The Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark

Finn recently auditioned for the job of Disney Host Interactive, or DHI. The studio would record him moving and talking and convert that into a holographic host who greets park guests. Already an Orlando, Florida resident, Finn loves to visit the Disney parks, but his mom used the deciding argument: “Finn, you love special effects! What they’re offering is for you to be the special effect” (16).

At his audition at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, in front of a green screen, wearing a green costume fitted with shiny buttons, Finn moved about while a computer recorded the motions of the buttons. These were then converted into animations. With Finn were four other kids—gorgeous Charlene, geeky-smart Native American Willa, tall and confident African American Maybeck, and British-accented Philby. Maybeck called them “one of every flavor” (19).

The recording system is new, and the kids wonder if it might harm them. Maybeck believes it’s a weird conspiracy, but he’ll take the money and fame. Philby points out that, as holograms, they’ll all be ghosts.

At middle school, Finn tells his friend Dillard about the strange visit to the nighttime Magic Kingdom. Dillard thinks Finn has lost his mind. Finn believes he can locate at least two of his fellow DHIs, Maybeck and Philby, as those are last names. For more help—and noting that many school kids’ parents work at the resort—Finn wants to meet the new girl, the deeply tanned Amanda Lockhart of the exotic eyes and face freckles. Again, Dillard, who “thought of girls as a separate life-form,” fears Finn has lost his marbles. Strangely, Finn agrees: “Maybe I have” (24).

To confuse park guests who might see both Finn the hologram and Finn the live human, the boy is required to wear a hat and dark glasses to hide his identity when he visits the resort. Finn needs to contact the other DHIs, but all his visits must be pre-approved, and his reason for going is frankly supernatural. Instead, he talks Amanda into using family comp tickets and going to the Magic Kingdom with him. There, he can take pictures of the holograms of the other DHIs and show them around in case anyone recognizes them.

Amanda still doesn’t quite understand Finn’s purpose. He’s not sure why she agreed to go with him, given his lame-sounding reason for the trip. She says, “I have my reasons. I want to help. […] Besides, I’ve never met a real psycho before” (26-27).

Just inside the park, they see Charlene’s hologram. Amanda hurries over and poses with the image as it talks and gestures while Finn snaps pictures. Another kid walks through Charlene’s image; Amanda thinks that’s rude. The hologram reminds Finn that, when he falls asleep, he becomes a hologram at the park.

Amanda sees a Maybeck hologram and walks to it. Finn notices an old man who looks like Wayne. The old man gestures to Finn’s left, and Finn sees four men in uniforms walking toward him. Realizing it’s security, he calls out to Amanda: “Trouble!” At that signal, Amanda disappears into the crowd, intending to meet him later at the Haunted Mansion.

Finn walks into the Emporium, where everything Disney is for sale. The place is crowded, but Finn spots a couple of security men following him. If he’s caught, his family might lose their comp tickets, and his DHI might be switched off. In the hat section, a little boy recognizes Finn and deliberately walks into him to see if he’s real.

Finn quickly dons a Finn-host costume, collects a crowd of admiring children, and walks out onto Main Street, where his own hologram is giving a guided tour. Remembering his lines, Finn mimics the hologram, which confuses the security men, who can’t tell which is which. Finn moves his clique of kids down the street, copying the hologram, then escapes down a side alley, where he removes the costume and runs toward the Haunted Mansion.

He finds Amanda. They notice more security men searching nearby. Amanda takes Finn’s hand and leads him into the Mansion’s entrance line. They enter the Stretching Room, which begins to stretch downward, but the security men angle toward them. They duck down and move toward the walls. A door opens and the guests crowd onto the loading dock for the ride’s “Doom Buggies.” Amanda and Finn hurry in, then dash through a side door and down a hallway to the outside. They hide in a gift shop as the security guards hurry past.

Finn and Amanda take a bus to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. They find the hologram producer, Brad, and beg him to help find the other DHI actors. Brad refuses. Finn says the DHIs are in danger; Brad scoffs. Finn says he knows Wayne; Brad looks impressed. Finn adds that he knows about the Overtakers; Brad looks scared. Finn tells him to contact Wayne, then he and Amanda leave.

