An eclectic home residing in a misty rainforest; otherworldly rooms with fantastic sights and sounds; shimmering, magical energy radiating out from an enchanted source, and sending music flowing down every hallway… Surely, the idea of an enchanted home brought to life with color, music, and mayhem brings an image to your mind… but which image likely depends on whether you’re thinking Animation or Imagineering…
Welcome back to our “What If…?” miniseries, where we “Blue Sky” brainstorm a just-crazy-enough-to-be-possible Imagineering idea. Already, we’ve wondered “What if Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster entered The Twilight Zone?” and “What if Alien Encounter was reborn at Universal’s Jurassic Park?” Today, we’ll look into the not-so-far-fetched possibility that one of Disney’s 60th Feature Animation film could be just the Trojan horse Imagineers need to sneak one of the best Disney dark rides in the world into the U.S. parks…
The Problem
Look, Disney Parks have their fair share of haunted houses. A stately white plantation home on the edge of the French Quarter at Disneyland; the wind-swept, coastal, red brick New England manors at Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland; even the rotting ruins of a gold miser’s possessed homestead in Paris. Each is a classic, beloved by generations. But one of Disney’s “Haunted Mansions” is unlike any other.
Deep in Hong Kong Disneyland resides Mystic Point – a remote rainforest estate somewhere in Papua New Gineau – where the elaborately enchanting home of Lord Henry Mystic awaits. Opened in 2013, the Hong Kong exclusive E-Ticket is considered one of the greatest dark rides ever created… and anyone who’d “stepped inside” via our in-depth Modern Marvels: Mystic Manor feature knows why.
After a kindly introduction from the gracious Lord Mystic, guests board “Mystic Magneto-Electric Carriages” (that is, trackless ride vehicles) that whisk them into the retired adventurer’s cataloguing room to get a glimpse of his newest and most treasured acquisition: a magical musical box whose enchanted tunes are said to grant life to the lifeless. Of course, one tap by Lord Mystic’s curious monkey companion Albert opens the box, releasing waves of sparkling “music dust” that race through the home, awakening Mystic’s artifacts from around the globe. Mystic Manor ends with guests witnessing the house literally tearing itself apart… until Albert manages to trap the music, close the box, and restore peace to the home at last.
For fans of Walt Disney Imagineering, Mystic Manor is a Mecca; a must-see masterpiece that’s made all the more magnificent for being found only at the most remote (and frankly, most easily overlooked) Disney Resort on the planet. So it’s easy to imagine why – since its opening! – fans have rallied to have Mystic Manor copied-and-pasted to their home parks. Fans insist it would fit perfectly in Disney California Adventure’s Grizzly Peak (simply swapping Mystic’s retirement place from a jungle to California’s redwood forests), Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland, or even in Animal Kingdom (where, for example, it could replace Rafiki’s Planet Watch entirely).
But as any Disney Parks fan will tell you, it’s been a long, long time since any U.S. Disney Park opened a major ride without a blockbuster movie tie-in. Mystic Manor might be one of the greatest rides in the world, but without Disney, Pixar, Marvel, or Star Wars attached? Forget it…
Don’t misunderstand: most Imagineering fans (including us!) would do anything have to Mystic Manor brought to the United States with its S.E.A.-faring story intact. It’s an absolute masterpiece that shouldn’t be changed. But realistically, if it seems unlikely that the American parks stand a chance of getting Mystic Manor without an IP-based rewrite, how could we capture the spirit, excitement, music, and magic of the ride… with a Disney property?
The Proposal
In 2021, Disney released their 60th Feature Animated film – Encanto. Set in the rainforests of Columbia, Encanto tells of the family Madrigal, wherein each child for generations has been given a “gift,” bestowed and maintained by a magical candle. Each member of the enchanted Madrigals uses his or her gift to build and protect the village that’s grown around their enchanted, musical Casita (a mystical, living house that practically serves as a member of the family) where glowing doors act as portals into magical realms corresponding to each person’s talent.
So imagine, if you will, a journey into La Casita Encantada! On the next page, we’ll sketch out a “Blue Sky” idea for bringing Mystic Manor to life… in a new way…
Just as Mystic Manor begins and ends in the Acquisitions & Cataloguing Room, with all eyes on the mystical music box, imagine our trip through La Casita Encantada beginning and ending in the Casita’s central Courtyard, where the magical candle glows on a balcony above. Mirabel herself appears from behind a door as an Audio-Animatronic to introduce “The Family Madrigal” in song, as tapping roof tiles, shuffling plants, chattering shutters, and percussive drawers begin to “sing” along.
One-by-one as Mirabel sings, the doors of the Courtyard glow and open to reveal each family member’s enchanted room beyond, with each character greeting us from his or her doorway. Dolores, Camilo, Julieta, Bruno… Our vehicles slowly rotate to face each door as they open in turn, the family member beyond demonstrating his or her gift to the tune of Mirabel’s song.
