At the 2013 D23 Expo, Mr. Ridley Pearson stated that the Kingdom Keepers series would end with book seven. It was sad to hear that news. This book series was full of adventure, fun, and even had me looking at certain rides in a different way. On April 1, 2014, the final book, Kingdom Keepers: The Insider was released. However, the book was released early at book signings at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. I was able to attend the signing on March 27th due to that being the first day of arrival for my most recent trip. So that meant I had to be in the car no later than 2:30am because I wanted to make it to Disney’s Hollywood Studios before the park opened. We (my sister, 2 year old nephew, and I) piled into the car as planned and off we went. I wanted us to have the time to get gas, have bathroom breaks, and of course make our usual Starbucks stops. We did get sidetracked due to our usual Starbucks location in Gainesville, FL being closed due to what appeared to be remodeling. Since we did not get that memo, we had to find another Starbucks. My sister opened the Starbuck App and we were able to find another store.
We arrived in the parking lot of Disney’s Hollywood Studios before the scheduled opening time of 9am. Once the MagicBands were scanned we made a mad dash for the Writer’s Stop.
There were more people at this signing that I have seen in previous signings. I was able to purchase the book and then the nervousness set it. We had been told that due to time and the length of the line, Mr. Pearson may not be able to autograph everyone’s book. There was a little groaning,however, with pixie dust I was hoping I would be able to get in. Well the pixie dust worked. I got my book autographed and had the chance to speak to Mr. Pearson briefly.
I knew there were other stops on the book tour. I just did not pay attention to where the tour would be visiting. I was informed Mr. Pearson would be in the Atlanta area. He would be visiting The FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, GA on April 8th. I looked up the directions and saw it was less than a forty-five minute ride from my home. I make my own work schedule and arranged that I would be able to get to the book signing before it started.
I have never been to Woodstock, but found where I needed to be without any issue. There was already a line of excited children and adults.
Mr. Pearson arrived and made his way through the crowd thanking people for coming and shaking hands. He spoke about how fun it was to write the Kingdom Keepers, being in the parks doing research, and how this adventure could never really end. I brought three books that I wanted Mr. Pearson to sign in order for me to have the entire series autographed by him. We chatted about my adventure to make it to the book signing at Walt Disney World from Georgia two weeks ago.
I considered myself to have some pixie dust sprinkled on me to be able to attend two signings on the Kingdom Keepers VII Tour. Mr. Pearson is very nice and appears to enjoy talking to us readers. I have met him over three times and never felt rushed during his book signings. I hope everyone has a chance to meet Mr. Pearson on this tour.
If you have read the books, which was your favorite, and why? If you have not, you should check them out.
Thanks for coming to FoxTale Book Shoppe and for including us in your blog piece! We agree that Ridley was wonderful to meet and that he thoroughly enjoyed meeting his readers and fans. We have lots of great events, so we hope to see you again soon!