In the words of one voter: “Heed this warning…don’t mess with a classic!”
The Tournament of Disney Rides presented by World of Walt has crowned its winner. After seven weeks of voting, the champion attraction at all of Walt Disney World is: The Haunted Mansion.
The finale looked like a battle for the ages, the classic nostalgia of the Mansion taking on the immersive storytelling and advanced technology of Rise of the Resistance. In the end, though, it wasn’t even a fair fight. The Mansion’s fans turned out in droves, carrying the grinning ghosts to a runaway victory by a 59%-41% margin.
The victory capped off a dominant run through the bracket from the happy haunts, knocking off Buzz Lightyear, the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar Flight of Passage, AND Rise of the Resistance along the way. Rise has to settle for second, despite its own dominant run through Hollywood Studios and crushing victory over Soarin’ in the semis.
Both Topher Goggin from the Not Your Mother’s Goose podcast and I would like to thank everyone that participated by voting, commenting on Facebook, and chatting about the tournament during Saturday Morning Facebook Live broadcasts from Disney World. It was very interesting to follow the votes and see which rides were your favorites, and there were definitely some surprises along the way that I didn’t see coming. I hope you enjoyed the tournament and that your favorite rides prevailed. If they didn’t, look on the bright side and remember that’s a sign that all the other voters will be in a different queue for the rides they chose and won’t be in front of you!
Surprised that the Haunted Mansion was voted top ride at Disney World?