The Disney Parks Live-Entertainment Bracket -- The Big Finale
Pull out all the stops.
Good morning, friends! I hope you’re ready to vote, because really, that’s what we’ve got to focus on today. One can only imagine the Twitter-related nonsense going on with the man who would abide by the results of a poll no longer the head of the site (or maybe? Who the hell knows with this dum-dum).
Anyway, as the title of today’s newsletter implies, it’s time for the big finale, where you’ll decide the true and just winner of the 64-seed Disney Parks Live-Entertainment bracket. (I will use tomorrow’s newsletter to reveal what comes after this bracket.) Let’s dive right in.
(2) IllumiNations vs. (1) World of Color: First of all, I want to here express my genuine surprise that Fantasmic ended up canceling itself out. I would not have guessed that both versions of the nighttime spectacular would be eliminated before the Top Two (and that’s even keeping in mind that, yes, I am the one who seeds everything, so I have guesses in mind even before you vote of what is and is not likely to survive for a while). If the version of Fantasmic I like a bit less had made it this far, then this matchup would be very easy. If the version of Fantasmic I like a bit more (the Disneyland one, please note for the final time) had survived to the finale, it would have faced off against World of Color, and…well, I don’t know that the choice would be a lot easier.
If I have been glad at all during this bracket to not have a vote…well, it’s today. I’m glad that while I get to tell you what I think will win, or what I think should win, I don’t actually get to vote. Because…well, folks, this one’s a stumper. We have a matchup much like the Final Four matchup that sent IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth to the finale: on one hand, a show from Disney that does not directly incorporate Disney characters; on the other had, a show from Disney that is all about directly incorporating Disney characters into its text.
As the photo above implies — and it does, I’m not playing any visual tricks here — I am leaning ever so slightly towards IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. And it’s the music. The 68-minute track that encompasses the pre- and post-show, as well as the centerpiece spectacular itself, is one of my all-time favorite background-music tracks to listen to, and that gets my vote. But it’s extremely close. These are two great shows with many disparate elements worth championing.
And again: I don’t vote. Thank God. But you do. …so vote!
I’ve never seen WOC in person but it looks amazing. Conversely I have seen illuminations and I’m actively voting against it, I just didn’t see what the big deal was.
I was very impressed with World of Color when I saw it back in September. Easily one of my highlights for my first Disneyland trip, and I hope the updated version can match that.
But no matter how much I enjoyed that trip, I’ll still feel the need to vote for my home, and as a Central Florida born and raised, that will lead me back to WDW. But even besides nostalgia, I think that IllumiNations was truly special.
Although it’s funny, most of my friends would disagree, since it’s not loaded with characters, and its effects are a little more subtle. Personally, that’s what I liked about the show, that not every single thing at the parks needs to shove Mickey and Tinker Bell in your face, nor do you need as many fireworks as your average nighttime show to make an impact. I love the story of unity that’s connected to IllumiNations and how it reflects the ethos of Epcot. It was a lovely show that we’ll never see anything quite like again.