Confessions

I love taking pictures. I try to get that perfect shot. That doesn't always happen, but I rarely edit them. Maybe a crop here or there, but nothing major.

A big reason is I don't have any programs on my computer that can do any extensive editing. I do have Microsoft Paint.

There are two pictures I took that I intentionally edited because I really loved the photos except for some very minor details which would almost perfect them. One was posted in the previous post. The other is me in my ghost Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween costume.

Liz made a comment about the Disney one and I felt bad that I was somewhat deceptive.

These are the original pictures.



I decided to change a few things in the ghost photo. Namely, I didn't like the lights in the background. I also darkened around the eyes and touched up my make up. The results?



The other was a picture I had taken the very moment the Magic Kingdom opened one day. It was my last day in the Magic Kingdom before I left and Mickey had given each Cast Member a free picture download for Christmas. I had the Photopass Photographer take mine in front of the Partners statue. The border was added at the time of check out from the Photopass website (free of charge). It looked so good, many thought it was green screened. I was actually there. The only real imperfection was a couple of people in the archway of Cinderella Castle. So I edited them out.



Later, I realized I really didn't have a photo of me in my costume, except for one in a monorail pilot. My costume for bus ops was just a white button up shirt with black slacks. Rather boring so I never bothered getting a photo. I regretted that decision and decided to do some creative editing to make a costume. The results...



I apologize to anyone dubbed by the photos. There was no ill-intent. I rarely seek perfection, but when I can, I'll create it. Again, this was done with Microsoft Paint and was painful! Editing color by color, layer by layer.

More photo essays should be coming soon and I promise they will be as the were originally taken!

TTFN

Walt Disney World Attractions Bracket Results

Well my dear friends, I have all the brackets back. I've looked them over and have the anticipated results.

In case you forgot, here is the original bracket (sideways).



Most of the responses were from the FBO+3, but three additional folks joined in. Namely, my mom, Stephanie, and Joel.

The results were broken up by FBO+3 and then with everyone.

They were pretty interesting and the full results are displayed a little bit down lower. The numbers I refer to means the maximum spot that particular attraction made it on someone's bracket. So if I say Toy Story Mania was a 1 for Jesse, that means Jesse picked it once (in the opening choices), but did not pick it the second time. It made to the first round. Technically, I guess the opening brackets are the first round, but I'd like to consider it the preliminary rounds.

Let's start with looking at everyone's. Some poor attractions didn't make it very far, but that's probably due in large part to the way the bracket was set up.

The Beauty and the Beast Stage Show, Mad Tea Party, American Idol Experience, Block Party Bash Parade, and Liberty Steamboat got no votes from anyone. Not a one. Now, Block Party Bash and Libertybell were at a great disadvantage because they were paired up against the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean in the opening round. Both of those attractions were very popular by all participants.

I'm a little surprised about the others getting no votes, but that's the way it worked out.

With regards to the FBO+3, a few more didn't get a tally from the elite eight. The Monster's Inc Laugh Floor, Jammin' Jungle Parade, Tom Sawyer Island, and Tomorrowland Speedway failed to register with the group. These were matched up against Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, It's Tough To Be A Bug, and Expedition Everest respectively.

Now, let's look at the higher positions.

Sticking with just the FBO+3, only three attractions made it to the top spot. Space Mountain, Rockin' Roller Coaster, and the Haunted Mansion. Ironically, each of the other three that participated picked a different attraction or show as the best attraction at Walt Disney World and none were top picks in the FBO+3. Tower of Terror, Illuminations and La Nouba lead the way through the brackets for the other three participants. To be fair, Space Mountain was my pick and not a choice of any other participants, FBO+3 or otherwise.

Some attractions were very much a love-or-hate for people. Tower of Terror made it at least to the second round by those that picked it in the first, same with Pirates of the Caribbean. Rockin' Roller Coaster went on to the third round if picked at all.

With regards to the FBO+3, all of us picked Pirates no less than the third round. Spaceship Earth also made it at least to the second round by the FBO+3.

Here are a few more notable attractions, at least in this version of the bracket.

Mickey's Philharmagic and Disney Quest were written in and made it past Ellen's Universe of Energy and Fantasmic. A few more were written in, but none made it past the prelimiaries. With regards to Philharmagic, it made it to the second round at least by those that wrote it in.

La Nouba was fairly popular for a show that requires a seperately priced ticket. There was some debate on whether it should be included or not in a bracket like this, but I think it was a good choice. Everyone but Jesse and Joel picked it over Dumbo with most people having it go on to at least the second round. It was my mom's top choice.

