Disney at Dawn
Encyclopedia
Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn is the second book in The Kingdom Keepers
series set inside the Walt Disney World Resort
, written by Ridley Pearson
and published by Disney Book Group. It is set inside Disney's Animal Kingdom
. It features five young protagonists battling against the Overtakers for control of the parks and trying to free their kidnapped friend.
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)who went missing in the previous book. 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.
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 1 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 or disappeared. She also tells Finn that Jez had dreams before, about the future. She drew dreams in the 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 six in the morning. She believes him, and 'winning the rest of the day' 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 Jez is gone, and 'Change Rob' is written on the wall, just as in Jez'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 Convervation 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" (covered by Raven Symone) begins playing on the radios around the park. Amanda is in shock- this is Jez(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 Jez(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.
Willa eventually falls asleep at Mickey's Philharmagic and is taken away by the Overtakers, to be put in a hotel room with sleeping Philby.
After following a clue, Finn and Amanda go to the vetrinary clinc and are confronted by Maleficent. Finn crosses over and Amanda uses her abilities to counter Maleficent's attacks. However, Finn's DHI begins to fail after seeing Maleficent show signs retreat and Amanda takes a blow. Enraged by this, Finn attacks Maleficent and demands for her to release Amanda. After she fulfills this, Finn knocks her down and he and Amanda escape.
Jez is eventually found inside the Animal Kingdom's tiger enclosure. Finn, Jez and Charlene hava near-death experience escaping from the tigers. The Keepers, Amanda, and Jez meet up and discover that Maleficent is going to free Chernabog at Expedition Everest
, due to the fact Maleficent can only stand the cold. 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. Now Amanda and Jez are now Kingdom Keepers.
for communication with the others.
The Kingdom Keepers
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, and the third, Disney In Shadow was released on...
series set inside the Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
, written by Ridley Pearson
Ridley Pearson
Ridley Pearson, born on March 13, 1953 in Glen Cove, New York, is an American writer. Pearson has historically written suspense and thriller novels for an adult audience, but has also begun branching out by writing adventure books for children....
and published by Disney Book Group. It is set inside Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom is an animal theme park located at the Walt Disney World Resort. The fourth park built at the resort, it opened on April 22, 1998, and it is the largest single Disney theme park in the world, covering more than . It is also the first Disney theme park to be themed entirely...
. It features five young protagonists battling against the Overtakers for control of the parks and trying to free their kidnapped friend.
Summary
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 growingthunderstorm, 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)who went missing in the previous book. 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.
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
Virtual Magic Kingdom
Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, also known as VMK, was a free massively multiplayer online game run by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online. It was a virtual representation of the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom theme parks, containing areas and minigames which were based on real park scenery and...
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
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
systems to chat using DGamer and meet up at the Animal Kingdom at dawn.
Finn sneaks out of his house at 1 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 or disappeared. She also tells Finn that Jez had dreams before, about the future. She drew dreams in the 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 six in the morning. She believes him, and 'winning the rest of the day' 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 Jez is gone, and 'Change Rob' is written on the wall, just as in Jez'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 Convervation 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" (covered by Raven Symone) begins playing on the radios around the park. Amanda is in shock- this is Jez(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 Jez(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
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
and heads to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Voyage of the Little Mermaid is a live show attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida that features puppets and live actors. It replaced the previous attraction Here Comes The Muppets in January 1992. Voyage follows an abridged version of the 1989 film The Little Mermaid. The show...
theater show. While walking in the park, he notices a broomstick character from Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
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
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...
to Ariel's Grotto, a picture station themed to The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" is a popular fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince...
. 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.
Willa eventually falls asleep at Mickey's Philharmagic and is taken away by the Overtakers, to be put in a hotel room with sleeping Philby.
After following a clue, Finn and Amanda go to the vetrinary clinc and are confronted by Maleficent. Finn crosses over and Amanda uses her abilities to counter Maleficent's attacks. However, Finn's DHI begins to fail after seeing Maleficent show signs retreat and Amanda takes a blow. Enraged by this, Finn attacks Maleficent and demands for her to release Amanda. After she fulfills this, Finn knocks her down and he and Amanda escape.
Jez is eventually found inside the Animal Kingdom's tiger enclosure. Finn, Jez and Charlene hava near-death experience escaping from the tigers. The Keepers, Amanda, and Jez meet up and discover that Maleficent is going to free Chernabog at Expedition Everest
Expedition Everest
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain is a roller coaster attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando...
, due to the fact Maleficent can only stand the cold. 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. Now Amanda and Jez are now Kingdom Keepers.
- Jez's real name is Jessica. It was only changed to Jez after Maleficent put a spell on her.
- In the first book, it is not mentioned that Finn has a sister, but in this book, Amanda uses Finn's sister's DS
for communication with the others.