Author's Note: I have been awfully mean to Grace Williams lately. Kidnapped in "Unexpected," injured in "Godless." Danny was starting to scowl at me, so I decided to do something nice and send them on vacation. Of course, that never goes entirely as planned, does it?
Disclaimers: I am not employed by the California Tourist Board, the City of Anaheim, the City of Huntington Beach, Disney Resort, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or any other place visited in this multichapter story. All the places visited are real, though possibly slightly altered for the purposes of this story. All the people are fictional except for two.
The Hawaii Five-0 folks do not belong to me nor does anything Disney, apart from souvenirs actually purchased at the park. This story could never take place on the screen because Disney owns ABC and Five-0 is CBS. Never the twain shall meet — except here.

Trouble Magnetized

Or, Danny Does Disney

Chapter 1

Day 1, Saturday - Going on Vacation

Danny Williams spread out the travel brochures on his desk, gloating over the colorful folders.

"If you don't stop playing with those, I'm going to confiscate them and burn them," Steve McGarrett said sternly from the doorway.

At the first word, Danny had swept the brochures together, like a kid trying to hide a comic book from a teacher. But when he saw the twinkle in his boss' eyes, Danny threw his body theatrically across the folders to protect them.

"Over my dead body!" he vowed dramatically.

Steve chuckled and tugged on a corner that poked beyond Danny's elbow. Mickey Mouse grinned back at the commander.

I think you're more excited than your daughter," Steve said.

"'More,' no; 'as,' probably," Danny said happily.

"Gonna get your picture taken with Mickey Mouse?" Steve teased.

"Just for you, because you asked, Steven," Danny retorted. "And I expect you to put it on your desk."

"I didn't know you were such a Disney fan," Steve said.

"Don't tell me you don't like Disney," Danny challenged. "That's .. unAmerican! I think I've seen every Disney cartoon, first when I was a kid and again with Grace. I've never been to Disneyland, but the family went to Disney World twice when I was a kid." He laughed at the memory. "I was a teenager the second time and had to pretend not to enjoy myself. Now I can have fun with my daughter."

"I've never been to a Disney park," Steve confessed.

"You, my friend, are not invited. You know why? Because you are a trouble magnet. If I let you go to Disneyland with us, you'd probably blow up Pirates of the Caribbean or shoot Buzz Lightyear."

Steve let Danny's mild rant pass. "It's good of you to do this for Grace."

"I have fun when Grace has fun," Danny corrected. "And I have things planned for myself, too."

He pushed across a folder that had a big red A on it.

"You're going to an Angels game?" Steve asked, incredulous. Danny scoffed at West Coast baseball teams.

"No, I'm going to a Yankees game — in Anaheim," Danny said triumphantly. "The stadium's just a few blocks from our hotel. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. The Yankees were going to the West Coast at the same time California Adventure has this." He flourished another brochure.

Steve laughed. "A food and wine festival? I should have known. So that's why you're taking Grace out of school in May? For the Yankees and a food festival."

"And because it's Disneyland's off season," Danny agreed. "Otherwise I can't afford it. At that, I can't afford to stay at the Disney Resort. But this hotel is just down the street and has a shuttle to the park and a cool looking swimming pool."

"And Rachel is OK with this? Taking Grace out of school?"

"She argued, but Stan agreed with me," Danny said with remembered surprise. "His family went to Disneyland several times and he said the least crowded times to go are May — which is why they started the food festival then — and the first week of December. That would be good because the park's decorated for the holidays, but the crowd is low because people wait for the Christmas / New Year's vacation."

"But you wouldn't get the Yankees in December."

"Nope. Anyway, we talked to Grace's teacher. She agreed that Grace is a good student and won't fall behind if she misses a week. She'll be expected to do a vacation report that includes writing, math, social studies and science."

"How are you going to fit all that in?" Steve asked. "I can see where the writing comes in. And history and geography if she talks about traveling to California, but math and science?"

"We thought we could do some baseball statistics for math. And maybe calculate how fast the plane travels by figuring the distance and the time of the trip, but we haven't figured out the science." Danny chewed his lip in thought.

Steve sat back and rubbed his chin. He leaned forward and poked at another brochure. "Huntington Beach? You're taking a vacation from Honolulu to go to the beach? You hate the beach!"

