The Disney Theme-Park Background Music Bracket -- Round One, Day Eight

Remember...dreams come true.

The benefit to doing a 64-seed bracket like the Disney Theme-Park Background Music bracket is that the first round ends up being a good deal shorter than when we dive into supersized brackets. To that end, today marks the end of the first round of the bracket; as of tomorrow, we’ll have just 32 seeds left for you to decide amongst, 32 pieces of music that represent the Disney theme parks of the United States.

You ready to vote on what makes the cut to the next round? Let’s go!

(2) Pirates of the Caribbean queue loop vs. (15) Splash Mountain queue loop: You know what’s kind of odd? As far as I can tell and remember, there’s not a whole lot to the loop in the Pirates of the Caribbean queue, at least at Disneyland. The track you’ll hear below is piped throughout, but it’s not terribly long (and if you spend more than a few minutes in the queue, you’ll recognize the slinky jazz flute from George Bruns’ composition a few times).

The Splash Mountain queue, which at least still exists at Disneyland for the time being, has a set of instrumental versions of songs from Song of the South, which…well, I’m sure you know that film by its reputation, if nothing else. We won’t delve in here to the quality of that film (or lack thereof, of course), but I do want to acknowledge that the music is…for good or ill, catchy. It’s memorable in its way. I don’t begrudge you voting for it. But, short as it is, I will stick with the pirates. Gotta rep George Bruns.

How do you vote?

Pirates of the Caribbean queue

Splash Mountain queue

(7) Grand Californian Hotel loop vs. (10) Disney Gallery loop: The Grand Californian Hotel is one of the best atmospheric experiences at the Disneyland Resort (even if staying at the hotel will cost you many pretty pennies), and the background music loop is one of my favorites, too. It’s similar to what you hear in Grizzly Peak Airfield, but…I don’t know what to tell you, this is the kind of thing I like a lot, almost every time. Nothing against the almost-stuffy instrumental takes on Disney classics in the Disney Gallery loop, but it’s not going to get my vote here.

How about you?

Grand Californian Hotel

Disney Gallery

(3) Disneyland Esplanade loop vs. (14) Tomorrowland Concourse (1983) loop: Here is a case where I will prefer the straightforward musical approach, wherein a medley of instrumental pieces of music covering Disney classics wins out. The Disneyland Esplanade loop is a pretty direct mix of songs representative of both theme parks, and it’s just an easier listen to me than the 80s version of the Tomorrowland Concourse. But if you like that style of futuristic music, I say today is your day.

Disneyland Esplanade

Tomorrowland Concourse (1983)

(6) Main Street Electrical Parade vs. (11) Remember Dreams Come True: This one’s quite simple, at least in terms of what you’re voting on. It’s the audio for two brilliant nighttime shows, going head to head. I have a pretty safe feeling that the Main Street Electrical Parade is going to take this one, and I get why! It’s a perennial classic, fusing now-quaint electronic music with great Disney characters.

Which is why I’m going to vote for the other option. (Or, at least, I want to keep things fresh and unexpected.) I love both of these shows dearly, I think the audio in each of them is quite solid and transportive, and yet, I think I’ll lean to Remember Dreams Come True just a wee bit. Is it because Julie Andrews’ voice can be heard there? PERHAPS IT IS. Anyway. What do you think?

Main Street Electrical Parade

Remember Dreams Come True