The Ultimate Disney Parks Attraction Bracket -- Round Three, Day Eight
It's the eighth wonder of the world!
I can’t believe it either, friends, but we are finally at the end of the third round of the Ultimate Disney Parks Attraction bracket. We started with 256 seeds, and after today’s matches, we’ll have just 32 left. Who’s ready to make four tough decisions?
Let’s go!
(2) Jungle Cruise (WDW) vs. (18) Slinky Dog Dash: Well, this one may not be too tough of a decision for you. It’s certainly easy for me: the Jungle Cruise should sail right on through to the next round.
You know what to do.
Jungle Cruise (WDW)
Slinky Dog Dash
(7) IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth vs. (10) Indiana Jones Adventure: This one might be a bit tougher of a call, but I’m still leaning towards IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. Indiana Jones Adventure is technologically advanced, which is a nice way of saying it breaks down a lot. (I’ve been on it when it breaks down, and boy, that is not a lot of fun.) IllumiNations didn’t always run, if the weather failed to cooperate, but it is quite clear that Disney has shown how powerful the nighttime spectacular is in its failure to replace it satisfactorily.
How do you vote?
IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth
Indiana Jones Adventure
(3) Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (WDW) vs. (19) Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin: I love the portable-hole gag in Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, but Big Thunder Mountain Railroad — whether at Anaheim or Orlando — is pretty damn near perfect. Vote for the wildest ride in the wilderness.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (WDW)
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
(6) It’s a Small World (DL) vs. (11) Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters: There were some discussions in the last round about what it’s like to get stuck on attractions like It’s a Small World, which I can sometimes enjoy. But when you get stuck on that ride, you get the Sherman Brothers song stuck in your head much more easily than you already do when sailing through the 15-minute attraction without any hiccups.
When you get stuck on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters shooting attraction at Disneyland, however, you can get much closer to a high score if you know where to shoot. (He said from experience.)
Vote for Buzz.
It’s a Small World (DL)
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
The success of IASM and the Peoplemover/TTA here is a great reminder that as much as folks say they want fast thrill rides, Disney does long, slow high-capacity attractions better than anybody else. I'm 46 years old and I had the stupidest grin on my face being back on IASM this year. Yes, the Sherman Brothers get stuck in your head, but there is SO MUCH going on for 15 full minutes that you only get bored if you're determined to have a bad time.
Illuminations vs. Indy feels like a pretty quintessential WDW fan vs. DL fan kind of vote. You're probably going to have some deep emotional attachment to one or the other (Illuminations gets my vote!).