The TTA (Tomorrowland Transportation Authority) was another popular choice. DeTag and Joel preferred the Magic of Disney Animation, but it's safe to say TTA is a winner.

Same thing with Expedition Everest. Everyone in FBO+3 had it going into the next round, most had it going pretty far. My mom's not a fan and picked the Speedway instead.

Test Track was the exact same thing. My mom opted for the Hall of Presidents. Gina wrote in the Hall of Presidents, so it did make it into next round for her.

The Jungle Cruise is a big hit with the FBO+3. We all picked it. Joel did not nor did Stephanie. I dare say this is one of Stephanie's least favorite things to do in all of Walt Disney World. I don't know why!

Now, I have a little bit of a bone to pick. Why did no one but me choose Stitch's Great Escape? I picked it twice! Granted, I never experienced the Alien Encounter that was housed there before, but I still like this current version. I've never been a fan of Toy Story Mania. I seriously don't understand the appeal. Not one little bit. I'll do it. It's not horrible, but I can't believe how much people really like this attraction. Only Jesse and my mom saw it leave after just geting into the first round. This is the most popular attraction (or at least was when I was there) in all of Walt Disney World.

It's Tough To Be A Bug was a hit with all of the FBO+3. I like it better than Tom Sawyer Island, but that place is still pretty neat to go and play. Even Stephanie picked this show despite having a real fear of insects. My mom did not pick this attraction for good reason. The last time she was there, we did this and she literally freaked out in the waiting area. She got sweats and got clostraphobic. And if anyone knows how to spell that word, good for you. I don't.

Here's something I really didn't expect to see. Gina and Joel are an exception to this rule, but everyone else had either Peter Pan's Flight or Illuminations going at least to the second round. I would not have put these head to head in the preliminaries if I had known they were so popular with the group. Stephanie had Illuminations as the overall winner. Now, I know some like the older version better which may account for it not going even further on some brackets.

Now, Space Mountain. This was a pretty popular choice by most, though I was the only one to have it go all the way. Only my mom voted for it's opening counterpart, the Jammin' Jungle Parade.

Kilimanjaro Safari was fairly popular. The majority had it going deep in their brackets (up to four). Gina deviated with a Cinderella Carousel pick.

Spaceship Earth went into the second round by all, except my mom. She tends to deviate from the choices compared to the rest of the people that did these brackets, but still it's fairly incredible that Spaceship Earth made it into the second round by most, if not further. My mom really REALLY likes the shows and votes for them almost every time.

Soarin' is the second most popular attraction by most accounts in all of Walt Disney World. How did it fair in our brackets? Pretty good. Everyone picked it at least over American Idol. The Idol show is actually a decent show and I don't think most of us have given it a fair chance. I have and like it well enough, but unfortunately it got paired up with Soarin so it didn't make it into the second in mine either. Soarin' is such a good attraction for everyone, it's not hard to see why it's liked the way it is.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was a general hit with the FBO+3, but not others. Now, the original FBO+1 actually seem to really love this coaster as a general rule where as Kyle and I aren't nearly as fond of it compared to some other choices in those opening rounds.

Pirate of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.

Five people picked the Mansion as their top choice making the Mansion the overall winner by sheer strength of win. Everyone had the Mansion going on at least once. Pirates actually lasted further in everyone's brackets than the Mansion did overall. Two people left Pirates in the second round, a few more in the third or fourth, and most had it going head to head against the Mansion in the final pick. The only person that had the Mansion as the overall winner that did not have Pirates as the other alternative was DeTag who had Toy Story Mania.

Here are the top 10 FBO+3 picks based on how far they went in the rounds. For example, if the Mansion was your number one pick, it got 6 points. 5 points for the next pick, and so on.

The FBO+3 Top 10

1. Haunted Mansion
2. Pirates of the Caribbean
3. Expedition Everest
4. Space Mountain
5. Toy Story Mania
6. Spaceship Earth
7. Rockin' Roller Coaster
8. Kilimanjaro Safari
9. Jungle Cruise
10. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Now, the results including Stephanie, Joel and my mom. Don't forget that the higher the attraction makes it in someone's brackets gives it more points. Of course, others will have to at least semi-like those attractions too for it to get into a decent position.

Everyone's Top 10

1. Haunted Mansion
2. Pirates of the Caribbean
3. Expedition Everest
4. (tie) Space Mountain
& Toy Story Mania
6. Kilimanjaro Safari
7. Rockin' Roller Coaster
8. Spaceship Earth
9. (tie) Illuminations
& La Nouba

There you have it.

