Mystic Manor

**Mystic Manor** is a dark-ride attraction in the *Mystic Point* section of *Hong Kong Disneyland*. The attraction is Hong Kong's counterpart to the *Haunted Mansion*.

## History

### Backstory

In 1889, British aristocrat Lord Henry Mystic claimed the jungles of *Papua New Guinea* and colonized it into his personal port of *Mystic Point*. Here, the colonial explorer would live in the victorian estate of Mystic Manor alongside his loyal pet monkey, Albert and a collection of 7,000 artifacts taken from across the globe. In 1908, Mystic began letting in outsiders to show off his collection of artifacts, most notably a *Balinese Music Box* which is rumoured to be cursed. However, trouble arrises when Albert opens up the music box and unleashes its spirits on the house.

### Development history

#### Creation & changes

Mystic Manor was created as Hong Kong Disneyland's counterpart to the Haunted Mansion. Due to Chinese culture not traditionally featuring ghosts and the undead within the horror genera, the focus was shifted onto curses and malevolent inhuman spirits instead. The attraction was originally planned to be darker with a relatively more realistic and horror-oriented aesthetic, similar to the Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor. However, this was opted out for a more over-the-top cartoony aesthetic and shifted focus on Albert the monkey getting into cutesy shenanigans.

#### Controversy & colonial propaganda

Lord Henry Mystic is a romanticized depiction of real-life British colonial explorers and is shown performing many actions in a, "Heroic" context which have been commit in real-life as part of colonial crimes. This includes the claiming and colonization of jungle land in Papua New Guinea, being a British noble with a museum of Indigenous artifacts, and having both grave-robbed and desecrated the remains of an Ancient Egyptian for his collection. This was also the first attraction to retroactively create the *Society of Explorers and Adventurers*; previously an Italian renaissance society from Tokyo DisneySea's Fortress Explorations here made into an assembly of glamorized colonists and aristocrats including the villainous Harrison Hightower III from Tower of Terror, a character made to criticize many of the same actions which Mystic is romanticized for.

## Jungle Cruise connections

### Adventure Trading Company

*The Daily Gnus* newspaper journalist Priyanka Manhas mentioned Lord Mystic having been given the *Elephant Juju* for his tracking abilities. The list of *Adventure Trading Company* members also has his name listed on it. The Daily Gnus journalist B. Pepperella mentioned the titular Adventure Trading Company travelling to Mystic Point along with the Lost River Delta (of *Indiana Jones Adventure*) and Harambe (of Kilimanjaro Safaris) prior to its arrival in *Adventureland*.

### Bengal Barbecue

A stuffed Albert appears on a photo the *Zambezi Miss*, in the possession of Charlie Allnut and Rose Sayer in their search for the lost safari. Albert and Mystic also make a minor appearance on a miniature of the 1899 S.E.A. meeting at the Hotel Hightower, a portrait lifted from Mystic Manor.

### Jungle Cruise

Lord Mystic is mentioned as, "**Henry M.**" on a map made by Dr. Albert Falls in the queue for this attraction, referencing Falls' adventures in the *Temple of the Forbidden Eye*. Leading up to the 2021 refurbishments of the Jungle Cruise, an in-universe article of *The Daily Gnus* newspaper was released. In this newspaper, Alberta Falls mentioned how her grandfather had brought her to Mystic Point when she was young. Upon the reopening, crates to and from Mystic Point were put in the queue though these were quietly removed from the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise.

In Walt Disney World's Jungle Cruise, the journal of Dr. Leonard Moss mentions Lord Henry Mystic's discovery of a carnivorous plant potentially similar to his own, followed by saying he should contact the Mystic Archives upon returning to Nova Scotia. This indirectly references a giant carnivorous plant which appears in the attraction Mystic Manor. There is a post-card for Mystic Point in the bulletin board of the Amazon River Base.

#### Jungle River Cruise: Curse of the Emerald Trinity

The Daily Colonial Journal interviewed Lord Mystic and Indiana Jones in 1932 on the topic of Mystic's old contemporary, Prof. Garrett Reed's crime-spree.

### Skipper Canteen

Mystic and Albert's fezzes are in a display-case within the entrance to the S.E.A. meeting hall. Books written by the lord appear in the library with the titles *Manor of Fact*, *Primates as Shipmates*, and *Treasures of the Manor*. Also there is a book by Albert titled, "*FUZNEWI PDMWH CHF JD U*" which references the, "Infinite Monkey Theorem", a real-life theory that the chaos generated by a monkey on a type-writer means it would statistically come to write a literary masterpiece. There is also a book titled *Mysteries of Mystic Manor* by Yuen.

### Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar

Skip Dockmonkey mentions Trader Sam having travelled to Mystic Point on his search for new mixological ingredients.

### Tropical Hideaway

An oar is hung up in the Tropical Hideaway which commemorates Mystic's 1874 expedition on the Ganges river.

### Other connections

#### The African Queen

Charlie Allnut and Rose Sayer who Albert was pictured alongside in Bengal Barbecue are characters from this 1951 film which influenced Harper Goff's development of the Jungle Cruise.

#### Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

The *Tribal Arts* section of Mystic Manor is inspired by the Enchanted Tiki Room and features many of the same ethnic stereotypes as said attraction. Mystic's oar is also hung outside of the Enchanted Tiki Room as shown in Tropical Hideaway.

## See also

* *List of Racist Elements in the Jungle Cruise*

## External links

* *Mystic Manor* on *Haunted Mansion Wiki*.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/new-map-sits-at-the-entrance-to-the-queue-on-jungle-cruise-news-photo/1327854113?adppopup=true
2. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CRm0XY9hNqo/