Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes has dreamed of victory parades down Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland and Walt Disney World as the Super Bowl MVP since he was a 17-year-old high school quarterback in Texas.
“I bet it feels amazing to be the quarterback who says ‘I’m going to Disney World’ after winning the Super Bowl #QBs,” Mahomes tweeted in February 2013.
Flash forward a decade and Mahomes has now won two Super Bowls and celebrated with victory parades at Disney World in 2020 and Disneyland on Monday, Feb. 13.
The tradition of Disney victory parades dates back to 1987 with the star of the game yelling “I’m going to Disneyland” or “I’m going to Disney World” from the field shortly after the final play. The players typically record two versions of the “What’s Next” commercial — one for Disneyland and another for Walt Disney World — that can be played in different television markets depending on their proximity to the California and Florida parks.
SEE ALSO: Patrick Mahomes wants to visit every Disney park on his Super Bowl MVP ‘world tour’
Back in 2013, Mahomes was a junior at Whitehouse High School about 100 miles southeast of Dallas and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco had just celebrated a Super Bowl 47 victory with a parade at Florida’s Magic Kingdom.
The 2013 tweet by Mahomes “solidified the authenticity of his words, showing that this is undoubtedly something he’s always dreamed of experiencing,” Matthew Micheli, managing partner of influencer agency Viral Nation, told Business Insider in 2020.
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Mahomes’ teenage fantasy of Super Bowl triumphs and Disney victory parades might seem like the improbable dreams of every high school quarterback — but the son of MLB pitcher Pat Mahomes was no ordinary athlete.
The three-sport high school standout played football, baseball and basketball — passing for 50 touchdowns and pitching a no-hitter as a senior. Maxpreps named him the Male Athlete of the Year for 2013-14.
Mahomes committed to Texas Tech two months after his Disney dreams proclamation on Twitter and was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 2014 Major League Baseball draft — but didn’t sign a contract.
A decade later, Mahomes is dreaming again of winning a third Super Bowl — but next time he wants the victory parade to be held overseas at one of Disney’s theme parks in China, Hong Kong, Japan or France.
