The Ultimate Disney Parks Attraction Bracket -- Round One, Day Twenty-Four

Persons attempting to find a motive in this bracket will be prosecuted.

With each passing day, we’re getting closer and closer to the second round of the Ultimate Disney Parks Attraction bracket, where it will be down to just…a whopping 128 seeds. Right now, we’ve got 168 seeds remaining (including the 92 that have already survived one poll in the first round).

And of course, that means you have many, many more decisions to make regarding which attractions ought to move on, including a quartet of polls today. Let’s get going, huh?

(6) Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run vs. (59) The Tree of Life: I very much enjoy walking around the Tree of Life in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, with the level of intricate detail far beyond much of what you might expect from other zoos (even though, as we all know, DAK is “nahtazu”. (Say it out loud if you don’t get that reference.) And I kind of think Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run is just a slightly glorified riff on Star Tours once you’re actually riding it.

However. A man must be honest with himself, and the one time I was inadvertently fortunate enough to ride as a pilot on Smuggler’s Run meant I got to send the ship into lightspeed, and…I tell you, that was pretty goddamn cool. I can’t deny the childlike glee of seeing and walking into a ship I only thought lived on the big screen. It gets my vote. For now.

Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run

The Tree of Life

(27) Maharajah Jungle Trek vs. (38) Honey, I Shrunk the Audience: I will vote for the Maharajah Jungle Trek here, for two reasons. First, as I believe I’ve noted before in these newsletters, I very much enjoy the walking trails at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and this one is quite good. Second, while I appreciate the panoply of 4-D effects at the defunct show Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, I also cannot stand those effects. The first time I saw the show, it was less delightful and more disturbing to “feel” a truckload of mice scurrying under my seat, for example. Not a fan. The Jungle Trek wins it for me.

How about you?

Maharajah Jungle Trek

Honey, I Shrunk the Audience

(11) Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway vs. (54) Pete’s Silly Sideshow: The next time I go to Disneyland will be the first time I get to ride Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and I’ve not been to Walt Disney World since the Fantasyland overhaul was completed. So I have no direct experience with either of these attractions. But I’ll vote for Mickey and Minnie, if only because I think the modernized Mickey Mouse shorts are a hoot, and taking inspiration from those for an attraction is a smart and clever idea. Hopefully when I ride it (possibly before the end of the year), it will have earned my vote.

What do you think?

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway

Pete’s Silly Sideshow

(22) Mark Twain Riverboat vs. (43) Casey’s Corner Ragtime Pianist: I like ragtime music just fine, but this is an easy vote for me. The Mark Twain Riverboat is one of the best and most relaxing attractions at the entire Disneyland Resort, and its presence adds to the seductive atmosphere and allure of the Rivers of America and New Orleans Square. I could spend all day on the riverboat.

What do you think?

Mark Twain Riverboat

Casey’s Corner Ragtime Pianist