A Review of the D23 Expo "Mayhem, Mischief, and Monkeys: The Magic of Mystic Manor" presentation

From the 2013 D23 Expo Schedule: “Mayhem, Mischief, and Monkeys: The Magic of Mystic Manor: Featuring an innovative ride system, a mysterious music box, and a mischievous monkey named Albert, Mystic Manor is an inventive new attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland that takes guests on a highly immersive adventure filled with surprises, special effects, and theatrical wonders. Imagineers Joe Lanzisero and Mark Schirmer pull back the curtain on this amazing new Disney attraction.

While attending the 2013 D23 Expo panel on The Magic of Mystic Manor we were told that the Chinese culture is big on taking photos and is a "counting culture" so they want a lot for their money, which is why the expansion at Hong Kong Disney has a lot of small add-ons that give visitors a lot to do, adding 25% to the park itself but has a bunch of built in photo ops as well. After this brief explanation of WHY Mystic Manor and the area it sits in in the park were created the way they were, the fun started be because we then went behind the scenes of the ride with the Imagineers.

The main story of Mystic Manor is about adventure and exploring, but the ride is also a story of redemption and reminds us we are all responsible for our actions. Lord Henry Mystic, the owner of the manor, is a part of the society from Hong Kong Disney’s background story but is “totally British” and is a well-traveled individual. Riders meet Lord Henry and Albert the monkey in the ride’s pre-show, they learn how they met and have become close, and learn about an enchanted music box. The manor itself is a world-class manor with a collection of art and antiques. But the main artifact, the ride’s focus is an enchanted music box that brings items The Imagineers noted that rides with Movies like Pirates of the Caribbean have built in connection triggers, whereas rides without movies need trigger moments to be created so that riders connect with the story behind the ride. Since Mystic Manor lacks a movie to help “pre-explain it” the queue you walk through tells the travels of Henry and Albert giving riders those needed trigger moments that make riders connect with and understand the characters in the ride.  The Explorer and Adventurer Club members shown in the queue drawings by Chris Turner even resemble key Imagineers that helped design and create the ride, and it also has art and artifacts collected by Lord Henry. It was also noted that the Fez concept seen throughout the Manor is “kind of borrowed from the Adventurers Club” we were told.
           The ride’s trackless system has 200 plus RFID tags in floor in the floor to direct the carts and trigger effects of the ride. When the ride starts, it has four vehicles riding through the story and as you ride on the number of cars changes depending on where in the story the rider is. The vehicles can do a complete 360, and also start, stop, and slow down to work with the story. It was noted that when it comes to ride vehicles either they aren’t a part of the ride’s story, and are just used to move the rider like in the Haunted Mansion, or they play a part OF the story like in the Indiana Jones ride. The way the Mystic Manor vehicles are designed they are a part of the story and they will always hit the main story part on time.
        Each room in the ride shows a different collection of Sir Henry’s artifact collection. The ride starts with Albert opening the enchanted music box and releases the magic dust inside it causing items to come to life throughout the manor as the dust travels through the building with the riders, some of the items that come to life are cute, and some are scary. As the dust enlivens the artifacts the riders travel through the story, and all is cute and fun until the turning point in the story, which is also the responsibility connection in the solarium.  It was noted that the size scale in the rooms is important. The cars start to go from four in a group to one car on it’s own. The goal the Imagineers had was to never let people know what type of projection is being used. Ride is dimensional and environmental and real all at the same time. The Imagineers worked hard to combine the different types of projections used and blend them so they seem real not fake and forced.

