After Grizzly Gulch, what's next for Hong Kong Disneyland? Mystic Point and the highly awaited Mystic Manor attraction will be the next to open at HKDL in 2013. How will it be? What is the storyline of the Mystic Manor ride? In this great article posted previously you will find all the answers with WDI original artwork, and the good news is that the ride will be almost identical as it was unveiled at D23 Expo three years ago.
That said, you may have heard some months ago rumors of major changes in the Mystic Manor ride, including that the trackless vehicle system was cancelled, but apparently it still will be part of the ride. If we except the "toonified" style for Henry and Albert, the ride two main characters, some of the figures have also changed their appearance, such as the Lava God in the Tribal Room which apparently had some changes to don't look too "human". But as i've said the ride system is still there and is now in place and all the works could be finished next fall. The opening date of the ride is still scheduled for spring 2013.
Soooo, Mystic Point will be the last of the three new lands to open at HKDL and when Mystic Manor will open it will be probably an "instant classic" attraction. Before i go further i want to warn you that there will be major spoilers all along the article. If you don't want to know anything about the storyline, this is definitely not the right article! Also, click on each pictures to see them in big and explore details.
In the story line that WDI Imagineers imagined, the Manor owner is an explorer called Lord Henry Mystic, a member of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. If you remember well, Harrison Hightower III, the owner of the Hightower building at Tokyo Disney Sea - i.e the Tower of Terror - was also part of the same society. At HKDL action is supposed to be in 1908 and Lord Mystic is still alive and exploring the world. He is inviting us to this remote outpost in the Jungle. Mystic has a friendly companion, a monkey called Albert.
In the first scene above Henry Mystic will appear and warn us that a new artifact - a box - that he just bring back from one of his expeditions is supposedly enchanted and must be open very carefully.
We will then enter the loading room and board in the attraction vehicles which, let's remember it, are not omnimovers like in the Haunted Mansion and will be able to move in any directions or even spin.
Albert the monkey is intrigued by the box and will try to open it. And when he does, just like the box of "Pandora", the forces inside the box will be unleashed. A mysterious smoke will get out of it and will start to take over the different rooms. All the artifacts that guests will see in all the rooms will suddenly and magically come to life.
Inside the next room - the Music room - music instruments will start to come to life. I won't be surprised if we find in this room some Haunted Mansion effects - remember the piano who play by itself in the doors corridor?
The Greco-Roman Mediterranean room will be the next one, and statues or paintings will suddenly be alive. Here too, Imagineers can use improved Haunted Mansion effects, and we should probably have audio-animatronics for the "live" statues.
In the next room, the "Nordic Chamber" , expect a cold temperature when the Vikings will come alive!
Scene seven, "The Armory", should be more frightening with suits of armors coming alive - hi again to another Haunted Mansion effect - arms trying to chop towards us and even canons will blast at us, allowing the Imagineers to take advantage of the spin motion of the ride vehicle that will spin away like if we've been hit for real. When i look at the blast effect in the rendering it reminds me the "ring of smoke" effect used in the Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull attraction at Tokyo Disney Sea, and i won't be surprised if they use the same effect for the canon blast.
Egyptian Mummy lovers should be delight with the next room - the Egyptian room - where we can expect mummies coming alive and interesting special effects on the Egyptians bas-reliefs.
The next scene is called "The Tribal Room" and there is two renderings for it. The first one below is not only a dramatic scene with the "lava" statue but is also interesting on other points. If you look at the left of the artwork you will see a Tiki room tribute with not only Tikis masks but also a Tiki drummer , exactly the same one that we can see in the Disneyland beloved attraction. If you look at the right part of the artwork you'll see other tribal masks who obviously are throwing darts. i bet you that Imagineers will use the same effect used in Indiana Jones Adventure when you go through the "dart" room, just before the scene with the huge rolling ball.
The second rendering seems to confirm what i've just said - but Albert the monkey have more difficulties to escape the darts and arrows...
In scene 10 - the Chinese room - a monkey king statue which stands in its center will come alive and create a turbulent vortex, like a tornado. Four vehicles will join together and, due to the tornado wind effect, will begin to spin in an amazing choreography. At this point Albert the monkey understand that if he doesn't stop all this hell he will be in trouble forever...
In the final scene Albert will try desperately to close the enchanted box. Of course, at the last second he will succeed and bring everything back down to normal. Right after that, Lord Henry Mystic will pop up and say "Hi everybody, i hope you enjoyed your trip, i'm sure there was no problem with any of the artifacts and that everything is fine. Please come back and visit again when you're in the neighborhood!".
Looks like an instant classic attraction, doesn't it? Personally, i can't wait for its opening which unfortunately seems to be schedule for 2013.
Let's have a look at other Mystic Manor artwork and model pictures beginning by the ride vehicle design researchs.
Let's end with two more pictures with the "big" model of Mystic Manor.
The story line of the attraction as described above is coming from an Imagineer video interview that you can see on Youtube HERE. The technical aspects are my own speculations.
For those of you who love WDI artwork i remind you that the Disneyland Paris "From Sketch to Reality book" which will tell you all about the creation of DLP include 250 WDI Artwork (!) and 500 pictures of the park on 320 pages. Have a look at the video below which will show you the whole book!
The book is still available either in its english or french edition and you can still enjoy a 20% discount special offer and the book is now available with an immediate shipping! Reviews from all those who have already received the book are "over the top" so, place your order now for a gorgeous collector's edition copy while the special offer on this wonderful book is still available! To know more about the book and how to order and send your payment please go HERE or use the Paypal one-click purchase button below.
Pictures: copyright Andy Castro
All artwork: copyright Disney - Disney Enterprises.
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