What’s that old saying about being careful about what you ask for? A few columns ago, I asked for your votes in selecting the “Best of Walt Disney World” for 2009. You responded. Boy oh boy, did you respond… and I thank each and every one you. Unfortunately, I wasn’t prepared for the response… or the amount of work I created for myself.
Let me explain. You see, I figure there are about 10 regular readers of my column—maybe 12, tops. And that’s only if I include my wife, three children, son-in law and all three of my friends. If 20% of these readers respond with a vote (a fair percentage, in my opinion), my job is pretty easy. Heck, if all of them responded, my job is still easy.
What actually happened? My column appeared on MousePlanet in the early morning hours of October 9. I typically check it very early that first morning to make sure the editing staff cleaned up my typos, misspellings and grammatical errors and turned my drivel into something that passes as readable. I also check to make sure any Web links or photos I included are working and viewable. I was surprised to find that I already had received two email responses containing votes. Wow! Two of my twelve readers are up early this morning.
When I returned home from work that afternoon, I found I had received 88 replies. Eighty-eight! Over the next two weeks, more kept coming… and coming… and coming. I quickly surmised that my plan of doing the calculations on my fingers, toes and the back of a cocktail napkin would no longer work. Now I needed a spreadsheet (a big one) and I was wishing I had set up some type of Web application to tally these votes for me automatically. There’s another saying about hindsight, isn’t there?
Nevertheless, I forged ahead, sucked it up and did the work. My fingers are sore from typing, my head hurts and I have that throbbing over my left eye that usually comes with a discussion of the Dining Plan… but I finished. I’ll show you the results of your votes as a Top 3 in each category, along with the percentage of the vote each entry received.
Before we get to the winners, let me again thank everyone that responded. I appreciate all of you that took the time to cast your votes because, without you, there wouldn’t be a column—and I mean that literally. So… without further ado, I present YOUR choices for the Best of Walt Disney World 2009 (insert drum roll here).
Value Resort
