Deep in the enchanted jungles of Papau New Guinea, the palatial and eclectic home of Lord Henry Mystic is a wecome sight for travelers; from an oasis of oddities and ancient artifacts littered among the Garden of Wonders to the home itself – an otherworldly mix of international architecture dreamed up and built by a globetrotter.
It’s time to get a clearer idea of what exactly Mystic has collected over the course of his lifetime. And lucky for us, the kindly gentleman is pleased as punch to have us, with elegant gold-leafed signage pointing the way toward the start of the tour.
The Tour
En route to the manor’s back entrance, we pass right by the Loading Dock, where a wooden cart with priceless stone treasures is waiting to be unloaded at the stone entry covered in crawling vines. Once inside, our tour begins in a twisting hallway, its clapboard green walls hung with photographs, portraits, and paintings representing Mystic Manor’s ribbon-cutting, Lord Mystic himself, and his beloved friend and sidekick, Albert the monkey.
Slowing down, it’s easy to see from these portraits that Mystic and Albert have had their share of globe-trotting adventures, collecting interntional musical instruments, Egyptian treasures, Nordic relics, and Chinese statues throughout their travels. You’ll also pass by one of the most famous in-universe paintings in Disney Parks lore: the 1899 line-up of S.E.A.
Eventually, this museum-within-a-mansion gives way to a dark wood reading room draped with elegant velvet curtains where electric lamps provide warmth and comfort.
As the lights dim, a slide projector clicks to life, illuminating a projection screen. “Eh, hello! Can you hear me out there from back in the projection room?” Mystic’s singsong British accent wonders. “Ah, welcome to Mystic Manor, home to a world-class collection of art, antiquities, and my personal residence!” The slide on the screen wipes to reveal a black and white portrait of the mansion.
It slides again to a portrait of Henry and Albert. “I am Lord Henry Mystic. This is Albert, my traveling companion, confidante, and…” Albert, live and in the flesh, pops out of an ornate wooden box before the screen, chittering and snickering. “…Ooh, eh… Rather mischievious.” Albert turns to look at the black and white picture on the screen and giggles. “Yes, Albert! That’s you! Now run along! Shoo!” The monkey climbs back into the box and closes it.
From the projection booth, Mystic uses his monocle to magnify a few photographs and paintings of the home’s priceless collection we’re about to see, but he makes sure to show us a schematic of his newest acquisition: “An ancient music box. Legend has it this charming music box has the power to bring inanimate objects to life with a touch of its enchanting music.” The glowing, golden music box is topped with a glittering red gem and covered in carved golden monkeys. “Superstition and nonsense! Oh, my!” He laughs, as Albert reappears. “Well, I guess we shall see when we open it!” Albert, seemingly mesmerized by the very photo of the monkey-encrusted music box, swats at the projection screen.
“Ooh, look! The little fellow can’t keep his hands off of it! You love that music box, don’t you? We’ll examine it later. Now, shoo!”
After just a little healthy mischief, Albert races off further into the home as we follow.
Mystic Manor
Our carriage today will be a wonder in and of itself: the Mystic Magneto-Electric Carriages, created by Lord Mystic himself. These elaborate, gold-leaf lined vehicles appear to glide and hover effortlessly as they move throughout the manor.
(And, behind-the-scenes, we can marvel at the truth: these LPS or Local Positioning Satellite carts are really and truly trackless, able to dart, weave, and dance around one another, diverge and take different paths, and spin and twist at whim; remember, a character in and of itself…)
Once seated in one of four Carriages, a sizzle of electricity sees all four jump to life at once, rolling effortlessly out of the loading area and into the Acquisitions and Cataloguing Room, where the newest additions to the collection are brought to await placement. Four vehicles enter through two doors, turning to view a most hypnotic feature: the music box, positioned perfectly in the center of the room atop an old Chinese cart with a stone dragon at the helm. The music box literally glows with an ethereal magic, as if lit by the sunset even indoors.
A sliding door behind it pulls back as Lord Mystic leans in. “Oh, hello there! I was just looking for… Ah! There’s the music box I told you about! Now, I must find my little friend…” The very instant the door closes, Albert pops up from behind the music box as the tinkling score by Danny Elfman kicks in. The monkey gazes over the music box to ensure Lord Mystic’s no where to be found… then, leaps up to it. As the gem glows, the antsy ape taps it. With a resounding ding, the lights in the room extinguish and the golden lid of the music box parts…
From within, glistening sparkles of purple and green emerge, slowly emanating from inside. “Ooooh,” Albert coos. In one of Disney’s simplest and yet most successful special effects ever, the glowing “music” rises from the box, hovering directly in front of Albert as if by magic.
As he looks on, the music glides off, flying around the room. As it touches two sets of Chinese armor, they come alive, chanting and wiggling. The music races down the reins of the cart to the stone dragon, which glows green and rears back, neighing.
The Carriages back away, gliding through to the next room, packed with musical instruments from around the globe. As the music races forward, it brings life to an ancient bellows, powering a pipe organ. Albert pops out of a pipe, looking on in awe as the music swirls, awakening a piano, a harp, dozens more.
