LP Lotion: Mystic Point Grand Opening at Hong Kong Disneyland
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Hong Kong Disneyland completed its three-phase expansion project on Friday, May 17, with as a third and final new land opening beyond the train berm. Mystic Point, themed around the estate of an eccentric explorer, offers one of Disney’s most impressive new rides in several years.
The centerpiece of the new land is Mystic Manor, an eclectically-built, gingerbread-style house that towers over the grounds like a cheerier version of Disneyworld’s Haunted Mansion. Jumbled turrets, gables, and arches are modeled after Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, a Chinese garden, a Viking long-hall – all destinations Lord Henry Mystic visited during his travels. This celebratory hodge-podge reflects the globe-trotting theme of the entire land. The “Garden of Wonders” includes three optical illusion set-pieces themed to Greece, Babylon, and China. The Explorer’s Club restaurant offers counter-service meals from around Asia, as well as dining halls themed to various lands. Roaming cast members perform traditional dances from Asia, North America, and Eastern Europe. And the Mystic Manor ride, of course, brings artifacts from all these countries magically to life.
So, how does this final installment of Hong Kong’s expansion stack up? To begin with, the Mystic Manor ride itself is a work of art. For the first time in years, WDI has created an attraction based on a complex story with original characters and music, free of big-screen corporate synergy. (I know, the same might be said of last year’s Grizzly Gulch, but the storytelling and characters there were rather simple.) Comparisons with Haunted Mansion are inevitable, and merited – this is an attraction in the grand tradition of the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Carribean, Journey Into Imagination (c. 1983), Temple of the Forbidden Eye, Journey to the Center of the Earth… The ride is simply beautiful.
A quick overview for those who may not have been following its development: Lord Mystic has acquired a magical music box that can bring inanimate objects to life. Albert, his monkey sidekick, mischievously opens the box, and riders get to enjoy the charming or terrifying results in each room of Mystic’s collection of antiquities. Paintings come to life. Instruments and suits of armor sing jaunty tunes (composed by Danny Elfman). Tikis attack with blowdarts and flowing lava. A mummy dissolves into a million scarab beetles that swarm over your vehicle. Finally, the Monkey King summons a whirlwind that blows the walls of the house down. Guests are saved at the last moment by Albert, who sucks all the magic back into the music box and restores order to the mansion.
The effects are brilliantly done. A mixture of projections and LEDs allows the sparkling “magic” to leap from artifact to artifact through mid-air. The audio-animatronics on both Albert and Lord Henry are cute and natural. Most of the tricks employed are simple enough on their own, but effects and scenes are thrown so quickly at the rider that they consistently amuse. The climactic scene with the Monkey King is the most innovative and impressive, yet feels slightly odd, as it relies almost entirely on CGI projections. These projections allow for some fun (a panda is blown out of one painting and lands in another, for example), but the flatness stands out after so many three-dimensional scenes.
LP readers have surely also already heard about the “Mystic Magneto Electro-Carriages”. Like Pooh’s honey pots at Tokyo Disneyland, the vehicles perform without a visible track. Four vehicles experience each section of the ride with slightly different timing, giving a tailored, individual experience. Occasionally, this betrays its limitations. For those sitting in the second and third cars, for example, the climatic whirlwind scene is already underway by the time their vehicles enter the room, whereas the first and last cars get to enjoy the scene from beginning to end. Also, certain effects are spoiled for riders in the first car, who can glimpse surprises before their time. This was most notable with a fresco of an erupting Mount Vesuvius, a mosaic that transforms into Medusa, and the scene of tikis shooting darts at Albert.
Plenty of Easter eggs are tucked in, along the way. Busts appear from the Haunted Mansion, as does the Medusa woman from the changing portrait gallery. The Tribal Arts room includes, amongst new figures, singing and drumming tikis that will certainly look familiar. Lord Mystic’s fellow members in the Explorer’s Club are, of course, members of the creative team behind the ride.
The rest of Mystic Point is well-executed, with plenty of interesting details. The Explorer’s Club closely resembles Hong Kong’s Royal Banquet Hall and Tahitian Terrace in its variety and food service, but outdoes the earlier restaurants with panache in its theming. (While in the queue for Mystic Manor, keep an eye out for the restaurant’s floorplan on one wall, where it is labeled as viewing areas for Mystic’s art collection.) The gift shop features a handsome fireplace with carved stone monkeys, which also are scattered on the wallpaper. One disappointing note is that, while plenty of Mystic Manor merchandise has been marketed for the shop, there is a corner filled with merchandise for Tower of Terror, the Matterhorn, and other thrill rides not represented at Hong Kong Disneyland.
The Garden of Wonders suffers a little in comparison to the neighboring Grizzly Gulch, where incredible attention to detail is tied to a bit more humor and interactive fun than Mystic Point musters up in its self-guided areas. Also, Mystic Point Station has been added alongside the Hong Kong Disneyland Railway, but does not actually serve as a station on the 2-stop railway line. The station makes a nice stage for live entertainment, but Mystic Point’s remote placement might have warranted a third stop being added.
Fanfare for this excellent new land has been curiously muted, possibly due to concerns about the ride system (which, indeed, was down for an hour at the beginning of opening day). The obligatory photos with local government officials were taken, and very attentive Disney staff were on-hand to oversee the smooth opening, but many of the local guests did not even know the land was new. As of May 18, posters had not gone up around Hong Kong, and the customary banners between the Transportation Hub and the front gate made no mention of the ride. This will, no doubt, be rectified in the next few days, but on opening day, it was remarkable that the lines for the new ride never exceeded 90 minutes, and generally were kept to 45-60 minutes (equivalent to the park’s undisputed champion, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt). Even the park map given out on opening day said that Mystic Point would open sometime “in mid-2013”.
Regardless, Hong Kong Disneyland has now added two spectacular new lands with excellent rides, as well as the flat-ride-heavy (but well-themed) Toy Story Land. As a fan of the park, I hope that Mystic Manor is a major hit with the local crowd so Hong Kong Disneyland’s expansion gamble pays off in a big way. As a passholder… is it too selfish to hope that the lines don’t get any longer?
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