July 15, 2017 - Charlie Company

12/17/17 I realize this is late, Brooke was on top of getting this back to me and I blew it. Brooke, you did an AMAZING job of note taking! -S

Charlie Company – July 15
Curtain up on a bland, sterile briefing room.  Waiting inside, our favorite cast of characters: Brooke, Julie, Shannon and Chris. Their mission: travel back in time to 1986 and fix a disturbance in time. Hooter has disappeared from the Captain EO attraction, and without him the historical opening cannot take place. Even now, the effects are being felt — and there’s no saying what havoc it will wreak in present time.

As the team straps in and fires up the Peabody Machine their mission is clear: Find Hooter, restore the timeline, and for the love of Pete — make it home.

Upon arrival, the team finds themselves at the EPCOT World Showcase — and encounters an extremely friendly trash can. As they make their way to the attraction, they have a close encounter with Michael Eisner … and a not quite as close spotting of Patrick Duffy,

It’s September 11, 1986 and the Captain EO attraction is scheduled to open in less than 24 hours. The queue is long, the sun is hot, and our heroes have their work cut out for them. Arriving at the attraction doors (and fending off some more-than-slightly-crabby onlookers) Shannon charms the crowd with a thoroughly entertaining routine (featuring her new BFF, the trash can) while Julie employs her Hitchhiking Ghost ability to get into the queue room.

Unfortunately, the doors are not operable from the inside, either.

With a little further exploration, Julie finds herself inside the ride room — and trapped by cyborg-like beings. With no way to escape, or communicate with the team outside, she sets to work trying to locate missing Hooter.

Meanwhile, outside, Shannon and the trash can continue to enthrall the crowd. With a little finessing by Brooke, Chris becomes enraged (she hates having her shins kicked) and shrinks to the size of a thimble. Squeezing through the gap between the door and jamb, Chris also makes it inside the queue room!

As the effect of the ability wears off, Chris located the control board and squeezes inside the case … and blows it to smithereens. On the plus side, the doors to the exterior are mechanically opened as are the doors to the ride room. On the minus side, Chris has one heckuva headache. As Chris sits, stunned, he is comforted by a blue, elephant-like trunk, extending from the ceiling.

Hooter has been found!

With some charming by Shannon (and a few zip-tie cuffs) Hooter is charmed, then carried,  back into the ride room. With the aid of our trash can hero, Hooter is restored to the attraction and the ride is re-set.

In a rush, our heroes return to the Peabody Machine, dial in 2017 and return home safely. The team celebration that night? A clandestine viewing of Captain EO in 3-D, “borrowed” from Tier 3 storage, of course!