a series of books set in Central Florida, in and around the Walt Disney World Resort. These mystery thrillers are loaded with trivia, hidden secrets, and loaded with adventure as parody, reality, and fiction built on fact (or "faction" as some have called it, collide in epic stories that are designed to take readers on the ultimate thrill ride.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really don’t know how I feel about this book. I have enjoyed the series for years. And have waited a long time for this installment. Jeff Dixon did manage to push out a couple Christmas themed short stories, that to be honest were just meh. I was a little concerned on whether he still had it or not. And these books have always been a little far fetched. Let’s be honest, if Disney had that many gun battles, explosions, kidnappings and assassination attempts, I can’t imagine it would still be open, or that people would still go. Yet, I digress.

Nothing new with this one. Still a fun enjoyable read. I always slow way down in my reading when he describes an area of the park or a resort. I like to picture it in my mind and imagine myself there. To be honest, though, this book felt much like the others in the series. Back to some of the same fun dialogue with enjoyable characters. It felt predictable at times, but then the ending was rough. Not sure what to feel about it. Feels like to leave the story with a major cliffhanger is tough to take. Hoping there is a “quick” follow up. But even in the height of this series we were getting a book every other year. And it has now been 5 years between the last book and this one. It sure we will see the continuation of this story anytime soon. But, fingers crossed. If it comes out…..when it comes out. I will be there to pick up where we left off.

[Jared Yost · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure if it’s because of how long has passed since the first books in this series have released or if I remember them differently than they actually were, but this book just felt very different from the rest of the installments in the series. It’s already been mentioned that the book was rife with typos, and I’ll add that a lot of the writing and sentence structure felt incomplete and elementary. I wouldn’t have finished the book for that reason alone if I hadn’t already invested my time in reading all the previous installments.

That was distracting enough, but, honestly, there was a lot with the plot and writing style that just felt off too. I felt very acutely aware, for the first time in reading one of these books, at just how much of an author insert Hawk is, and I think that’s largely because of the over the top descriptions of how amazing he is. It was just a bit of an eye roll to read at times that I don’t remember from previous books. The plot was also incredibly contrived and left me wanting a lot more. Because the book ends on a cliffhanger, I’m expecting that there are supposed to be more connections between the arcs in a follow up book, but that doesn’t really excuse the lack of cohesion in this book.

Getting more into the plot, I think I’m more bothered by be change in tone and overall direction in this book compared to previous ones. I *loved* the first few books in this series because of how they felt like National Treasure or The Da Vinci Code but for Disney. This book felt like it didn’t have a direction but specifically chose to not follow that path. The “mystery” in terms of what Hawk is looking for quite literally takes him to two destinations in Magic Kingdom. Most of the book is dedicated to different POVs, a cryptozoological hunt, animal attacks, and company politics with the Disney board. It just felt a lot different from any other installment and not in a good way. I’ll also add that there’s a lot of sort of awkward and forced political commentary about the pandemic, which admittedly is in keeping with the author’s political and religious views. I understand it and I enjoy the series despite not sharing the exact same beliefs, but the overemphasis on pandemic stuff was also very distracting for me personally.

All that being said, I don’t regret reading the book. It was very fun to be back with these characters I love on a new adventure so long after the last one. I’ll absolutely still read any new updates to the series, but I think I have to approach any new update with lower expectations. The bar was set very high by the first few books, and reading this one made me want to go back and reread those again, so I think the mission of this book was accomplished ultimately, even if I didn’t enjoy it as much as previous books.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Left hanging

Good story plot, but a little long on detail in the beginning. I lost interest with all the covid bs and kind of skimmed over most of it. The rest of the story was good but the ending was a big WHAAA??? Left hanging and a bit shell shocked not to mention confused. I do hope there's a new book coming quickly to explain the rest of the story?

[Benjamin Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I found the novel disappointing compared to the previous books. The largest issues were the typos present on nearly every page and the total lack of falling action and resolution. However, I would still recommend the book to people who have read the previous entries in the Dixon on Disney series and care about the characters.

[Kathleen Jarzombek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story was good. Cliffhanger ending. Would have given more stars but the amount of typos, incorrect spellings and mix up of characters in scenes was too distracting.