Below are the full results by everyone. The number shown is the highest number of times it was picked by that person. (If you click on it, you should see a larger version.)



If you are adding things up, you will notice what appears to be an error with DeTag's numbers. There is no error. He refused to pick between Festival of the Lion King and Tower of Terror. This was not intended to be an option. Neither was picking an attraction from elsewhere on the list an using it as a write-in, though some of you did! That's okay. I didn't want to give too much instructions because these attractions mean different things to different people for different reasons. Some nostaglic, some have a special story, whatever. I did intend for everyone to consider the current adaptation of the attraction in their decision, though I'm not positive that message was relayed.

These are the full rankings by everyone and the FBO+3. The rank was determined by adding the final round numbers. Even though Pirates made it further in most people's brackets, Mansion made it incredibly far in a lot more so it has maybe a bit more love.



What does this all mean?

Absolutely nothing. First of all, I know full well some attractions only made it out of the preliminaries because the choices were not great for either. Some were very difficult. As mentioned, the Libertybell and Block Party Bash had no chance because of their matchup against Pirates and the Mansion. But there's a different, more profound reason this bracket should not be taken seriously...

Disney is about the full experience, not just picking one attraction over another. We may have to pick one attraction over another from time to time as a practical means of experiencing them, but having the Libertybell Steamboat or the Magic Kingdom Railroad pass by with their whistles and smoke is what makes Walt Disney World the place where dreams come true. You don't have to ride them to need them. The monorail didn't make it terribly far on most people's brackets, but you almost have to see it circle around FutureWorld in EPCOT. You might not notice it at the time, but you certainly will take note if it's absent.

I really REALLY don't like Country Bear Jamboree, but hearing DeTag and Liz defend it makes me smile. I don't get why this is their idea of entertainment, but seeing people I care about enjoy themselves is enough for me to appreciate it too. (As a side note, we were discussing what our "theme music" would be if we were professional baseball players. Each player has their music played when they come up to bat like Chipper Jones being introduced by Crazy Train. DeTag said it would have to be "Blood On The Saddle!")

This bracket was just a fun way to think about the attractions that on their own are spectacular, but combined are magical. I attempted to categorize the attractions to see what was more popular (like roller coasters or shows), but some are so unique it's hard to classify. What would you lump the Safari in as? Interactive? A show? A ride? What about Tower of Terror? It's not really a roller coaster. But it's more than a mere thrill ride with all the effects.

Walt Disney World is ever evolving and this snapshot of the present is merely a way to do some inwards reflection on what small pieces help make the whole magic picture for each of us.



TTFN

Wow! What a day!

What an awesome day!

The day started with DeTag, Liz, Steve, Mo, and myself meeting up at Turner Studios then trucking over to Atlantic Station for Toy Story 3. What a great movie!



It was interrupted by a woman yelling "Josh! Josh!"

Oh well.

We then left for Turner Field to see the Braves take on the Kansas City Royals.



We got there right as the gates were opening. We had All You Can Eat Seats which included hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, frozen lemonade, cokes, peanuts, and fries. We filled our stomachs and headed over to meet my friend and co-supervisor for the Braves Ticket Event Team, Emily.



I think Mo liked Emily...



...and I know Emily liked Mo!

Because of our association with Emily and her running in a race earlier that day, we were allowed to participate in the on-field pregame parade. That's right. On the field!



This is something our staff does as part of our responsibilities, so I was used to this experience. I think Liz was pretty excited about it because it gave her and Mo a chance to be out there with all these people. As you can see, DeTag was excited, Steve was excited, and Mo was excited.



So we walked around the field. Mo even made it on the screen!



DeTag was not impressed with how small the outfield was really was, so watching those highlights are not as spectacular to Mr. Tag now.



Mo did get a little too excited when he saw the players though. He started yelling at them. "Dee! Dee!"



Extra security detail was brought out to the area immediately.



Okay, so it wasn't actually extra security. It was just Anthony making sure people didn't harass the players, which we were not. After heading back up the ramp and into the stands, we ate some more before heading up to "SKY Field". At some point, we ran into some delicious spun-sugar, cotton candy treats that look suspiciously like Mo.



It's a really great view and we stayed there for a little bit just taking in the game.



The game was going fast, so we headed back for one last round of treats. We took a final look at the field as the summer sun sets and headed back to the car. A wonderful, amazing day...