When Shanghaî Disney Resort released two weeks ago the bird eye view rendering below, some readers asked me if the silhouette in the background of Fantasyland could be Mystic Manor, meaning that the beloved HKDL ride could be part of Shanghaî Disneyland. My first answer, mainly because it was so tiny on the artwork was "i don't think so...". And then, with a bit of D&M magic i found a way to upscale the picture without having too much pixelation, and my opinion - wrong or right - has changed.
Let me show you why. Below, the part of the SDL bird eye view supposedly showing Mystic Manor, in dark blue color on the left, with on the right what we think will be the Winnie the Pooh ride and Hunny Pot Spin, in dark red.
The reason why some readers thought that it could be Mystic Manor is because of the architecture that we can guess in the silhouette and of course the tower at the top so distinctive of Mystic Manor. There is also apparently on the right another structure and could it be the Mystic Point Explorers restaurant, or simply a shop?
Now, have a look at a picture of the Mystic Manor / Mystic Point model as it was presented at the D23 Expo. I know that the picture above is not clear but it looks like it could be very well Mystic Manor, right?
But there are others reasons why i'm finally thinking that SDL will include a Mystic Manor. First, in all Disney Magic Kingdoms we always find a haunted house. They could put at SDL a Haunted Mansion, even in Fantasyland - after all they did it at Tokyo Disneyland - but i think that the Victorian look of the Haunted Mansion as we know it in the U.S would be less appealing for the Chinese than the colonial / multi style look of Mystic Manor. Not to mention that Mystic Manor is less scary than the Haunted Mansion and so could fit better in a Fantasyland.
The other reason is more pragmatic: Mystic Manor is hugely popular since day one at HKDL, and if Hong Kong Chinese enjoy this slightly "haunted" house then there is no reason that Chinese of China main land will not enjoy it. This would mean a promise of success for an attraction which got last year the fully deserved 2013 THEA Award for "Outstanding Achievement Attraction". Also, we know that the company like to avoid as much as possible research and development costs, and here they won't have any as they've been paid previously by Hong Kong Disneyland. So, double bingo.
And by the way, this also could eventually explain why we don't see the Toy Story Land which was on the leaked SDL map last year on the new rendering. I remind you that not so long ago Disney announced they will put additional hundred of millions of dollars in SDL to improve the overall SDL rides an shows. So, "may be" they've decided that having Mystic Manor in a Magic Kingdom was a better idea than having a Toy Story Land... and decided to cancel TSL and have instead Mystic Manor, even if the cost of Mystic Manor is more expensive.
BUT, as there is always a "but", if Mystic Manor is coming to Shanghaî Disneyland it won't open before 2018. Why? Because HKDL has an exclusivity on it during five years. Mystic Point opened summer 2013 at HKDL, so it can't be before summer 2018 at SDL. That said, it will be interesting to see if the Mystic Manor building itself will be built at SDL opening day, avoiding to have cranes and construction works starting soon after SDL opening. In this case we could have, just like with Disneyland Haunted Mansion in the 1960's, an attraction building which will wait a few years to open its doors.
Now, there is of course a possibility that i'm all wrong, that this silhouette in the back of SDL Fantasyland is something entirely different. Let's say the chances are fifty / fifty. However, my instinct tells me that we can reasonably put our bets on a Mystic Manor for Shanghaî Disneyland and all we have to do now is to wait till 2018 to see if i'm right or not!
Pictures: copyright Disney, Disney and more