           The first room is the Acquisitions and Cataloguing Room where Albert releases the dust, and starts the ride. The next room is the Music Room where the magic music dust dances around the cars and touches instruments causing them to play music and come to life. Next comes the Mediterranean Antiquities Room, where a Hercules vase and Medusa painting come to life. In the Solarium Room the plants come to life and is where things go from cute to scary. The Slavic-Nordic Chamber is where the ride even gives the riders a chance to be locked in a room with a Norse god, even the temperature drops to stimulate the effect of the situation.  The Arms & Armor room is full of weapons and armor as well as cannons. At one point you are feet from a cannon that locks in on the cars and fires at you, after the blast you go by Trader Sam or singing armor depending on the car you are in.  As riders enter the Egyptian Antiquities room two cars come back together and a Mummy comes to life and bugs come to life, then as room goes dark wind and water make it feel like its real. In the Tribal Arts room there is a 28 foot tall lava spewing Tiki  that is an homage to the Tiki Room.  The Tiki sends riders spinning with lasers and then the gods attack the riders with dart guns.  The Imagineers felt that the Chinese Salon is one of the more impressive rooms in the ride. This room is also a example of how the Imagineers are given a bit more freedom than most Disney employees. The original concept for the room wouldn’t give the right effect emotionally for the ride’s finale they felt so the Imagineers were able to go and present a new ending that better connected with the rider even though it meant scrapping all the work they had started on already. The ending of the ride combines animated props, video and special effects that include a Monkey King that is “almost conducting music dust” throughout the room. A Panda from one painting on the wall in the Chinese Salon even travels across the room to another painting as the room’s wall blows out allowing Albert to close the box and trap the dust, and at this point all 4 cars are back together, and you are back in first room which is actually an identical replica of the Acquisitions and Cataloguing Room, the only change is the music box.

          The Imagineers then explain that they work with some amazing people, and are lucky to have amazing technology to help them do things like carrying color from concept drawings to the actual building, which can be hard.  Albert himself returns to the old dark ride roots but thanks to 3D printers his face can help tell the story, the only time Albert isn’t seen as a physical animatronic character is in the final scene where he is a computer graphic to allow him to move with the story. Lord Henry is a foam sculpture. The ride itself is very compact and the computer layout system used gave the Imagineers a location and exact time for cars. The layout was given to Danny Elfman to use while composing the ride’s music.  The Imagineers then mentioned that the 2011 D23 Expo talk about the park expansion and the Mystic Manor ride concept happened to have Elfman’s manager in attendance, and he talked to Elfman who approached the Imagineers about creating the music for the ride. Elfman was engaged with the creation of the ride for 2.5 years and visited the site several time to ensure the music was working right with the ride, he would even sit on floor to make sure the sounds and the ride came together properly.

           Having sat through this presentation I have to say I would love to go to Disney’s Hong Kong park and experience Mystic Manor myself in person.

 

  

D23's The Art and Artistry of Aulani Presentation Review

During D23 I had the honor to sit through “The Art and Artistry of Aulani a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this fabled new Disney resort with Imagineers Joe Rohde and Jeanette Lomboy”.  I learned in this discussion that creating Aulani was an execution was a labor of love. 

Joe started with the following questions. The premise of a 15-story hotel on the beach is not imaginative.  How do we make it imaginative, and make people go to Hawaii? The answer was simple. Hawaii is unique. Hawaiians are Hawaii. And they speak for Hawaii. Aulani means one who speaks on behalf of a higher culture.
Hawaii is one of the most invented destinations it has become a media concept and is not about the natives and their true culture anymore to tourists. Torch dancers, hula, Plumeria the things most think of when Hawaii is mentioned, are not Hawaii.  When designing the hotel the Imaginers spoke to Hawaiians to find out what is real. Hawaiians are an indigenous people, with a political history, and they are still there.  They have their own culture and are all around you when you visit the islands and they form an ancient deeply routed and hard working culture. They are a living reality of culture, a culture with deep spiritual roots who take themselves seriously and embrace others.
Joe grew up in Hawaii as a child and felt he understood that there is more to Hawaii than most think.  He and other Imaginers spoke with advisors so they could learn about the culture and history of the islands.  Jeanette spent many summers in Hawaii with her family, but she didn’t realize what really was Hawaiian until this project.

