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

Nice work, pal.

Hey, folks! I hope you’re all doing as well as the folks at Illumination Entertainment are doing, because I have to imagine that making roughly a bajillion dollars on yet another lazy animated affair will make it so they can continue to make inexplicably low-budgeted films that are obvious rip-offs of better films! (I can be both unsurprised and bothered by the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, right?)

Anyway, we are marking today entry into the second round of the Disney Theme-Park Background Music bracket. You can, of course, check the full bracket out right here, and prepare yourself to listen to some wonderful atmospheric background music as you begin voting. (And hey, if you found your way here via TinyUrl links, isn’t it great that Twitter is just not letting people access Substack links anymore? Isn’t that the goddamn best? Wheeeee.)

Anyway again. Who’s ready to vote? Let’s go!

(1) Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii vs. (8) Soarin’ queue loop: If this round goes the way I want it to go, then the next round will feature a Sophie’s Choice-style decision for me to make, if not for you all. That’s because I very much want Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii, a 36-minute record courtesy of George Bruns and his orchestra that played heavily in Adventureland (and you can still hear snippets of it now) back in the day, to win this match. The Soarin’ queue loop is great, too, don’t get me wrong. And if that wins here…well, no Sophie’s Choice for me.

But right now, I’m pushing for Moonlight Time. How about you?

Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii

Soarin’ queue

(4) Muppet*Vision 3D loop vs. (5) The Tropical Hideaway loop (daytime): The loop that plays in the Muppet*Vision 3D Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a wonderful blend of instrumental versions of Muppet classics. I like it very much.

But it’s not the Tropical Hideaway loop, which easily gets my vote here. There are few places I enjoy spending time in more in the Disney theme parks than the Tropical Hideaway, which abuts the Jungle Cruise on one side and the Enchanted Tiki Room on the other. I could spend all day people-watching here, and that soundtrack helps a great deal. I love, love, love this loop, and love, love, love trumps “like very much”.

Time for you to weigh in, though!

Muppet*Vision 3D

The Tropical Hideaway - Daytime

(2) Jungle Cruise (AWOL Airwaves - WDW) queue loop vs. (7) Hollywood Boulevard loop: I will be voting for the AWOL Airwaves here, in part because it’s the kind of music represented in a few different queue loops (and one of those will not be getting my vote, hint hint). In part, it’s because I enjoy the vibe the songs in the AWOL Airwaves loop create, sending me mentally back to the queue for the Jungle Cruise. Nothing against the Hollywood Boulevard loop, which is perfectly fine in and of itself. But it’s not the Jungle Cruise loop.

What do you think?

Jungle Cruise (AWOL Airwaves)

Hollywood Boulevard

(3) Fantasmic soundtrack vs. (6) Indiana Jones Adventure queue loop: These are each great tracks to relax to, in their own way. (Arguably, when you’re watching Fantasmic! in person, it’s not the most relaxing show by design.) I can’t help but stick with Fantasmic! this time around, because…well, listen, it’s one of the all-time great theme-park entertainment options that exists, and it is in no small part because of the music. The Big Band era has already gotten another chance to shine in this round.

How do you vote?

Fantasmic

Indiana Jones Adventure queue