Tonight is the start of the 2016 WDW News Tonight March Madness Tournament! This year we picked 64 Walt Disney World theme park attraction characters to battle it out for the top spot as the greatest WDW character of all time! Join us for some heated debates, and the best part is, you’ll get the chance to win some great prizes as you root for your picks (provided by Theme Park Connection)! Here’s how it all works:
There is a pre-tournament e-mail sign-up for the March Madness attraction tournament starting tonight (Wednesday 3/23/16). Click here to fill out and submit a form with your name, email, address and phone number. The the form must be filled out before 9PM ET on March 23, 2016.
We will in return send you an email with 4 Walt Disney World theme park characters that will be yours in the tournament. The characters will come from four categories and be assigned randomly. You will receive 1 character from the 1-4 seed category, 1 character from the 5-8 seed category, 1 character from the 9-12 seed category, and 1 character from the 13-16 seed category.
- You will need to tune-in to WDW News Tonight from 9-11 ET on March 23th, but also again on March 30th from 9-11PM ET for the conclusion of the tournament to hear our debates.
- The four characters you will be assigned can win points for each victory they gain in the tournaments. The point distribution is as follows:
1st Round Win – 1 Point
2nd Round Win – 1 Points
“Swell Sixteen” Round Win – 2 Points
“Exciting Eight” Round Win – 2 Points
“Fantasmic Four” Round Win – 3 Points
Championship Round Win – 3 Points
- The winner of each match is decided by the illustrious panel from WDWNT. Each panelist counts for a single vote for an attraction. Majority rules on the panel and decides the winning Walt Disney World Park Character by vote count.
- However, listeners who register to play along can change the outcome by calling in. A listener who is registered and playing in our contest may call in once during the run of the tournament and place a vote for an attraction that is worth 2 votes, more than any single panelist! Due to potential listening delays, unlike last year, your call does not have to come in while we are deliberating that match up live on air. We will accept call up until 11:05 EST on 3/23/16, so make sure that you are listening live!
- New this year, we will give the people in the live chat a chance to sway the votes as well! First, you can use the live chat to voice your opinions on each match up and try to sway our panelists. Second, whenever you type (in all caps to stand out) I VOTE FOR _____ (fill in the black with your pick), you will have the chance to win a prize from Theme Park Connection. At the end of each round, we will randomly pick out one vote from the chat, count that vote, and send you a prize from Theme Park Connection. Registered participants CAN chat vote, so this is a chance for extra votes and extra prizes!
- The top 8 players in terms of points amassed throughout the tournament will receive prizes from Theme Park Connection! The top player will receive a grand prize package and be declared the WDW News Tonight March Madness 2016 champion.
WDW News Tonight is hosted by Tom Corless and Nick LoCicero, former hosts of WDW News Today: The Radio Show, but also features appearances by a number of other WDWNT correspondents.
If you are in the Orlando area, you can tune in to AM 1520 WBZW at showtime. For those outside the Orlando area, the show can be heard (and now watched via video stream) at Listen.WDWNT.com on your computer or mobile device. The show also utilizes new interactive avenues for our audience, including a live chat, the ability to call-in to the show, and live polling.
We hope that you will tune in tonight at 9PM ET for another episode of WDW News Tonight!