Amanda asks if the Overtakers are a sports team. Finn says no, but he asks if she’s ever had a dream that felt real and that afterward, something in waking life confirmed the dream. Amanda says yes. Finn hesitates; she tells him she can help, but only if he lets her into his confidence. She has to hurry home, so she takes the next bus. The driver looks exactly like Wayne.

The next day at school, Finn receives from the office an unsigned note: “Howard Lee Maitland Jackson” (43). These are the names of four nearby schools. Clearly, the note is from Brad. Amanda talks Finn into bringing her along when he ditches lunch period and heads to Lee Middle School. On a city bus, she asks him again about the Overtakers, but Finn admits he knows almost nothing about them.

The bus driver keeps staring at them, then gets on the radio. Alarmed, the two kids exit at the next stop. They walk several blocks to Lee, then split up and scour the cafeteria tables, searching for a DHI host.

A big kid confronts Finn, asking what he’s doing, and pulls off Finn’s dark glasses. He recognizes Finn as someone he’s seen; a girl says Finn is a Disney host, “like Charlene Turner” (47). Finn now has a last name.

It doesn’t matter: Amanda has found her. She’s outside on the playing area, shooting baskets.

As they approach her, Charlene looks bothered. Finn says he needs to talk to her; she says no and walks away. Finn says, “The dreams. Disney after dark” (48), and Charlene stops. In a rush, Finn says the old guy, Wayne, needs all the DHI actors back at the park as soon as possible. She says she’s seen Willa’s posts on Snap. Finn asks her to contact Willa and get to sleep early so they can meet up at the Magic Kingdom. Reluctantly, Charlene agrees but insists it all stays a secret. She adds, “It isn’t safe” (50).

Finn’s mom heard from her DHI contact, who asked if Finn had been to the resort. Despite his denials—he hated lying to her—she grounds him. After dinner, Finn announces that he’ll go to bed early. His mom suspects he’ll try to sneak off somewhere, but Finn assures her he won’t. She tries to pry out more about his visit to Disney World; he lets slip that “her name’s Amanda” (52), and his mom looks greatly relieved.

Finn puts on jeans instead of pajamas, lies down, and, fidgeting, waits for sleep. Finally he dozes off, and he hears Wayne: “You’re learning.” They’re in Frontierland; Wayne sits in a golf cart. Finn says he found Charlene. Wayne says all of them must be there together. He adds that they’re a combination of a human and a hologram, and that some of their thoughts will be robotic.

Wayne asks what Finn thought of the park when he was a small child; Finn replies, “Magic.” Wayne says there’s a dark side to magic, something Walt Disney understood. Finn hops in the golf cart and his feet disappear. Wayne says the holographic projection system doesn’t work everywhere in the park, especially in places he calls “shadows.”

He drives forward, but Finn grabs the wheel as several figures dart past. Wayne says he can’t see the beings Finn can see in the park. Finn realizes the figures are audio-animatronic robots from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, somehow come to life. Several more push small blue cars down the path.

Wayne says the actor who plays Mickey in the Fantasmic show got set on fire by the robotic dragon. The actor jumped in the water and is ok, and the audience thought it was part of the show, but something’s wrong with the robots. Wayne adds that Finn is the leader of the DHIs and that they all depend on him.

A glowing Charlene appears suddenly, clad in a nightgown. Philby appears, too. Finn focuses and walks through the golf cart toward her. She tries to walk through a tree but merely bumps into it. A robotic pirate captain demands that they help his mates push the blue cars—Buzz Lightyear ride cars, Finn realizes. He refuses, and the pirate, angry, draws his sword. The other pirates pull knives. Charlene and Philby hide behind a tree.

A pirate fires a laser blast from a car; the laser is real and burns his skin. The pirates surround Finn, but Philby calls out and distracts them. Finn jumps into a Buzz Lightyear car and fires it at a pirate, damaging its leg and knocking it over.

The captain orders a charge, and the other pirates run at Finn, who slices them down at the knees. The captain calls a retreat but warns Finn to leave the park and not return. The pirates limp away, and Finn exits the car, the small wound on his arm now a blister.

Charlene compliments Finn, and Philby shakes hand with him. Wayne considers the fight with the pirates a “first victory,” and he celebrates by opening a food kiosk and handing out ice cream sandwiches. Finn can taste his, but it’s not as sweet as he remembers.

