In this fantastical thriller, five young teens tapped as models for theme park "guides" find themselves pitted against Disney villains and witches that threaten both the future of Walt Disney World and the stability of the world outside its walls.
Using a cutting-edge technology called DHI—which stands for both Disney Host Interactive and Daylight Hologram Imaging—Finn Whitman, an Orlando teen, and four other kids are transformed into hologram projections that guide guests through the park.
The new technology turns out, however, to have unexpected effects that are both thrilling and scary. Soon Finn finds himself transported in his DHI form into the Magic Kingdom at night. Is it real? Is he dreaming?
Finn's confusion only increases when he encounters Wayne, an elderly Imagineer who tells him that the park is in grave danger. Led by the scheming witch Maleficent, a mysterious group of characters called the Overtakers is plotting to destroy Disney's beloved realm, and maybe more.
This gripping high-tech tale will thrill every kid who has ever dreamed of sneaking into Walt Disney World after hours, and wondered what happens at night, when the park is closed.
The idea behind this book turned out to be better than its execution. I've been curious about this series ever since it came out. Sure, it's a cash grab, but if it's enjoyable and imaginative, who cares? Unfortunately, at least as far as Book 1 is concerned, there was way too much imagination and not enough explanation. What I mean is that it's one thing to build a world of magic and science and wonder, but it's another to immerse your reader in it.
The Harry Potter books have magic but there are rules as to how it works; there's an order to the educational system; there's history behind the wizards vs muggles mentality. Everything fits together to give you a world that makes sense (for the most part). The Percy Jackson books work hard to merge the modern day with the Grecian mythology, and for the most part pull it off well: there is explanation for what Gods do and don't still exist, how the Mist hides the magical from view, and even the villains' motivations. Again, the reader is given explanation as to why and how these societies exist and function, with new developments fitting in and filling out the world.
Disney's world is never fully explained. And I get it - it's the first book, you don't need to break down every little thing all at once - but there is no logical reason to leave your characters (and by proxy, the readers) in the dark when they have pertinent questions! Are the holograms science or magic? Both? There are witches that aren't Disney properties? If evil characters are coming to life due to people's "belief", why aren't there also good ones? Why can't/won't any of the imagineers help besides Wayne? Why do physics sometimes work and sometimes don't? What the heck happened at the end?! Any explanation - even one so lame as "if we tell you, the magic will stop working" would have been better than the nothing we got.
The characters were BORING. We never learned any characteristics of any of them - hobbies do not count as characteristics. Finn was the leader...because Wayne said so. Maybeck supposedly knew computers, but never says anything remotely geeky, and likes girls. Philby apparently has an English accent, not that you'd ever know it, and does Disney Park research? Charlene plays basketball and is gorgeous but softspoken. And Willa is more of a problem-solver, does archery, and has a thing for Finn. That's all we learn about any of them. I didn't believe they would do the things they did. I didn't believe in them, period. They're just tokens doing the tasks set out for them in the plot.
Case in point, the whole book is written in 3rd person omniscient. Nothing wrong with that in and of itself. But I can't remember where you heard any character's thoughts. Finn did things, but we never got his opinions on what he was doing. There one chapter that didn't feature Finn at all, instead focusing on Charlene and Willa, but it gave us nothing different from the girls' perspectives. That's right, out of 3o-some chapters, only one didn't have Finn as the sole focus. I feel it would have been better to have the entire story as limited 3rd person from Finn's POV in order to give us a better grip on his character. Or if you wanted to jump around to the other kids, then let us know what happened to Maybeck when he went off by himself, give us some perspective on Charlene or Willa at school - or have them at least talk to each other in their own chapter!
I guess I'm harping so much on this book because it was such a cool concept. What kid who's been to Disney hasn't thought about the parks after dark? What Disney fan wouldn't want the chance to interact with the characters in real life? But this story was so poorly executed, I had more problems with it than fun. I'll continue the series because I still think the concept is interesting, I still have a ton of questions, and I checked out a 3-in-1 e-book so I already have the next 2 books waiting. But as of now, I wouldn't recommend this series to anyone but really little kids who can't get enough of Disney.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
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