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The Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark
Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadow Kingdom Keepers IV: Power Play Kingdom Keepers V: Shell Game |
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| Author | Ridley Pearson |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy, Young-adult fiction, Mystery, Thriller |
| Publisher | Disney Editions and Disney Hyperion |
| Published | 2005 – present |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) Audiobook Kindle |
The Kingdom Keepers is a series of novels for young readers, written by Ridley Pearson and published by Disney Hyperion. The first novel, Disney After Dark, was published in 2006, and the second, Disney at Dawn, was released on August 26, 2008,[1] and the third, Disney In Shadow was released on April 6, 2010. According to Pearson's blog, The Kingdom Keepers was submitted to Walt Disney Pictures for a film in August 2006 and was resubmitted again around July 2008. Pearson has announced that there will be several Kingdom Keepers books coming out sometime in the future with Power Play being the most current as it was released on April 5, 2011. The franchise also includes Kingdom Keepers Online, a collaborative online game.
Contents |
For many nights, Finn has been appearing as a hologram, while he is asleep. Finn realizes that these are no dreams, and are actually happening. While in the empty park one night, he meets Wayne, an elderly cast member and original Imagineer who was once friends with Walt Disney himself. At first, Finn starts seeing Disney characters that are human size roaming around the park. When Wayne noticies this, he starts to ask Finn about what he is seeing. Then Finn decides to test Wayne and asks him what he saw. But then Finn finally tells Wayne he saw Chip and Dale and Goofy. After that, Wayne tells Finn that he must find the other kid hosts to fall asleep around the same time and therefore arrive at the park at the same time or else Disney is in grave danger. There is a mysterious group called The Overtakers, who plan to take over the parks and maybe the world. Finn doesn't believe Wayne, and Wayne sends Finn back to his real body by pressing a red button on a black fob. The next night he finds himself back in the empty dark park as his DHI. This time, he sees two of the other DHIs Charlene and Philby, and to make matters scarier, a group of pirate Audio-animatronics from Pirates of the Caribbean ride around in cars from Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and they shoot lasers at Finn and his friends. Finn wakes up and sees the laser burns on his real body, his mom asks him what happened so he lies and says that a bully burnt him with a cigarette.
During the day Finn and his strange new friend, Amanda track down the other four hosts Willa, Philby, Maybeck and Charlene. Finn tells them they're not alone in appearing to the park at night. He said they must all go to sleep at night at the same time and appear in the park at the same time. Finn and Amanda also decide to do investigating of their own, and head to the Magic Kingdom in the afternoon. Security guards see the real Finn and Finns DHI so they decide to chase after him. After Finn and Amanda reunite at The Haunted Mansion, the two decide something is wrong in the park.
That night, the five DHIs unite at the park and meet up with Wayne. Here they discover that the park comes to life after hours, and Wayne explains to them that something is going wrong in the parks- rides closing, costumes disappearing, Audio-animatronics coming to life, and padlocks being stolen. Wayne takes them into the Country Bear Jamboree, where he tells them how Magic Kingdom and the world outside its walls are endangered by the Overtakers.
After showing the kids a secret passageway through Cinderella's Castle called Escher's Keep that is a secret apartment to escape the DHI world. Wayne explains that the DHI system was created especially for this purpose, as they needed 5 teenagers to unravel an old fable by Walt Disney himself- The Stonecutters Quill. The fable concerns a stonecutter, who wishes to be: the sun, the clouds, the wind, and the mountains. Along with the fable came a quote- "I have plans to put this place in a different perspective". Realizing that all four subjects of the matter are in multiple attractions around the park, and must be what Walt meant, the five kids decide to set out to find clues to stop the Overtakers around the park.
