The countdown to Super Bowl LIV in Miami has begun and so has the anticipation surrounding Disney’s iconic “I’m Going to Disney World!’’ campaign.
For more than 30 years, Disney has added to the drama and excitement leading up to the big game as fans everywhere wonder aloud which team will win the Super Bowl and which player will stare into those TV cameras and shout those five famous words – then magically appear in a celebratory parade at a Disney theme park mere hours later.
It will almost certainly be a dream come true for the player who is chosen, perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add his name to the storied list of Super Bowl legends who have been a part of the campaign over the years. For us here at Disney, the campaign goes to the heart of who we are – a company that strives every day to make magic and create lifelong memories for our guests.
For example, Disney has collaborated with Make-A-Wish for four decades to help grant more than 140,000 wishes for children facing serious illnesses. The first official wish granted for a Make-A-Wish child involved a trip to Disneyland Resort in California nearly 40 years ago. Currently, Disney helps to grant more than 10,000 wishes annually for Make-A-Wish kids around the world.
So, with the Super Bowl only days away, which player do you think will have his football wishes come true by joining the annals of Disney’s Super Bowl tradition?
To get you ready for the buildup to this year’s annual Super Bowl campaign, check out this heartfelt video that celebrates our enduring Super Bowl tradition and our long-running relationship with Make-A-Wish.
Comments
In 1996, after winning Super Bowl XXX, Emmitt Smith of the Cowboys said “I’m going to Disneyland!” Literally the next day, I was working on an ice cream cart at Central Plaza between the entrances of Frontierland and Adventureland. And who came hobbling up to my cart (hey, he had worked his legs HARD the day before) but Emmitt Smith and his family, along with a VIP tour guide.
Decorum dictated that I not acknowledge his celebrity or his accomplishment the day before; I was just the ice cream guy. But…while Emmitt was obviously still exhausted from his performance the day before, he and his family were all smiles in Disneyland. And it’s one of my most cherished memories as a cast member (not my absolute favorite — that honor belongs to a family of non-celebrities from Washington, whose identities I do not know, who made as much magic for me as I did for them just by being themselves over a few meetings that took place over their five-day vacation).
To have seen the commercial the day before, and then the next day to not only see that he was telling the truth about going to Disneyland, but also that I got to briefly interact with him, was pretty special.
Love this! The video brought me to tears!
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