The people designing the hotel wanted people to know it isn’t a museum. It is a canvas, a blank one for the Hawaiian culture. They were informed by the past looking towards the future in this present moment. Details down to paint and pillow patterns getting it right and appropriate were important, as Disney is the messenger of this story.  The greater authority behind Aulani is the culture; they even have an in-house native advisor at Aulani. 

Why Disney, why Hawaii?
Aulani has two 15-story beachfront towers.  Disney is not trying to say it was a native Hawaiian village it is a resort. Disney did their homework in the design process though. They realized there are three important things in Hawaii. Family. Story, all the stories are made already. Magic. These three things are what Disney is all about too. There is imbedded culture in the design, instead of slapping up walls there are clever details put into the design.  Canoes like those used by the original Hawaiians inspire the supports.  There is more than meets the eye in the cultural designs in Aulani, you cannot see all or understand all in one stay.  The connections are designed to take time, like the pool lights that are laid out to form important constellations. Menehune

are the real little people of Hawaii, they are magic and mystical. There are 100’s of them hiding in resort under furniture behind plants etc. for children and visitors to find.
Aulani is on the west coast of the island with mountains on one end and ocean on the other side. Even when entering the hotel from street level there is white coral and black lava in the Aulani sign. The hotel is very different visually during the day and night.
Art

The resort is about Hawaiians they are the artists and subject matter specialists. Aulani now has the largest private collection of Hawaiian art and culture on earth, which was not planned. They had woodcarvings, sustainable art, paintings etc. represented in the collection.  The art  in the resort is  not just about the past. 

The Murals on the outside of the building are even a statements to guests. The one on left is the genealogy tied to the land itself, a hieroglyphic based on Hawaiian tattoos and is the linage chant that places Aulani in the land as a living entity.  The mural on the right side is a navigation panel to remind visitors of how they got there.
The Lobby has a large mural called a Machala (open your eyes and wake up), which tell stories. It starts with way to decipher the 200 ft. long mural that spans whole lobby starts in the past and has feminine and masculine sides and meet in the ocean.  The original mural is installed and shows motifs and themes of culture it is the key to things seen in resort. Joe stated that when you finally get to Aulani they want you want to feel like you are somewhere special. The Lobby tells that because it doesn’t look like home.  There are no Disney characters in open spaces, because the focus is Hawaii.
The Imaginers collaborated with local schools:  there is a rainbow wall behind check in that is 50+ ft. long made up of 125+ photos taken by school children and was part of a contest, the youngest winner was in 4th grade.  They mural shows what the native children love about home. There is also a map made up of graphics and pictures, to help show visitors where to find things on the island in a visual manner.

 Music in the lobby was written by an award winning Hawaiian musician Keali'i Reichel. When Disney started the Aulani project Keali'i Reichel was skeptical about the project actually being about Hawaii not Disney, but the Imaginers won him over. The music is very spiritual and has native chanting and drums.
Also available is a interactive smart phone game named Hoike which is a collection of interactive cultural tours that can be played for 7 or 8 hours. The content was created by local high schoolers to help visitors learn about the islands culture and history. Even Aunties Beach House has konini (like checkers) for kids on touch screen and there is music in that kids area from the parks translated to Hawaiian.
Laniwai Spa

The spa at Aulani is the first destination spa designed by Imagineering. In standard Aulani fashion they went above and beyond. The stones at the entrance have a word to focus on, and spa visitors pick one up and carry it down the hall to the treatment area. At end of hall is a 15ft tall round rotunda w a glass drop that drops a single drop of water at a time, the water that drops falls into pool, each spa visitor drops their rock in the water and the ripples it creates brings it all together.
Aulani Magic meets Disney Magic

Magic is all through the resort but how does it tie together? One example is the center of lobby where there is a compass rose; there is a compass next to it, but this compass rose’s north points randomly. Hawaii didn’t use cardinal navigation; they used the land for navigation.  In the compass rose there is a frigate bird surrounded by leaves (frigate birds go to sea 50 miles then return daily Hawaiians use for direction). An arrow at the top left of the compass rose made from corral points to ocean, underneath is a wood arrow pointing towards the mountains and to the right and left of the compass rose are arrows made out of lava; one is rough for masculine other smooth for feminine and water drops illuminate and sparkle and becomes a constellation.