The plot unfolds as the group searches through the park's attractions for clues as to what can stop the Overtakers. The kids look up information about Walt Disney, the parks, and research DHI technology. In the day time, the kids keep in touch through the online game VMK, and at night they meet up in the park as their DHIs and search. Unfortunately, as they search, they hit some road blocks; they can't find anything in the attractions, no matter how hard they look. Another problem is the Overtakers getting in the way- the kids ride in its a small world, and the animatronic dolls come to life and attack and bite at the kids. The ride ends up broken at the end of the night and closed. Another problem is the suspiciousness around Finn's friend Amanda. She follows Finn around, begging to know whats going on, and appears out of nowhere. Finn notes that when she runs, she seems to float. Another problem following the kids is one of the Overtakers, the evil fairy Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty" (1959 film). Maleficent seems to have powers over cold- she can blast ice, freeze people, and create ice wherever she goes and whatever she touches. The kids seem to get colder than normal when she appears.
The kids also (coincidentally) play separate sports at the Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. At the sports games, Finn meets a girl named Jez-(she says it's short for Jezebel). She seems to take a liking to Finn and follows him around, and she and Amanda seem not to like each other. Meanwhile, Finn deciphers the quote from Walt Disney in the 50s, and realizes by "different perspective", he meant things being in 3D, as they were wildly popular in the 50s. Supposing that Walt planned this whole thing out, Finn gets 3D glasses, and the teens go around the attractions across various nights, looking for clues and letters:
Then one night before Finn and Philby go to sleep. Jez and Amanda show up at the same time at Finn's house. Making Finn stay up and have to wait until the two girls leave. Then Mrs.Whitman offers the girls cookies and Finn runs upstairs and goes to sleep.
Another problem in their journey occurs when Maybeck's DHI never returns one night. In real life, Maybeck is trapped asleep, as his DHI is still in the Magic Kingdom. Finn and Philby (as DHIs) realize that the Overtakers must've put Maybeck in a dark place where his screams cannot be heard - Space Mountain. Finn and Philby use a rope from Wayne's apartment over the Main Street Firestation to climb the building and scale the catwalks and tracks until they find him tied up in a closet. Using their DHI powers, Finn becomes light and rescues Maybeck. Maybeck reveals that it was Maleficent and Jez; he had agreed to meet Jez on a date, but she was really Maleficent's evil slave. This scare seems to make the kids stop coming back at night for very long, and the five resume their normal lives.
While riding bikes with Amanda days later, Finn catches a glimpse of Maleficent on a motorcycle, going after them. Riding through a skate park to escape, Amanda seems to create some sort of magic to help Finn escape, and leaves him speechless.
Eventually, the five kids return to the park at night again to get the rest of the letters on the attractions, which seem to spell out "MY FIRST PEN". They soon learn that the secret weapon they need is Walt Disney's first pen, which is kept at the One Man's Dream exhibit at Disney's Hollywood Studios (Disney-MGM). Finn infiltrates the exhibit after closing to get the pen. However, he grabs a whole handful of pens and pencils and tries to escape, when he hears security coming, and realizes he's been ratted out. Finn escapes and discovers that it was Amanda. Finn thinks Amanda is an Overtaker and has been setting him up. Finn leaves her in anger.
On an evening school field trip to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, where everyone is in a costume, Finn (who brought the pens and pencils from the One Man's Dream display) meets up with the other four DHIs. While meeting up at the party, Amanda and Charlene suddenly faint at the same time. Finn spies Maleficent and Jez descending into Pirates of the Caribbean. Finn, Maybeck, and Philby follow the two into the corridors and underground passageways of the attraction and discover large jail cells, with brand new padlocks, reported to have been stolen only recently. The three realize that the witches must be planning to lock all the Cast Members in the cells below the ride. The three continue, only to be cornered by Maleficent and Jez, who purposely led the three down below. Using Walt's pen, Finn realizes it has some sort of powers, and stuns the witch and electrifies her with it. Maleficent faints and Jez is forced to revive Amanda and Charlene. However, before the three escape Maleficent and Jez, Maleficent has stolen Walt's original plans and designs for the parks.