Then, we’re whisked into the Mediterrannean Antiquities collection, where Roman paintings line stucco walls. In one fresco, ancient Italians toast in the foreground as a mountain looms beyond. As the music glides past, it touches the portraits, making it come alive. The volcano erupts, covering the diners in lava! Like good Italians, they toast anyway, as the lava rushes out of the painting and down the wall.
The painting on a Greecian urn comes alive, as Hercules leaps away from a lion, literally popping out of the urn’s lid mid-jump. The vehicle then pulls up to a beautiful ceramic tile mural that covers an entire wall… Strangely, a rattle and hiss sound in the distance and – at once – the painting changes to reveal a medusa with her snake-like hair literally striking off of the mural!
Our Carriage rotates to reveal the next room: the Solarium. This greenhouse seems to have come to life as never before: as Albert grips onto a marble column, he sticks his finger out to entice two baby man-eating plants, which nip at him as he pulls away. Albert doesn’t seem to notice the plants’ mother looming behind him, bursting out of its clay pot. As he near, it turns to us and rears back, roaring as the lights go out.
When they return, we’re moving toward the Slavic-Nordic Chamber, where a beautiful dutch painting shows a young woman picking flowers from a spring tree. But as the music races alongside us, a bustery cloud appears, inhales, and blows frigid snowflakes across the scene. The tree withers, but even more astoundingly, the snowflakes blow right off the painting and across the wall, frosting it and the pillars around us. The Carriage is blown all the way around to a mirror behind, which freezes, then shatters, with ice crackling down.
Next, the Carriage rides into the open Arms and Armor Collection, which has become a little more sinister since its musical awakening. Albert, for example, is tucked away inside of a cannon, looking on in horror as a Shogun suit of armor slices with a katana. A cannon rotates to us and fires a ring of red smoke, ricocheting. We spin along to view a wall of suits of armor, singing along to the enchanting theme and narrowly avoid a massive crossbow that pulls back and aims directly at us! At the last second, the vehicle spins as we hear and feel the arrow embed itself in the vehicle’s back.
Our brief foray into the Egyptian Artifacts collection sees us view a priceless golden sarcophagus and stone tableaus with ancient hieroglyphics and Egyptian artwork. But as the music reaches us, a sarcophagus bursts open with scarabs that crawl out, covering the walls!
The Tribal Arts collection may be the manor’s most vivid, with a giant totem gushing lava from its mouth while living totem poles and wooden Polynesian drummers (all borrowed, very sweetly, from the Enchanted Tiki Room) sing along. But as the Carriages continue, four wooden totems turn to face us, each armed with poison blow darts! As air whizzes past, we hear the darts land in the wall opposite, and turning to face it, we see poor Albert, who’s narrowly avoided each!
But now, it’s time for the big finale. The manor in ruins, the collection on the loose, we enter into the final room: the Chinese Salon. It’s a beautiful, towering salon with walls covered in tapestries, but the key feature is a tall, thin monkey statue atop a pedestal in the center of the room. As the Music enters, the monkey flashes brilliantly with purple and green, coming to life. With its staff, it gestures ahead, creating a gust of wind that makes the tapestries around the room flap, the music bringing to life the koi and pandas in each and sending them flying around the room with us.
Again and again, it uses its staff to whip up the wind, sending the music swirling – and us along with it. Now, all four vehicles dance together around the monkey as the tapestries begin to tear, more and more energy added to the room. Albert appears, clinging onto a tapestry when another flash of the monkey’s staff causes a bolt of electricity to strike the wall. The wall in front of us literally cracks and falls away, pulling a real vase into a gaping hole in the manor’s side as it shatters and is carried away. Albert, outside of the house now, grabs onto a hard for dear life as the gale force wind pulls us all.
But then… the Music Box floats past.
Thinking quickly, Albert grabs it and is carried away in the wind. We follow, racing into the darkness.
As the score crescendos, we find ourselves in infinite darkness with the music swirling around, unstoppable. It pours down the walls, across the Carriages, and from every corner. However, it begins to focus itself into a funnel, tighting down into a singularity as it races toward a center point. More and more music coalesces as we see where it’s headed: the Music Box.
Albert appears and taps the red gem. It dings again and electricity courses out of the box, sucking the rest of the music inside. Hilariously, a few last glitters rise back out, until an electrical bolt grabs them and pulls them in just in time for the Music Box to close.
The lights return and we’re back in the Cataloguing Room where our adventure began. Albert catches his breath. “Phew!”
Lord Mystic slides open the door as before. “Albert!”
The monkey chirps, turning to face him.
“There you are! You didn’t touch that Music Box, did you?”
“Oh, no. Uh uh!” The monkey giggles coyly.
“Hmm… Well, you never know… The legend just might be true!” He rolls his eyes and laughs. “Well, I do hope you’ve enjoyed your visit to Mystic Manor! Cheerio!”
With a wink, Albert chirps a “Bye bye!” and the vehicles return to the Loading Dock.
As always, we like to end our in-depth ride-throughs with the best point-of-view video we can find. That’s below, and you can follow along with a unique behind-the-scenes look at the ride’s layout.
So what’s left to say? On the last page, we’ll examine the chances of Mystic Manor coming to a Disney Park near you and see what else Hong Kong Disneyland has in store in order to make it an international destination. Read on…