Philby and Charlene already have met. Wayne is about to use his fob to send them back, but Finn says he won’t cooperate unless he gets a full explanation about what’s going on. Charlene and Philby second Finn’s motion.

Wayne concedes. He takes them to the Country Bear Jamboree auditorium. They sit while he explains that, when people believe strongly enough in something, it becomes real. Millions believe in the Disney characters, including the bad ones, who now have come to life at night to cause mayhem. The purpose of these Overtakers is to rule the world with madness and mayhem.

Among the bad ones are the Pirates, Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella de Vil. Walt Disney foresaw this possibility and left a “treasure map” of clues, the “Stonecutter’s Quill,” to direct the DHIs in their battle against the Overtakers.

Small problems have cropped up: missing costumes and cars, stolen padlocks, a sudden change in the parade route. A hurricane swept over Walt Disney World and “lost power.” Wayne believes the Overtakers extracted energy from the storm to strengthen themselves. The DHI program was launched to imbue five kids with the ability to see and thwart the Overtakers. Creating daytime holographic hosts was the excuse to get the program funded.

Wayne can’t see the Overtakers, but Finn, Charlene, and Philby can, and already they’ve identified some of them. This proves the nighttime DHI visits are useful. Their job now is to solve the Stonecutter’s Quill, find the Overtakers' leader, and lure out that character so Wayne and the other Imagineers can somehow redraw or reprogram them.

Charlene wants none of this. Wayne says that when she sleeps, she’ll visit the nighttime Magic Kingdom whether she wants to or not: “I’m sorry, my dear girl, but there is no skipping this ride” (77).

Finn wakes up at home and finds an actual burn on his arm. In the bathroom, he cleans it and cries out at the pain. His mother enters and accuses him of sneaking out. He says it was a bully who pressed a cigarette against his arm earlier in the day, and it’s not his fault if she didn’t notice it at dinner.

Finally, he says he climbed out the window on the fire escape ladder installed there. She buys Finn’s story, grounds him, and then cleans up his arm wound.

Amanda finds Finn at his locker and gives him the news: “Isabella Angelo. They call her Willa” (84). The girl attends Maitland Middle School, does swimming and archery, thinks Finn is cute, and will meet the other DHIs that evening at the Magic Kingdom. Surprised and impressed by Amanda’s detective work, Finn asks how she learned all this, but Amanda won’t tell. She asks what happened at Disney World, and Finn mentions Charlene, Philby, and Pirates. He shows her the laser hit to his arm. She says it looks like a cigarette burn.

She also reports that Maybeck works at his aunt’s ceramics store in town. She insists on going with Finn when he visits there. Finn explains that he’s grounded “forever,” but Amanda suggests they ride their bikes to Maybeck’s workplace on the way home from school.

Something grabs her attention, and her head whips around as she exclaims, “Uh-oh.” At the same moment, Finn feels numb with cold and nausea. He sags to the floor; Amanda catches him and hugs him tightly, telling him to imagine a warm place like a beach under a hot sun. It works, and Finn warms up quickly. He asks what she saw when she turned her head; she hesitates. Finn realizes, “It isn’t safe” (88). He decides to meet Amanda after school for the ride to Maybeck’s store.

Crazy Glaze, where Maybeck works, is crowded with parents and their kids painting pottery. Finn and Amanda find the store’s owner, Bess, and ask for Donny Maybeck. Bess says his real name is Terry. She remembers Finn, then expresses delight with Finn’s “sweet-looking” friend, and Amanda introduces herself. Bess says the kids call her “Jelly”—it’s something about donuts.

Finn asks again about Terry, and Jelly says he’s not feeling well. Finn asks if he felt faint, and Jelly gets suspicious at Finn’s accurate guess. Finn begs to see him; Jelly relents.

At first, Maybeck doesn’t want to see them—he’s afraid of losing his DHI money—but Finn assures him he won’t. Finn asks if Maybeck has had strange dreams; Maybeck has, and he doesn’t want them. Finn says there’s no escaping them, and they all must meet at the Magic Kingdom to deal with it. Grudgingly, Maybeck agrees.