Now knowing Maleficent's plans and what must be done, the kids and Wayne realize they must catch her and retrieve the stolen plans. However, when the kids and Wayne meet the next morning at the Transportation and Ticket Center, Wayne has brought along Amanda. Wayne has the five kids dress up as costumed cast members found around the park, and sends them into the utilidors for cast members beneath the park. While the two girls (and Amanda) man the park overhead, the three guys head for the coldest room of all in the utilidors- the computer room, seeing how Maleficent is all about cold. Luring her out of the computer room by pretending to give her the pen, Finn electrifies the witch again, grabs the plans, and the 3 boys rush off into the park with the plans and the pen, and Maleficent after them. Philby and Maybeck meet up with Charlene and Willa and escape back to Wayne.
In a battle outside Tomorrowland (which is believed to be a show by park guests), Finn becomes his DHI (during the day!) and knocks over the witch and spins around Jez really fast, slowly transforming her to a brighter girl, a girl identical to Amanda. Finn realizes the two are twins, twin witches, and Jez had been under a spell by Maleficent. Her real name is Jess. The two joyfully reunite and thank Finn, who escapes down a garbage chute with the plans and the pens, and Maleficent giving chase. Finn ends up in a large bin of trash and escapes, while Maleficent lands in a giant net, closed and captured by the Disney Imagineers. Finally, the witch has been caught and peace restores.
Hours later, Maleficent is locked up in her own jail cell in the queue of Pirates of the Caribbean, and the kids rejoice in the Cinderella Castle apartment because Amanda and Jess have reunited, the riddle has been solved, Walt's first pen has been found, and everything has been restored to normal around Walt Disney World. Finn touches Walt's first magical pen to the recovered plans of the park, causing the Magic Kingdom to illuminate, and the park becomes more magical as the rides magically become fixed, everything returns to tip-top shape, and the most elaborate fireworks the park had ever seen go off in the night sky. The five kids watch the park light up in the same path as they did on the map, and the plans illuminate as they celebrate a happy end. Wayne then returns to his desk, picks up the black remote and presses the button.
The story begins with DHI (Disney Host Interactive, or Daylight Hologram Imaging) day at the Magic Kingdom. Finn and the other DHIs are riding on a float when Philby (a DHI) notices a gray balloon on the castle. Due to the growing thunderstorm, however, it disappears in the crowd. The kids also notice that Chernabog, a character supposed to be on one of the floats, has gone missing. As the parade continues, Finn sees his old friend Amanda, and her sister Jez (Jess). We learn in this book that the characters have begun to be called Kingdom Keepers because of an adopted name given from a local newspaper. Amanda is trying to warn Finn about something when Charlene notices a pair of monkey-like creatures in the crowd. Jez slows, and Amanda (still trying to warn Finn) puts a leaf to her cheek. Realizing what she means, Finn knows that Maleficent is in the castle.
Together with Philby, the boys go to Escher's Keep and make it to the apartment Wayne (an old Imagineer) had shown them months before. A Dapper Dan, (who Finn immediately guesses as Security) follows the boys up the stairs, Finn trying to trick him by crossing over to his DHI state. Meanwhile the boys are trying to find out what's going on in the castle, Maybeck, Charlene, and Willa go to meet up with Amanda. Amanda realizes that Jez is a matter of fact a DHI, and doesn't know where her real sister went.
Philby and Finn find Maleficent in the castle, who was moved there from the jail-cell from under Pirates of the Caribbean. Maleficent conjures her powers and breaks the bars on the window using the lightning storm, and she flies down the Tinkerbell rope from "Wishes" and flies off to the Animal Kingdom. Finn and Philby rescue the Tinkerbell actress and fly down the rope to Tomorrowland.Being scared they run off.
