Well, boys and girls, the first round of our little game has come to a close; 17 people cast ballots, and the word for most of the matchups was “blowout,” as most of the high seeds cruised to easy victories. There was one notable runaway from a lower seed, and a few matches which actually went the distance. Let’s get to the results:
In the Magic Kingdom, all of the results were fairly convincing, as all 8 high seeds won handily. Cinderella showed that she was the fairest of them all this time around, stomping her ebony-tressed counterpart. Singing multinational children proved no match for Grim Grinning Ghouls, and all three Mountains stood tall. Fantasyland was a woeful 0-for-5 in Round 1. Every second-round matchup will be highly intriguing in this bracket (and for those who are sticklers, you will note that votes for the last three matches equal 16 rather than 17, as one voter abstained from those three). The numbers (seeds in parentheses, votes on the right):
(1)Cinderella’s Castle 15, (16)Snow White 2
(8)SpectroMagic 12, (9)Peter Pan 5
(5)Haunted Mansion 15, (12)Small World 2
(4)Pirates 13, (13)Transit Authority 4
(6)Thunder Mountain 12, (11)Jungle Cruise 5
(3)Splash Mountain 16, (14)Tom Sawyer 0
(7)Buzz Lightyear 14, (10)Winnie-the-Pooh 2
(2)Space Mountain 13, (15)Dumbo 3
Over at Animal Kingdom, things weren’t any closer. Every winner did so in convincing fashion, although there was one upset among seeds. The selection committee may have egg on its face for placing Festival of the Lion King so low, as Simba and Company roared through the first round. In other results, it was bugs over birds in the bracket’s only shutout, and DINOSAUR easily made its prehistoric counterpart extinct. Animal Kingdom’s lack of “top-flight” attractions may have contributed to the lopsidedness; perhaps Round 2 will be a bit more suspenseful. Survey says:
(1)Tree of Life 16, (16)Pocahontas 1
(8)Maharajah 13, (9)Pangani 4
(5)Kali 16, (12)Rafiki 1
(4)Tough to Be a Bug 17, (13)Flights of Wonder 0
(11)Lion King 15, (6)Tarzan 2
(3)Kilimanjaro 16, (14)Chester and Hester 1
(7)Jammin’ Jungle Parade 14, (10)Discovery Isl. Trails 3
(2)Dinosaur 15, (15)Boneyard 2
Over in the Studios, there weren’t any upsets to report, although one low seed made a run at it, with Beauty and the Beast giving Star Tours a run for its money before bowing out. Live entertainment in general took a hit, with Ariel, Quasimodo and the Playhouse Disney gang going down along with Belle and her beau; ABC’s personalities just couldn’t cut it, as Regis and Drew Carey are sent packing; and you guys must really like the Muppets, as Kermit and Crew took every single vote in their match. Add it all up:
(1)Sorcerer’s Hat 17, (16)Drew Carey 0
(8)Great Movie Ride 14, (9)Millionaire 3
(5)MuppetVision 17, (12)Hunchback 0
(4)Fantasmic! 15, (13)Backlot Tour 2
(6)Indiana Jones 13, (11)Little Mermaid 4
(3)Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster 15, (14)Disney Animation 2
(7)Star Tours 11, (10)Beauty and the Beast 6
(2)Tower of Terror 16, (15)Playhouse Disney 1
Epcot was the bracket to watch if tight matches are your thing. OK, so only one low seed got through, but a few of them made things real interesting. Norway and the U.K. were determined to hang around for a while, the Figment crowd made sure Journey Into Imagination had a respectable showing, and Mexico took its campaign right to the border (and I still love Ice Station Cool, regardless of the results here). The 8-9 matchup also proved a nail-biter, as Tapestry of Dreams and The Land went down to the wire. As the dust settles:
(1)Spaceship Earth 17, (16)Ice Station Cool 0
(9)The Land 9, (8)Tapestry of Dreams 8
(5)IllumiNations 11, (12)Journey Into Imagination 6
(4)Honey, I Shrunk… 10, (13)Norway 7
(6)Living Seas 9, (11)Mexico 8
(3)Innoventions 12, (14)United Kingdom 5
(7)American Adventure 13, (10)Body Wars 4
(2)Test Track 17, (15)Ellen 0
Thanks to everybody who voted; the overwhelming response to this thread has really surprised me. We’ll be switching threads each round to keep things simpler, so to cast your votes for Round 2, go to the thread entitled “March Madness @ WDW (Round 2)” or just click here:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6900