The Imaginers wanted Aulani to be a living place by laying the resort out based on Hawaii concepts of space, which includes the concept that all the land is covered by water and is shared. Water that falls from the sky works downwards from the mountains to sea so the Resort has water that flows from lobby to ocean. Because Aulani and Hawaii are so rich in story things to talk to the locals about surround you, which stimulates relationships.
The land is alive and speaks to you and has messages through imagery.  Unlike the Tree of Life where animals are easy to find, at Aulani items are sculpted to be found during different times of year like in the winter or in certain light, in the rain or certain times of day.  The resort is designed to make you look at your surroundings. The Imaginers even designed things to make children look at their surroundings. The Menehunae are throughout the resort to make children discover, Aunties which is home like for kids has things to make them explore, and through out the hotel items are installed at their eye level to let children find them.

Hawaiian Language
The Olelo Room is a bar in the resort is even designed to make people learn, Olelo means language, language is a barrier between people and a manner of communication. Olelo is a lounge by day, and a bar by night; it is filled with the Hawaiian language by putting cards and words everywhere to help guests learn Hawaiian. The chairs, floor, door, and bartender are even labeled and there are flash cards guests can use.

Everyone who works at Aulani must be proficient in the Hawaiian language it is the first Hawaiian resort in 140 years to have a Hawaiian language requirement. This language requirement helps create greater familiarity and helps create deep and rich interaction between the guest and guest members.

Aulani Expansion
Already Aulani is expanding, the expansion reaches out to ocean w pool and kid zone and it touches on a few experiences.  There will be a new toddler water zone with a low water level and spray zone it will  have a corral waterfall that has music as well as an infinity edge.
There will be a new gift shop based on a house of birds, filled with Hawaiian birds. And, a new cafe based on wind and kites is also being added.

Myths, Legends and Piko Stones
The entire Aulani area is based on Maui myths and legends, as Maui is a deep source of legend.  But, as Joe stated if you build the most Hawaiian resort ever you have Hawaiians apply. Cast member protocol is set by Hawaiians. The resort is very Disney but yet has Hawaiian core values so the most important thing guests can do is relate to the locals at the hotel.
The final thing Joe discussed was the resort’s Piko stone which is a native stone from Hawaii. Before they started building the resort the keeper of the island’s traditions did her various mediations and found the spiritual center of the resort’s land. This area was marked with a stake, even the pool was redesigned to work around it so that that stake was kept safe. Two months before open Joe was told as “leader” to find a stone to mark this spot. Two years earlier when clearing the land, there was a huge front loader pulling up coral stone. Joe told them to save the corral; this was left in the parking lot and set for two years. After being told he had to find a stone, Joe went to this area and found one he though represented the resort, the keeper of the island’s traditions approved it. Joe said it had fossils etc. and just FELT right. It was placed on the resort’s workers day (a day the builders and their families are invited to spend the day at the resort), worker’s day was a concept new to Hawaii. One person brought in a sacred offering bundle, and it was perfect because the Piko stone being a spiritual marker because it has a place to go. Two hundred people took the bundle to the Piko stone, which sets in the in the middle of Aulani, it is an un-ownable piece of Hawaiian culture. The Piko stone out does Disney itself and the work they did because it creates a real Hawaii.

The one thing Joe wanted us to understand I think is, Aulani is Hawaii, but Hawaii is Hawiians and Disney has gone above and beyond to ensure that it's resort guests are surrounded by the real Hawaii's art,  music,  language and spiritual roots.