That night, as they await to meet up online, Finn receives an IM from Wayne. Wayne tells him to meet him on a website, DGamer, a private place where VMK is still open (being that VMK closed in the book and in real life.) Wayne talks to Finn on a webcam, and Finn tells him about the nights events. Wayne tells Finn that the Overtakers have managed to clone one of the original, messed-up DHI servers from the first book and hide it somewhere in the Animal Kingdom. The Overtakers are using it to make DHIs out of animals as their army, and if any of the Kingdom Keepers (or Wayne) fall asleep, they will become their DHIs, controlled by the Overtakers' server, and can be put into permanent comas, similar to what happened to Maybeck in the first book. Wayne tells Finn that he and the other Kingdom Keepers must find Jez and destroy the second server in the Animal Kingdom, before they fall asleep and are at the Overtakers' control, and must get to the Animal Kingdom at dawn, before opening, to get into the park. Finn warns the others, and they decide to use their Nintendo DS systems to chat using DGamer and meet up at the Animal Kingdom at dawn.
Finn sneaks out of his house at 2 AM, and uses his bike to get to Amanda's house. He discovers that they live alone in an abandoned church. She tells him that she and Jez, who are not really sisters, are Fairlies, which means they are 'fairly human'. They have special powers, but Jez's powers are much more powerful, even more so than Maleficent's, which is why the Overtakers kidnapped her. Finn believes her, promises not to tell, and Amanda also shares that she and Jez grew up in the same orphanage, and both ran away, being that both of their parents died, disappeared or vanished. She also tells Finn that Jez had dreams before, about the future. She drew dreams in her diary, on a page filled with monkeys, a castle being struck by lightning, a sticker, a mountain, other drawings, and the words "CHANGE ROB" written over and over. Finn takes the page, being that it will help them, since the castle being struck by lightning happened the night before. While in the church, Finn and Amanda spy a large bat, suspiciously watching them.
Later, at 4 in the morning, Finn sneaks back into his house and tells his mom he's going to the skate park and it is five in the morning. She believes him, and tells her he will probably go to Blizzard Beach later with his friends. He and the DHIs, along with Amanda, meet up at the Animal Kingdom an hour later. They go into a type of warehouse, and discover that the Dapper Dan who chased Finn and Philby in Escher's Keep is in fact with Wayne. They change into cast members' clothing, Charlene notably dressing up as DeVine, a costumed vine character on stilts. Charlene and Willa discover a bat in the girls' room the size of a bowling pin, the same bat who was at Amanda's apartment. Maybeck catches it, and puts it in a pillowcase. The DHIs set out into the empty park, each as a different person. With Cast Member ID badges, they are free to go anywhere backstage as long as they aren't found out.
In Animal Kingdom, Willa sets out into the jungle, she attempts to go to a feeding place disguised as a stump on the savanna. She is chased and nearly eaten by a dragon-type creature, but is safe once she enters the stump and zebras scare the dragon away. Willa notices that Jess is gone, and 'Change Rob' is written on the wall, just as in Jess's diary. Once the coast is clear, she goes back to the actual park to find Finn.
Maybeck has orders from Finn to put the bat-hostage in the bat enclosure. However, he is attacked by thousands of birds who were stalking him all over. He isn't hurt by them, but the bat is taken away by a monkey. He desperately chases the monkey, following it into the monkey enclosure. However, Maleficent is in the enclosure and stops him and Maybeck is sent running for his life back to Finn.
Philby, at the Conservation Station, has talked to Wayne on VMK and found out how to rig the cameras there and give him security camera access to all the cameras around the park. Charlene, who is posing as the DeVine character, is unseen by everyone, therefore giving her an advantage. She offers to watch the bat enclosure, because Amanda (who is at the Conservation Station) is watching all the cameras she can.
Finn listens to Willa and Maybeck's stories, but all are equally puzzled. At this point, the park has opened to guests, and suddenly, the song "Under the Sea" (sung by Raven Symone) begins playing on the speakers around the park. Amanda is in shock as this is Jess's favorite song, its on her iPod, and this song has never played anywhere in the Animal Kingdom,it's all out of area. Finn and Amanda deduce that Jess must be playing this song from her iPod, and that this must be a clue about something. Willa and Finn each decide to check out this mystery by following the song's clue to other parks.
