We'll start with the undercard: top seed Spider-Man facing the tough underdog from Busch Gardens Africa:
(1) The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man vs.
(41) Montu
And, then, to the Disney vs. Disney main event:
(4) Pirates of the Caribbean (Disneyland) vs.
(12) Expedition Everest
As for the prediction contest, no one will pick correctly all four semifinalists in the tournament. However, nine readers remain in the running to get three of the four correct. Ryley Hoffman is the only reader to have all four picks still alive in the tournament, however Ryley picked both Pirates and Everest to reach the final four, and they meet each other in the round of eight today.
The other eight readers still alive in the contest are:
Talk amongst yourselves in the comments....
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All things being equal, go with the coaster.
Everest vs Pirates wasn't that hard of a choice for me. I voted for Mansion and Everest previously so I am sticking with Everest as well for this round.
The more I look at these brackets, the more I wonder if Everest's one-vote win over Hulk might not the be contest that decides this thing. I don't think Hulk would have had a prayer against Spider-Man, but Everest could give Spidey a tough fight, since the whole Disney vs. Universal thing comes into play then.
And if Pirates had faced and beaten Hulk, I think that Spider-Man would have fared better against Pirates than it would against Everest. What do you think?
And the same for Everest. It is also a excellant attraction, but cant compete against a greast classic attraction like POTC.
In the end for me, Spiderman is one of the few themed rides out there that stacks up against the best coasters. In this case, Montu is a superb ride, way better than Dueling Dragons, but not better than Spiderman. Only a few choice rides get my vote over Spidey, and Montu is not one of them
I voted for Pirates. Everest is a good themed ride, but the coaster track itself is weak to me. Building great scenery around it and the broken track element helps tremendously, but in the end, a roller coaster lives and dies by it's track design, and Everest doesn't stack up to Pirates, even if Pirates did get hacked up a bit with the new stuff.
If it has to face Pirates, Spidey may lose. But it could win against Everest. I think the opponent has an influence on how people think of the attraction, and facing up against a classic like Pirates would make Spiderman's reliance on video look bad.
How can it be that it has been, what?, three years now that Spidey has been out and disney had not countered with something that utilizes the same type of technology and innovation? Shame on the mouse...spending too much time with direct to video releases like:
Alladin 6: the search for Robin Williams sobriety
Beauty and the Beast 14: Belle's Menopause Tea-party
Little Mermaid 4: Looks who's a Big Mermaid now?
Come on...
Spiderman just wows me every time so it's hard for me to ever vote against it. That whole scene where you're "falling" from the building gives me butterflies. However, I took my friend's 10-year old son to IOA in January and he rode Spidey once, then never wanted to again. He voted for multiple rides on Dr. Doom, Hulk, and DD Fire and Ice. However, this is me voting and although I adore Montu, my vote went to our webbed friend.
I love, love, love Expedition Everest and consider it Disney's best themed coaster in the US. However, Pirates is such an amazing adventure - splashdowns, skeletons, cannons, (tin foil) fire! It gets my vote. I'm sure I'm not alone in humming "A Pirate's Life for Me" when I exit the attraction.
Yo ho, yo ho...
What about a tournament of all the theme parks on this site? Probably just the US ones as the others wont stand much of a chance seeing theres 3 Brits at most on here! Just a thought..
It might be more interesting to run it by chain. Thus, we vote for the best Cedar Fair park, best Disney park, best SF park, best Busch park and best Universal park - then take those "bests" and have them duke it out. If we did an all park vote, IOA and Disneyland would most likely dominate from the get-go. This would allow us to compare theme parks to theme parks and amusement parks to amusement parks.
I would like to see some kind of rating system established for each park, with a handful of categories in which to rate. Things like rides and shows are factored in, but so are things like cleanliness, employee friendliness, family atmosphere, thrill factor, food quality and selection, etc. etc. Put them all together with the ride, hotel, and show ratings, and you have an overall visitor rating with a breakdown of each strength and weakness of a certain park.
And how can a five-second glimpse of a malevolent, howling flokati rug be better than five minutes of rollicking buccaneer mayhem???
I quit. Again.
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The first match should be a no-brainer, but Montu is one of the most impressive coasters I've ridden, right up there with Hulk and Magnum XL-200.
I also voted for Everest, but it was a tough choice. Pirates is equally, if not more, deserving of this award.
Hey, where's my buddy Jake? My day hasn't been ruined yet.