This year, we have picked 64 Walt Disney World ride vehicles to battle it out for the honor of being named the greatest theme park conveyance system of all time! Read on to see how our tournament works, how YOU can play along and win prizes, and even how YOU can influence the outcome! But to play along, you must register by 3:00PM EST Thursday, March 4th!
Here’s how it works!
For those of you who haven’t played along with WDWNT March Madness in years past, here’s the drill:
We have created a bracket of 64 Walt Disney World ride vehicles (“teams”), past and present, and seeded them into 4 regions.
Over the next two weeks on WDW News Tonight (Thursdays at 9:00 PM EST on YouTube), a panel of WDWNT staff will discuss each matchup according to the schedule below. As we discuss each matchup, WDWNT staff will vote for the ride vehicle they think is best. The attraction that receives the most points by vote will win that matchup and move on to the next round.
As teams win matchups, they will accumulate Victory Points for each victory. The Victory Points (VPs) are distributed as follows:
First Round Win – 1 Victory Point
Second Round Win – 2 Victory Points
Third Round Win (“Swell Sixteen”) – 3 Victory Points
Fourth Round Win (“E-Ticket Eight”) – 4 Victory Points
Fifth Round Win (“Fantasmic Four”) – 5 Victory Points
Championship Round Win – 6 Victory Points
At the end of the tournament, the championship team will have accumulated the most points and be crowned as the greatest Walt Disney World ride vehicle of all-time!
Over the next two weeks, we hope you join us for some heated debates, as the illustrious panel constructed from the finest members of the WDWNT staff argues for or against the teams in each matchup.
But YOU can get in on the action too, and win prizes along the way!
Here is how YOU can play along!
Any WDWNT reader can register to play along with the tournament. The registration form is below. The form must be submitted before 3:00 PM EST on Thursday, March 4th.
On Thursday, March 4th, each person who registered to play along will receive four randomly-assigned teams in the tournament. Players will be assigned one team that is a 1-4 seed, one that is a 5-8 seed, one that is a 9-12 seed, and one that is a 13-16 seed. These four teams will also be from four different regions in the bracket. These will be your teams, and you will accumulate points as your teams win matchups in the tournament (according to the above point distribution schedule).
At the end of the tournament, the 16 participants with the most total points accumulated by their four teams will be awarded CorBucks to spend in the WDWNT Prize Wall. The top player will be declared the WDWNT March Madness 2021 Champion.
Sounds pretty simple, right? We thought so too, which is why we came up with a way to make it more complicated! And it involves YOU!
Here is how YOU can influence the outcome!
REGISTERED PLAYERS who have filled out the registration form and received a set of teams can call in to change the matchup scores twice over the course of the tournament. To determine the winner of each matchup, panelist votes are worth 5 points, and call-in votes are worth 2 points. Any call-in votes for a team will add points to that team’s score, and therefore could change the outcome of the matchup. The attraction with the most points in the matchup, after panelist points and call-in points are tallied, wins and moves on in the tournament. The call in number is 832-7-WDWNT-7. Your call MUST come in within 5 minutes of the conclusion of the round or it will not be counted.
IF YOU ARE NOT A REGISTERED PLAYER you can still try to sway the vote. During the live broadcasts, use the live chat on YouTube to try and sway our panelists while they are discussing the matchup.
Watch and play along!
Tune in to WDW News Tonight and ParksCenter over the next three weeks for all the tournament action and discussion. All shows will be broadcast live at YouTube.com/wdwnt.
Round 1: WDW News Tonight, Thursday March 4th, 9 PM EST
Round 2 Through Finals: WDW News Tonight, Thursday March 11th, 9PM EST
Sign up now!
The registration form is below. The form must be submitted before 3:00 PM EST on Thursday, March 4th. You will receive an email with your four randomly-assigned teams by 8:00 PM EST on Thursday, March 4th.