Only two of these eight experiences will advance to the Elite Eight next week – one from the first group of four, and one from the second group of four. Which are your favorites? Why do you think those experiences should advance to the quarterfinals? Tell us about it in the comments.
[poll id=77]
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My vote goes for Pirates and Cinderella’s Castle. If you want quintessential Disney, that’s it. I love Star Tours, EE and Illuminations, but I don’t see how they can stack up to a classic dark ride and “the” symbol of WDW known around the world.
I think it’ll probably go to the castle and pirates, but it’s a really hard choice. The Castle is iconic Disney. Next to Mickey it is probably the most recognizable Disney icon. It’s visually spectacular but its not really a ride. Pirates has a long Disney legacy and was really one of the big successes of imagineering. It showed Disney’s ability to really pioneer things in the theme park realm. Star Tours 2 is one of the best examples of imagineering currently. The way they’ve developed it to drastically improve re-rideability seems to be a huge step in ride development. That being said as a sequel Star Tours seems like an evolution in ride design and not a revolution. As such I don’t think it will be able to hold out against the other two.
With this shorter list to choose from the second round was more obvious. Taking it to the third round was harder. The castle is a given at this point (and probably will win this group for reasons of nostalgia and being the quintessential icon), but if the brackets were arranged differently my second choice would also have been different.
I believe if I hear (or read) the term “quintessential Disney” one more time…I think my head will explode.
That…IMHO…is not what we are voting for. We should vote for “What is the best experience.” Also factor in the “Dad” part we will of course vote for the kids too.
That being said…in what is left… the 2 best experiences for me and my family… you’ll have to listen to the podcast.
If we are talking “quintessential Disney”, then I would definitely include Cinderella’s castle. One cannot think “quintessential Disney” without thinking of that iconic view. But if “quintessential Disney” is not a factor, I would still say the castle – because once we finally see it we know we are getting the full Disney experience. It evokes great raw emotion and truly makes me feel like a kid.
So, “quintessential Disney” or not, I feel the Cinderella’s castle is a strong #1 for me.
(I am working on becoming another nemesis for Nate.) Heh.
My second vote was a lot tougher decision. I was leaning to Pirates of the Caribbean, but I just couldn’t bring myself to not vote for the greatest fireworks display in all of Walt Disney World – IllumiNations. Disney has the best fireworks shows of all that I have seen, and IllumiNations is the best of them. So how could I not vote for the best of the best?
Not a nemisis at all John… Maybe my head exploding is a little extreme… I was having a bad day at work and the phrase “quintessential Disney” was rubbing me raw. Particularly in the Pluto Region. LOL
I guess I just don’t want guys to be voting on what they think the “most Disney” thing is… but which “Disney thing” is the best experience. Now if both of those thing turn out to be the same… well wouldn’t that just be extra-magical. ;o)
OK John…after reading your 2nd vote… you are now Nemisis Material. LOL
I think I might be on Nate’s side on this rivalry. LOL
I like Illuminations, but due to the lull in the middle known as the globe, I’d say it is the 3rd best firework display. It’s all about everybody’s opinions though.
OK… it’s a fair criticism so I won’t use that “Q” word again (but I just couldn’t vote against the castle in this instance… didn’t seem proper). I think the first round provided most of the fireworks and forced some really interesting positions. I actually spent most of the round voting for underdogs and odd balls. Those are the things at WDW that we are usually more consistently able to do in the high crowd mouths of mid summer (which is also the only time we can travel). But the more people you have voting, the more middle of the road everything becomes and the bulk of those underdogs are already gone now. I suspect that the final rounds are going to be taken by the more traditional attractions. Whether we like it or not.