For several weeks, Nathan Trent collected data from DISDads on the message boards about what came to mind when they thought about each of the Walt Disney World theme parks. He took that data and created a 64-experience seeded bracket that we are using at the basis for a special series of “My Walt Disney World” podcasts that we’ll be releasing on a weekly basis this summer. The first of those podcasts posted on Sunday, and featured a panel declaring the winners of the first round matchups in tournament’s Mickey Group. The poll below covers the first round of the Pluto Group, the podcast for which will be posted this coming Sunday.
The goal here is to identify those experiences that make Walt Disney World what it is for DISDads and our families. It’s a little more complicated than just choosing our favorite ride or restaurant. You’ll hear how the panel decided on Sunday, but here’s your chance to cast your vote (which you can compare to the panel’s choices after the podcast is released). Which of these matchups made it hardest for you to choose a winner? How did you pick your winners? Tell us about it in the comments. (Please ignore the extra check-boxes – that was the only way to put a space between each matchup. Please cast one vote for each matchup).
Which are your picks for the first round of the Pluto Division?
- (4) Toy Story Midway Mania (11%, 30 Votes)
- (3) Spaceship Earth (11%, 29 Votes)
- (2) Haunted Mansion (11%, 29 Votes)
- (5) Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (11%, 28 Votes)
- (8) Living with the Land (10%, 27 Votes)
- (1) Killimanjaro Safari (10%, 26 Votes)
- (7) Fantasmic! (9%, 23 Votes)
- (6) Animal Kingdom Trails (Pangani & Maharajah) (8%, 20 Votes)
- (11) Akershus Storybook Princess Dining (4%, 11 Votes)
- (10) The Osborne Family Lights (3%, 9 Votes)
- (12) it's a small world (3%, 8 Votes)
- (15) Main Street Electrical Parade (3%, 7 Votes)
- (16) Epcot Festivals (F&W and F&G) (2%, 6 Votes)
- (9) Boulangerie Patisserie (2%, 6 Votes)
- (14) Tom Sawyer Island (2%, 4 Votes)
- (13) MouseGear (1%, 2 Votes)
- (0%, 0 Votes)
- (0%, 0 Votes)
- (0%, 0 Votes)
- (0%, 0 Votes)
- (0%, 0 Votes)
- (0%, 0 Votes)
- (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 35
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I will be watching this poll with great interest.
There were some hard matchups in this. I hate to see Tom Sawyers Island doing so poorly on this list. Its one of the few attractions up here that was designed by Walt (at least the DisneyLand version). Of course even though I love the history of the Island it’s not a must do for our family.
This one was tough. So tough in fact that I did not cast a vote on the 1-16 line. The F&W festival is great in my book and deserving probably a little higher seed than the 16. On the other hand we always do the safari. I don’t know how I feel about the seedings overall. I know that can’t be an easy job.
The seedings were challenging – I’m glad I wasn’t responsible for them! Nate built the seedings based on the responses to the My [Insert Name of WDW Theme Park] threads. More mentions = higher seed. My sense is that what hurt the Festivals in the seedings is that they only exist for a limited time of the year. So if people hadn’t been to Epcot during a festival, chances are they didn’t mention it as something they think of when they think of Epcot.
One big upset here: I took Tom Sawyer Island over Spaceship Earth. TSI is a true classic to me, and my kids love it. SSE is a cool park icon, but not a must-ride for me.
Seeding was a challange… and I’ll admit…is not perfect… but the best I could do with the data I had.
As I mentioned in the Mickey Region Poll. Bounced around a few ideas. The original plan in my mind was to have a region for each park. But after some back and forth with Aaron… we determined that would not really work.
Each Region does have a Park #1, 2, 3, 4. Pluto has the #1 of Animal Kingdom, #2 of Magic Kingdom, #3 of Epcot; #4 of Hollywood Studios (a Strong #4) I did this…because something that ranked that High for a particular park…”deserves” a shot to have a “good” match-up.
Didn’t have an upset in this bracket. IF I would have, it would have been Tom Sawyer’s Island over Spaceship Earth. But I love both attractions, I just love Spaceship Earth a little more.
Maybe it’s because the three times I’ve actually visited Tom Sawyer’s Island, part of the island has been closed. This past trip, the only things open were the caves and the barrel bridge. Now, if Aunt Polly’s was still open and part of that attraction, I’d switch my vote.
This was hard because I’ve never done Food & Wine, Flower & Garden, or Tom Sawyer’s Island. But, I have done Fantasmic and Osborne Family Christmas, and, sorry to anyone out there, but Osborne really needs to win that battle. Yes, it’s THAT much better than WDW Fantasmic! (in my opinion. and I like fantasmic a lot)
The seeding has got to be tough, but I think basing it on the number of responses is probably the best and most fair way of doing it. If it is something that deserves to move on, it should despite that seeding anyway.
I might personally want to move some things to a higher or lower seed, but as far as this bracket went, I can’t argue with any single matchup. My vote was for the higher seed all the way down the list.
Andy… I think maybe you mis-interpreted what I said. These seeds are based on “most” votes… however I have no control over how many voters I had for each park. Not everyone voted in all 4 threads. Some voted in 1, 2, or 3. And not all voted in the same 2 or 3 or even 1.
If you and others (based on the poll results) voted for the top seeds in each match-up… then I did my job well.
I guess what I was trying to say…the Top 4-5 Seeds for each park are true “Stand-outs”… after that… the vote totals are very close.
I’m not faulting any seeding. Everyone has their own things and memories that make certain attractions or experiences why we all love spending time with our families. The 1-16 matchup in this bracket just pulled my emotions equally so I chose not to vote on that line.
This is a great idea and certainly is a good way of generating discussion.
Sorry Nate, I understood how you’re doing it, I just didn’t really word my post very well. I was trying to say that I agree with the method you’re using. It’s really the only fair way of doing it. Even though I mentioned would personally seed some things differently, you’re basing it on the masses, not Andy’s opinion, and I get that.
I was just trying to say that seeds don’t really “matter” that much in something like this anyway. It isn’t like the NCAA tournament where there might be a Western Valley State Community College vs. Kentucky. If people show some love for a 16 seed here, there’s no reason it can’t overcome that lower seeding.
Andy… you hit the nail on the head with your last few statements. ;o)