In a tradition that dates back to 1987, the team that wins the Super Bowl gets the chance to go to Disneyland to celebrate the victory. But, when did this tradition start? And why?
Patrick Mahomes went to Disneyland, again, in a post-Super Bowl tradition that began nearly four decades ago in Southern California.
The Super Bowl LVIII MVP quarterback led the Kansas City Chiefs to their second straight Super Bowl title Sunday, a dramatic 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in overtime.
Keeping with tradition, he appeared in the annual "what's next" Disney commercial, shot on the field after each Super Bowl and visited the Anaheim theme park for an appearance in the Main Street USA parade with his family on Monday afternoon. This was the third time Mahomes has been part of the post-Super Bowl parade, earning MVP honors in 2023 and 2020.
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Mahomes joins five-time winner Tom Brady and three-time winner Joe Montana as the only NFL players with at least three Super Bowl MVP awards.
Here's what to know about the Happiest Commercial on Earth and how it all started.
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Who is in the 2023 'I’m going to Disneyland' commercial?
It appears Mahomes had a crystal ball.
As a 17-year-old junior at Whitehouse High School in Texas, Mahomes tweeted, "I bet it feels amazing to be the quarterback who says 'I'm going to Disney World' after winning the Super Bowl #Qbs."
You tell us.
Monday's visit will mark the third time the Chief's 28-year-old quarterback has visited a Disney theme park as the Super Bowl MVP. Mahomes appeared at Walt Disney World Resort in 2020 after Kansas City's 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV in Miami. In 2023, he visited Disneyland after helping the Chiefs erase a 10-point halftime deficit in a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
Who first said, ‘I’m going to Disneyland/Disney World?'
The “what's next'' commercial began in 1987 and featured New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms after he was chosen the MVP of Super Bowl XXI. After defeating the Denver Broncos 39-20 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, an ecstatic Simms shouted into the camera, “I’m going to go to Disney World.”
“I was approached about it maybe the Tuesday before the Super Bowl,” Simms, now an in-studio TV analyst, told the Los Angeles Times. “My agent, David Fishof, told me and I said, ‘No chance. Don’t even talk to me about it. Not going to do it.’ I stood my ground until Friday night when I finally said, ‘Oh my God, fine. I’ll do it.’ He wore me down.”
The commercial, shot and produced by NFL Films to air after the game ends, also features several Make-A-Wish children who made a wish to attend the game and cheer on the Rams.
In the ads, the song “When You Wish Upon a Star" plays over shots of the player -- or in this case, players. At the end, an announcer mentions the Super Bowl win and asks, “What are you going to do next?"
Cut to a shot of happy player/s shouting and you have the format for a nearly four-decade-long tradition.