By time we’ve fully turned to view the doorway opposite Mirabel, she sings of her cousin Antonio and his ability to speak with animals. The door glows, unseals, and opens into his magical room – a rainforest paradise hidden in the house…
There’s just one problem. Unlike the rest of the doors from the Courtyard, Antonio isn’t inside. “Antonio?” Mirabel interrupts her own singing. “Where’s Antonio?!” Instead of her cousin, projections bring to life dozens of animals, who escape from inside and race out into the courtyard around us! The vehicles turn back to Mirabel just soon enough to see Antonio’s toucan, Pico, flying off with the enchanted candle in his beak!
Mirabel reaches for the bird to no avail! It flies around the balcony, the flickering, weakening candle leaving a trail of magical sparks in its wake. As the candle’s warmth begins to flicker in flight, so do the colors and lights of the home!
As the percussion continues, Mirabel sputters. “Oh no, oh no, oh no!” She looks on as Pico disappears into the room next to us, candle firmly in his peak and trail of sparks left hovering in the air. “Casita! Take our new familia and go after Pico! We have to get that candle back!” Just like that, waves of tapping floor tiles (projected on the ground), push our vehicles sideways, following Pico and the magical glow of the candle left suspended in that air.
The journey through La Casita Encantada sees guests visit each and every room of La Casita Madrigal, passing through vivid, living, colorful rooms brought to life by each family member. It’s a musical, magical quest to retrieve the magic candle from Pico, all the while, Mirabel and her family sing frantically to the tune of “The Family Madrigal.”
Room by room we chase after the trail of candlelight, following Pico into the jungle of Antonio’s room, where the bird plays a musical hide and seek among the plants and animals. A glowing door leads to Julieta’s musical kitchen of clattering pots and pans, tinkling teacups, and the smell of fresh-baked arepas. Then it’s into Isabela’s room, where she tries to catch the bird in a storm of falling petals and flowering trees with riders taking off into the storm of flowers after him. The chase leads into Bruno’s tower, with the dancing candlelight trailing behind the the bird illuminating ancient runes and glowing prophesies before the toucan – and guests – slide into the walls!
Room by room, riders follow the trail of sparkling candlelight, all leading to final encounter in Mirabel’s room. As sunset pours in from the window, we see an Audio-Animatronic of a helpless Mirabel in the center of the room, leaping in panic and she tries to catch Pico, hovering just over her head with the candle nearly extinguished in his beak.
With the magical energy draining from the home, the house itself quakes! A vortex of wind, petals, animals, candlelight, and pieces of the Casita begin swirling around guests, picking up Mirabel’s boxes and bed. The force of the magic grows and grows, with vehicles swirling around Mirabel and the bird until, with a tremendous flash of energy, the house begins to disintegrate!
All hope may seem lost… until we hear the distant voice of Antonio in the next room. “¡Pico! ¿Donde estás, Pico?” As the bird heads off in the direction of the sound, we follow the trail of candlelight one last time, pressing right on through the swirling wind and light.
In an instant, we find ourselves back in the Courtyard, with destructive magical energy swirling, beams rattling, and color drained… Just as we enter the room, we see Pico hovering, lowering, and coming to a rest on the arm of Antonio, who’s straddling a leopard on the balcony overhead! He pats the bird’s beak, then returns the candle to its rightful place! In a poof of magical energy, warmth spreads throughout the room, color is restored, and the Casita repairs before our very eyes!
Just as the last beam returns to its place and the house is overcome with its warm, magical glow once more, Abuela emerges from the door behind the restored candle. “What’s going on out here?” She demands.
“Nothing, Abuela!” Mirabel assures her, emerging from a balcony. “Just… celebrating with our new familia.”
Abuela smiles at guests and nods down approvingly as the music crescendos. “Well in that case,” she laughs, “welcome to the family Madrigal!” The vehicles spring to life, passing under her and returning to the unload station.
The Prompt
Obviously, our idea of “La Casita Encantada” is just a Blue Sky concept. It goes without saying that pretty much any Walt Disney Imagineering fan (us included!) would prefer if Mystic Manor came to the United States as-is, with its incredible original characters, spectacular score, and already-iconic scenes untouched. Our purpose here isn’t to suggest that Disney give the ride a character overlay…
Rather, consider it a conceptual compromise; a realistic way to bring this exciting, magical, and musical dark ride to the United States, where the choice very well may be “a Mystic Manor with Encanto, or nothing at all.” After all, Disney’s domestic parks don’t appear ready to drop their moritorium on original, IP-free ideas anytime soon… and if an Encanto ride brought such a fun family concept to Disneyland and Walt Disney World, it would at least be better than nothing!
But what are your thoughts… Realistically, if Mystic Manor needed a movie overlay to come to the United States, how would you suggest Disney Imagineers rework the ride to make it fit into a U.S. Disney park? Where would you put it? What “movie wrap” would you apply? Even if it’s not the Mystic Manor you know and love, would you be excited if a ride like our “Casita Encantada” were announced?