Finn goes to Disney's Hollywood Studios and heads to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid theater show. While walking in the park, he notices a broomstick character from Fantasia is following him. Finn manages to hide in the show and watch, only to notice the broomstick character stop and study the show. Finn is confused. Meanwhile, Willa has gone to the Magic Kingdom to Ariel's Grotto, a picture station themed to The Little Mermaid. While there, she seems to cause a fuss by asking to open a fake treasure chest in the area, thinking it might contain something. It is revealed to be empty, and Willa is pushed away by a cast member, who remarks that a Captain Hook costumed character had also tried to do the same thing earlier.
Finn and Willa reunite at the Animal Kingdom, and realize that the Overtakers must have heard the song and been trying to follow the clues too, perhaps to find Jez.
Jez is eventually found inside the Animal Kingdom's tiger enclosure, and the DHIs must hurry to Expedition Everest to stop Maleficent from releasing Chernabog, using the final clue in Jez's diary. By the time they get to the attraction, the park has closed to guests, and the kids scale into the empty climactic end of the attraction. However, they are too late as Maleficent releases Chernabog from his trapped form as the animatronic ride Yeti. Chernabog tries to kill Finn, when Amanda saves him and the kids escape in an oncoming ride car. In the end, the Kingdom Keepers have failed to stop the Overtakers, who have reportedly hid away in Disney's Hollywood Studios in the back of an ice truck. The kids decide they must quickly find the stonecutter's quill if they want to regain leverage against the Overtakers, who have most likely been the cause of Wayne's sudden and mysterious disappearance.
The third Kingdom Keepers book, Disney in Shadow, was released April 6, 2010. It takes place primarily in Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The main characters battle the overtakers to find their hidden friend, Wayne Kresky. The book features an augmented reality component, allowing readers to hold their book up to their computer to see a virtual 3D map overlaid on the book.
After saving their friend Jess from the Overtakers, Wayne went missing. Jess also has the gift of seeing visions of the future like Wayne. She wrote down her visions in her diary, and knew they need her help to find Wayne. By hacking into the Disney computer system, Philby is able to make Amanda and Jess a DHI. By analyzing Jess’s diary, they see that Wayne is being held hostage by the Overtakers in Epcot. They find clues that Wayne had left, knowing he’d be captured, and that leads them to the Norway section of Epcot, looking for a sword. They see that many Overtakers are now guarding areas in Epcot including Gigabyte from Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!, Crash test dummies from Test Track, and Vikings from the Maelstrom ride. After retrieving the sword from the Maelstrom ride, the Kingdom Keepers found themselves wondering if they had the right clue. They then discover a fly on the sword, and they looked up some clues on the computer that could lead them further. Then, the Keepers chose to split up and go on rides at Epcot that have flying in them. There Maybeck and Charlene were able to go through a changed ride that only they could go through (being half the weight of a human due to their DHI stature), and they saw that Wayne had left them another message. He said that “the answer is keeping the rain off, it’s on your brain, and it’s where the stars never grow old”. They learn that he was talking about the Hollywood Studios. All the sudden, Jess got a vision that Wayne was being kept at Wonders of Life, an attraction area that’s inside a pavilion. They see many of the Overtakers guarding the pavilion. After Charlene helped to distract them, the Kingdom Keepers were able to get in. Philby went to the control room with Willa, and Amanda and Jess stayed back to help Charlene. Maybeck and Finn snuck through an air vent, and Charlene was able to run around and get inside to find Wayne through another path. Charlene saw Wayne tied up and tried to free him. Soon she realized it was a trap, and saw a lion and trolls start to attack her. Since Philby was watching everyone at the control center, he was able to get her out by turning on the sprinklers, and texted the others that this was a trap to lure them. The Keepers returned to a gift shop they had set as a checkpoint. Finn then realized a huge problem. They had left behind the control modulator that sent them back into their bodies sleeping, and it had been collected