June 10, 2017 - Team Charlie

Three of our intrepid travelers (Julie, Brooke and Jack) found themselves in a sterile waiting room, awaiting their briefing. After receiving their assignment: rendezvous with Shannon and Chris, outside of Graycie Manor and return the misbehaving ghosts to their rightful home, they stocked up with supplies and headed to the Magic Kingdom.

Met with the eerie sight of an empty park, they made careful way to the Haunted Mansion, by way of Liberty Square. Reunited with Shannon, and introduced to Chris, the team was ready to investigate the happenings. 

“Fairy hormones are the WORST.” – Brooke

After encountering a ghostly horse (who could only be seen and controlled by Chris) and a surly, unhelpful Butler, the group decided the best course of action was to approach the ride as visitors and try to determine what (or who) was out of place. After hitting the emergency stop, the adventurers proceeded into the dark ride.

“There are three of them. Put them back to stop them all.” – Ghost (or nude) Butler

As the team worked its way deeper into the ride, they stopped a moment to search the library. Unbenownst to them, Chris had wandered down the endless hallway and discovered: a hidden access door! On the other side they found themselves in the maintenance access to the ballroom, accessible by a trap door and ladder. Upon arriving in the room, they were surprised to discover Phineas (one of the infamous Hitchhiking ghosts) asleep in a large arm chair.

Not appreciating the disturbance, Phineas attempts to apparate, but is foiled by Julie’s quick action with a __________ card. As Phineas became more and more irritated, the team tried everything they could think of to capture the ghost. Finally, Jack attempted to be friends — not realizing how close he and Phineas were about to become.

With Jack bound by ropes (battling with Phineas for control over his body) our band of adventurers return to the omnimover track and walk further into the ride. Finding Gus (Hitchhiking Ghost #2) in the séance room playing with himself, and Ezra (Hitchhiking ghost #3) riding a pop-up skull in the graveyard — the team manages to board the re-started ride, expose the ghosts to their special effect, and set everything to rights. (The Butler even got his threads back.)
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It was a happy ending for most, but not everything was resolved. Who was this “evil queen” who released the ghosts in the first place, and for what nefarious plan? What good is it to have keys to everything when in fact you don’t seem to have keys to anything? Will we ever know whether to refer to Chris as s/he?
Until next time …