Danny sighed agreement. "Grace asked especially if we can go to Huntington Beach. She wants to see the International Surfing Museum. She said Kono won a championship in Huntington Beach."

"The U.S. Open, dude," Kono said from the doorway in an exaggerated California drawl. "One of my biggest wins."

"So, I get Yankees and Grace gets Huntington," Danny told Steve.

"Well, if you're going to the beach, maybe you can compare California birds and shells with Waikiki birds and shells. That would be science, wouldn't it?" Steve said.

"Good idea. I'll ask Grace what she thinks," Danny praised as he made a note of the suggestion. He stacked his brochures neatly and picked up the pile. "Time to go. Vacation starts now," he said gleefully.

Danny waved at Kono Kalakaua and Chin Ho Kelly as he left the Five-0 office. "See you in a week," he called.

"Bye, Danny. Have fun!" Kono called. Chin and Steve echoed the sentiment.

Steve watched Danny walk out. When he turned back to the others, he found Chin and Kono watching him quizzically. "What?" he asked.

Chin raised an eyebrow at him. "Didn't you come in with Danny this morning?"

Steve cursed his forgetfulness, sped toward the door and ran after his Jersey friend. He caught up to Danny in the parking lot. The detective was leaning against his Camaro, checking his watch and humming while he patiently waited for Steve to buy a clue.

"'Bout time," Danny said.

Steve realized his friend was laughing at him.

"I've never seen you so happy," Steve realized.

"Have you ever seen me going far away for vacation? Beyond your reach and the governor's?"

Steve made a sour face to think that Danny wanted to escape from him, though he knew he'd called Danny away from his precious daddy time much too often.

Danny saw the face and patted Steve's arm. "Don't sulk. I'll bring you a souvenir. Do you think they make a Rambo Mickey doll?"

Despite himself, Steve snorted with laughter. "Rambo was Army, Danny," he protested.

"Camouflage is camouflage, babe," Danny stated. "But maybe you'd prefer Donald Duck? He's the sailor. You go without your shirt. He goes without pants. It's perfect!"

Steve drove Danny and Grace to the airport the next morning, so they could catch their 8 a.m. flight. The five-and-a-half hour flight and three hour time difference put them in Los Angeles close to dinnertime, though it seemed just past lunchtime to stomachs still on Hawaiian time.

They decided to pick up a couple of sandwiches at the airport while they waited for their bags. Comfortably full, they picked up their luggage and their rental car and started their California adventure — on the freeways, of course.

It was a good thing they traveled on Saturday, Danny thought, otherwise they would have ended up in bumper-to-bumper, rush hour traffic. On Saturday, the freeways were still full, but not packed.

They headed east on the 105, straight out of the airport, jogged north on the 605 a mere mile to switch to the 5 south which took them straight to Disneyland. Danny had studied his maps diligently, so he knew how to get around the park to his hotel on Harbor Boulevard. Grace goggled out the window for glimpses of the attractions, such as the snowy peak of the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride.

"Look, Daddy," she squealed. "There's the Monorail!"

Sure enough, the sleek, 50-year-old but still futuristic Monorail swept along its track paralleling Harbor for a moment before disappearing back into the Disneyland Resort complex.

"Can we go tonight?" Grace begged.

Danny had gotten six-day park hopper tickets for their seven-night stay. They could spare one for just an evening.

"Are you sure you're not tired?" Danny asked. "It was a long flight."

"I'm not tired," Grace insisted. "It's only 3:30 back home," she pointed out.

"OK," Danny decided. "The tickets should be waiting at the hotel. We'll check in and go straight to the park."

The hotel was used to people dropping off their bags and heading straight to Disneyland. The smiling desk clerk handed Danny the tickets and a park map along with his room key, then pointed them to the shuttle stop.

"The park is open until midnight tonight," she said. "The fireworks are at 9:30." She smiled at Grace who was bouncing happily. "What do you want to ride first?"

"Pirates!" Grace exclaimed.

The young woman opened the park map and showed them where Pirates of the Caribbean was. "Have fun!"

To be continued

Note: In the episode where the photographer was killed, the little surfer girl mentions that Kono won the U.S. Open, which is held in my hometown, Huntington Beach.