and put in a locked lost and found cabinet. They now knew they couldn’t get back until 7 o’clock and they decided they could fit one more try in. They looked back at the riddle and saw something they hadn’t noticed before. They were in Hollywood Studios, and the icon of the studio is Mickey’s giant hat. It keeps the rain away, it’s on your brain, and has stars that never grow old on it, just as Wayne’s clue had mentioned. Mickey only uses that hat during the performance Fantasmic!, and the two leaders of the Overtakers are in that performance, Chernabog, and Maleficent. Philby took the control room again, and Charlene, Willa, and Maybeck went around to distract Chernabog, who would appear as a dragon. Finn soon got onto the stage-as Disney was doing a rehearsal, except the real Maleficent was on stage- and fought Maleficent. Maleficent has the power to turn into any animal, and she morphed into a bird. Soon after fighting a little with the sword, Maleficent was hit and was wounded. Unfortunately, Philby had opened a trap door for Finn, except Maleficent went in it instead and escaped. Though Chernabog in dragon form was still there and about to breathe fire. Right before that happened, Wayne had for the first time appeared above him on a wall. He told him to surrender he couldn’t win. Though he said that Amanda had told him to fight back instead, and he didn’t back down. As the dragon was about to spew flames, Charlene had hit its Achilles heel with a prop spear, and it fell but still threw out flames. The flames missed everyone, except Wayne who combusted into flames and disappeared. Chernabog as well morphed back into its demon form and is defeated. Back at the gift show, Philby had taken the recording of it from the security camera via flash drive, and they all watched it and saw the same thing. That was not Wayne, it was a DHI. Then they realize where Wayne is, in a box, and rescue him.
The book opens with Charlene, Amanda and Finn at a roller-coaster simulator. Charlene designs their rides. Finn and Amanda are put through an insanely dangerous simulation; they begin to suspect Charlene of messing up with them.
After a Kim Possible phone mission from Wayne, Philby, Maybeck and Finn decide that Charlene is under a spell by the Evil Queen from Snow White and that a kiss will break the spell. Maybeck tries, but fails, Charlene not letting him kiss her. That night Charlene is crossed over unexpectedly and Finn and Phliby go to rescue her. Philby manages to kiss her almost unwillingly and the spell indeed breaks. Finn figures out that the Queen has more than Charlene under a spell.
Willa is crossed over, but this is not supposed to happen. While she's crossed over, Willa is saved from drowning by Ariel from The Little Mermaid and finds out that the "characters" from all Disney movies are in fact real, not Cast Members. However, the others find out they can't get to her because the Overtakers cut Philby's connection to the DHI server. Finn, Maybeck, and Philby sneak in to the server room in the Utilidoors to get back the connection, which they accomplish. That night, Finn and Maybeck cross over and rescue Willa. When they're brought back, they think the Overtakers are trying to put them all in Sleeping Beauty Syndrome to make them useless.
Later on, the Keepers decide that the Overtakers, the Evil Queen and Cruella de Vil from One Hundred and One Dalmatians especially, are trying to free Maleficent and Chernabog from their prisons. The Evil Queen puts a spell on Finn, but believing he was all clear (a pure DHI) when she did, Finn thinks he's safe.
The spell, which was intended to eventually make Jess unconscious, messes up due to Finn being partially DHI and the fact that Jess is just a friend. Finn makes out with Amanda - whom he has feelings for - and she falls into a coma. Because the spell included the words "reverse the curse" and Sleeping Beauty's sleeping spell was started by being pricked by a spindle, the Keepers try to get Disney spindles for Amanda. She doesn't wake up. Philby crosses Amanda and Finn over. They meet Minnie and Pluto. They get Amanda's DHI pricked with the cotter of the waterwheel on Tom Sawyer Island and the spell is broken. They are manually Returned.
Over the course of the next events Finn realizes how the Overtakers are going to break Maleficent and Chernabog out. Because they engineer a power outage, the prisoners' doors open. Then they use the security cameras to project DHIs of sleeping Chernabog and Maleficent into the cells. The villains escape by wearing guards' uniforms and walking out. Finn gets to the prison and meets Wayne, but it's too late to prevent the two escaping.
The book ends with the Keepers, Ariel, Amanda and Jess realizing that a picture Jess drew earlier depicts Captain Peter Roseman of the Disney Magic, a cruise ship, the site of the next Keeper installment. Ariel reveals that Mickey Mouse is meant to be the characters' leader, but that he's missing. Finn asks Ariel to keep the Return fob button safe, and she agrees. Then he presses the button and they all Return.Finn let's Jess, Charlene, and Amanda come to his home for the night.
Ridley recently stated on his Twitter to fan @Oblivion12345 that he had his fifth book with a tentative title, Shell Game, and a predicted release date of April 3rd 2012. This book will take place on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship. Ridley said in an interview that the DHI Software is going to be upgraded into 2.0. He also mentioned the Fantasia Brooms as Overtakers in his Facebook. Also he indirectly confirmed Hades and Ursula will appear as Overtakers in a tweet to @JoseMLuna. Amazon released a synopsis of the 5th book. "As the Disney Fantasy joins the cruise fleet, a special treat is in store for guests aboard its inaugural sail from Cape Canaveral to Los Angeles: the Disney Host Interactive teenage guides will be part of the Fantasy crew. Finn, Maybeck, Charlene, Willa, and Philby are to attend the cruise as celebrity guests, and to perform a ribbon cutting for the DHI server to go live. The Fantasy is now the most advanced cruise ship in the world. But all is not right belowdecks. Strange things are happening. Unexplained phenomena. Only the Kingdom Keepers know the truth behind their invitation: nearly every Disney villain is represented onboard the new ship: whether on its decks or in its theaters. It's believed the Overtakers have infiltrated the cast and are "stowaways." Worse: it is believed they have stolen an important journal that once belonged to Walt Disney himself--Finn has been having dreams about this--and that some kind of mission is planned. The ship sets sail filled with enthusiastic guests and crew, and the battle is on in new and exotic arenas: the beaches of Castaway Cay, the caves of Aruba, the locks of the Panama Canal, Costa Rica's rain forest zip line . . . But the end game is far more complicated and intense than anything the Kingdom Keepers had planned on. If the Overtakers get their way, a power will be unleashed that no one will have the ability to vanquish: Chernabog, dormant for years, is about to have his full powers restored. . ."
Fifth and sixth installments are currently being planned. Ridley has announced that he wants to involve the readers in the fifth book, using what he called the "Big Plan".[2] Also in an interview [3] he said the Big Plan had to do with Mickey Mouse's disappearance, and independent villains.
The fifth is going to take place on the Disney Magic cruise ship. As stated on Ridley's blog, the sixth's expected release is January 2013, ahead of the previous expected release of April 3rd 2012.
Ridley recently stated there will only be 7 books in the Kingdom Keepers series. The sixth book, as he said on his blog, will take place on the cruise lines, again, and the seventh in California.
On April 6, 2010, the Kingdom Keepers Online game was launched.[4] Gameplay is single player, but all players are collaboratively working to clear a single map of levels. The game features 2500 levels which are each procedurally generated, and gameplay is action-based.
All five main Kingdom Keeper characters are playable, each with different strengths:
The game tells a new story in the Kingdom Keepers universe; the Overtakers have taken over the internet and are threatening to escape into the real world. Players must clear out the network from the Overtaker infection. Special videos are unlocked on the website as players make progress in the game.[5]
A new game has come out on the website about Wayne giving Ridley a message. The Overtakers try to distract us by cloning the video, we have to figure out which video is the real one. We can make our own accounts now in this game too.
The community is just like a forum. You can post anything that you want there as long as it is approved. You need to register for this too.
The Overtakers are the main antagonists of the series. Not much is known about the Overtakers, other than their intentions of ruling the park and the world outside. Most of them are the definite antagonists of Disney movies and attractions. Now they know that they are trying to escape from the parks.
In April 2011, Kingdom Keepers: Power Play was the first book to be selected by WDW Radio Disney Book Club.